Finally took the plunge

[Summerlightning]

Hi, After much dithering I finally took the plunge and bought a Woosh Big Bear last week.
I have to say I love it. Robust frame and a motor that pulls like a train.
A couple of years ago I was lent a Schwinn tailwind electric bike for a weekend which made me realise how an electric bike would improve my life. I cannot believe how far technology has come in a short time.
The Big Bear is a revelation in comparison.
I am currently experimenting to get an idea of the range of the battery and to remind myself how to ride a bike.
I am fat and unfit but hope that this will change in the coming months and years. The Big Bear means I can join my fitter mates on their rides and not worry about keeping them waiting for me to arrive at the top of the next hill in a sweaty gasping heap.Went out for the second night on the trot and despite wobbly legs and a sore "saddle area" had a huge grin on my face when I got back. Looking forward to getting acquainted with the bike and the roads around home in the coming months.
So if you see a fat bloke on a Big Bear with a grin on his face and flies in his teeth give me a wave as you go by.

 

[annsimpson]

[don't forget you don't have to have a sore bum! I found a really comfortable padded seat with gel inserts in Asda of all places only cost around £13 and is lovely, you can start of with something more comfortable then go back to the nasty one if you want.

 

[Summerlightning]

Thanks Ann.
I hadn't thought of that.
I'll have a look next time I am in Asda.

 

[RobF]

Saddles are an individual thing, so what works for one rider may not work for another.

You won't know until you try - I suspect most of us have more saddles than bicycles.

As a general point, saddles are unusual in that spending more money doesn't automatically mean you get a better one - for you.

Are you using padded cycling shorts?

Nearly everyone finds those more comfortable.

 

[annsimpson]

I don't think mine is either male or female but its nice and big and soft and I don't get a sore bum even after a 20 mile or so ride and I'm short and fat and at that price its worth it, I've had it since last year and its still as nice as new. I never thought of looking in Asda and didn't even know they did a few cycling bits and bobs but it doesn't matter what you look like while you're getting 'broken in' my sons mountain and racing bike seats are like thin blocks of wood and he does wear padded pants, which incidently Aldi's had for sale this week, proper underpants with padding not shorts etc and only a few pounds, have a look on their site.

 

[annsimpson]

I don't think mine is either male or female but its nice and big and soft and I don't get a sore bum even after a 20 mile or so ride and I'm short and fat and at that price its worth it, I've had it since last year and its still as nice as new. I never thought of looking in Asda and didn't even know they did a few cycling bits and bobs but it doesn't matter what you look like while you're getting 'broken in' my sons mountain and racing bike seats are like thin blocks of wood and he does wear padded pants, which incidently Aldi's had for sale this week, proper underpants with padding not shorts etc and only a few pounds, have a look on their site.

I also had hoped to get a bit fitter but having electrics has made me lazy and now my knees are so bad I need it all the time so that idea went out the window, still its nice to be able to go on the trails on nice weekends and I couldn't do it without an electric bike. We have done a few from the cycling in the midlands book but going around Rutland nearly killed me especially when I fell of going down a hill and couldn't get up because I couldn't lift the bike of me. My hubby who also has an E bike likes my seat but is to proud to have one prefering to be 'crippled at the end of a ride.

 

[RobF]

The fitness gains from ebiking are relatively small.

My Bosch bikes don't have a throttle, but I can still do rides of 90+ miles.

I can't do anything like that on a push bike.

My fitness has improved, but not as much as I had hoped.

One of cycling's old sayings is: "No one ever got fit riding a light bike."

Ebiking is like riding a very light bike.

Plenty of other reasons to go ebiking, not least because it's fun.

A bit of extra fitness is a bonus.

 

[JohnCade]

["RobF, post: 262507, member: 8935"

My fitness has improved, but not as much as I had hoped.

One of cycling's old sayings is: "No one ever got fit riding a light bike."

Ebiking is like riding a very light bike.

Plenty of other reasons to go ebiking, not least because it's fun.

A bit of extra fitness is a bonus.

Probably from the days when people put saddle bags full of sand on their road trainers and just went out and rode. Those ideas went out of the window over twenty years or so ago, and it’s been all about repetition of high effort in phases or sets since. Similar to weight training sets - mixed with long endurance runs.

I’ve got a lot fitter again since I bought the Kalkhoff. The speed sensor Woosh I had briefly was never going to get me really fit even if it would keep the blood moving all right. But pushing the speed up hills does it for me with a TS. I’m never going to be as fit again as I was when I stopped riding my last road bike over fifteen years ago, but I reckon I’m a hell of a lot fitter than most people well past retirement age..

 

[annsimpson]

just moving your legs is excersise especially as you get older or have arthritus and can't walk far, plus there's simply getting out in the fresh air, I can cycle much further than I can now walk and its got to be better than using the car.

 

[oldtom]

just moving your legs is excersise especially as you get older or have arthritus and can't walk far, plus there's simply getting out in the fresh air, I can cycle much further than I can now walk and its got to be better than using the car.

Walking is particularly painful and exhausting for me nowadays but cycling is less so. Without my EAPC, I could well be reliant on a motorised chair to get around. That prospect encourages me to cycle and to walk as much as I'm able.

Not having a throttle on any of my bikes ensures I have to contribute some effort in order to make progress and the torque sensor models best reflect my effort and give me a feeling of achievement and satisfaction.

I'm sure if all OAPs were provided with such a machine on reaching the end of their working life, the NHS would see far less of old people both in GP surgeries and in our hospitals. Moreover, there would probably be far fewer motorised chairs in use....though perhaps that's academic as there probably won't be an NHS much longer following the election result.

Tom

 

[D C]

I'm sure if all OAPs were provided with such a machine on reaching the end of their working life, the NHS would see far less of old people both in GP surgeries and in our hospitals.

Tom

It would be a good start if there was a VAT exemption for e bikes in the same way as for those who can prove they are eligible for VAT exemption on an electric mobility scooter.
Letters to MPs folks?
I suppose sadly it would be open to abuse as others could ride the bike whereas no one wants to use a mobility scooter unless they really are disabled.
Dave.

 

[RobF]

.though perhaps that's academic as there probably won't be an NHS much longer following the election result.

The NHS has lasted through many changes of government, so one might say it has proved more durable than its customers.

 

[annsimpson]

I don't think the gov would be the end of the NHS but more the sheer amount of people, some unwanted, in the country and the timewasters that can't use a gp like the rest of us. Maybe if they were billed they might think twice before sitting waiting for hours with a cough/backache/headache/drunk ect My gp will always see you the same day if its an emergency and yes there's a wait if you want to see a particular gp but then you can't be that desperate if you're that fussy, our receptionists are always so busy as are our doctors and they are always nice and greet you with a smile even if I'm sure they don't always feel like smiling. We do live in a smaller town/village so its probably different in some cities but they are all doing the best they can.

 

[Cyclezee]

I don't think the gov would be the end of the NHS but more the sheer amount of people, some unwanted, in the country and the timewasters that can't use a gp like the rest of us. Maybe if they were billed they might think twice before sitting waiting for hours with a cough/backache/headache/drunk ect My gp will always see you the same day if its an emergency and yes there's a wait if you want to see a particular gp but then you can't be that desperate if you're that fussy, our receptionists are always so busy as are our doctors and they are always nice and greet you with a smile even if I'm sure they don't always feel like smiling. We do live in a smaller town/village so its probably different in some cities but they are all doing the best they can.

I woke up today with upper back pain and was wondering about dialing 999, but my unsympathetic wife, ex NHS as am I simply said Ibuprofen and stop moaning

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Ibuprofen??? - you big girls blouse. Men are supposed to be tough.

Your body is a wonderful thing. It can repair or recover from nearly every ailment without help from the medical profession. You only need to visit them for things that won't fix on their own.

 

[JohnCade]

I don't think the gov would be the end of the NHS but more the sheer amount of people, some unwanted, in the country and the timewasters that can't use a gp like the rest of us. Maybe if they were billed they might think twice before sitting waiting for hours with a cough/backache/headache/drunk ect My gp will always see you the same day if its an emergency and yes there's a wait if you want to see a particular gp but then you can't be that desperate if you're that fussy, our receptionists are always so busy as are our doctors and they are always nice and greet you with a smile even if I'm sure they don't always feel like smiling. We do live in a smaller town/village so its probably different in some cities but they are all doing the best they can.

Well, some people in cities have to book a week in advance for a GP appointment. So the only way they can be seen if it’s urgent is through an A&E department.

But one of the biggest drivers of A&E visits in England is the lack of joined up old people’s care. Because the hospital budget is supposedly ring fenced - though NHS inflation is far higher than general inflation so that is just political posturing - all the cuts have come in social care. So people who could be at home are instead having to be admitted through A&E and then stay in hospital and become bed blockers because their care needs can’t be dealt with at home with the current cash strapped home care arrangements.

My partner’s mother who is now very old has been in hospital for a month or so again now because essentially the inadequate care she receives at home is causing repeat infection. She was moved to a less acute hospital last month but after a fortnight became more ill again so had to be transferred back to the main hospital.

The only way they could effect the transfer was to admit her through A&E. So now we are in a situation where as well as GPs referring patients to A&E as a matter of course because that’s the only way they can get them admitted, the hospitals are doing it too. Only a few years ago she would have been transferred ward to ward in a simple administrative process, but now they have to assess her in A&E, and leave a very ill very old woman in a cubical all day while they search for a free bed.

 

[Cyclezee]

Ibuprofen??? - you big girls blouse. Men are supposed to be tough.

Your body is a wonderful thing. It can repair or recover from nearly every ailment without help from the medical profession. You only need to visit them for things that won't fix on their own.

Thank you Dr., I was joking

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Thank you Dr., I was joking

I thought so, I never took you for a wuss, but I didn't want the other readers to get the wrong impression.

 

[Cyclezee]

Like Irn Bru, made from girders.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Does that say girders a girdles? My eyes have gone funny since I got these new Chinese varifocals. They're generally very good because they show everything better than it really is, but the downside is that I've gone boss-eyed.