After a lot of searching, reading and testing I finally have my new bike.
Not an easy decision but eventually I realised I did not want derailleur gears again so that whittled the shopping list down a bit. Next was the quality of the parts, I remember Eddio saying of one popular bike that the parts were to poor for the price point of the bike, so they also went off the list. Nice bike though.
I eventually arrived at two, a ROSE Xtra Watt 500 (Bosch 400Wh) and a Grace MX. I know, chalk and cheese but that is me. Anyway I could always have the other one at a later date. The Rose lost out as I wanted a 21" frame size and they did not have it in stock.
I mailed Wisper, who sent a demo bike to Onbike, near Kidderminster, for me to have a ride on. Always being a sucker for the latest gizmo's I fell for the NuVinci gears and the Carbon drive belt. Chains have also been a pain so this should be a novelty. A promise of two to three weeks delivery and it was ready with one day to spare.
Onbike were brilliant, they got the bike set up and tested ready for me to try. I had the larger frame of the two offered, it feels better for me and looks better, more grown up.
So how does it perform?
For a mountain bike it goes very well on the road. I complain the woodland paths are smoother than the metalled road but recently a super team have made the local road as good as new, so I feel a little cheated.
Initially I preferred a rear hub motor but eventually went over to the crank drive as it is very hilly around these parts. The Bosch motor is quiet when unstressed, buzzy when working and sounds like a rail bogie going over the gap when being pushed really hard. I think as the rest of the drive is so silent it shows up more but it is never picked up on by others near by so must be my super hearing.
Here, we have bridle paths, Forestry Commition tracks and old quarries' to ride on as well as the minor country roads, this bike is so suited to this mixed riding & upping the power on the steep parts makes it a breeze to get round. I find I still get my breathing up and my legs feeling odd but without tiring me out, so good exercise. Biking is better fun for me now than sixty odd years ago when I started on two wheeled bikes. Is it worth the money, you bet, should keep me going till my eighties.
So if you are around these parts and see some old fool on an inappropriate bike riding like a mad thing, please take care, it might be me.
Not an easy decision but eventually I realised I did not want derailleur gears again so that whittled the shopping list down a bit. Next was the quality of the parts, I remember Eddio saying of one popular bike that the parts were to poor for the price point of the bike, so they also went off the list. Nice bike though.
I eventually arrived at two, a ROSE Xtra Watt 500 (Bosch 400Wh) and a Grace MX. I know, chalk and cheese but that is me. Anyway I could always have the other one at a later date. The Rose lost out as I wanted a 21" frame size and they did not have it in stock.
I mailed Wisper, who sent a demo bike to Onbike, near Kidderminster, for me to have a ride on. Always being a sucker for the latest gizmo's I fell for the NuVinci gears and the Carbon drive belt. Chains have also been a pain so this should be a novelty. A promise of two to three weeks delivery and it was ready with one day to spare.
Onbike were brilliant, they got the bike set up and tested ready for me to try. I had the larger frame of the two offered, it feels better for me and looks better, more grown up.
So how does it perform?
For a mountain bike it goes very well on the road. I complain the woodland paths are smoother than the metalled road but recently a super team have made the local road as good as new, so I feel a little cheated.
Initially I preferred a rear hub motor but eventually went over to the crank drive as it is very hilly around these parts. The Bosch motor is quiet when unstressed, buzzy when working and sounds like a rail bogie going over the gap when being pushed really hard. I think as the rest of the drive is so silent it shows up more but it is never picked up on by others near by so must be my super hearing.
Here, we have bridle paths, Forestry Commition tracks and old quarries' to ride on as well as the minor country roads, this bike is so suited to this mixed riding & upping the power on the steep parts makes it a breeze to get round. I find I still get my breathing up and my legs feeling odd but without tiring me out, so good exercise. Biking is better fun for me now than sixty odd years ago when I started on two wheeled bikes. Is it worth the money, you bet, should keep me going till my eighties.
So if you are around these parts and see some old fool on an inappropriate bike riding like a mad thing, please take care, it might be me.
