Hello. I've just joined after lurking for a few weeks. Good forum.
So, I'm male, 54, used to be fit but now a 105kg blob. In mid January I was driving home from work through the Chilterns when it occurred to me that I was sitting burning petrol when I had masses of surplus energy stored in the form of blubber around my middle. I thought it would be great if that blubber could somehow be turned into energy to assist the car; I would get thin and the car would use less fuel.
Sadly it seems that the liposuction powered car has yet to be invented; but then I realised that an electrically assisted bike would pretty much achieve the same goal.
A bit of googling (Actually DuckDuckGo-ing) convinced me that my 18 mile each way commute was possible but I would need a big battery. Two weeks later I was the proud owner of a Kalkhoff Endeavour S11 Impulse Alfine and £2,700 poorer.
I started cautiously, 2 bike commutes a week. The third trip was a horror, -12c as I left home at 7.00am in the pitch dark. I thought I was well wrapped up, ski gloves, balaclava, neoprene overshoes, four layers on my body. I was wrong. After 5 miles I'd lost all feeling in my toes. After 10 miles my fingers had gone as well. By the time I got to work I was close to hypothermia. it took me 10 minutes to get my bike locked up because my fingers wouldn't work, I stopped shaking after an hour and could finally change into my work clothes. Fortunately the day warmed up so the ride home was only through pouring rain.
In mid February I went down heavily when I hit some black ice on a country lane. A car came round the corner behind me, saw me lying in the middle of the road, braked, skidded on the ice,and slid sideways into me, hitting me with its back wheel. Fortunately the car was sliding very slowly, and I found, slightly to my surprise, that I was completely uninjured. The bike had been damaged though (from the initial fall), so it spent the next four weeks in the local bike shop as they tried to source a brake lever to replace the one that had been snapped off.
I got the bike shop to cut down the head tube a bit and to put a smaller rear sprocket on so I wasn't always in gears 9,10 and 11. I've also removed some of the crap (license plate holder, mirror, bell, front fork lockout switch) and fitted clipless pedals.
So I've clocked up 540 miles so far and I'm loving it. My commute is quite hilly, with basically no flat bits at all. Most of the time I'm in the economy mode, but I ramp up the power for the bigger hills. Typically I'm cycling at 18-20 mph. (15-17 mph on hills). The last two miles home is all uphill, I switch the power to maximum and fly up at 20 mph trying to drain the battery. The range is usually showing zero when I get home, but I've not yet actually run out of juice.
So it's been an eventful couple of months, but I'm loving the commuting. I find myself looking forward to the uphill bits when I can use some of the bike's power. I feel like I'm getting fitter and my trousers are feeling a little looser round the waist. Who knows, I may even dust the cobwebs off my road bike before the summer is out.
So that's my e bike story so far. I've got a couple of specific questions, but I'll make a new post for them.
Thanks for reading.
So, I'm male, 54, used to be fit but now a 105kg blob. In mid January I was driving home from work through the Chilterns when it occurred to me that I was sitting burning petrol when I had masses of surplus energy stored in the form of blubber around my middle. I thought it would be great if that blubber could somehow be turned into energy to assist the car; I would get thin and the car would use less fuel.
Sadly it seems that the liposuction powered car has yet to be invented; but then I realised that an electrically assisted bike would pretty much achieve the same goal.
A bit of googling (Actually DuckDuckGo-ing) convinced me that my 18 mile each way commute was possible but I would need a big battery. Two weeks later I was the proud owner of a Kalkhoff Endeavour S11 Impulse Alfine and £2,700 poorer.
I started cautiously, 2 bike commutes a week. The third trip was a horror, -12c as I left home at 7.00am in the pitch dark. I thought I was well wrapped up, ski gloves, balaclava, neoprene overshoes, four layers on my body. I was wrong. After 5 miles I'd lost all feeling in my toes. After 10 miles my fingers had gone as well. By the time I got to work I was close to hypothermia. it took me 10 minutes to get my bike locked up because my fingers wouldn't work, I stopped shaking after an hour and could finally change into my work clothes. Fortunately the day warmed up so the ride home was only through pouring rain.
In mid February I went down heavily when I hit some black ice on a country lane. A car came round the corner behind me, saw me lying in the middle of the road, braked, skidded on the ice,and slid sideways into me, hitting me with its back wheel. Fortunately the car was sliding very slowly, and I found, slightly to my surprise, that I was completely uninjured. The bike had been damaged though (from the initial fall), so it spent the next four weeks in the local bike shop as they tried to source a brake lever to replace the one that had been snapped off.
I got the bike shop to cut down the head tube a bit and to put a smaller rear sprocket on so I wasn't always in gears 9,10 and 11. I've also removed some of the crap (license plate holder, mirror, bell, front fork lockout switch) and fitted clipless pedals.
So I've clocked up 540 miles so far and I'm loving it. My commute is quite hilly, with basically no flat bits at all. Most of the time I'm in the economy mode, but I ramp up the power for the bigger hills. Typically I'm cycling at 18-20 mph. (15-17 mph on hills). The last two miles home is all uphill, I switch the power to maximum and fly up at 20 mph trying to drain the battery. The range is usually showing zero when I get home, but I've not yet actually run out of juice.
So it's been an eventful couple of months, but I'm loving the commuting. I find myself looking forward to the uphill bits when I can use some of the bike's power. I feel like I'm getting fitter and my trousers are feeling a little looser round the waist. Who knows, I may even dust the cobwebs off my road bike before the summer is out.
So that's my e bike story so far. I've got a couple of specific questions, but I'll make a new post for them.
Thanks for reading.
