Cycling UK Forum

Hmmm, since Spa will sell each crank separately, I've ordered a RH double crank and 119mm BB to try. With the omission of the chainguard that could be a weight reduction of 200g. Also had thoughts about fitting the much lighter Tortec Velocity rack. I tried it before and the rack legs holes would not line up with the frame, but I reckon filing 1mm off the fork legs will do it. Should be a weight reduction of 100g or more.

I could replace the folding stem and telescopic riser with a one piece aluminium tube, as long as I can get the RANS headset adjuster to work. I went with the folding stem to help with getting the bike in the car. I'm not sure if that's a viable proposition with the new electric car.

Simplest fix to keep the chain away from the seat clamp is to just use the outer 2 ring positions of the triple, using 33T and 44T rings.

Just been pottering around checking on the gears etc. I'm getting chain rub in bottom gear on the (empty) idler post and the seat clamp. It's marginal but I do need to do something about it. Options are:

1. fit the drive side idler as designed
2. fit a length of floating chain tube
3. change to a true compact double on a wider BB spindle

(1) would be a last resort, (2) is a no-cost option because I have the parts (3) would be the lightest solution but I'd lose the chain guard

Other than that, I can tell it's a stiffer frame than the XP which is both good and bad.

Biospace wrote: ↑28 Jan 2025, 12:37pm

UpWrong wrote: ↑28 Jan 2025, 8:32am Selling like hot cakes. With 52 KwH battery weighs 1440Kg.
European car of the year and What Car car of the year.

For anyone thinking of parting with their own money, a review from someone who doesn't automatically give an EV a glowing report is valuable. Thanks for posting the video, I'd have likely missed it otherwise.

This does sound to be much closer to what most people need, rather than what their insecurities lead them to. If HM rates it, then it should be good. The displays remind me of a 2007 iMac and it would perhaps have been better to hear the batteries were LFP, but these shouldn't be anywhere close to being deal-breakers.

It does look like Renault are on fire with their rollout of electric vehicles - there's a Twingo on the same platform due out next year.

I believe the smaller capacity (40KwH) battery is LFP. There are plans to use European made batteries in a year or two but I'm not sure what chemistries and capacities are planned.

Worth saying the R5 has V2G capabilities, towing capability and comes with a heat pump.

[XAP]Bob wrote: ↑28 Jan 2025, 9:54am Not sure I'd choose that colour though...

The colour is growing on me but I'd want to see it in the flesh. If I was buying now then this would be top of my list to consider. It's not superior to my MG4 in performance, charging or ride but I expect the software to work better and I like the philosophy and 240Kg less weight. And it's a European make, assembled in Europe with an effort to source European parts.

Selling like hot cakes. With 52 KwH battery weighs 1440Kg.
European car of the year and What Car car of the year.

With the Recurve seat fitted. Haven't ridden it yet but I think the more upright position is better than with the more reclined RANS sling mesh seat. I've changed the stem and fitted a rack too. I bought the Bacchetta Universal rack with the frameset but it's not lightweight and is designed to fit on the inside of the dropouts, sharing the bolts for the seat stays. I wasn't happy with that. They are only M5 bolts and having them support the seat and the rack is potentially stressing them, and the failure mode would be catastrophic. So amongst my collection of racks I found one that fitted a second set of mounting points. That's no mean feat with having to accommodate the rear disk caliper too. The rack prevents ideal position of the single-sided rear mudguard. I shall probably glue a short extender on to increase coverage. Overall, I'm very pleased with the way it looks and in particular with the neat and tidy cabling I managed. I need to sort out some vibration when applying the front disc brake. Hoping the pads bed in, if not I'll try realigning the caliper again and if that doesn't work I do have a drum braked wheel to try.

djnotts wrote: ↑23 Jan 2025, 7:35pmA simple NO.

+1

"Drill, baby, drill"

That's one way to push us into the arms of the Chinese for solar panels, electric vehicles and nuclear reactors.

A heat pump might save up to 1 kWh over a PTC heater, so possibly adding 5% to your range. What Car didn't think there was a financial saving overall when the cost is factored in but the extra range in winter would be welcome.

Did our first real road trip in the MG4. Drove from Portsmouth to Cambridge, staying overnight before heading to Ely and then onto Ipswich for another night before returning to Portmouth via a scenic route. Covered 373 miles. Recharged once at Sainsbury's near Bury St Edmunds within a few hundred yards of a junction on the A14. Charged from 16% to 92% in 38 mins whilst buying a few items of food. Paid 68p per KwH, total cost £33.

Was spoilt for choice of chargers in that region. We shunned the slow and expensive Premier Inn chargers both nights. I did find a rapid charger at 44p per KwH on my electroverse app in Needham Market but decided it was safer to grab the ultra-rapid chargers at Sainsbury's before the battery got too low. The charging process was very straightforward, no hitches. I paid with the electroverse charge card so the cost will be added to our monthly house energy bill.

With winter driving, I can see the advantage of having a car heat pump. With two off us in the car we had the HVAC on all the time to keep warm and stop the car from misting up. Still got 3.8 miles per KwH overall for the trip though.

Hub drives are usually reliable. The cadence sensor is usually the weak point and should be easy and cheap to reposition or replace.

I recently applied for research funding to predict nursing staff requirements in hospital wards shift-by-shift using routinely recorded (and anonymised) patient data. My proposal suggested considering prediction models using both classical regression methods and deterministic machine learning methods. The reviewers wanted me to have patient and public involvment in the study to understand the acceptability of using AI in healthcare. I had deliberately avoided using the term "AI" in the proposal. The Health Foundation has run a recent survey on this with some useful results which suggests acceptability does depend on what the application is and having safeguards, https://www.health.org.uk/reports-and-a ... taff-think

sjs wrote: ↑10 Jan 2025, 10:03pm

[XAP]Bob wrote: ↑10 Jan 2025, 9:20pm The Ohme really does need a local API...
But you can tell it to "just charge now".

In my case the charger was so convinced it knew the car was charged to 80%, and also that the car did not want to be charged more than 80%, it would not show the "max charge now" button. There were a few ways I could have got around that impasse, but slick and seamless it was not.

I rebooted my Ohme charger to get it working again after some internet connection issue. Mine uses a 3G or 4G connection, not WiFi.

pete75 wrote: ↑10 Jan 2025, 1:23pm

[XAP]Bob wrote: ↑10 Jan 2025, 12:26pm 7kW is plenty for the vast majority of use cases.

With Octopus Go you get six hours of cheap rate each night, that's 56kWh of charging, over 200 miles of likely range.
And that's in *one* night... So it's only an issue if you do a journey of over 200 miles on the day after you completely drain the battery (with a journey of substantially over 200 miles).

It'd take very, very fine judgement indeed to arrive home with a completely drained battery.

My Xmas experience was kind of reassuring. After charging to 100% I drove 100 miles to my Mum's, ferried relatives around for our Xmas meal to complete 160 miles, and the car said its battery was down to 30%, not enough to get the 100 miles back home. The next morning after staying the night I got out the granny charger and was able to charge at 2KwH for 5 hrs. When I left after lunch the car said the battery was 47%. Initially it seemed to empty quickly and I was planning on stopping at a rapid charger, but I slowed to 55-60mph (it was now dark) and followed lorries on the motorway when it was convenient to do so. I made it home in the usual journey time with 7% remaining.