My Sunday morning encounter

[vhfman]

A nice bright sunny Sunday morning, it looked like the ideal time for an early (for me) ride on my Espresso with the BPM hub. It also seemed like an opportune occasion to try out another camera mounting position on the bike. So I managed to do a short ride this Sunday as part of my assessment of my bike conversion.

Having just ridden up some quite steep bits of hill on the trip, a passerby and his wife walking their dog called out asking if my bike was electric. He was astonished at the apparent ease I had ridden up the hill. A short conversation took place as the chap showed an interest in electric bikes. The chat was recorded on camera and I have just uploaded a video which includes the tête-à-tête and some editing experiments with the front and rear mounted cameras. It was the fact that he was so amazed with the ease I had climbed the slope, and refers to it a couple of times during out exchange, that prompted me to include the dialogue in this video clip.

I hope the quality of the video is not too bad; unfortunately the road surface still affects the stability of the camera. But moving the camera away from the handle bar and onto the frame seems to have improved the images a little bit. I am using 2 key ring type HD 720p cameras. The audio in the video is all from the rear camera which is positioned just above the hub motor. This has the effect of making it sound louder than it is at my ear level sitting on the bike. The camera audio on the move also seems to pick up quite strongly the pedaling action, again not really noticeable as the rider.

Very slow upload, there seems to be a lot of processing going on with Youtube, still waiting for the video to go live.

Here we go.

[video=youtube;QjiGN5KmFwM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjiGN5KmFwM[/video]

Chris

 

[eddieo]

great stuff...... I had a few encounters like this last weekend while cycling on "the north down way"

a picture of your bike would be nice....

 

[PennyFarthing]

I watched it to part way through your conversation.

Some points to comment on:

1) When you are really 'motoring' your motor is quite audible, isn't it? (or is that a sensitive camera).

2) That pot holed road where you branch off right near the start (ish) of your journey - very similar to a lot of my journey to work and back (grrrrr).

3) Did you notice the LONE doggie running down the road during your conversation? :O( :''''>(

4) Great route!

 

[vhfman]

Thanks for your observations Penny.

I watched it to part way through your conversation.

Some points to comment on:

1) When you are really 'motoring' your motor is quite audible, isn't it? (or is that a sensitive camera).

Yes there is some noise from the motor, but I think that the camera microphone is picking the sound up more than it appears at rider distance from the hub motor. So it’s not silent but much quieter than it appears in the video clip.

2) That pot holed road where you branch off right near the start (ish) of your journey - very similar to a lot of my journey to work and back (grrrrr).

Yes the pot holed road is ubiquitous these days, and unfortunately that is not one of the worst examples I ride over. Roll on my full suspension bike build.

3) Did you notice the LONE doggie running down the road during your conversation? :O( :''''>(

The lone doggie was actually with his master and mistress as you can see in this clip.

[video=youtube;3quqA8RnH3s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3quqA8RnH3s[/video]

4) Great route!

Yes there are some great routes around my location on the edge of the City, with some shared trails and narrow country lanes leading out of this valley to the West of Sheffield. But I certainly require the assistance of an electric bike to enjoy most of them due to the hilly nature of the neighbourhood and my long-term health issues. I live about 2.5 miles away from the boundary of the Peak District National Park, but it does entail a climb of about 1000ft to get out there.

And eddieo, have you got any pictures or video of your trip to "the north down way"? I have posted pictures of the bike in other threads but here is one with the bike parked up looking back down towards Sheffield.

Chris

 

[kitchenman]

Regarding this:
2) That pot holed road where you branch off right near the start (ish) of your journey - very similar to a lot of my journey to work and back (grrrrr).

Yes the pot holed road is ubiquitous these days, and unfortunately that is not one of the worst examples I ride over. Roll on my full suspension bike build.

Suspension and big apple tyres! .. I have been riding Louise's Spirit recumbent to work and it is soooo comfortable. I think its a combination of excellent suspension and the big apple tyres. I have broken spokes and had numerous punctures on my CX700. On the Spirit its like a hovercraft! ..

 

[vhfman]

Ok on the Spirit recumbent with its’ Suspension and big apple tyres. Would it smooth out this stretch of road?

Here is a clip of a bit more pot holed road. Well not so much the holes as the patch work of repairs over the last few years which have produced a crazy paving surface. Not a nice surface to ride on as it almost shakes you off the bike. Ok on a mountain bike not so good on my rigid folding bike. It certainly tests out my wheel build.

[video=youtube;RY_vXnu-rVA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY_vXnu-rVA[/video]

Here’s a picture I took last year of the same patch of road. After the winter weather it has deteriorated even more, you can see the effects it has on a nice ride in the video clip.

Chris

 

[kitchenman]

Ok - I accept the challange! .. Where is this road?

 

[Scimitar]

Ok - I accept the challange! .. Where is this road?

Outside my house, if I didn't know better. That road's typical of the roads around here, wrecked by heavy trucks two years ago, and patch filled ever since as the winter frosts broke up the damaged surface.

 

[morphix]

Looks like a nice Sunday morning ride! Good results from your camera there Chris, hardly any camera shake. Wish I could get it results like that from frame mounting! I suppose having the tiny camera helps.

 

[mike killay]

That road surface is disgraceful, more like a neglected old farm track than a public road