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I've had a spoke come loose a couple of times on the front hub motor wheel of my Brompton Nano. Tightened it myself each time, although I don't claim to know anything about wheel building. With this in mind, I asked my bike mechanic mate to give it the once over - he's about the only person I...

I refer to the Stromer ST2. Lots of things about it I like. Neat looks, integrated display, integrated big battery, and it should have more than enough poke from the 500W motor. Not so fussed about the smartfone connectivity, and I suspect the bars might be set too low for me. A couple of...

I refer to 27.5" tyres. My comment a couple of weeks ago about a mate who was struggling for choice in this size was countered by Eddie and ebike Martin. Not so, I was told, there are plenty. A play with Schwalbe's tyre finder suggests otherwise. There are more than 20 tyres at 26"X2.0...

A minor mud slippage incident turned my thoughts to winter riding. Neither of my two main bikes is well equipped for muddy conditions as they both have hard compound shallow tread tyres. I will be riding the same trails as I do now, but experience tells me it will be hard work staying upright...

Seems to me there's always something that needs fettling on a bike. The AVE started to rattle during my short ride earlier. It took me a minute or two to work out the prop stand had come loose, slid back along the chainstay and was fouling the disc rotor. Fortunately, I attended to it before...

I refer to the Shimano Alfine 11 hub on my Rose/Bosch bike. Regular readers will know I've been getting false neutrals on the hub. This got worse, and the box rarely wanted to go into second gear at all. Things came to a head for me when I was left in neutral in heavy traffic on the level...

Members with good memories may recall there is a hill near me which I've been unable to get up on several occasions. Had another go today and, great joy, I wound up it in fairly good order. The hill - Iveston bank, near Consett in County Durham - is not the steepest, but I couldn't manage it...

A thread for interesting ebikes being offered for sale. Most will probably come from ebay, but they don't have to. I will start the thread with one I think flecc will like - a Giant Revive...

I fell off the Rose for the first time today. Not due to my poor bike handling skills, of course, it was the fault of the Alfine hub. I got a box full of neutrals - pedals spinning, bike at slow speed, but no drive. The sensible thing to do would have been to get off the bike. Instead, I...

With my York trip in mind I decided to see how many miles I could wring out of one of my batteries. The test bed was my Rose bike and its original 11ah battery. I carried a spare battery, my large flask, water and the usual tools and spares, making my GVW probably close to 30kg. The route was...

I had a couple of false changes on the Alfine 11 hub on the Rose during my ride today. No probs, just realign the little yellow dots on the hub changer as per Shimano's instructions. Except they didn't seem to be responding correctly to the barrel adjuster on the handlebar shifter. Odd, I...

I have my longest ride to date planned for next month - about 86 miles to York. The route from Sunderland is as easy as is possible to get in this lovely, but lumpy, country of ours. Tiny bit of climbing to start with, but then mostly downhill all the way. One battery won't do it, so the...

I've just been out for a swift 15 miles up and down the coast and what an agreeable time I had. Roadworks put me on the main carriageway of Wearmouth Bridge in Sunderland, so I deployed dongle power and hammered across at 20mph+, which saved me being boosted from behind by the buses. A stiff...

A pedal snapped on the AVE today. There I was, 30 miles into a 40 mile ride, bowling along level ground and the next thing I know my right leg is swinging in the air. It was on the AVE, which has folding pedals, although it's the main spindle that's failed so nothing to do with the folding...

I spent a couple of hours this afternoon helping my local bike shop fix an oldish Gazelle ebike. Panasonic crank drive, Nexus hub, two hub/drum brakes, step-through, swept back bars with a twisty bell and gear change. Controls limited to three levels - I think - and a three light battery...

I broke new ground today by taking the AVE to Consett in the car and setting off west on the C2C path. The path is up and down to start with, but soon settles into a long, steady climb to the cafe at Parkhead Station. A brisk headwind made it hard work, but worse was to come. As I discovered...

Did my first 50 mile ride today. The AVE performed faultlessly, although the comfort isn't quite there compared to the Rose. I went from Sunderland along, or rather up, the C2C route towards Consett. Not all good news, I peeled off the C2C to attack my nemesis hill - Iveston bank. Another...

This bottom bracket gearbox looks good. Wider range than even a mountain triple, all 18 gears evenly spaced, and a simple one to 18 twist grip to change. What's not to like? The price, probably, and I expect there is a weight penalty. Although I saw an ordinary hybrid with this gearbox with...

And then there was three. I am going out for my first proper play on the new toy shortly and will get some pics. In the meantime, perhaps members would like to speculate on what I have bought. All guesses - even serious ones - welcome.

We had a thread about Eddie's AVE MH7 which he is selling. I see it's still available and he has reduced the price to £1,150. Decent bike for somebody, particularly if you could get it for a bag of sand...