£3K Electrically Assisted MTB

[Dodgy69]

I bought those cheap gel pad cover things off Ebay. They help but your arse will adjust...and you can wear normal shorts.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I don't have to look like a baboon then

https://m.lightinthebox.com/p/arsuxeo-m ... 22866044b5

[Taff]

make sure your seat is level, having the seat nose pointing up or down can cause serious discomfort

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I've set the seat to level using a spirit level, I couldn't think of a better way to see whether it was leve l

[weeksy]

I've set the seat to level using a spirit level, I couldn't think of a better way to see whether it was leve l

There's an app. 'saddle adjust'

[weeksy]

https://singletrackworld.com/2020/05/ar ... e-comfort/

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Went out this morning, I did 1 hour instead of the 2 hours I have been doing, the seat is definitely better that little bit flatter, but I think I was doing too much riding too soon and need to get my body used to riding a bicycle.

[G.P]

So after another couple of weeks, how are you getting on with it?

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

It's fantastic, great fun, I seem to have got past the sore butt stage, I'm going out for at least an hour most days, sometimes 2 hours, done a little over 100 miles, had 2 punctures (one in each wheel), contemplating a 3 hour ride for this Saturday, but I'll definitely do two hours.

It's a bike for people who don't like cycling up hills, in Turbo it climbs like a trials bike, I'd guess it's got similar power to an old Yamaha TY80 (I'm showing my age here), really glad I bought it, it's a better trail bike than any trail motorcycle I've owned, and you can legally ride it on Bridleways and in the forest, and no one gives you dirty looks when you're out on it off road.

My 16 mile ride is from mine (near Lings Honda shop in Ipswich) up to Witnesham Thicks (yes there's a place called that)and then back down again, I go past 3 pubs, Tuddenham Fountain, Witnesham Barley Mow and Westerfield Swan, past a Llama farm, a couple of river crossings through the river Fynn, past two golf courses and past the Motorcross track I used to use in the late 80s.

Have I mentioned what a fab thing my EMTB is?

[G.P]

It's fantastic, great fun, I seem to have got past the sore butt stage, I'm going out for at least an hour most days, sometimes 2 hours, done a little over 100 miles, had 2 punctures (one in each wheel), contemplating a 3 hour ride for this Saturday, but I'll definitely do two hours.

It's a bike for people who don't like cycling up hills, in Turbo it climbs like a trials bike, I'd guess it's got similar power to an old Yamaha TY80 (I'm showing my age here), really glad I bought it, it's a better trail bike than any trail motorcycle I've owned, and you can legally ride it on Bridleways and in the forest, and no one gives you dirty looks when you're out on it off road.

My 16 mile ride is from mine (near Lings Honda shop in Ipswich) up to Witnesham Thicks (yes there's a place called that)and then back down again, I go past 3 pubs, Tuddenham Fountain, Witnesham Barley Mow and Westerfield Swan, past a Llama farm, a couple of river crossings through the river Fynn, past two golf courses and past the Motorcross track I used to use in the late 80s.

Have I mentioned what a fab thing my EMTB is?

That's really good to hear

My BiL has one which I've used a couple of times, it really impressed me and I've been thinking about getting one for a while. Where i am in Wiltshire I'm close to the Ridgeway and a whole load of green lanes and bridleways. I was a road rider in my youth but road riding doessn't appeal at all on today's overcrowded roads. I wouldn't mind doing a good few road miles to access off road stuff or maybe a favoured pub, but that's it.
£2.5k will get me a decent DT175MX or similar, but I must admit an eMTB is calling a little louder ATM.

Hmmm...

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Where you are there are loads of good byways and bridleways, you could be out all day with barely going on tarmac.
I've not looked closely at trail bikes in a little while but for £2.5K I'm guessing your looking at a 40 year old two stroke or a 20 year old DRZ or XR.
The thing for me with a trail bike is, how fast are am I going to ride it off road by myself, and in all honesty I do about 15mph on something like an XR250 when I'm by myself as hitting a tree at 50mph on a rarely used track doesn't appeal to me, so I'm doing the same speed on trails as I would on an XR, with the EMTB I can ride a lot more places legally and inoffensively, and also when I get it stuck in the mud (like I did a few times with my DRZ400) I won't have to resort to digging it out by hand.

[weeksy]

GP, bring some cycling kit in a backpack on Sat.... The wifes bike will fit and suit you perfectly. We can do an hours ride, some woods, trails, ups, downs... Hers is one of these.

https://www.devercycles.co.uk/25225/pro ... gJpJfD_BwE

So not amazing spec, but far from rubbish spec... it will give you a good representation of how they ride and whether it's what you want out of a bike anyway.

[Nordboy]

GP, bring some cycling kit in a backpack on Sat.... The wifes bike will fit and suit you perfectly. We can do an hours ride, some woods, trails, ups, downs... Hers is one of these.

https://www.devercycles.co.uk/25225/pro ... gJpJfD_BwE

So not amazing spec, but far from rubbish spec... it will give you a good representation of how they ride and whether it's what you want out of a bike anyway.

And then get the wallet out on Sunday, when you decide to buy one!! It's inevitable

[weeksy]

GP, bring some cycling kit in a backpack on Sat.... The wifes bike will fit and suit you perfectly. We can do an hours ride, some woods, trails, ups, downs... Hers is one of these.

https://www.devercycles.co.uk/25225/pro ... gJpJfD_BwE

So not amazing spec, but far from rubbish spec... it will give you a good representation of how they ride and whether it's what you want out of a bike anyway.

And then get the wallet out on Sunday, when you decide to buy one!! It's inevitable

My boss borrowed it for 3 days for his missus, it cost him £2600

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

That looks a good price for a full suspension from a good manufacturer.
But yeah, GPs next thread will be "I've bought an EMTB" they really are amazing things for non cyclists, I can see the keen, fit cyclists not liking them and why they don't like them (weight and the different feeling when peddling) but for those of us that aren't particularly fit they're great.

[weeksy]

That looks a good price for a full suspension from a good manufacturer.
But yeah, GPs next thread will be "I've bought an EMTB" they really are amazing things for non cyclists, I can see the keen, fit cyclists not liking them and why they don't like them (weight and the different feeling when peddling) but for those of us that aren't particularly fit they're great.

Well find out by lunchtime tomorrow

[Horse]

make sure your seat is level, having the seat nose pointing up or down can cause serious discomfort

A slightly downward sloping seat can cause issues if you collect a new bike then, a few hundred yards later, have to stop at a red traffic light, slide off the seat and land astride the crossbar.

[G.P]

That looks a good price for a full suspension from a good manufacturer.
But yeah, GPs next thread will be "I've bought an EMTB" they really are amazing things for non cyclists, I can see the keen, fit cyclists not liking them and why they don't like them (weight and the different feeling when peddling) but for those of us that aren't particularly fit they're great.

I've been using my son's hybrid bike recently and try to avoid busy roads, so for a 10-15 mile ride I'm doing laps of local roads rather than holding up the traffic on the main routes. A road bike is therefore definitely off my list.
Last time I rode an eMTB I still got knackered but had great fun doing it, so I think from a fitness perspective, it will be effective because its likely to get used much more often.
I recall [mention]Couchy[/mention] saying that his fitness improved a fair bit and quite quickly after he got his eMTB. You've only had yours for a couple of weeks, are you feeling fitter yet?
I'm looking forward to going for a ride with [mention]weeksy[/mention] tomorrow. I've kind of already made up my mind that I should get one, it'll really be about doing some man maths so I don't need to dispose of any of my PTWs

[weeksy]

That looks a good price for a full suspension from a good manufacturer.
But yeah, GPs next thread will be "I've bought an EMTB" they really are amazing things for non cyclists, I can see the keen, fit cyclists not liking them and why they don't like them (weight and the different feeling when peddling) but for those of us that aren't particularly fit they're great.

I've been using my son's hybrid bike recently and try to avoid busy roads, so for a 10-15 mile ride I'm doing laps of local roads rather than holding up the traffic on the main routes. A road bike is therefore definitely off my list.
Last time I rode an eMTB I still got knackered but had great fun doing it, so I think from a fitness perspective, it will be effective because its likely to get used much more often.
I recall @Couchy saying that his fitness improved a fair bit and quite quickly after he got his eMTB. You've only had yours for a couple of weeks, are you feeling fitter yet?
I'm looking forward to going for a ride with @weeksy tomorrow. I've kind of already made up my mind that I should get one, it'll really be about doing some man maths so I don't need to dispose of any of my PTWs

Couchie dropped some weight too... So it's all good.

As he says, it's gone from 0 exercise, to plenty.... whether that's at 100% max Hr or even 50% HR, it's still tonnes more exercise than he was doing before..

It's also handy that they're a bucket load of fun.

[G.P]

^^^^^ yep, an hour or 2 of pedaling is better than an hour or 2 of not pedaling