Hi all,
Last week was my first week of commuting between Bristol and Bath each day (roughly 11.6 miles each way) on my little Synergie Mistral.
I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be up to the job but with the Mistral's help I managed to ride in every day and it was only on Thursday and Friday that my legs were stiff and sore upon waking (though last night they were so sore I could barely walk!) - pretty amazing given that I haven't cycled much for years and am very heavy (roughly 21 stone) and unfit. Electric bicycles are incredible.
I averaged over 14 mph, taking roughly 49 minutes each way. There are some mean hills on the route and so I spent quite a lot of the time recovering from each hill by allowing the motor to tootle me along (Mon-Thu I was on max throttle most of the time, even on the flat).
Mon - Wed I took my spare battery with me, changing it over before the trip back. This was because the power meter would drop to 4 out of 5 bars on the way in and I could feel that power output of the motor was dropping. The first bar would actually start to flicker off after about 6 miles. I am a heavy guy though and was abusing the bike quite badly.
Thus - Fri I took the charger and this helped a lot with reducing the weight I was carrying (and I went from two panniers to one - Ortleib Back Roller Classic - very impressed with them) - most important as I was starting to flag.
One thing I have really been struggling with is hand pain - after just a few minutes my hands would be agonising and frequently I had to take my hands off the bars (one at a time!) to allow the some respite. This posed problems with my right hand as it holds the throttle open. I'm hopefully getting a stem raiser fitted today which might alleviate the pain a bit. Anyone got any other suggestions (comfy grips or anything?)?
My local bike shop may have my Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres in today (fingers crossed!) and I'm hoping they will both remove my fear of getting a puncture on the way to Uni and reduce the rolling resistance of the bike (which seems to be very high at the moment).
Another issue is that the motor keeps sticking on - it tries to drive even when I'm not pedalling or turning the throttle. Very strange and a bit of a problem if I don't remember whilst getting off it (dismount, release brake, bye bike!)!
Oh, and the brake cables kept stretching. I had to adjust them three or four times each before they settled down (though are still stretching a bit). The mudguards are a bit flimsy and rub on the tyres occassionally and I broke the chain guard by catching it with my trainer one day. Minor issues, really.
Thursday and Friday I wore lycra 3/4 bib tights and wow what a difference to wearing combats or jeans. Fantastic. Highly recommended. Bit strange not wearing any underwear though.
Overall I am very happy indeed. I am cycling to Bath virtually as quickly as you can drive there (in rush hour traffic), I'm getting lots of exercise and hopefully getting fitter by the day. Long term (once I'm much fitter) I hope to get a non-motorised road bike to commute on but without my cute little (too little, if I'm honest) Mistral I'd be lost.
Daz
Last week was my first week of commuting between Bristol and Bath each day (roughly 11.6 miles each way) on my little Synergie Mistral.
I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be up to the job but with the Mistral's help I managed to ride in every day and it was only on Thursday and Friday that my legs were stiff and sore upon waking (though last night they were so sore I could barely walk!) - pretty amazing given that I haven't cycled much for years and am very heavy (roughly 21 stone) and unfit. Electric bicycles are incredible.
I averaged over 14 mph, taking roughly 49 minutes each way. There are some mean hills on the route and so I spent quite a lot of the time recovering from each hill by allowing the motor to tootle me along (Mon-Thu I was on max throttle most of the time, even on the flat).
Mon - Wed I took my spare battery with me, changing it over before the trip back. This was because the power meter would drop to 4 out of 5 bars on the way in and I could feel that power output of the motor was dropping. The first bar would actually start to flicker off after about 6 miles. I am a heavy guy though and was abusing the bike quite badly.
Thus - Fri I took the charger and this helped a lot with reducing the weight I was carrying (and I went from two panniers to one - Ortleib Back Roller Classic - very impressed with them) - most important as I was starting to flag.
One thing I have really been struggling with is hand pain - after just a few minutes my hands would be agonising and frequently I had to take my hands off the bars (one at a time!) to allow the some respite. This posed problems with my right hand as it holds the throttle open. I'm hopefully getting a stem raiser fitted today which might alleviate the pain a bit. Anyone got any other suggestions (comfy grips or anything?)?
My local bike shop may have my Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres in today (fingers crossed!) and I'm hoping they will both remove my fear of getting a puncture on the way to Uni and reduce the rolling resistance of the bike (which seems to be very high at the moment).
Another issue is that the motor keeps sticking on - it tries to drive even when I'm not pedalling or turning the throttle. Very strange and a bit of a problem if I don't remember whilst getting off it (dismount, release brake, bye bike!)!
Oh, and the brake cables kept stretching. I had to adjust them three or four times each before they settled down (though are still stretching a bit). The mudguards are a bit flimsy and rub on the tyres occassionally and I broke the chain guard by catching it with my trainer one day. Minor issues, really.
Thursday and Friday I wore lycra 3/4 bib tights and wow what a difference to wearing combats or jeans. Fantastic. Highly recommended. Bit strange not wearing any underwear though.
Overall I am very happy indeed. I am cycling to Bath virtually as quickly as you can drive there (in rush hour traffic), I'm getting lots of exercise and hopefully getting fitter by the day. Long term (once I'm much fitter) I hope to get a non-motorised road bike to commute on but without my cute little (too little, if I'm honest) Mistral I'd be lost.
Daz
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