New bike day. The purple Orbea Rise.

[mboy]

Ok, well not too terrible a solution really. Just needs a different dropper lever which increases clearance to the bars/controls.

You gonna run the Shimano brakes...? I've got a redundant i-spec Shimano dropper lever if it's of any use to you...?

[weeksy]

No matey, a set of Codes went on today actually, just not got around to pics/write-up.

But thanks anyway.

Also swapped the dissector onto the rear and put a Hillbilly on front. Both tubeless obviously now.

[MingtheMerciless]

When I look at the bike this is all I can think of:

[weeksy]

Been doing some taping on chainstays, a bit of a rubber protection on the bottom of downtube and doing a bit of research into computer options.

First up is the Garmin.
https://support.garmin.com/en-GB/?faq=q ... WJ9lk12Kk9

Lots and lots of options for compatibility with Garmins. However i don't own one, but some of the Forerunner options are not crazy money.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285785523968 ... R57ZoPjPYw

Option 2 is to use the phone, i can connect to the etube app. This is Shimano Steps configuration and diagnostic App.
It's not an 'on the fly' sort of thing though, it's more a 'when you've stopped' type thing.

option 3 is the Shimano EN600 computer
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314364220321 ... ULDRp_nPYw

Although i'd need to look into the cabling, but likely it shouldn't be too tricky in reality

Option 4 is of course 'wait for 20%' which is what i'll be doing short term anyway. Only once on a ride have i gone to 20% anyway up to now, if the battery is better than on the older Orbea, i won't be hitting <20% more than once a year anyhow. It's a decent chunk of battery/assistance and the Eeb is predominantly a 'shuttle' vehicle for uplifting myself rather than a 100miler type day out bike.

IMG_20240327_105754 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

IMG_20240327_105746 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[Mr Moofo]

Been doing some taping on chainstays, a bit of a rubber protection on the bottom of downtube and doing a bit of research into computer options.

First up is the Garmin.
https://support.garmin.com/en-GB/?faq=q ... WJ9lk12Kk9

Lots and lots of options for compatibility with Garmins. However i don't own one, but some of the Forerunner options are not crazy money.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285785523968 ... R57ZoPjPYw

Option 2 is to use the phone, i can connect to the etube app. This is Shimano Steps configuration and diagnostic App.
It's not an 'on the fly' sort of thing though, it's more a 'when you've stopped' type thing.

option 3 is the Shimano EN600 computer
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314364220321 ... ULDRp_nPYw

Although i'd need to look into the cabling, but likely it shouldn't be too tricky in reality

Option 4 is of course 'wait for 20%' which is what i'll be doing short term anyway. Only once on a ride have i gone to 20% anyway up to now, if the battery is better than on the older Orbea, i won't be hitting <20% more than once a year anyhow. It's a decent chunk of battery/assistance and the Eeb is predominantly a 'shuttle' vehicle for uplifting myself rather than a 100miler type day out bike.

IMG_20240327_105754 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

IMG_20240327_105746 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

I have a forerunner 235, sitting on my desk, doing nothing.
Any good?

Are the pink pedals on yet?

[weeksy]

Ah 255 and 265. But thank you

Still the blue ones but will fit black DMR before weekend, they're fitted to the orange one but he'll run SPD type

[weeksy]

I've just bought the PPE a Granite Stash.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115984600505 ... 6127004593

Anyone who's seem my MTB threads will know i love a Stash Tool. They're just very simple and effective for the times you need a multi-tool.

The prices have dropped to what i think is a bargain figure now as that version has been replaced by a newer super-duper version.

[weeksy]

First proper ride on the bike and apart from the horrible saddle, it's all sweet.
Couple of clicks faster on the rebound than I first set it. But that's about all I changed. I'll probably add 10psi to the shock and slow rebound 1 click as I think it's sitting a big low.
The Code R work sweetly and the motor is deffo quieter on this revision compared to the orange one.

I may rotate the bars forward fractionally but that's about it.

Well, that and removing the Burgtec Cloud saddle and either swap it for the one on the orange bike, or one out of spares.

IMG_20240409_153159 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[weeksy]

catching the morning sunshine
IMG_20240410_082328 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

IMG_20240410_083648 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

trails are 99% lovely at the moment, properly nice. Weirdly at times the purple one doesn't feel like it rolls as fast as the orange... i'm going to have to take the orange one out in a back to back test as i've checked all the power settings but weirdly, it's just not quite rolling in the same way. It could be the sticky conditions as some trails are a bit draggy.

[weeksy]

Afternoon ride of trailsy fun

Hit a few of the regular trails, the onto the dad jumps in Frilsham before heading for a beer.
Sitting having a beer the heavens opened with hail, rain, wind... WTF it was glorious !!!!
Called Mrs Weeksy to come get me in the van and stayed for another 2 pints

IMG_20240416_155925 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

IMG_20240416_164628 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[Dodgy69]

That's the spirit.

[weeksy]

Out with @crust on Sat along with 2 of my local riding mates. Both me and Crust were on the Ebikes, they were on manuals. We rode FoD and it was interesting just how fast and easy the Eebs were on the ups... i was cruising along happily.

On the downhills i changed my rebound to 2 clicks slower as on the first run it felt a little quick. But the purple thing was absolutely brilliant considering it's a lower spec than the orange. I hit one of the Dowies trails quicker than i'd say i've ever been before chasing one of the lads with the "nah, he's not gapping me under any circumstances" mindset
A beer or 3 followed and a burger.... awesome

IMG_20240420_132626 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Conditions were just exceptional and it was awesome to be able to come home and just put the bikes away.

[weeksy]

The boy was out with the coach last night after school so i'd got the Orbea ready to roll. However the plan was changed and we were heading to Staunton ! I'd heard about Staunton from the boy and it's a bit on the spicy side.
I went in with a bit of trepidation, following my nose and hoping for the best. A couple of incorrect decisions on the route meant i ended up once or twice on things a bit out of my skillset but i mostly either survived or walked a little bit.
I then sessioned a jumpy drop line which took me a couple of runs to hit, first time was a "No...." second look, hmmm maybe... and i hit it on the next run.. It was touch and go but i sort of made it on the bigger one... It wasn't graceful but i survived with a big surge or adrenaline.

IMG_20240424_182850 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[weeksy]

Out yesterday with @crust it was interesting to see how the newer Rise would do against his Rail.

I knew it'd be OK in a riding context and it didn't let me down at all, on the trailsy bits the Orbea was flying. I know it's the budget version even compared to the orange Rise, with lower spec Forks and Shock, but it was spot on.

Battery though, well lets just say 55km and 800m of climbing is about it's limit i'd say i had about 2% left by the time we got home. When we hit Goring i went down to RED LIGHT which is 20%.... then on the way to home after beers i went flashing red which i assume was 10%. But we were only 3 miles from home and only one hill left there. Sadly @crust went on the attack with 1500m to go on the last hill, with 30% battery left on his he hit Turbo and killed me off. I had nothing left in the battery and not enough in the tank for an Eeb attack.

It showed it can do a decent length/climb ride, but clearly if i wanted more than that, i'd need an extender.

IMG_20240504_133250 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[weeksy]

Didn't hit Dyfi with the boy yesterday, partly due to expense, partly due to flying solo and being less fun doing that sort of stuff solo.

So i went out for a quick trip to some Enduro trails i raced with the boy on once upon a lifetime ago. I didn't find many of them and the ones i found were on the techy side of techy steep (for me anyway) but i managed to bimble my way down them and had fun doing so. Not trails i'd necessarily go looking for again, but was decent at the time.

IMG_20240506_105109 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[weeksy]

Well today went REALLY badly.

I got the new 2 piece linkage from MTB Monster, this replaces one of the weak points in the shock linkage with an improved linkage.

When trying to fit one of the bolts i was losing my shit and thinking this ain't right, so i stopped and started again, taking apart and looking and saw what was the start of a stripped thread, however, on further inspection it wasn't a stripped thread but an insert/helicoil on one ? i didn't think that would be possible or the case with the chainstay but as you can see from what i removed, this wasn't a stripped thread but a 1 piece insert.

As you can see, the thread is still intact after this insert was removed.
IMG_20240703_132223 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

IMG_20240703_132029 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

I've emailed the dealer with a bit of a WTF type question.... but i'm not sure WTF to do here. LOL.

[weeksy]

MTB Monster have raised it with Orbea .. Top service from them

[weeksy]

MTB Monster have raised it with Orbea .. Top service from them

Part arrives tomorrow, it gave me a chance to clean up all the pivots etc whilst apart, as well as fitting the newer shock linkage.

I also noticed the 2.5 DHR rubs the chainstay so it's been swapped for a 2.3 Butcher which was brand new from spares.

I'll get it whacked together tomorrow and tested.

[weeksy]

Forgot to update this... It's been a bit of a drama.

The seatstay part arrived and was perfect straight on and happy, thread lovely, no issues. However when i took the bike out "flash flash red light red light"
Stuck the Shimano etube app on and got a W582 error which reads "speed sensor unit"

It transpired that when i'd had the bike apart the cable is somewhat delicate and had broken internally. So it needed sorting.

Ordered a new speed unit/cable for £30 from Amazon and put it on to test. However to get the cable fitted you have to drop the motor, which as on some ebikes is a bit of a faff !!! But not terrible. All done, perfect works lovely.

However, this is the complex bit, the internal routing of the cable down the chainstay into the housing, through the next bit and into where it meets the motor. I could see instantly it was going to be 100% a complete faff and nightmare. So i took it to Rotec as he's got the internal routing kit, plus as he's getting paid to sort it, has more patience than me

It was ready a couple of days ago, but collected today and it's all good.

[weeksy]

Out on the Rise a couple of times this week. Went shopping on it today for weekend meat. It's just amazing how much get-up-and-go these things give. They're not quite 'effortless' but if you ride them in a way to make them effortless, then yeah they mostly are

I've got the Rise configured very much for soft squidgy comfort and it rides like a dream, a lot more compliant than the Status, but they're for very very different riding so that's expected.

I've been struggling in the past rides with some creaking, but i seem to have (tempting fate here) got rid of that now and it's just a lovely lovely thing to ride.
Sometimes i think about my future bike being a DH manual bike... But i can see it being a Santa Cruz Heckler Eeb as time moves on.