One beautiful day, one filthy bike!

[NRG]

Nice break in the weather today so decided to fully test the new drive cog on the Proconnet. I headed to the canal hoping it wouldn’t be too busy or muddy. There were a few people about and some families but not too many. The path was OK and surprisingly well maintained being tarmac’d in places.

In fact it got better the further I rode out of the town. The new 11 tooth cog seems to be very similar to the 12 in terms of speed...yes it does power down earlier but I generally don’t press on that hard and like to cruise at about 17~18mph so it’s not much different. However, it does seem to be less prone to the Panasonic power pulsing you can feel on steep hill and high assist...or I could just be imaging it!

Here’s the bike still looking clean, but that was about to change....

 

[NRG]

A few miles further on things were going well, I was riding the bike without assistance at about 8~10mph as the route was flat and it brought home just how normal a bike the PCS is without power, very easy is ride with a very good freewheel....the Alien and my Peugeot would not have been so enjoyable, hub motors add drag and over distance it becomes very noticeable, not so with the Panasonic system.

My journey was brought to a halt by these two fellas...

They where motionless and staring intently at something....turns out they were looking intently at a friend on the other side of the canal looking for a meal.

I got to within about 20 feet to take the photo and about 10 before they decided I was a little too close for comfort and then took flight.

Further along I came across a marina stacked full of canal boats, many seemed to be permanent residents and on the opposite side of the bank a gate blocked the path with a ‘private’ sign bolted to it.

Up and over a small bridge there were more than I could shake a stick at, this is only a small number of the many moored up.

 

[NRG]

Unfortunately, the good paths ran out at this point and my journey turned in to a muddy slog. I nearly came off a couple of times and after a few more miles I was covered in mud as was the bike and I’d had enough...so I went looking for some tarmac and headed back.

The mud got everywhere and I could have done with a set of disc brakes not rim...the motor took the brunt of the mud despite the longer length mudguards I’d fitted. I really need to fabricate a plastic cover for the bottom of the motor, chain ring and drive sprocket. To clean properly I took the half length chain cover off, it acts like a collection bucket for muck and debris, the chain ring, sprocket and chain where covered... I decided to split the chain and drop it into a plastic milk bottle filled with some synthetic gearbox oil to clean it as recommended on the Sheldon Brown web site...I’ll let it drip dry overnight and refit tomorrow.

A great day out, I was out for three hours and only covered 22miles but they where fun, next time I’ll pick a less muddy route!

 

[RoadieRoger]

Canal Scenery

Nice pictures , interesting to know where they were taken . The clue for me is the Electric Overhead wires on the railway , so it must be in the Midlands . No ugly o/h wires here in S.Wales , but there are plenty of people advocating it on the main line from London to Swansea . The expense and the determination for everyone to get from London to Scotland at the speed of light will delay things in this area , with luck .

 

[dmcgoldrick]

interesting ride and some excellent photos....
thanks for posting.....
shame about the clean down time but guess the bike will look like new again by the weekend.

regards

 

[Morag]

Great pics and glad you could get out and enjoy the day. Yuk to the mud though.

 

[flecc]

Great pics and ride NRG.

I envy you all those waterside scenes. I live in a incredibly dry small zone of England devoid of rivers, canals, lakes, etc, just the odd tiny puddle like ponds most of which dry out to nothing every spring. That always feels like an incomplete countryside to me.
.

 

[windycycle]

nice pics

hi im new to the forum, lovely photos of your area im hoping to get out on saturday im up in scotland good cycle ways but lots of hills,

 

[Biged]

Just how do you add images of this quality to a topic?


Sorted!

 

[Biged]

Did similar, took the bike round Moorgreen Reservoir, bike was a lot worse than pictured, mud was everywhere.
Got lots of wheel spin. PEDELEC POWER!
View attachment 1832

 

[NRG]

The oil in a bottle idea did the trick, gearbox oil seems to be thick enough to cling and stay in place but not so thick that it won't penetrate the rollers. Only issue is the stuff stinks! A very distinctive smell that clings to the nostrils!