Newbie from Cornwall

[Georgie]

hi, I am from Cornwall and my wife and I have just purchased folding electric bikes. My bike is a Batribike Dash Pro 16 and my wife's one is a Batribike Dash Pro 11. We are both retired and decided to get electric bikes in order to improve our fitness whilst ironing out the many Cornish hills. The choice of folding bikes was to enable us to load them into the back of our car and take them on holidays and short breaks without the expense of fitting cycle carriers to our car. My wife is a more competent rider as she has cycled more recently than I have. I have problems with balance, hand signals and turning my head to check behind before manovering. We are going to attend a Sustrans cycle training course and hope this will help me to gain more confidence.

Regards Georgie

 

[timidtom]

hi, I am from Cornwall and my wife and I have just purchased folding electric bikes. My bike is a Batribike Dash Pro 16 and my wife's one is a Batribike Dash Pro 11. We are both retired and decided to get electric bikes in order to improve our fitness whilst ironing out the many Cornish hills. The choice of folding bikes was to enable us to load them into the back of our car and take them on holidays and short breaks without the expense of fitting cycle carriers to our car. My wife is a more competent rider as she has cycled more recently than I have. I have problems with balance, hand signals and turning my head to check behind before manovering. We are going to attend a Sustrans cycle training course and hope this will help me to gain more confidence.

Regards Georgie

Welcome - let us know how you get on!
Tom

 

[RobF]

h I have problems with balance, hand signals and turning my head to check behind before manovering. We are going to attend a Sustrans cycle training course and hope this will help me to gain more confidence.

Regards Georgie

Accepting you have a problem is half the battle, and hopefully the training will be the other half.

Nearly everyone wobbles to a greater or lesser extent when looking behind.

Improved skills will lessen the wobble, but don't expect to eradicate it.

Bar end mirrors, while not a replacement for a backward check, give an excellent view.

 

[Gubbins]

hi, I am from Cornwall and my wife and I have just purchased folding electric bikes. My bike is a Batribike Dash Pro 16 and my wife's one is a Batribike Dash Pro 11. We are both retired and decided to get electric bikes in order to improve our fitness whilst ironing out the many Cornish hills. The choice of folding bikes was to enable us to load them into the back of our car and take them on holidays and short breaks without the expense of fitting cycle carriers to our car. My wife is a more competent rider as she has cycled more recently than I have. I have problems with balance, hand signals and turning my head to check behind before manovering. We are going to attend a Sustrans cycle training course and hope this will help me to gain more confidence.

Regards Georgie

Hi Georgie.
I have been cycling since retirement 6 years ago and also have the wibbly wobbly problem when looking behind. If I turn enough to be able to actually see behind I either veer to the right if going fast, or wobble if going slow. A mirror was a big help, in my case a helmet mirror... I think I need a sign on my back.. Beware, rider may wobble!

 

[Georgie]

Thank you Tom, RobF and Phill for the greetings and advice. I think the helmet mirror sounds interesting Phill. Is it fragile? is it easy to fit and what's the best one to get?
At the moment when riding in traffic we tend to pull into the kerb and stop in order to check the traffic before turning right. Maybe I should have bought an electric trike or had stabilisers fitted to my bike!

 

[Gubbins]

After trying a few I now use this one.
http://www.merlincycles.com/cycle-aware-reflex-helmet-mirror-56440.html?utm_campaign=googlebase-GB&utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=shopping&utm_term=Bicycle+Mirrors&gclid=Cj0KEQjwidKiBRCevbT6yeqPrJQBEiQA1iM2WR6SRy2BF1q7mNLt3HR7bHZDY15XnbMKnC6ERtNEMRUaAn9f8P8HAQ
It is quite robust and my helmet has been dropped in the garage few times and us still OK. Fitment is important to get the best distance from your eye. When riding I just close me left eye and focus on the mirror. Although I still stop before trying to turn right in busy traffic.

 

[Kudoscycles]

hi, I am from Cornwall and my wife and I have just purchased folding electric bikes. My bike is a Batribike Dash Pro 16 and my wife's one is a Batribike Dash Pro 11. We are both retired and decided to get electric bikes in order to improve our fitness whilst ironing out the many Cornish hills. The choice of folding bikes was to enable us to load them into the back of our car and take them on holidays and short breaks without the expense of fitting cycle carriers to our car. My wife is a more competent rider as she has cycled more recently than I have. I have problems with balance, hand signals and turning my head to check behind before manovering. We are going to attend a Sustrans cycle training course and hope this will help me to gain more confidence.

Regards Georgie

Georgia.....fit a mirror,some of us oldies find it harder to turn our heads...it stops a lot of wobbles!!! I find the ones I can screw onto the handlebar grip works well and I can transfer from bike to bike.
KudosDave

 

[Gubbins]

Sometimes a bit of a wobble makes cars give you a bit more room! After all they don't really want all that red sticky stuff on their wheels.... And broken bikes have been known to scratch paintwork..

 

[Georgie]

I am thinking it maybe safer to go back to sitting on my sofa watching telly

 

[JohnCade]

I've got a Mirrycle one which fits into the handlebar ends. It's robust and easy to adjust and was a good buy.

 

[Georgie]

Thanks for the advice JohnCade, unfortunately my bike has not got open handle bar ends.

 

[GloveMakingMan]

The ebike mirror, another thing that yet needs to be designed, perfected and produced, unless it's already out there and i couldn't find it? Indicators are the other, and don't make them wireless! I cut the stem of my mirror and fitted a piece of rubber hose with jubilee clips to get the right length. Works great!

 

[TinKitten]

Here's another vote that a mirror will help. Since fitting mine I wobble a lot less as I'm able to keep track of traffic behind me all the time without turning and only need to do a quick glance over the shoulder as back up when turning right. I have a Zefal Spy Mirror which clips onto the bike like a rubberised watch strap. The only disadvantage with it being that since its not on a stalk your body is more likely to block out some of its view.

The other thing is that confidence comes with practice and time spent in the saddle. I'm sure you'll both love your ebikes. Welcome to the forum!

 

[Georgie]

Thanks for your comments / advice GloveMakingMan, your name has given me an idea!! I always wear thin gloves when cycling, why can't mirrors be fitted on the on the back of gloves, just attached flat so that all you would have to do to see behind is to glance at you hands holding the handlebar grips.

 

[TinKitten]

Similar to that RearViz do a mirror which you strap round your arm, close to your wrist if you like, that flips out like a make-up mirror and therefore folds away when you are not on the bike. I've no idea how the view from it is but it seems like an interesting idea in theory.

 

[JohnCade]

Not sure what you mean about not having open handlebar ends. If you don't have a bung in there and have closed grips you just cut out the centre with a sharp knife.

Or all the mirrors on the market the Mirrycle one has perhaps the best reviews. It's stable and robust and as good as most motorcycle mirrors I've used.

 

[GloveMakingMan]

It all just needs to be the same as motorcycle accessories really, so why isn't it!?

 

[Georgie]

Thanks TinKitten I agree I am sure I would wobble less if a mirror was fitted. I am so busy looking out for potholes in front and trying to stay upright that turning my head and taking my eyes off the road in front me nervous and wobbly.

 

[JohnCade]

Similar to that RearViz do a mirror which you strap round your arm, close to your wrist if you like, that flips out like a make-up mirror and therefore folds away when you are not on the bike. I've no idea how the view from it is but it seems like an interesting idea in theory.

The problem with all these helmet mirrors and wrist attachment ones is that they don't give a consistent arc of view. You have to be able to trust what you see, your life may depend on it; and there are some situations where there's just no time for the 'lifesaver' glance over the shoulder.