Cycling UK Forum

My go to tent for bad weather is my Vango Hydra 200. Absolutely bomb proof. Didn't have to sacrifice any organs for the black market to buy it either.

Dazzathedrummer wrote: ↑18 Jun 2024, 12:15pm
Bikes that have caught my eye so far...

Rockrider ST540
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/27-5-moun ... R-p-301097
Some of the negative reviews mentions dodgy parts - leaky brake handles

I have/had that same bike myself. Not one single issue with it whatsoever. I'd go so far as to say it was one of the nicest handling bikes I've ridden and I've had quite a few.
The seat clamp bolt however in my experience is made of cheese so I wouldn't go loosening/tightening it too often.
The rim diameters seem to be fractionally bigger than most and I had issues with fitting certain tyres. If you want to fit full length mudguards, there's a bolt hole on the back of the fork stanchion brace but you'll need some way of fitting the mudguard stays. I used Zefal Gizmos https://amzn.eu/d/0i8kzfoL
Good bike!

Best just to move on it seems. Hope he doesn't do that again though, it could be worse for the next undertakee.

Carlton green wrote: ↑19 Jun 2024, 7:03am
Your bike seems to shift on … goes surprisingly well for a (legal limits compliant) 250 Watt electric bike.

As far as I know undertaking isn’t illegal and - though I wonder what happened - there’s no evidence that the van driver didn’t follow you through the lights in the correct lane. I’d have assumed that the road to my left was unoccupied - imho it should have been - and perhaps you made the same assumption? Obviously I agree that the van driver was reckless and that things could have ended badly.

Nothing speedy about my bikes acceleration there Carlton. How many pints had you consumed when watching it?

The rear view mirror showed no traffic behind me as I went through the junction so that plonker simply went up the left hand turn lane and then decided to undertake me.
Undertaking isn't strictly illegal but it is advised against.
I'm very seriously considering fitting a left hand rear view mirror...although this is the first time this has ever happened to me.

Not too long ago, I was riding to my mums. In the video, you'll see I took the middle straight ahead only lane through the lights and was making my way over to the left of the following single lane. The lane on my left approaching the lights is left turn only.
I'm lucky there was no other traffic to my right or I think I'd be in hospital or in a pine box right now.
Greater Manchester Police awarded a warning letter for this example of sterling driving. I personally think points should have been given here at the very least.
What say you? The incident is about 1 minute in as GMP require 1 min before and after a traffic incident.
https://youtu.be/EEVCIJWVOn8

I've yet to find water ingress in my bafang motor but I have had 2 C500 displays die from water ingress. The 850C display I currently use has also had slight water ingress but is still running. Made for British weather they certainly are not.

Not entirely sure what you mean brucey but bafang do ring sizes of 44, 46, 48 and I think...54.
Do you mean stripping the teeth off of a flat ring and welding them to the bafang ring?

September 2022 my dad and I set off from Penmachno, Wales to tour around Anglesey. We'd had a few mishaps on the way to the campsite in I think...Llanberis...can't be sure but anyhoo...
We were on a busy main road when my dad tried to get onto the path away from traffic. The front wheel washed out and dad hit the ground like a ton of bricks. He went head first into a wooden telephone pole. We made it to the campsite where we discovered he had a huge gash in his arm requiring stitches. That was the end of that tour and I haven't toured since. Too much of a scaredy cat to tour on my own.

First thing to ask yourself is, do you have somewhere safe to lock it up? If not, you'll be wanting insurance and don't skimp on the lock.
I'd echo what others have said, leave the ebiking for as long as you can. I am an ebiker and whilst I love the effortless cycling, the lack of exercise has drained every ounce of muscle from my legs to the point that for a brief period when the motor was being repaired I literally couldn't ride up the most easy of hills. It'll do you no good.

Not something I'm capable of or equipped to do. BCD's aren't really the problem with the bafang setup. It's the chainrings dish. The ring is like a dinner plate where the rim is set back from the face so that it effectively cups the motor. Using a standard flat chainring would likely only work on a single speed or internal geared hub. The chain line is royally messed up otherwise.

Carlton green wrote: ↑16 Jun 2024, 7:30pm On two counts I’m glad that you’ve posted to this thread.

First IIRC you had felt limited by the minimum chainwheel size available for your motor. By chance I discovered that aftermarket parts allow you to change your chainwheel to something smaller which should give you a small but handy increase in torque.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from ... l&_sacat=0

Second your philosophy of building from parts and not allowing the likes of Bosch to control your actions is a good example of what might be possible for others to copy.

Ah the chainwheel. I had one of those. Whether it's because the alloy used was a particularly soft grade or the motors power simply wore it out I'm not certain, but the teeth were very worn to within a whisker of their useability in less than about 600 mostly dry miles/6 months.
The supplied steel chainring is showing no real signs of wear after a similar time frame but I think the mileage has dropped quite a bit.
We're still stuck with paying ridiculous prices for dinner plate sized cassettes and their required derailleurs.

I've no experience with off the shelf ebikes or bosch etc motors but I've just last week stripped and rebuilt my bafang BBS02 motor.
It needed new bearings having overtightened it. New gaskets were also fitted and the entire motor was nearly stripped right back to it's individual components and regreased. From googling the parts I needed, I noticed that virtually every component within the motor is replaceable. The displays and obviously battery are also replaceable or upgradeable if so wished.

+1 for the Vango.
2 chaps did a test of the cloud up on YouTube on a windy night and it didn't fare well at all. As said above, those side panels are like sails.
https://youtu.be/JyF0mI4f8Qc?si=boJndlEWgRHxkA2T

The swastika is originally a sign of good fortune. That nazi pillock stole it and that's why it has the stigma around it nowadays.

Take an angle grinder to it. It'll be fine.