No new equipment needed, just do as I did today.
I descended the hill down into a little North Yorkshire Village called Little Beck, not having noticed that hidden in the bushes were two signs denoting that the first first part of the hill was 25%
And the second 33%
By the time I had reached reached the bottom the brakes on my Brompton were emitting shrieks that would raise the dead, and the rims were too hot to touch, with interesting streaks of brake block material everywhere.
The tyres were hot, which I have to say is the first time I have ever had hot tyres on a bicycle!
Thankfully Marathon Plus tyres seem to be rather better than some I have heard of that burst .
Once cooled I attempted the hill from the other side of the village to find that while the motor tried, the loose gravel on the road surface provided so little grip that the wheel simply spun, and with the assistance of the motor running on low power, walked far enough up the hill to a better surface where it was possible to set off again.
reaching a downhill section half a dozen sheep were asleep across the road, but a light application the brakes demonstrated something I had not previously known, sheep can run, jump and climb over five foot high dry stone walls, and at commendable rates of knots at that.
Most satisfactory and far better than the pinging bell that usually serves as a warning.
The noise from the brakes approximated that of a Stuka dive siren, so with that in mind I dura glitted the streaks off the wheel rims, removed the brake blocks and sanded off the glazed areas with one of the wife's emery boards.
Once the blocks had been thoroughly washed and refitted the brakes are silent again.
In future I shall apply a different strategy when faced with a 25% or 33% hill and walk down the darned thing!
(And walk up the other side if it as steep too!)
Today the Brompton changed it's name to "RollsKanardly "
I descended the hill down into a little North Yorkshire Village called Little Beck, not having noticed that hidden in the bushes were two signs denoting that the first first part of the hill was 25%
And the second 33%
By the time I had reached reached the bottom the brakes on my Brompton were emitting shrieks that would raise the dead, and the rims were too hot to touch, with interesting streaks of brake block material everywhere.
The tyres were hot, which I have to say is the first time I have ever had hot tyres on a bicycle!
Thankfully Marathon Plus tyres seem to be rather better than some I have heard of that burst .
Once cooled I attempted the hill from the other side of the village to find that while the motor tried, the loose gravel on the road surface provided so little grip that the wheel simply spun, and with the assistance of the motor running on low power, walked far enough up the hill to a better surface where it was possible to set off again.
reaching a downhill section half a dozen sheep were asleep across the road, but a light application the brakes demonstrated something I had not previously known, sheep can run, jump and climb over five foot high dry stone walls, and at commendable rates of knots at that.
Most satisfactory and far better than the pinging bell that usually serves as a warning.
The noise from the brakes approximated that of a Stuka dive siren, so with that in mind I dura glitted the streaks off the wheel rims, removed the brake blocks and sanded off the glazed areas with one of the wife's emery boards.
Once the blocks had been thoroughly washed and refitted the brakes are silent again.
In future I shall apply a different strategy when faced with a 25% or 33% hill and walk down the darned thing!
(And walk up the other side if it as steep too!)
Today the Brompton changed it's name to "RollsKanardly "
