Ortler Wien 7-Speed

[Trevormonty]

I definitely need to do something about the chain. It's so slack it came off this morning. Normally that's a 10-second job to put right, but this bike has a coaster brake, so the normal back pedalling method wouldn't work. It was a bit of a faff to get it back on, but I got there. It really is very slack and needs a link or two removing. BUT I will bear the advice above in mind.

If chain is stretched that much you should be looking at replacing it.

 

[Warwick]

The bike is running very well. I will soon be fitting the Marathon Winters to it. I did an 18-mile ride on it this afternoon and it did the job admirably. The replacement front light does an adequate job, if not brilliant. I had a new chain fitted and the rear wheel trued recently. The previous owner must've clunked it up a kerb at some stage, as there was quite a dent in the rear rim. Other than that, it does a very good job of getting me swiftly from A to B.

 

[Warwick]

The battery ran out yesterday - my fault. I had a 4-mile journey home and it proved to be a very easy ride home. It runs very well unpowered, which is in contrast with my Oxygen, which is a beast to ride with a flat battery.

 

[SteveB1262]

Thanks for the link, it's very useful. It estimates 35Km range at 25Km/h. Touch and go with a Badass fitted...

I have the 300 watt battery too and my estimated range never varies. It always says 37 miles left no matter the state of the battery. I was told by the dealer that it isn't the most accurate bit of kit on the bike and not to give it too much credence. He was absolutely right. I do fifteen mile stints regularly and the battery charge indicator rarely goes down to four bars. I ride OFF on the flat unless there is a strong head wind and usually only use ECO, very rarely going into TOUR. Given the short recharge times too I really do take the 37 mile indicated range with a pinch of salt. My own estimate would seem to agree with Bosch's online calculator of approx 90 miles but I would be delighted with 60 miles which I think is quite attainable.

 

[Warwick]

Not much to report, as domestic upheaval means I haven't ridden it much. However, I am back in the saddle and spent some time yesterday doing some tweaking. I put the spiked Schwalbe Winters on it and adjusted the brakes. The WInters are slightly larger than the City Cruisers, so mudguard clearance was also adjusted. The standard, rather feeble, bell was swapped for the very loud Lion bell.

I'm looking forward to riding to work tomorrow.

 

[Warwick]

I'm getting used to the coaster brake now and find it quite useful when approaching junctions. The downside is that I haven't got used to the fact that I have to get the pedals in the right position when pulling away; I can't back pedal to do so.

On another note, I've had the battery run out on me this week after only 20 miles or so. It was cold and my fitness is down, but that's still a worryingly short range.

After using up a couple of cheapo, Chinese eBay rear view mirrors, I've splashed out on a decent Zefal one. I've got used to using the mirror on my commute and it's a very useful tool to make town riding safer.

 

[Warwick]

I haven't used the bike much of late, but I used it on my 14-mile commute to work earlier this week. On the way, in pleasantly sunny weather, I averaged 18.2MPH, doing the trip in 46 minutes with the bike in Sport mode and Turbo after about half way. Going back, cramp set in due to my lack of fitness, so I scaled things back and the trip took 49 minutes at 17.2 MPH.

Apart from a slight rear wheel wobble caused by it being out of true (& that was supposed to be fixed by my (now former) LBS) it ran superbly. I've fitted the Schwalbe City Cruisers back on it and pumped them up to 65psi. There's not much else to report. It's a brilliant commuter and I can't understand why the brand isn't better known, because they are both excellent quality and very good value.

 

[Warwick]

Wheel buckle now fixed and Slime gel added to the tubes. If only I had got my act together better this week, I could've taken advantage of the good weather and ridden in during the fine spell we've had. A 3-4-mile test ride suggests all is well and the bike is ready to be used for the commute next week.

 

[Warwick]

I've done the 14-mile each way commute a few times now and the bike has performed impeccably. The headset needed tightening up, but that was an easy task. It handles the canal towpath well, although it was dry. It wouldn't be such fun once we have prolonged rain to make it soggy again.

I'm still toying with the idea of raising the gearing, as I'm spinning out in 7th gear quite often. I suppose I could always lower the assistance, but where's the fun in that?

 

[Warwick]

Not much else to report, other than the bike is still performing very well. The only change of note is that I have just swapped the Schwalbe tyres it came with - which had split sidewalls due to the first owner running them on too low a pressure - and replaced them with much thinner Continental Contact Plus Reflex ones. These are 28mm, as opposed to the 35 or 37mm ones. They can also be pumped up to 100psi, although I have stuck with 90 for tomorrow's ride in. I'm curious to see how they cope on the canal towpath. I'm expecting them to make the journey faster if zingier.

 

[Warwick]

Well, I don't think the change of tyre has affected things, as the rear wheel has needed truing several times since I bought it. Anyhow, on a ride yesterday, there was a distinct bump coming from the rear wheel. I was worried that the new tyre was coming off (unlikely, seeing as what a bugger it was to get on!), but it seemed the wheel was oval. Once home, I noticed a broken spoke.

I took it to my LBS - a very down-to-earth place - and I'm going to bite the bullet and have the rim replaced. There was definitely something awry with the rear wheel that I want fixing.

 

[Warwick]

I now have the wheel back & fitted and rode into work on it this morning. All seems well & I now know the rear wheel removal process like the back of my hand! I'm hoping that solves the problem. The narrower rear tyres, plus much higher pressures have raised the possibility of raising the gearing. It has a 22T sprocket and I have a 20T lying around somewhere...

 

[Warwick]

I still haven't changed the gearing and am still dithering about whether to do so or not...

Anyway, today I had the first 'problem' with the electrics of the bike, sort of. I got about half way along my 14-mile commute and the power cut out and an SO3 error message flshed on the display. I rode about a mile unpowered and pulled over. I'd actually been thinking that I've had the Badass dongle just over a year now & the battery must need changing.

Instead of tracing things logically, my mind was made up that it was the dongle, so I whipped it off, only to then notice that the sensor magnet had slipped down the spoke and was nowhere near close enough to the sensor. Once I moved it back, the bike worked fine, although without the dongle.

I have to say that the bike was nowhere near as much fun to ride limited. I hadn't realised how much difference the Badass makes to the bike. At lunchtime, I went out and bought a replacement CR2 battery & fitted it and rode home with the bike newly illegal and 100% more fun.

One thing that made me glad that the above happened was that the allen bolt holding the Bosch sensor in place had worked its way loose. I don't know how much longer it would have stayed in situ, but I tightened it and will now make it an item on the monthly check list to tighten.

 

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[Warwick]

Thanks. I have some at me previous home that I shall liberate next week when I move house.

 

[Warwick]

Not much to report, as I haven't been in the saddle much since mid-November when I had a bad off and broke two ribs and tore a shoulder muscle. The latter isn't right yet, but isn't bad enough to stop me riding into work this coming week.

I managed to find a replacement, 7-speed, Nexus-hubbed wheel on eBay and it was a straight swap - except for needing to remove a couple of links from the chain because the sprocket was smaller. That takes away the decision about whether or not to raise the gearing! I swapped both wheels simply because the Continental Contact tyres on the originals are impossible to remove. I now have the Marathon Winter studded tyres fitted. Much wider, heavier and slower, but much, much safer in colder, icy conditions.

A short ride today on a very boggy canal towpath saw the bike perform smoothly. The Nexus gear shifter works well with the new wheel, thankfully. A combination of the higher gearing, wider tyres and my lack of fitness saw me in lower gears than usual, but I can live with that. I'm hoping the battery will see me to work and back.

 

[Warwick]

The ride into work today was uneventful. The gearing has been substantially raised. I need to count the teeth on the sprocket, but I now have to use a gear lower to climb hlls and I'm using first gear for steep inclines & I never did before. The Bosch unit coped well, though.

I didn't fit the lugged washers when replacing the wheels, as the gear selector mechanism got in the way of the chain when I did. I wondered if that would mean the wheel would move in the stays, but all seems fine so far. Apart from all that, it was a plug 'n' play replacement.