eBikes

Today I got in a good 24 miles in and around Green Mountain. I even took a side-trip near the end to Wildcat Lake County Park. There I spotted what could pretty much be called a bare ass. She was walking away from me at about 12 yards distance and I couldn't tell if she was 15 or 25. But nice ass. I ought to get to the beach more often.

On the way to my Big Biking Adventure, there was a bicyclist on the other side of the two-lane highway. He was about 10 inches into the lane which forced a car that was overtaking him to cross into my lane. And I then had to scoot over to the edge of my own lane. And this is a road (somewhat rare in these parts) that had a good, wide, 3 feet or so of paving on the side. There was no reason for this cyclist to be hogging the road.

Of course, I wouldn't want any harm to come to him . . . I think. But assholes like this are bound to become statistics. I ought to be a part of the "I Hate Cars" cult because I'm a fellow bicyclist. But I love cars and hate asshole bicyclists.

I think I can say after about 100 miles now on the eBike that it does (if not overwhelmingly) exceed my expectations. I'm figuring out how best to use that power. And the overall impression I have is that this is what it felt like to bicycle when I was 15 years younger, fit, and in top condition. Of course, you can turn the power up a bit more and I was never that strong. But the feeling of having bionic legs is pretty cool as well.

I used the throttle sparingly today and tried to peddle with the peddle-assist not at the highest setting. I did pretty good. I'm getting stronger. Like I said, I have something (long Covid?). You all have your troubles and pains of your own and don't need to hear about mine. But at its worst (in about April and May), it was typical (without aspirin) that I couldn't even bend over to plug something into the outlet. I would have to grab a chair and sit down in it first.

But I'm getting stronger. And I'm learning how to best use the power of the eBike. What it works best at is being able to somewhat breeze up hills that otherwise would have me slogging up at a very slow speed. That is very hard on the knees. With peddle-assist, in most cases you can (for all but the steepest hills) get a bit of speed going so that you can peddle quite hard. But peddling hard with the peddles spinning somewhat rapidly is a lot easier than putting that same pressure on peddles that are moving very slowly.

So it's not like I'm not putting in effort. I got home after the 24 miles and devoured a couple pieces of chicken and some potato salad. It was just primal hunger. But the effort I put in tends to be when the pedals are spinning around faster. And that just is way less wear and tear.

So I did try to put in as much of my own power today as was reasonable. Still, the formula for riding the eBike is not just how much power the bike is doing and how much you are putting in. For example, you can peddle vigorously with a moderate (say, 3 out of 5) peddle assist setting and go at a modest pace. Or you can peddle just as hard with a higher peddle assist and go faster. I tend to do the latter. It's not like a free ride at all. But it does give you a fast ride if you want.

After 24 miles of what I would say is heavy battery use, I had 30% left. I guess that's pretty good. I have the feeling that I would have tired before the bike ran out of juice.

One thing I discovered (which I wrote about earlier) is the issue with the charger's green light coming on to show that it is fully charged. On my first attempt at charging a couple weeks ago, after 7 hours, I still had a red light on the charger. The Ride1Up guy told me that sometimes the light never does go green but you can just go by the built-in light on the battery pack. He said when it goes blue, you're good to go,

But this turned out not to be the case. I filled my battery the other day by waiting until it went to blue. I went out riding and was surprised to see the battery so low after a relatively short (8 miles) ride. I thought something must be wrong with the batteries or something.

So this time I charged them again and just left them on the charger. The light on the charger did eventually go green. And I'm pretty sure I then got a maximum capacity charge. It's strange that the Ride1Up guy doesn't seem to be aware of this.

It is. And a lot of fun. Sitting in an office chair most of the day and probably doing too much thinking, it's just nice to get out away from everything and expend some energy. Everything is so simple on a bike.

I ran into a woman early on my trip who was out walking with her dog. We chatted a bit and she told me she had an eBike as well but wasn't sure how to use it. I offered to give her my contact info if she needed it and that I'd be glad to help her. (No, she wasn't my type.) But she deferred. But she sure was a nice, chatty lady. She had recently lost her husband.

Ride1Up is now having another sale on the LMT'D (the eBike I have). As well as a sale price on the bike, they are including a free second battery. Wow. That's quite a deal. I emailed them to see if I could at least get a discount on a second battery. The chick there offered $50 bucks. That wasn't particularly white-of-her. I was expecting a bit more.

Batteries are expensive so I may wait. I just don't want to be in the situation five years from now where I need a new battery and they are no longer available.

So I'm watching this video yesterday of some guy testing out an eBike that they bill as possible the Most powerful electric mountain bike." It's Watt Wagon's (never heard of them) Hydra model. I think they were demoing the $4899.00 model but there is a similar one that goes for $6499.00.

And the demo was, in my opinion, juvenile and dishonest. Did they once ask if this bike was worth more than some cars go for (or used to go for)? But this isn't professional jealousy. But seeing the price tag did make me realize what a tremendous deal I got on the bike that I have.

These are the kinds of toys for those who want the best...or at least who want to conspicuously pay enough so that it looks that way. And I have little doubt that these bikes can perform. But would I really pay (at minimum) $3200.00 more than what I did for the LMT'D? That's a stupid question. Of course, I wouldn't.

But apparently this bike is powerful and relatively light. And it has a mid-drive engine which Those Who Must Have the Best claim is the best. And, frankly, I wouldn't mind trying out a mid-drive. Ride1Up has a mid-drive (the Prodigy) but I didn't opt for it because of the extra price and the lack of a throttle.

My guess is that I made the right decision. I do think having (with the mid-drives) the weight more centered toward the middle makes for a more nimble bike for real mountain biking. But it's a different method of delivering power to the wheels with a mid-drive. It's all delivered through the chain. And that apparently has implications for the longevity of the chain and other components. As one commenter wrote:



I'm very glad I didn't get the mid-drive (although, again, I'd like to try one). With the hub drive that I have, the power is not transferred through the chain. So the power is just added boost to whatever you are doing in your peddling and with your gear shifting. There is no need to be cautious about shifting (although, of course, one never should be peddling hard when shifting gears).

Anyway, just thinking out loud.

I'm too cheap and just too anti-social to chase status objects. But that is the human condition, probably since Adam and Eve.

It's almost certain that the cheapest price will tend to translate into a shoddy product. But not always. And there is zero guarantee that a higher price gives you a better product. The world is full of people paying mechanics thousands to pay for the Mercedes or some other luxury brand whose parts are expensive and break-downs no more rare than an economy model -- and might be much more so. (There's usually much more to go wrong.)

I think there's generally a sweet-spot in regards to getting the best bang for the buck. You can pay more for higher-end models, but generally there are diminishing returns in terms of value...and might be decreasing return in terms of the cost of upkeep.

I got my MBA about 20 years ago and A or F grading Was the rage among business professors. As interest in business education has fallen, regular grading A---F has returned. In my post grad work, history and political science it never left. 

Just a huge part (most) of it.

A small example of how deeply it can go. My ex-boss, who was a German Jew, had an uncle who also fled to the USA before WWII. He came with nothing and took a job as a ladies hosiery salesman, in New York as I recall. The first couple of weeks he did horribly as the product was crap and the man was not able to pretend that it was otherwise. Thus no sales. No sales, no money. It took him a few weeks to psych himself up to believe that the product was good. Once he crossed this mental barrier, he was able to go in and honestly lie to his customers as to the quality of those stocking. He then made a good living. 

All which tends to support my belief/contention that modern advertising, and I go back over 100 years when I say modern, has helped form and set up the present sorry, insane state of our culture and society. We have been prepped for and believe a constant stream of lies which are completely at odds with reality. How else to explain the fact that we exist in this present virtual reality called The West?

I'd say that you probably ain't seen nothing yet. Virtual reality, as a technology, will probably be The Next Big Thing.

And the distinction between what is real and what is not real will continue to be lessened. No one knows what is at the bottom of that rabbit hole other than some form of slavery.

Just a sample of the long history which has led to our present insanity. 

False Advertising  

Perhaps I should have titled it, All Advertising.