Test riding the Espresso with BPM Hub with video clips

[vhfman]

I just had enough energy the other day, to get out on the bike. Health problems have restricted my cycling activity recently. So I took the bike up the hill (in the car) to some quite lanes, only for a few minutes test ride, on my newly converted Dahon Espresso with the BPM rear hub. I thought mid-week, and a poor weather day I would not see many people. But I did meet up with one of our nice Police Cyclists who greeted me on a couple of occasions.

You will notice the roads are rather potholed! It makes the ride feel a bit uncomfortable and harsh bumps with no suspension. The MTB will be finished soon so I hope I get a bit smoother ride!

This first video clip is a walk round the bike on a windy, cloudy day; it was quite difficult to get nice quality shots as the lighting was very variable with quick glimpses of sunshine and dark clouds, and of course, the wind noise.

It’s taking ages to upload the clips to YouTube, but here is the first; a tour round the bike. Sorry about the commentary; I really should have thought beforehand what I was going to say! The skylark singing in the background adds a bit of natural sound to the clip.

[video=youtube;jM0p6aRgJEk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM0p6aRgJEk[/video]

The second clip has just uploaded while I was writing this post, so here it is as well; unfortunately a poor quality wobbly camera mount stopped me catching up with the Police Cyclist.

[video=youtube;Et9kL0Ot7qM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et9kL0Ot7qM[/video]

Chris

 

[indalo]

The bike looks smart Chris and, like you I think, I'd prefer a softer ride so I'm with you on the suspension issue.

Ditto on the health situation as I haven't been out on my bike much recently due to hospital stuff. Apparently, their next experiment on me will involve injecting me with some radioactive material and I'm advised to keep away from children for the rest of the day after the procedure and I don't think that's because they think I'm a paedo!

If I ride my bike that evening after my discharge, I probably shan't need lights as I'll most likely glow in the dark!

Regards,
Indalo

 

[vhfman]

Two more video clips on the move

Hi Indalo, radioactive material, glowing in the dark, so as long as you don’t get those other side effects of radioactive stuff, and turn into the ‘Incredible Hulk’ you should be fine! I hope all goes well with your tests.

I felt too exhausted today to go out bike riding, so I spent most of the day uploading these video clips to YouTube. That only requires a few key strokes of energy from me, and the rest of the time spent snoozing while listening to the cricket commentary.

A couple more clips of the bike. The front camera moves too much, and the rear view camera was very poor in the light conditions of the day. I had to process the video to enhance the brightness but that has altered the quality and has pixelated the end result. But it gives a different perspective on the ride and somehow emphasizes the undulations of the road more than the front view camera.

In the walk round clip of the bike, my commentary describes the lanes as reasonably level, but this is all relative, around the City built on seven hills. Even on this short ride of about 4 miles there are quite a few variations in altitude, with some fast downhill sections. I was seeing speeds with no motor assistance in excess of 28MPH. The variation in the topography is not displayed that well from the camera’s view point.

And yes, another encounter with the police cyclist on this ride, more greetings from the constabulary as we pass each other along the road.

This is the front view

[video=youtube;q7n7C2iU74s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7n7C2iU74s[/video]

And this one is the rear view camera


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

Chris