Haibike sDuro HardSeven SL 2015 Yamaha (7 Month 1600 Miles)

[georgehenry]

Cheers Eagle, adding to this review now occasionally, is as much for me now, although I hope the odd person enjoys it. I like reading reviews of other bikes but often think that although initial thoughts are useful many are done too soon and you need to live with a bike a bit and put some miles on it to gain a real perspective on its good and sometimes bad points.

 

[argoose]

10,000 Mile Update

10.000 miles feels like a milestone on my Haibike Yamaha commuting to work odyssey.
View attachment 26749
Haibike sDuro HardSeven SL 2015 Yamaha 3 and a half Year update

As of my return trip from work last night I have covered 9954 miles with 3954 on the new motor. I return to work on Friday and will be comfortably over 10,000 miles by the 22nd of September when the bike will be three and a half years old. The previous motor was replaced under warranty at 6000 miles just after two years use.

There was nothing wrong with the functionality of that motor but the main bearing had developed play and a replacement motor seemed to be an easier course of action for the manufacturer than replacing the bearing that had worn. I cannot say I was unhappy to get a brand new motor free of charge.

When inevitably the bearing on my replacement motor develops play in the main bearing it will be interesting to see what options my dealer will be able to offer me. I know that they replace worn out bearings on Bosch motors. Hopefully by then they will be able to change the bearing for me or provide me with the correct bearing I can change myself. Perhaps there might be some kind of motor exchange deal.

Maybe they will only be able to offer a replacement new motor and I will have to find out myself how to change the bearing or bite the bullet on a new motor dependent on cost.
View attachment 26750

Chain, Chainring, Cassette, wear and tear

Top gear (12 tooth sprocket) started to jump under load a couple of times on the way home last night 10/09/2018 so I will be putting a new cassette and chain on before my next ride to work on Friday 14th September. I will not change the front Garbaruk 42 tooth narrow wide chain ring as it is still has plenty of life left.

I use KMC chains and cheap Shimano 9 speed cassettes.

This cassette, chain, and chain ring came into service on the 27th of February 2018 and together have completed 1462 miles in just under six months.

The narrow wide chain ring was my first experience of one and I have found it to be absolutely superb and would highly recommend them and this one in particular. No dropped chain since I put it on and beautifully engineered to be light and strong.

Over half the miles I do are off road in a sandy area which increases the wear rate of the chain, chain ring and rear cassette. With the best will in the world regular commuting means that the transmission does not get cleaned as often as it should as you just run out of time and energy to wash the transmission off before having to head off to work. Also it is my trip to work that is off road and gets everything dirty so that the transmission is dirty before my 10 mile road trip home.

Other bits and bobs that needed replacing

My rear rack support leg fastening on one side broke and I salvaged a rack I had fitted to a Marin Bobcat trail hard tail mountain bike that has been sitting unused in my garage. The old rack had lasted just shy of two years which I think was OK considering the battering it got off road loaded with two Ortleib panniers. The new one looks much better with the support legs closer fitting to the frame and therefore held more securely. The rack has already had a hard life fitted to my Marin, but I hope to get a lot more use out of it now it is fitted to the Haibike.

Tyres

My tyres have now covered 4400 miles since I put them on, on 5th January 2017. They are Specialized Crossroads Armadillo 650B 27.6” Wired Clincher Tyres in 1.9” width. They are very tough and look like they can last still longer. More wear apparent on the rear than the front as you would expect. Fantastic protection and no punctures.

When the rear needs replacing I will move the front tyre to the rear and put a new tyre on the front.

They are a classic compromise and more road orientated than I would like but with the miles I do on the road mountain bike tyres would wear out in no time and after getting used to them I have learnt that they are more effective than I had first thought they would be off road.
View attachment 26751

Battery

As documented my battery and charger connectors broke in April and I was shocked to find that my otherwise excellent dealer who I bought the bike from had no facility to get them fixed and that indeed no dealer has and all my dealer could do was offer to sell me a new battery and charger,

Fortunately with the help of a handy mate we were able to replace the connectors with generic ones bought off Ebay for less than a tenner. In order to do the job properly we did have to open the battery case but it all worked as before after we had put it back together.

The battery has powered the bike for 1022 miles since the connectors needed mending. The new cheap Ebay connectors are a bit chunky and remind me of chock block connectors but are easier to use than the original ones and have been completely reliable so far. Perhaps just as important is that I now know that they can be relatively easily changed if the need arises.

The battery which is the original one and now itself three and a half years old continues to work really well with still little obvious sign of a loss in capacity. On my 14 mile mostly off road ride to work on Monday it used 28% of its 400Wh capacity and 36% on the 10 mile road trip home. I use more battery going home as I use the motor more to travel faster and complete the journey in around 30 minutes to aim to achieve an average speed of around 20mph.

Perhaps in the forthcoming cold of winter I will begin to see some sign of the capacity reducing. Time and cold weather will reveal all.

The fact that the battery can be removed so easily and that I always do remove it and keep it in the house where it is warmer and dryer than a cold garage may be a factor in keeping it in good condition. After my ride home my battery is about 65% fully charged and is left like this until as near to the next time I intend to use the bike as possible before being charged up to full.

If I am on holiday from work the battery is left until I next go back to work and this gap can be up to three weeks.

Brakes

The Tektro brakes just require brake pads as and when and continue to work really well with no fuss or other more major adjustment.

Lights

My Sigma Buster 200 front light with the silicon handlebar attachment to allow it to be completely taken off the bike easily and used on another or as a torch is one and a half years old and still working well. I use it on its middle brightest setting of the three it has and you can connect it to a computer to charge or a plug in mains charger. Obviously you can spend a fortune on lights but for my B road commuting needs this light has been very good. Bright enough for me, weighs very little and very easy to attach and detach and held securely when attached. The beam, penetration and spread is all good. I have a second cheap battery light attached to my handlebars as a backup just in case

My first rear light was a Moon Comet which was good but failed inside my first year of ownership and Martin at the e-bikeshop where I bought my bike and the light replaced the Moon Comet with the updated Moon Comet MKII free of charge. Great customer service.

The updated Comet MKII is very bright and gets you noticed which is what you want. It is over two and a half years old and can also be attached and detached from the seat post very easily. I use it on its brightest flashing setting and refer to it as my rear gunner as it really gets me noticed by vehicles approaching me from behind day or night and I would definitely recommend it and buy another similar model from moon when I need to replace it. I also have a tiny but bright battery light also attached to the seat post as a back up were the moon to fail
View attachment 26752

Story to be continued

So after 3 and a half years now and 10,000 miles I am still very impressed with this bike.

I continue to find the Haibike frame and Japanese motor a great quality combination. I bought a crank drive bike to enable me to ride mostly off road to work using in places quite demanding single track routes while carrying panniers on a rear rack and then having the ability to morph into a fast road bike to get me 10 miles home quickly. I still find riding this bike is amazing fun and also get the benefit of plenty of exercise in the process.

What the future holds

I will be 57 soon and plan to retire when I am 60. Will this bike last till then? That would be pushing the mileage up towards 20,000 miles based on my usage so far. How much longer will this original battery last? Will the main bearing in this second warranty replacement motor develop play like the first motor or will it go further or not as far? Will there be an option to have the bearing replaced? Will I just want a different bike at some point? Will my knees hold out? They certainly ache and creak more than they used to. Time will reveal all but I am really enjoying riding this bike to work and back and the freedom from driving a car.

 

[georgehenry]

Hi argoose, yes I have seen this and it is good to have some options to repair and overhaul an older motor rather than having to buy a new one or bike.

 

[georgehenry]

11,000 Miles, (small statistics update)

I passed 11,000 miles on the 1st of May 2019

Cassette and chain have now completed 566 miles since 9th of January 2019.

The Chain ring has now completed 2572 miles since February 2018.

Tyres: They have now covered 5436 miles since 5th of January 2017. Shock, horror, I actually had a front tyre puncture when a particularly nasty thorn made it through. These are amazingly hard wearing tyres.

Battery: The original battery is going strong and has now completed 2058 miles since I was forced to replace the battery/charger connectors.

Brakes: Work great with nothing to report.

Lights: Sigma Buster 200 front light still working fine. Rear Moon Comet MKII might need to be kept an eye on as it heads into its fourth year of service. The back up front Magicshine MJ-890 160 lumen rechargeable light that I got for £9.99 continues to impress.

Rear Wheel: The only failure of note has been my rear wheel. When I washed the bike around the 5th of April 2019 and inspected the rear wheel I found some damage to the Mavic rim. This wheel had managed over 10,000 miles and was my second rear wheel after I destroyed the first one when a tree branch got jammed in it. I decided to get a ready built replacement wheel and have the cassette swapped over.

I still love this bike as I ride on into my 5th year of ownership. It will do a few less miles this year as it shares commuting duties with another bike that gets used instead of the sDuro when my shifts dictate riding on the road there and back.

 

[georgehenry]

11,,544 Miles update



Cassette and chain have now completed 1110 miles since 9th of January 2019.

Though on my last ride home my chain broke with about 5 miles of my commute to go.

Last time a chain broke on my commute I was going to work in the dark up a steep hill and stopped straight away and then found my chain easily just behind me on the road.

I was also on a rear hub electric bike with a throttle and managed to complete my journey using the throttle.

This time it happened on my crank drive on the flat and I coasted to a halt without fully realizing what had happened over about 40 meters. Obviously a crank drive bike has no back up throttle option of my old rear hub bike.

There had been a lot of rain that night and lots of standing water/puddles at the side of the road. I walked back expecting to find my chain but began to believe it was in one of the puddles completely obscured.

I do carry a connecting link but you need to have a chain to link!

I remembered a friend who lived in the village and pushed my bike to their house. I just wanted to leave my bike somewhere secure and get a taxi home but they would hear nothing of that and gave me a lift home and I then drove back in my estate car and got my bike.

Anyway the following morning I drove back to the village, parked the car and looked again for my chain. There it was lying across the pavement probably really close to where I had eventually pulled up.

Luckily when it came off it did no damage!

The chain is back on but I think we are close to when I will need to replace the chain and rear cassette and maybe consider also a new front chain ring as it has now covered 3,116 miles since February 2019.



Tyres: They have now covered 5,980 miles since 5th of January 2017. Although these are amazingly hard wearing I might be getting close to moving the front tyre to the rear and buying a new one for the front but will keep going for now.

Battery: The original battery is going strong and has now completed 2,602 miles since I was forced to replace the battery/charger connectors. It will be 5 years old in March 2020. I am within two years of my retirement target age of 60 in October 2021, and am starting to believe it could last until then.

Brakes: Work great with nothing to report except when the chain was put back on the pads were checked and close to nothing left, oops, now has new pads front and rear.

Lights: Sigma Buster 200 front light still working fine but showing signs that it may not last too much longer. I bought a back up front light, a Magicshine MJ-890 160 lumen rechargeable light that I got for £9.99 and have on my handlebars alongside the Sigma in case it were to fail .

I replaced the Rear Moon Comet MKII with a a Moon Comet X Rear Light that I saw on a cheap offer for £12.96. I still use the Moon Comet MkII on my rear hub bike to augment the built in rear light it has and it continues to flash brightly for the 10 mile road journey commute I do on it.

Front Mudguard: The front fixing for my after market Topeak defender 650b/29 front mudguards broke at the front allowing the front mudguard to droop rather sadly but still function and I had bodged a repair but made a mental note to get another. They had been on since I bought the bike in March 2015, so not bad going.

Fate then played a hand, riding to work on a familiar track I came across the same front and rear mudguard set complete with attachment lying by the side of the track. Now I would have noticed if all my front mudguards had dropped off my bike but not wishing to look a gift horse in the mouth I now have the replacement mudguard I was going to buy and two spar mudguards as it was only the fixing that had broken on mine.

If I had come across anyone looking for their mudguard on my ride I would of course have given them back.

The miles I will cover this year will be quite a lot less than normal as I have not been required to so regularly be at my normal place of work. Though normal commuting duties to that place of work are about to resume soon.

I also use the £100 second hand rear hub Oxygen Emate City bike I bought when I know that I will be riding on the road to work and back in both directions. The rear hub bike is a better more relaxing road commuting machine. This £100 Oxygen has its own amusing little story!

https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/the-tale-of-a-£100-second-hand-electric-bike.33079/#post-497978



However whenever I can ride cross country to work I use the crank Drive Haibike to enjoy my beautiful 12 to 14 mile almost completely off road route and the more rigorous bout of exercise it entails self induced I may add by riding in eco and off.



Resuming my commute to work will have some new challenges however as the room I could leave my bike in is no longer available, though I can still charge my battery in it. I have another room I can leave my bike but not as good, private or as secure as the first.

The transition from arriving at work to being ready to work will take a bit longer and bit more planning and may impact on whether my ride to work can be done as regularly as before which is a shame. We will see. I have derived a great deal of pleasure particularly from my off road ride to work so it will not be from a want of trying as they say.

There is also talk of moving the starting point of my job to a secure less accessible site about a mile and a quarter further away. As a shift worker starting either early in the morning or finishing late at night any small increments of time added to my cycling journey tip the see saw of feasible regular bike commuting away from cycling and towards the car.

As I get older I am also noticing that my joints ache more and and for longer after the exercise and I recover slower. Though I still get a real benefit from the exercise.

I am hoping that when I resume regular cycle commuting that I recover the strength and resilient ability to recover quickly that I enjoyed before my 8 months of very irregular cycle commuting.

The company I work for does nothing to encourage those of us that ride to work despite each one of us that does not using our cars and freeing up a space in a very oversubscribed car park, not to say the green credentials etc. Shame really.

 

[georgehenry]

The edit facility closed before I noticed an error, the chain ring has done 3116 miles since it was put on in February 2018 not 2019 as stated.

 

[georgehenry]

Been a while since I rode four consecutive return trips to work (Monday to Thursday, 9th to 12th of March) on the Haibike.

I was rained on and cold on nearly every day at sometime or other. Thursday was mostly sunny and fine and then it got colder and darker tantalizingly close to work and there was a brief but vicious period of hail and rain necessitating breaking out the water proofs, that then stopped as suddenly as it had started. On one trip home on the road it was a deluge of water from start to finish.


Still unwashed at the end, too exhausted to do it!

Even using my Winter route on the cross country route to work the ground in places was saturated making progress difficult. One field I cross using a bridal path and with the motor off usually, required some judicious segments of eco to keep me moving over sections of water saturated ground. And of course there was slippery slimy mud that could not be avoided.

So the bike got filthy. There was no time to wash the bike between trips and the only maintenance was to add oil to the chain on arrival at work after my wet and muddy cross country ride in. I was not sure I would physically hold out for the week and was very tired on day two but rallied for the last two days and could feel my stamina returning.


Fresh chain oil on a muddy chain, not considered the best approach!

How much wear I have added to my chain and rear cassette I do not want to think about. I covered 54 miles off road in four days. The chain and rear cassette have now managed 1290 miles. The bike performed faultlessly.

One change from normal that was forced on me by the front wheel bearings suddenly needing replacing was that I swapped the front wheel over from another non electric 650b mountain bike I own that is shod with Continental Cross King 2.2 Protection tyres. These proved a bit of a revelation combined with the less grippy but very hard wearing (6196 miles so far) Specialized Crossroads Armadillo 650B 27.6” Wired Clincher rear Tyre in 1.9” width.


Grippy wider front paired with narrower less grippy rear, surprisingly effective in challenging conditions.

Having a proper grippy mountain bike tyre on the front gave me oodles more grip in faster slippery muddy corners and everywhere else giving a real uplift in off road handling without the less off road orientated rear tyre compromising too much the better performance delivered at the front. This might be my perfect off road commuter bike combination, and it also worked well on the road.

Obviously if I had Continental tyres at both ends it would be even better but I am sure I would wear out a rear mountain bike tyre too quickly with the road work I need to do. Over these four days 40 miles was on the road and would quickly square off a mountain bike tyre at the rear, however on the front it should last a lot longer, and long enough to make the increase in off road performance worth it.

Now that I have a new front Topeak defender 650b/29 front mudguard, a like for like replacement for my previous front mudguard, the front portion is now positioned where it should be, much higher than the previous bodged broken one that was much closer to the tyre, and an ironic consequence of this is that although it keeps all flicked up mud of me, rain water spray is not so well blocked as before, vive la bodge.

The nearly five year old battery resumed service just as it always has, using the same amount of its capacity on the 14 mile cross country route, around 30% of its 400Wh capacity and around 35% on the faster 10 mile road ride home using some higher middle assistance levels to climb steeper hills quicker and get me the 10 miles home in around 30 minutes.

I covered 94 miles in total and the bike has now managed 11,760. I am close to the end of my 5th year commuting and this year have done quite a lot less miles as I have not been required to go to my normal place of work. I will still have done about a thousand miles by the end of the year.

Also I now only use the Haibike when I can travel cross country to work. It is off road where a crank drive comes into its own and shows it marvelous capability. Just banging too and fro on the road wears out the drive train and I now use an old rear hub cadence sensor 2011 electric bike with an unrestricted throttle that I bought for £100 second hand instead and is a much better bike to ride on the road.

Whether all this will come to a premature end I do not know. I now have to leave my bike in a locker room, and other bikes are also left there and I can see that if a complaint is made we might be left with no where safe to leave them and that might be that.

I am so close to retiring in 18 months time, and have enjoyed so much riding to work, that it would be a real shame if it got kyboshed prematurely.

 

[georgehenry]

11,818 Mile 5 Year Update

Haibike sDuro HardSeven SL 2015 Yamaha 5 Year update

All the pictures included here were taken on my last cross country commuting rides to work on Sunday and Monday the 22nd and 23rd of March 2020 and ordered from the start of my off road ride to the end.


Field boundary track after Eashing Farm Bridge that takes me over the A3

I was actually surprised I had done over a thousand miles this year (1044 miles) as for quite a portion of this year I have not been doing my normal cycle commute to work and back.

I also now use two electric bikes that share my home to work and back mileage so that the Haibike only gets used when I can ride cross country to work.

However it is these cross country rides that are the most fun.


View from track towards Shackleford

Cassette and chain have now completed 1348 miles as of my return trip from work on Monday the 23rd of March 2020 since coming into service on the 9th of January 2019.

I suffered a broken chain one evening coming back home from work that meant getting a lift home from a friend, but I found the chain the next day and it is working well after being re fitted.

The chain ring has completed 3,390 miles since it was replaced in February 2018. I did buy another one so I would have it ready when I needed to replace the first one but due to quality and longevity of this item it is gathering dust on my garage shelf.


Cutmill Pond

Tyres: The rear tyre has now covered a huge 6,254 miles since 5th of January 2017. A fantastic extremely hard wearing highly puncture resistant tyre. (No punctures in the rear tyre so far), It is a Specialized Crossroads Armadillo 650B 27.6” Wired Clincher Tyres in 1.9” width. Shrugs of road miles and works better than it should off road.

Interestingly the narrow width allows it to cut down through slippery mud and find grip where the tread pattern might make you think it would struggle. I think that sometimes the great big wide tyres that you can get now can be less effective in mud than a narrower one that cuts through the top layers to find grip.

However to contradict this statement, when the Haibike is retired from commuting duties and I get the time and opportunity to use it as a leisure vehicle I would be tempted to go tubeless with tough down hill more rigid side walled tyres front and rear and run them at very low pressure.


Forrest track Lower Puttenham Common

Very recently I fitted the front wheel from another mountain bike I own to the Haibike after the wheel bearings on the original wheel suddenly let go. The replacement wheel was fitted with Continental Cross King 2.2 Protection tyres.

These proved a bit of a revelation as having a proper mountain bike tyre on the front gave me a lot more grip and a real uplift in off road handling without the less off road orientated rear tyre compromising too much the better performance delivered at the front. The greater air volume of this tyre also added some give and comfort to the front end off road.

I am really enjoying riding with this combination and this might be my perfect off road commuter bike combination, and it also worked well on the road.

Obviously if I had Continental tyres at both ends it would be even better off road but I am sure I would wear out a rear mountain bike tyre too quickly with the road work I need to do.

Over a normal four day home to work commute I travel around 96 to 104 miles, but as I ride home on the road at least 40 of these miles are on the road and probably a bit more as I have to ride across town and out the other side to access my off road route and these road miles would quickly square off a mountain bike tyre at the rear, however on the front it should last a lot longer, and long enough to make the increase in off road performance worth it.


Track across Broomfields with brown cows in the distance

Battery: The original 400Wh Yamaha battery is still performing well as it enters its sixth year of service. It has now powered the bike for 2,876 miles and almost two years since I was forced to replace the battery/charger connectors myself in April of 2018.

As it continues to perform so well it shows how wasteful it would have been to have thrown it and the charger away when the original connectors broke.

I still find it quite disturbing that if you are unlucky and damage the connectors on your Yamaha battery and/or charger there is no support available to get them fixed. You either have to fix them yourself, like I did, which involved overcoming the defeat bolts and opening up the battery case or finding a third party business that could do it for you, perhaps like Jimmy at insat.

I am not planning to continue my career now much beyond April 2021, so there is every reason to believe now that this battery can last until I retire from work. I do not think I was expecting that when I bought the bike in March 2015.


Close up view of the cows as I exit the track across Broomfields

Brakes: Work great with nothing to report except that when the chain was put back on after it broke the pads were checked and close to nothing left, oops, and new pads were needed at both the front and rear.

I might need to change the oil and bleed the rear brake at sometime in the near future as the lever comes back towards the handlebar a bit more than it used to or would be considered ideal. It works fine though.


Beautiful Crooksbury Common

Lights: After thinking the front Sigma Buster 200 front light (bought 8th of March 2017) might be coming to the end of its life it continues to soldier on still working fine . I bought a back up front light, a Magicshine MJ-890 160 lumen rechargeable light that I got for £9.99 on the 17th of December 2018, and have on my handlebars alongside the Sigma in case it were to fail but has not been needed.

I replaced the Rear Moon Comet MKII with a a Moon Comet X Rear Light that I saw on a cheap offer for £12.96 and bought on the 12th of July 2019. This light has a rear post clip attachment that the light fits into, however the angle of light does not appear to be able to be adjusted in the vertical plane up and down although it is very bright and cannot be too much at the wrong angle if at all as it gets me noticed day or night by approaching cars from the rear. It is easy to remove the light at the end of your journey to slip in a pocket and take inside to charge.


More spectacular views from my traverse across Crooksbury Common

Front Mudguard: The front fixing for my after market Topeak defender 650b/29 front mudguards broke some time ago allowing the front mudguard to droop rather sadly but still function and I had bodged a repair but made a mental note to get another. They had been on since I bought the bike in March 2015, so not bad going.

Fate then played a hand this year, riding to work on a familiar track I came across the exactly same front mudguard set complete with attachment lying by the side of the track.

Now I would have noticed if all my front mudguards had dropped off my bike but not wishing to look a gift horse in the mouth I now have the replacement mudguard I was going to buy and two spar mudguards as it was only the fixing that had broken on mine.

If I had come across anyone looking for their mudguard on my ride I would of course have given them back.


Another lovely spot, High Mill Pond on The River Wey

Rear Wheel: One failure of note has been my rear wheel. When I washed the bike around the 5th of April 2019 and inspected the rear wheel I found some damage to the Mavic rim. This wheel had managed over 10,000 miles and was my second rear wheel after I destroyed the one that came with the bike when a tree branch got jammed in it. I decided to get a ready built replacement wheel and have the cassette swapped over.


Nearly there and a tree down to overcome on The North Downs Way near Farnham Railway Station.

Resuming my commute
I have now resumed my commute to work and have at the moment been able to cope with having to leave my bike in a communal locker room and taking my battery to another room where it can be charged while I work. I also need to have a wash and get changed. It does add time to the transition period between arriving at work and being ready to work but not so much as to put me off at the moment although you do need to be motivated and organised.

I can see that those of us who leave bikes in the locker room might be told to stop and although there are public areas where bikes can be left and locked, bikes are known to be at high risk of theft in those locations, and as a shift worker my bike would be there when bike theft or damage would be most likely.

There is also a chance of being provided with a staff secure bike security box, which sounds ideal but the boxes have been fitted in a awkwardly inaccessible location further away from where I need to be than ideal and open to the elements while you remove your panniers and battery before putting your bike in the box and making your way to where you can plug your battery in and get changed.

Commuting to work and back by bike is quite challenging to do in ideal circumstances and even for someone keen to do it like me It only needs to become that bit too much more awkward to make the effort required in doing it that bit too much to make on the regular basis as I do at the moment.

I was worried that after not regularly cycling to work and back for some months I might struggle to resume it, but have actually found that I have enjoyed it just as much as before and that my fitness and stamina have quickly improved to accommodate it again. In fact I have felt much better for doing it.

I have always loved exercise and at various points in my life have been very fit but think that as I get very close to 60 years old making the effort to exercise is more important for my health now to retain my strength and mobility than it was when I was younger.

I love the job I do, completely changing career pathways to do it when I was made redundant in the 2008 credit crunch, but I also love being able to cycle to work to do it, and have been doing it so long now that I would really miss not be able to.

One thing that will not stop me is the worrying Coronavirus pandemic. My new job (I always think of it as my new job, even though I have now been doing it for over 10 years) is classified as a key worker role so my beautiful cross country ride to work is now officially sanctioned by the government!

 

[georgehenry]

12,000 Miles

I nudged over 12.000 when I got home from work on Saturday the 9th of May reaching 12,002.

I had been rostered to work for four days from Friday the 8th of May through to Monday the 11th. On one of those days I stayed at home on call but was not required to work. These were my first days back at work since the 17th of April.

So in the end I rode to work and back three times using my longer 14 mile summer cross country route to work and then back home 10 miles on the road. Although I rode the same off road route, which I really love, my work start times varied on each day from 11:00am on Friday, then 20:00 on Saturday and finally 15:52 on Monday. So 72 miles in total and 12.026 total for the bike now.


Ride to work on Friday 8th May 2020

Ride to work Saturday 9th of May 2020

Final ride to work on Monday the 11th of May 2020

So the continuing statistics are

Chain and rear cassette have now completed 1532 miles
The chain and cassette must be pretty worn out now but I will only change them when the chain starts to jump.

Chain ring has now reached 3,574 miles
I think it may be time to put a new one on when I next change the chain and rear cassette.

Rear Tyre has now reached 6,438 miles
I think I should now be changing this as it is getting pretty worn, however there are no issues with the integrity of the tyre and it still rides fine.

Front Tyre
I recently fitted the front wheel from another mountain bike I own to the Haibike after the wheel bearings on the original wheel suddenly let go. The replacement wheel was fitted with Continental Cross King 2.2 Protection tyres. This worked so well off road that I have simply not swapped it back and I have added 184 miles to the Continental tyre.

Battery still the original one and working well in its 6th year

Motor my second motor replaced under warranty is up to 5,850 miles.

I return to work on Friday the 15th for an unusual 6 days of work in a row followed by a more acceptable 6 days off. They are early starts so my £100 second hand Oxygen Emate City circa 2011 vintage will be front and centre for a possible 120 miles of commuting on the road. What could possible go wrong!

 

[georgehenry]

Worn out consumables

Last week I was looking forward to three consecutive off road rides to work on my Haibike, returning home on the road. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday the 26th, 27th and 28th of May 2020.

Sadly it only managed one and then only just! To be fair to the bike I do tend to push components right to the end of their useful life and in this case perhaps a bit beyond!

The narrow wide chain ring that I have been very impressed with finally decided enough was enough. I should have kept a closer eye on it. I knew it was getting quite worn. It died a noble death by getting me back home, just, after a paltry 3,600 mile lifespan. You just can't get quality components these days!

The warning signs were there as it had uncharacteristically dropped the chain a couple of times on the way to work and then was a bugger to get the chain to stay on going home on the road.

So that was that and the following two days commuting duties were carried out by my £100 second hand rear hub 2011 Oxygen Emate City.

As I write this "The Haibike" is restored to good health with a new chain ring as well as a new chain and cassette to boot. Extravagance I hear you cry. It even has a new gear cable and two new brake pads. I even went so far as to remove the quite worn but still serviceable to my eye, rear tyre, (only 6,500 miles, I might keep it just in case) and replaced it with the one from the front (also over 6,000 miles covered) but still looking in surprisingly good shape having led an easy life, on the front.

I have to say it feels a whole lot better after a quick test ride up the road.

The £100 second hand bike will be in use potentially for 5 return trips and 120 miles starting on Wednesday morning, and The Haibike will not be back in action until Thursday the 11th of June.

 

[Izzyekerslike]

We all need a bit of love and attention sometimes!
Where did you source the narrow wide chainwheel, I have been trying to find a 44t for my sons Haibike but had no joy.

Ed

 

[georgehenry]

Hi Lzzyerkerslike,

I got it from Garbaruk and this is the one that wore out after 3,600 miles.

It was my first narrow wide chain ring and I really liked it.

I have replaced like with like.

Mine was a fetching green.

Here is a link.

https://www.garbaruk.com/104-bcd-round.html?category=1

 

[Debbie B]

Help!

We have two Haibike Sduro Hardsevens, whilst away on holiday one stopped working with the battery flashing E and F and would not switch on. Thinking this was a battery fault I swapped that battery for the other and that developed the same fault. I put one battery on charge to see if this would reset the problem, it didn't.

I rang the dealer about the problem and tried to reset the batteries with button presses as directed, no effect. On return to the UK I delivered the bikes and batteries to the dealer for assessment and hopefully warranty repair.

I've just heard that because the bikes are a few months outside the warranty Raleigh will not repair them for free. I was told the motors of the second bike has been damaged by putting a faulty battery onto that bike and switching it on so the cost I have been quoted for repair of both bikes for two motors and two batteries is .. £2280!

The bikes have not been hard used nor abused, mine has covered about 2500miles my partners (the original faulty one) only about 500miles. Both are stored inside the house when not in use.

This fault is nothing that we have done surely a motor should last longer than that and how on earth can a motor then take out the other motor via a faulty battery? This doesn't sound right to me.

Has anyone had a similar fault of batteries flashing E and F? Can the battery be repaired i.e. an internal fuse be replaced? Does anyone know of a place that could refurb them? Do I have any consumer rights under "Fit for purpose"?

I would be grateful for any help and advice as to what to do next. £2280 is more than I paid for one bike originally.

Thanks

Did you ever get a more satisfying response? I have the same problem with my sduro 9...being in South Africa there is no support on a Haibike. It is definitely the PC board attached to the battery pack. Perhaps someone has a diagram?

 

[georgehenry]

13,000 Miles

Now that The Haibike shares commuting duties with my £100 second hand 2011 Oxygen, it takes a bit longer to reach these mileage Waypoints.

So this is just a quick update, before I try to do a bit more comprehensive one when the bike is 6 years old.


I have just ridden to five late duties using my Haibike to travel cross country 14 miles to work and then 10 miles home covering 120 miles, and I breached the 13,000 mile barrier when I got home on Sunday and finished last night with 13,076 miles covered.

My warranty replaced motor, changed when the bike was two years old is now nearly 4 years old and has covered just over 7,000 miles.

The original battery is also working really well.

These rides have been interesting as my first ride in on Saturday the 13th of February was when the ground was frozen solid. Despite low temperatures the amount of battery I used on the way to work was as low as in the summer as the solid ground removed a lot of drag and allowed me to fly along with less effort.



In contrast on the way home it was cold and windy and I used more higher assist than normal to maintain my speed and my battery consumption hit a high of 52% used.

That first ride to work was really treacherous and I nearly came a cropper on more than one occasion before I took more care of the frozen ridges of mud!

Also on one small connecting country lane I came across a domed section of the road where water had frozen solid over the full width for about 40 meters. I went across very carefully without touching the brakes, knowing that I could be dumped on the deck at any moment.



Then the next day as things started to warm up there was in places a thin layer of cold slippery thawing mud on top of frozen ground underneath. Very slippery.

On one evening it absolutely cained it down for the whole ride home.

And each day it got muddier and muddier as the temperatures increased and the ground thawed out.

The last ride yesterday was in thick sticky mud and waterlogged ground in many sections.

I was very glad of the 2.35 mud tyre that I am running tubeless on the back, put on in October 2019, despite the extra drag it gives on the road going home and the fact that it looks like it will wear out quite fast.

I may take it off in the Spring and keep it for next Winter or just wear it out and replace. We will see. Having not run a tubeless set up before I will need to remember to put some more sealant in.

I had thought I might retire this April, but with a secure well paid job and Covid meaning I could not travel or indeed do that much if I stopped working I will wait until I have been jabbed and then review.



Just before it gets washed, the drive train de-greased, and the chain checked for wear before oiling.

 

[georgehenry]

I bought the Haibike in March 2015 and look at how many miles I have ridden each year on the anniversary of its purchase.

This year I have only ridden the Haibke to work when I can ride on my off road route into work in daylight, and these are generally but not always my late turn jobs.

I bought in 2018 a remarkably cheap (£100) Oxygen rear hub road bike of 2011 vintage that I now ride to all my early shift jobs or any job that I cannot enjoy the off road route in daylight on my Haibike.

The return mileage to work and back on the road is 20 miles using The Oxygen, and usually 24 miles, 14 off road and 10 back on the road, on The Haibike.

This for me is the best of both worlds. The Oxygen is a great and relaxing road bike, using a simple cadence sensor geared rear hub motor that is gentle on the drive train. The Haibike is a superb off road machine that can tackle tough and technical off road tracks. Being a torque sensor bike means it is relatively hard wearing on the drive train, but because I only use it when I can ride to work off road, the higher more vulnerable gears only come into play on the 10 mile road ride home. It still hammers the drive train but I am quite happy to put up with this for its superb ability off road. Used roughly half as much as it was before it shared commuting duties with The Oxygen means there are longer time gaps between drive train replacements, and both bikes get used in the environments where they are best suited.

Although the Oxygen that I bought does have a computer display that also has an odometer I have not kept an annual note of how far I have ridden it in the same way as The Haibike.

Anyway I have had a look at how far I have ridden The Haibike since my last anniversary in March 2020 and it is 1,258 miles, with a month to go before the year end.

I had a look at the thread where I am recording my owner experience of my £100 Oxygen and found a note of the odometer reading from that bike back on the 20th of May 2020 of 1,350, and just popped to the garage to see what it is today, 2,388, so have ridden The Oxygen 1,038 miles since 20/05/20.

So the total recorded mileage that I have ridden both bikes, The Haibike since 25/03/20, and The Oxygen 20/05/20, is 2,296 miles.

My shifts are very roughly 50/50 split between early shifts and late shifts. When I accounted for the longer journey that I make on The Haibike I found that I have ridden each bike to work and back 52 times each.

 

[georgehenry]

13,144 Mile 6 Year Update


A leisure ride I did in April 2020 in lock down

Gosh another year of cycle commuting completed.

I have to say that I have had as much fun riding my bike cross country to work and back home again on the road this year as any.

I guess we have all had a strange pandemic year, but as a key worker I have mostly been continuing going to work and greatly enjoying riding my two electric bikes to and fro.

As well as the usual wear and tear items that you need to replace quite regularly I did spoil myself by buying a bespoke hand built rear wheel this year.

The Haibike now only gets used when I have the time and daylight to ride to work using my splendid off road routes riding usually 14 miles to work cross country and then 10 miles home again on the road. For my early starts riding on the road I use my equally splendid £100 second hand circa 2011 Oxygen Emate rear hub bike which is another story and enjoys its own thread.

My shifts are split roughly 50/50 early starts and late starts so the number of journeys to work and back each bike makes are quite even.

Those lovely off road routes I enjoy on The Haibike are longer than riding on the road there and back and this means The Haibike does a higher annual mileage than the Oxygen.

The Haibike has completed 1,326 miles this year.

The Oxygen 1141 since May last year with a year end odometer reading of 2,467.

So 2,500 miles of commuting between the two of them.


Another leisure lock down ride in April 2020

Cassette and chain


Part of my ride to work route, October 2020

My new rear wheel and 2.35 larger volume rear tyre run tubeless to allow me to run it at lower tyre pressures inevitably adds drag when riding on the road. So to compensate on my 10 mile road ride home I now use higher assist levels a bit more to maintain speed.

Some journeys I can ride using mostly the same lower assist levels as I have always done but on other trips in poorer conditions or when I am tired I need to use more assistance. How much this is the extra drag of my new bigger rear tyre and how much it is my age (59) catching up with me and poor winter conditions I am not sure.

Putting even a bit more power through the drive train will I am sure impact on the chain and cassette wear rates as a crank drive puts all the power of the motor and rider through the chain, cassette and chain ring. The smaller higher gear cogs that you use to travel more quickly on the road are the most vulnerable to the power that a crank drive puts through them.

I started my 6th year with a cassette and chain that had been together for 1,348 miles since they began service in early January 2019 and wore out after 1,856 miles on the 25th of May 2019 with a new chain and cassette beginning service on the 11th of June 2020.

Not before time I bought a Park tools chain checker recently and found my chain was on the wear limit and needed replacing after 1022 miles.

It is always my top gear cog (12 teeth) that wears out first even though I made sure I only used my lowest assist level when using my top gear. I do use my middle higher assist level in my 14 tooth gear 8 for some small sections of my road journey home. My transmission would always be dirty for my journey home as it always follows after my off road route to work.

Previously this has always meant changing the cassette as well as the chain. This time I found on ebay that I could buy just the 12 tooth top gear cog of my 9 speed cassette. So this time I changed just the top gear cog and the chain.

My chain was probably just that little bit too worn when I changed it and I found only partial success. My brand new top gear works wonderfully with my new chain, as do gears 9 to 7. However my 14 tooth gear 8 cog, was just a little bit too worn and played up if I used middle assist rather than eco.

However when I rode to work for the second time, knowing this I only used my lowest assistance level eco in gear 8, and it was fine, and I could use higher assistance in all other gears.

As it works well enough I cannot be bothered to take it apart again and will keep riding on it until it wears out.

I think changing the top gear cog as a tactic to extend the life of the cassette in a crank drive bike ridden fast on the road can work but that I will need to change the chain earlier than I did this time.

This was reinforced when I talked to a friend at work who also commutes to work by normal bike, and his advice was to change the chain before it reaches the wear limit, effectively slightly early, as he had found this helped the cassettes and chain ring to last much longer.

As it stands now, my cassette and chain ring have lasted 1,022 miles and my new top gear 45 miles.

Chain ring


Ride to work during the September Heat Wave 2020

This was replaced when the old one wore out after 3,600 miles, at the same time as the chain and cassette at the beginning of June 2020. The old chain ring had lasted since it was put on in February 2018. In truth I should have replaced it at about 3,000 miles and will do that with the current one. The chain ring has 1,002 miles on it currently.

It is a bit of a flaff trying to only change components that wear out faster, as previously I just rode until top gear started to jump and then simple changed the cassette and chain, and then the chain ring about every other time.

Rear Wheel:


Verdant Ferns on my ride to work in July 2020

I have not had my usual luck when I replaced my rear wheel around the 5th of April 2019 after the previous Mavic wheel had lasted over 10,000 miles. I bought an off the shelf rear wheel which had an Alexis tubeless rim and used it with a tube and marathon plus mtb tyre.

This just would not work. It would do a few trips and then go flat. The design of the rim and the way it gripped the bead made it nigh on impossible to get the tyre off, making repairing a puncture if you got one on the way to work impossible.

I thought it was me as I have had virtually no punctures to deal with and was out of practice mending them, but then found a thread where another pedelec member had the same problem with the Alexis tubeless rim combined with a tube and marathon plus mountain bike tyre, so it wasn’t just me.

I don’t think I was getting a puncture, more that something about the rim was puncturing the tube. I did inspect it and check the rim tape and look for burrs or any sharper bits but it all looked ok.

The one thing you need for commuting to work is reliability and the Alexis rims just would not work for whatever reason with tubes. They would do a few trips and then the tyre would go flat.

It was only a matter of time before it failed on the way to work and when it finally did I had to ride it back home with a flat tyre to take the car and that destroyed the rear wheel. All in all a bad experience.

So following this disaster I needed another rear wheel and began looking at the higher end of purpose built wheels but also was recommended a top wheel builder in my area. So in the end I spoilt myself with a custom built rear wheel, probably a bit over the top for the humble sduro, but what the heck.

It cost more because I could choose all the components that made up the wheel individually, a bit like getting a tailor to make you a suit, so the wheel builder and I picked the best components to fulfil my wish for the strongest wheel possible. The actual labour charge was £75 which I did not think was too bad and I have ended up with a truly fantastic wheel built up and ready very quickly. I have to say that it did feel really special to have the luxury of combining any components you thought would be best.

The components I used were, RR Hub DT 540 36h BK 135mm 6bt, Race Black Spokes, Squorx Nipples (Brass), Rims DT HX 531 MTB 36H BK 27, Tubeless Rim Tape, Muc-Off tyre sealant, Single Mucoff valve, Vittoria Mota G+ Isotech TNT 27.5 x 2.35 tyre.

The irony after the problems I had with the Alexis tubeless rim was that I decided to run my new rear wheel tubeless to allow lower tyre pressures in as large a volume tyre as would fit my frame to provide some shock absorbing qualities for the wheel and more grip off road, however the wheel builder told me that there would be no problem using a tube if I wanted to.

I have completed 520 miles on my new wheel and the 2.35 rear tyre has proved to be very effective in the slippery and deep mud of winter.

To be continued below.

 

[georgehenry]

13,144 Mile 6 Year Update continued

Battery:


Cutmill pond that I pass on my ride to work in June 2020

When I first bought this bike my concern was the cost of replacing the battery when it wore out as they were very expensive. However I am still using the original 400Wh battery at the end of my sixth year of ownership and it just seems to be working now as well as it always has.

Earlier in this thread I documented a potential disaster when a small metal pin connector at the battery where the charger plugs in broke, and meant I could not charge the battery. I found that this was a problem that could not be fixed by the shop I bought the bike from, or any other. I was told I would need to buy a new battery and charger.

Luckily with help from a technical able friend we managed to fix the problem and replaced the connectors. It has now powered the bike for 4,202 miles and almost three years since that battery pin connector broke.

As it continues to perform so well it shows how wasteful it would have been to have thrown it and the charger away when the original connectors broke.

As I have said previously and at the time, I still find it quite disturbing that if you are unlucky and damage the connectors on your Yamaha battery and/or charger there is no support available to get them fixed. You either have to fix them yourself, like I did, which involved overcoming the defeat bolts and opening up the battery case or find a third party business that could do it for you. The normal recommended battery guru, Jimmy at insat surprisingly said he could not when approached by someone else with the same problem.


Glimpse of a Garden of a Surrey pile that I pass when the gardener left a garden door open, May 2020.

Last year I said that I thought that my battery would last until April 2021 when I thought I would retire.

The Covid pandemic has changed my thoughts on retiring in the short term at least. In the long lock down periods I have really enjoyed both the work I do and just as much the social interaction with my work colleagues it provides, as well as the massive fun I get riding my bikes to work and back. I cannot see the point of retiring during the pandemic when I would be actually more restricted at home than I am working at the moment.

Work has also been easier, with often shorter working days and days at home on call where I have actually only been called in once, and then only to do a small portion of work. Just a couple of weeks ago I was due to work a pattern of 5 consecutive days, but was on call at home for the first and last of those, and stayed at home.

Although at risk from Covid doing my job I am lucky to be paid very well and have been salary sacrificing any money I earn above the higher rate band straight into my pension, saving the 40% of tax I would have otherwise paid on it by bunging it straight into my pension, and very quickly adding large amounts of money to the lump sum I can take when I do retire, the bulk of which I can take tax free, so I really am saving 40%.

There are not many investments or savings that guarantee a 40% return. No brainer. On top of which I will get a 9.34% pay rise in April, and I only get the full benefit of that huge pay rise in my pension a year later. They are making it a hard job to leave.

However the dangers of Covid were brought home to me when a good friend at work doing the same job I do caught it at Christmas and died two months later at 52.

I am relieved to have just had my Covid jab, so hopefully should be full of antibodies in a couple of weeks’ time and hopefully not then likely to die if I catch it.



Motor


Woodland track on my ride to work, May 2020, before the council mini digger arrived. Why?

Same track August 2020

I realised that I have stopped mentioning the motor in these annual catch ups which shows that I am now taking it too much for granted. This is my second motor after the first one was replaced right at the end of the two year warranty when it developed play in the bearings at 6012 miles. So this second motor is well into uncharted waters both in terms of its age at four years old now and of the mileage it has covered at 7,132 miles. There are no signs of play in the bearings when I flex the pedal arms and it works just as it should so I will just carry on riding.

Brakes: The original hydraulic ones that work great with nothing to report. Last time the pads were changed was Jan 20 and they are about half worn.


Later in my off road ride to work, May 2020

Continuing my commute


Track that leads to the nimbi retirement development, May 2020

Last year I worried about having to leave my bike in a locker room after losing the use of a room I had previously left my bike in. So far so good. It has come to no harm, and no one has complained. If I could not leave it in the locker room, there is nowhere else safe to leave it. I can still charge my battery in another separate secure room where there is also a sink, and often have a quick sink wash in that room when it is not being used and is very quick way to freshen up. The main crew block was refurbished and they put in a basic small shower room, so when I cannot have my preferred quick sink wash I now have the alternative of a shower.

Commuting to work is not an easy option and requires that you are motivated to do it and well organised. At my place of work there are no special provisions for cyclist and the vast majority of people drive in by car. Those of us that cycle are viewed as an eccentric group and manage to do so by cramming our bikes in the locker room and in my case utilising a little used room that I managed to get access to almost by chance, that also luckily has a sink.

At any moment something could change that makes my cycle commute untenable.

It has been that way since I started doing it around 2011.

I guess as I am now at a point that I could retire whenever I want to it does not affect me so much. It’s a shame though as it would only take a little bit of effort to make cycling to where I work a lot easier.

I have two main off road routes that I use to ride to work, a summer one on tracks that get really wet in the Winter, and a Winter route that utilises more of the sandy common land that is prevalent in Surrey.

So it was a surprise when I swapped to my Winter route to find one of the best off road single track sections closed off. I leant from some dog walkers that a huge house had changed hands and the new owner was determined to prevent people using any land owned by the house. A real shame as it was a fantastic bit of my route. I have found an off road route that skirts around it but is not anywhere near as demanding or fun.

On another bridle path one day I found a council workman with a mini digger doing his best to turn a beautiful old gently eroded sandstone gullied track into a single track road. Why?

Another section of my route that I have also used for years with no issues, but is officially a footpath, has a quite newly developed expensive retirement complex at one end and they are trying to make passage through the 100 yards or so section of this right of way that passes along a drive as difficult for cyclist as possible.

They have padlocked gates shut and added fencing and small kissing style gates. They also have iron electric gates at the other end with a weight sensor that I trigger to open and recently I came across workmen who had been told to increase the weight trigger point to the maximum to stop cyclist.


Electric metal gates at the retirement development where weight limit was very recently increased. There is an old kissing gate to the right of these gates, however before the retirement complex was developed there were no other gates, so people just walked up the then track, before the electric gates were fitted. There is no weight trigger point if you approach from the other side (owners of properties use a remote control) so you are now forced to use the old, charming but very restrictive kissing gate. So if you are a wheelchair user you have been effectively retrospectively prevented from continuing your journey on this section of the North Downs Way which was previously available to you.

New retrospectively fitted fence and non disabled friendly kissing gate

Disabled friendly kissing gate

The link shows the sort of person they are actually preventing gaining access to this beautiful right of way.


Council disabled friendly kissing gate at the other end of this section

So far I have found I still trigger the electric gates, and can get through the kissing gates quite easily by removing my panniers and walking the bike in vertically on its back wheel to just fit inside and then reverse out once the gate is swung over behind me.

However as my pictures show what they have actually achieved is to stop access by wheelchair uses, parents with large non fold prams, or anyone else with a severe enough physical or mental impairment. Excellent work!

The youtube link shows that even with a disabled friendly kissing gate it is not that easy for a wheelchair user, but it is possible.

This is not just any old right of way but a section of the North Downs Path.

https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/trails/north-downs-way/

So that is another year over, and maybe by this time next year I really will be retired and pining for my days of cycling to work and back.

 

[Nealh]

Brilliant as always GH.

 

[georgehenry]

13,500 Miles

I have just had a series of 8 days at work with one day off in the middle.



I rode the Haibike to 5 of these completing 122 miles on it. The two jobs I did not ride the Haibike to work, I rode my old original almost 10 year old Oxygen down to the railway station and commuted by train before riding the Oxygen back home. So once again my car remained stationary on my driveway.

The Haibke started with 13,442 miles completed and ended with 13,540.

I think I am actually using my car too little now as I have found that cars can develop problems if not used enough.



The first three days on the Haibike were Wet and Windy and actually great fun on the off road tracks. The other two trips were in better and warmer weather allowing me to ride in shorts and T shirt on the last day.

My experiment to just change my top gear 12 tooth cog on my part worn cassette when I changed the chain is paying off with to date an additional 382 miles added to the cassette I would have previously changed and all the gears are working beautifully. The 12 tooth cog cost £3.01 delivered on the 20th of Feb.



I tend to prematurely wear out my 12 tooth top gear on my 10 mile road ride home where I am in top gear travelling a lot at higher speeds and using more power from the motor, with the drive train covered in mud and grit from the 14 mile off road ride to work.

I had not found individual Shimano cogs available to buy off ebay before. With all bike parts more expensive and harder to come by, extending the life of your existing cassette in a cheap effective way has got to be worthwhile. I have already noticed however that they have put their prices up by a pound though.

I have two spare cassettes left from when I bought a few of them of Amazon at an all time low price of £12.50 delivered. I notice with the supply and demand issues recently and no doubt brexit that the same cassette is now £30 plus. Ouch.

The KMC chain I put on around February 2021 has already passed its wear limit and as my chain ring and cassette will need replacing as well as the chain and everything is working well, I am now just going to run it with the worn chain until my gears play up and then change the lot.

I have done my financial homework now and am planning to retire from work in October, which will bring my ebike commuting days to a close and perhaps this thread, though I might just keep adding to it from whatever other riding I might still do on The Haibike.

 

[georgehenry]

118 Mile, 5 day cross country commuting run

Another 6 day run of commuting to work by bike. Five of those trips were fantastic cross country trips on my Haibike, completing 118 miles.

The last trip yesterday was different as my job start and finish times allowed me to ride down to my local Station and catch the train to work and train back and a ride home from the Station.

Drive Train

My replaced top gear cog is still working well after 616 miles, a 616 miles added to a cassette that I might have changed if that cog were not available. It is proving to be a cheap way to extend the life of my cassette. £3 have allowed me to run my partially worn out cassette for 616 miles longer, with no down side. Everything working very well with sharp gear changes being enjoyed.

So when I do change my transmission I will definitely try to catch the chain at its wear limit and just change the chain and top gear cog as this has worked so well this time.

With care it may be possible to do this more than once.

However the replacement chain that is on the bike now, reached its wear limit really fast after only just over 400 miles. So it has now done more than a thousand now after I decided not to change it as the chain ring and cassette will need changing when something on the drive train, cassette, chain or chain ring finally stops working effectively.

It is a hard balancing act to get right, as chains are £15 a pop, and my remaining two cassettes on the garage shelf cost £12.50, although are around £30 now, so extending the life of them will be very worth while.

It is also quite hard to spot the exactly right time to change the chain and the damage it does to the cassette when it is too worn happens very quickly.

In readiness for when I change my drive train I bought two sets of new jockey wheels at £5 each that I will change at the same time.

Ortlieb Pannier Fixing Failure

One of the attaching screws of the three there are on one of my Ortlieb panniers worked lose and fell off on one trip to work. I was able to bodge a way to hold the pannier with the missing fixing securely on for my trip home by tying the panniers together. I found the attaching plastic lug inside the pannier and found a grubbing screw that I could use to fix it, and has worked well. So an easy fix, utilising the Ortleib plastic fixing lug that is a bit like a plastic button to spread the load and reduce the chance of the inner bad and lining tearing.

Motor

I am starting to worry about how far the motor will go as it now getting quite close to 8,000 miles, but it continues to work well, and I continue not to wash it, or to do so very carefully, as it is the bearings that will go eventually, and water is the enemy.

Hallelujah moment.

A combination of some sticky weather and the room I use a sink to sluice myself down unavailable has meant I have used the work shower and feel much nicer for doing so. It takes a bit longer but by being organised I have not set of from home any earlier and will only sink wash now when time is really tight.

I am still planning to instigate my retirement to coincide with my 60th birthday in October, and as such need to get on with it, as I have to give a three month notice.

The gate at the retirement development where they had increased the sensor limit to maximum to stop cyclist triggering it and making them have to negotiate a very tight kissing gate. I had resigned myself to taking my panniers off twice in a matter of a hundred yards to get through the development but almost by chance I have found an angle of approach with a coordinated braking that triggers the gates opening. So after resigning myself to defeat, I am once more able to trigger the gates to open. Better still, no one has seen me do it yet, and a bit like the arms race in the cold war, if they knew I had found a way, they are sure to escalate again. Mums the word.

So if I do retire as planned my cross country bike commuting days are numbered.