First Rant of the year

[overlander]

Please move if you feel my feeble rant is in the wrong section.

Cycled into Glasgow today and i swear our roads are like a third world country's. It was so bad at some points the pot holes merged into one massive crater every hundred yards. I basically had to walk about 25% of the way, i was weaving in and out of pot holes the whole journey, basically i was a danger today. Now the roads are normally bad but after the last cold spell they are basically wrecked as far as cycling on them is concerned.

I honestly mean this they are so bad if they do not get fixed soon i will need to change bike. The poor wee Trek would be wrecked within the week, you really have to see the condition to believe it.

Feeble rant over.

Just thinking about it, what actual electric bikes are there that can handle offroad conditions, not extreme but strong enough to take pot holes very rough roads.

I can only think of one the A2B Metro looks a tough cookie.

 

[Laxey Clive]

Feeble (?) response.
This is not about ebikes - nor is it about motorcycles (who's users will probably suffer more), nor even about cars
All road users are suffering from what the weather threw at us.
Just let the road menders get on with the job they have to do and, if they fail us (all), then maybe, just maybe, it will all become political on a much broader sense.................

 

[overlander]

It already has become political up here as these roads have now been in this state since November and they are getting worse. I believe they have asked the government for an extra 10 Million pound. But call me cynical the roads will never be the same again they will only do the minimal standard that cars can tolerate. I can bet you they will not even bother to fix the cycles paths as they are in some state as well. I will eat my hate if by march this is all fixed, we will see.

 

[Laxey Clive]

Sorry if I touched a nerve mate. I was just making the point that it affects all road users.
Hope it gets sorted for you.
Clive

 

[overlander]

Hi Laxey clive, no not at all, you are right it will effect all road users. I have drove to work the past couple of weeks and its pretty bad even in the car. But as you say for two wheel users its lethal, i would not think about using my 1200Gs in these conditions. But the bike being lower speed i would try but the danger today was weaving to avoid the pot hole every hundred yards. I really am serious that i do not think they will fix this to a satisfactory standard. I am serious about looking for a bike that can handle rough conditions later the this year if this does not improve.

 

[Laxey Clive]

Console yourself mate!
Like me you have a choice - and, at least when wer're on the cycle we can get off and walk!
Clive

 

[Synthman]

Please move if you feel my feeble rant is in the wrong section.

Cycled into Glasgow today and i swear our roads are like a third world country's. It was so bad at some points the pot holes merged into one massive crater every hundred yards. I basically had to walk about 25% of the way, i was weaving in and out of pot holes the whole journey, basically i was a danger today. Now the roads are normally bad but after the last cold spell they are basically wrecked as far as cycling on them is concerned.

I honestly mean this they are so bad if they do not get fixed soon i will need to change bike. The poor wee Trek would be wrecked within the week, you really have to see the condition to believe it.

Feeble rant over.

Just thinking about it, what actual electric bikes are there that can handle offroad conditions, not extreme but strong enough to take pot holes very rough roads.

I can only think of one the A2B Metro looks a tough cookie.

Every single trip I make I encounter lethal potholes. They've taken out my battery connections loads of times, but I never have gone down because of one, somehow I know where 90% of them are and can avoid them. Last time a bus followed me over a pothole, the sound it made when it went over was loud and scary, and I saw it bounce in my rear view.

 

[Rab C Nesbitt]

Every single trip I make I encounter lethal potholes. They've taken out my battery connections loads of times, but I never have gone down because of one, somehow I know where 90% of them are and can avoid them. Last time a bus followed me over a pothole, the sound it made when it went over was loud and scary, and I saw it bounce in my rear view.

Synthman - interested to hear that someone else had this problem - my Alien battery on a rear rack disassembled itself many times when I was in motion and tore out the battery connections. Despite me tightening it for all I was worth and wrapping wire around areas to stop the pannier rack "flipping" backwards with the battery in it, it continued to do so.

My problem was just generally crappy poorly finished/unfinished roads rather than maybe individual potholes (although we have a ridiculous amount of them and they don't help). The constant juddering of the bike on a daily basis took its toll - so much so that I gave up and took the electrics off the bike and have been riding it as "normal" up until the rotten weather put a stop to that.

I'm still pining to get back to being electric and am considering all the options again but a heavyweight battery at the rear (for me) is just asking for trouble. I commute to Glasgow (like overlander) and he is right about the potholes - the recent weather may have exacerbated the situation but take it from me, the roads were pretty crappy before the freezing weather

 

[fatts]

my old powabyke euro took a lot of pounding and a friend of mine works the festival circuit she is on crutches a lot and totaly overloads it treats it like s... and lets all manner of people ride it you even see them trying to lift it by the throttle which does break now and again and used on all terains in all weathers thats the rear wheel drive motor version so blooming old euro it very rarely see,s tarmac and is still going and dont have much done to it looked at once a year by me

 

[Rab C Nesbitt]

Hold that front page . . . . we might have a result here

BBC News - Scotland bids for Tour de France stage

Can't see Lance Armstrong going arse over tit with a Glasgow councillor apologising saying that they meant to get round to fixing that particular pothole . . .. .

 

[Synthman]

Synthman - interested to hear that someone else had this problem - my Alien battery on a rear rack disassembled itself many times when I was in motion and tore out the battery connections. Despite me tightening it for all I was worth and wrapping wire around areas to stop the pannier rack "flipping" backwards with the battery in it, it continued to do so.

My problem was just generally crappy poorly finished/unfinished roads rather than maybe individual potholes (although we have a ridiculous amount of them and they don't help). The constant juddering of the bike on a daily basis took its toll - so much so that I gave up and took the electrics off the bike and have been riding it as "normal" up until the rotten weather put a stop to that.

I'm still pining to get back to being electric and am considering all the options again but a heavyweight battery at the rear (for me) is just asking for trouble. I commute to Glasgow (like overlander) and he is right about the potholes - the recent weather may have exacerbated the situation but take it from me, the roads were pretty crappy before the freezing weather

The battery packs inside the case were stuck in on one side, with over an inch of free space on the other. Packs came unstuck, and broke connections before I even realised. Put a block of wood and blu-tack to take up the space and only had one minor problem since. Potholes were a major factor though, seriously there's only two roads in the whole of Oxford that are perfect to ride on, having been recently surfaced. Imperfection on a dedicated cycle lane took my power out once. There's even sunken drain covers in the cycle lanes, and some holes as big as a 25kg bag of grit. The worst ones have lifted me off the seat completely. 3 heavy snowfalls and constant heavy traffic have helped disperse the road surface, yet the council just put loose chippings down which have caused damage to vehicles, and caused two-wheelers to skid.