Advice to a newcomer on what bike to buy

[El Fusilado]

Hi, I am a newcomer to E-Bikes and I am looking for a bike that can handle the cycle tracks on Wimbledon Common (they are gebnerally not too bad but there is some gravel and one or two bumps). I will be mainly using it for leisure cycling plus maybe heading to the local shops. I was initially thinking a hybrid with tyres with good grips, but now also considering a mountain bike and then adding on things like panniers, lights etc. Original budget was around £1,500 but might be willing to pay a bit more for a good deal. Current shortlist is as follows (prices are based on decathlon and Evans current listings):
Any thoughts gratefully recived

ROCKRIDER 27.5" Electric Mountain Bike E-ST 500 - Black	£1,399​
CANNONDALE Tesoro Neo X 2 Electric Hybrid Bike	£2,149​
ROCKRIDER 29" Hardtail Electric Mountain Bike E-EXPL 520	£1,899​
Raleigh Motus Evans Exclusive Low Step 2021 Electric Hybrid Bike	£949​

 

[saneagle]

I had that itch yesterday and actually tried to order one. But don't relax just yet... I went into Argos this morning and they say there are some still kicking about that (for me anyway) can be shipped into and collected from Sainsburys (but they can't do home delivery in my area because they source it from an out-of-the-area distribution/warehouse). Then sanity returned and decided I too have 3 e-bikes already, and this Argos one looks like it would need a larger freewheel, mechanical to hydraulic brakes, and likely a change of controller and display to make the best out of it... and I have enough projects going on already.

They were also of the opinion that they're only discounted/on "clearance" to make space for the new models about to arrive (it's not just bikes).

The pedal speed is not bad because it has 28" wheels. The problem with the folder that requires the gearing to be changed is that it has the same 14T top gear in a 20" wheel. The gearing was fairly well matched on the one that had the Hailong battery and 27." wheels.

 

[saneagle]

Yes its also a local sainsbury's collection here too..

Ha- when the £245 folder went out of stock.. (if public transport was more ebike friendly a towable folder might provide joined up no car transport options. ) - i panic bought a 24v £180 offering..

Then the following day woke sane and tried to cancel over the phone.. But my ref no did not register so after many repetitions i got a bit frustrated and made up a number.. and on my 2nd guess it got me through.. not to the expected rep but to another recording telling me my order was cancelled!! and bye..
So i cancelled some random Argos order, after typing in a string of not remembered numbers ..

But I tried my order# again and now?? it went through.. (btw i did have glasses on and had verified the order number from both the argos site and emails- AND it looked good on the display as entered??.. My working theory is my landline phone has some case shifting/caps-lock? feature i fumbled on and off picking the thing up, but??

So Yeah.. I too have had my moments of weakness..

I will try n make do living vicariously off the joy of folk who have both a need and use for another bike and grab a bargain and post in here about it..

Basic rule of reality: The number of ebikes you need is n+1, where n is the number you already have.

 

[thelarkbox]

It is not a weakness. It is a disease.
I have shed full of bikes. So I bought a smaller Keter shed where I managed to put one more bike. One bike lives permanently in my house.
As far as I can tell, you are still in early stages. Contact your GP, maybe they will prescribe you antibiotics or something. There still might be some hope for you.

- IM in Recovery .. TLDR - My dream home brewery inc kegs and chilled dispensing and custom wifi control system. Just as i was finishing off the electric circuits after a complete refit of the brewshed.. And a health issue manifested. Ive not been drinking since.. ..

 

[saneagle]

- IM in Recovery .. TLDR - My dream home brewery inc kegs and chilled dispensing and custom wifi control system. Just as i was finishing off the electric circuits after a complete refit of the brewshed.. And a health issue manifested. Ive not been drinking since.. ..

That's tough. I have an idea, though: Why don't you invite us over to try out your bar, then we can tell you how good it is, so you don't need to drink anything yourself? See - every problem has a simple solution.

 

[soundwave]

3l bottle was 4 quid now 2.5l and 5.99

 

[thelarkbox]

That's tough. I have an idea, though: Why don't you invite us over to try out your bar, then we can tell you how good it is, so you don't need to drink anything yourself? See - every problem has a simple solution.

would lurve too, but it all went pdq, tho i did uncover a crate a month or so ago that i thought was empties.. gave that to next door.. live beer wont go off unless kept poorly or over hopped and prone to skunking

If free beer is of interest check out the homebrewforum pre-covid it would arrange a 'spring thing'. A camp out weekend in a pub carpark, folk sharing free beer, pub grub breakfast, lunch n dinner at a discount. competitions and tastings.. . kit build meets etc.. and only a modicum of kit brewer snobery and its all motivation to try all grain not 'bullying'/ridicule.. etc.. .. And these days lme/dme kits are 80-90% as good as a pro mash brew anyway, some would say just as good.. .. boots pilsner kit headaches are a thing of the past as is that home brew twang..

The dark secret is simple hygiene 3 x rinsing of cleaner and use of a mild antibac no rinse sanitier like starsan or an idofor

 

[soundwave]

Still Spirits T500 Still with Copper Condensor

The ultimate still in home distilling, the T500 is a must for anyone who wants to produce large quantities of extremely clean, pure alcohol. The T500 allows you to collect an astonishing 95% of the possible alcohol from the wash. This comes out at an amazing 93% alcohol purity which beats every...

brew2bottle.co.uk

mix that with a bit of cheese @90%

 

[piratepete]

View attachment 59656

3l bottle was 4 quid now 2.5l and 5.99

I'm not familiar with that beverage, I can't quite read it because your houseplants are in the way

 

[thelarkbox]

Still Spirits T500 Still with Copper Condensor

The ultimate still in home distilling, the T500 is a must for anyone who wants to produce large quantities of extremely clean, pure alcohol. The T500 allows you to collect an astonishing 95% of the possible alcohol from the wash. This comes out at an amazing 93% alcohol purity which beats every...

brew2bottle.co.uk

mix that with a bit of cheese @90%

thats a poormans fuel still, you might pull 90-92% ethanol out, but not a-zero quality, not ideal for flushing resins and not the best to drink either.. for that a way less efficient pot still and fractional cuts for blending would yield far superior results.
for a-zero a 4ft-6ft column packed densely to maximise the reflux and a top condenser capable of knocking everything back to liquid over a 50/50 collector would work running at 3-400w once up to temp

a-zero azeotrope 95.6% is the highest level of purity possible with an open atmosphere still due to the moisture in the atmosphere..

 

[thelarkbox]

Is OP still with us did they get the Argos special??

 

[saneagle]

I'm not familiar with that beverage, I can't quite read it because your houseplants are in the way

It's cider, but its an old photo, so he didn't pay the new price for it. No need to feel sorry for him. He drinks meths now anyway, so it's academic.

 

[Ghost1951]

About four years ago, I was making all grain American Pale Ale at 7% abv in the shed. It was pretty good, lovely new world hops like cascade, citra and galaxy. It had rather delightful fruity flavours.

I stopped making it because I thought I was getting too fond of it. Dry hopped with those new world hops, it had fantastic aromas and taste.

The secret to really good home made beer is to keep well away form concentrate kits and sugar. Mine would use only about five kilos of crushed pale malt in a mash at 68C for about an hour. By having it very slightly over the usual 65c, you get more unfermentable sugars which make a really good mouth feel in the finished product. If you use enough crushed malt in the first place, you still get enough alcohol to make it really strong, even though there are unfermented sugars in the finished product.

After the mash stage I would aim to get five gallons of wort in my boiler, and give it an hour long vigorous boil with a few grams of bittering hops. Then the aromatic fancy hops to make flavour for a couple of minutes followed by a rapid cool so it didn't get too bitter.

I aimed at 7% abv for those beers and the nearest commercial beer to my favourite recipe is made by the Wylam Brewery in Newcastle. They sell one called Jake Head IPA which you can drink at the brewery tap for about £7.50 a pint.... You don't need many if you are going to be able to still walk home without assistance. Fortunately, you can get it online and delivered. Do yourself a favour and order 12 cans with free delivery. Mine used to cost about 60p a pit including electricity. I used to order 100kilos of malt at a time from Ireland. Beer is mostly just water and malt and small amounts of hops.

Jakehead IPA | Wylam Brewery | Buy Online

Supercharged India Pale Ale.... Rich/bright & amber/bronze with lots of American hop aroma. Distinctly bittersweet on the palate with a massive hop complexity fashioned deep within the IPA tradition...

beerstore.wylambrewery.co.uk

Lovely stuff.

It has a lovely cloudy orange look. Really worth trying.
Jakehead IPA.

 

[Ghost1951]

would lurve too, but it all went pdq, tho i did uncover a crate a month or so ago that i thought was empties.. gave that to next door.. live beer wont go off unless kept poorly or over hopped and prone to skunking

If free beer is of interest check out the homebrewforum pre-covid it would arrange a 'spring thing'. A camp out weekend in a pub carpark, folk sharing free beer, pub grub breakfast, lunch n dinner at a discount. competitions and tastings.. . kit build meets etc.. and only a modicum of kit brewer snobery and its all motivation to try all grain not 'bullying'/ridicule.. etc.. .. And these days lme/dme kits are 80-90% as good as a pro mash brew anyway, some would say just as good.. .. boots pilsner kit headaches are a thing of the past as is that home brew twang..

The dark secret is simple hygiene 3 x rinsing of cleaner and use of a mild antibac no rinse sanitier like starsan or an idofor

I used to be on this forum. https://www.homebrewinguk.com/all-grain-539722

There is real master on there going by the name clibit. He had a great thread explaining how to start off in all grain brewing with simple large pots to do the boil. Small volumes but an easy no cost introduction.

https://www.homebrewinguk.com/search?keywords=beginners+all+grain&action=doSearch&search=true&searchin=Topics&unfiltered_forums=&member=&threadid=&do=

 

[thelarkbox]

my take on Tim Taylors landlord (keg version)

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[Ghost1951]

my take on Tim Taylors landlord (keg version)

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Oh - very professional looking. Your own pub.

I just made it in the shed and bottled it and kept the bottles in the garage. Very amateur at my end. Stopped because the drinking of it was getting a bit regular.

 

[Ghost1951]

Stove top simple all grain brewing video

Good video showing how easy all grain brewing is....

www.homebrewinguk.com

 

[thelarkbox]

Oh - very professional looking. Your own pub.

I just made it in the shed and bottled it and kept the bottles in the garage. Very amateur at my end. Stopped because the drinking of it was getting a bit regular.

Just think where you would be with the hobby if you kept it up for 40+ yrs.. - as long as you dont brew with excessive late and post boil hops a live beers shelf life is near damn infinite, so there is never any urgency in clearing stocks.. late hop heavy brews however can 'skunk', tho so they could do with a quick sup.

 

[SkyMonkey]

It is not a weakness. It is a disease.
I have shed full of bikes. So I bought a smaller Keter shed where I managed to put one more bike. One bike lives permanently in my house.
As far as I can tell, you are still in early stages. Contact your GP, maybe they will prescribe you antibiotics or something. There still might be some hope for you.

It's called Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS).
I GAS for all sorts of things guitar, golf and bike related.

 

[guerney]

It's called Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS).
I GAS for all sorts of things guitar, golf and bike related.

You're in luck! @saneagle has a gold Ibanez and a bunch of others to sell.

 

[guerney]

Just think where you would be with the hobby if you kept it up for 40+ yrs.. - as long as you dont brew with excessive late and post boil hops a live beers shelf life is near damn infinite, so there is never any urgency in clearing stocks.. late hop heavy brews however can 'skunk', tho so they could do with a quick sup.

My neighbour makes the most amazing fruit wines, quite honestly I can't understand how he holds down a job. Always sloshed on his own supply every time I see him, and always after the apples on my trees. I'd also be continuously drunk if I brewed my own, which is why I have avoided it thus far. A friend makes his own wine using supermarket fruit juice - he doesn't even remove the fruit juice from cartons, just adds magic dust and bungs in the fermentation airlocks, says they're exactly the right size for the plastic spouts. Another mate distills home vinified wine using pelter plates, but refuses to give me details... trade secert of some sort, he's trying to talk breweries to use his mysterious method. Peltier plates use rather a lot of current, I can't see the advantage over normal heating elements, but he says they're more energy efficient.