Old Fart At Play

I remove the battery and use a Fahrer battery cover on the bike, it is a neoprene/velcro thing which fits nice and snugly keeping rainwater and grit out.

I use squirt wax lube. Brilliant. Far less gack than other libes I've used, and much easier to clean chain. It is true that it stands up to wet weather less well, but if I am out in showers I still leave it at elast 100 miles before re-lubing. After a prolonged torrential downpour, then yes I would clean and relube when I got home. I've used it now for about 4 years after about 40 years of using other lubes, and I wouldnt go back.

Yes you can follow a pre-loaded route without data, but you can't modify your route or explore etc without data. Clearly not a problem for many people but I didn't like that.

I use komoot and Osmand+. Komoot is very good but it doesn't show many cycle routes, even national cycle routes. Also, much of it doesn't work if you don't have a phone signal (or like me you don't use data on your phone). Osmand+ show all the cycle routes, works perfectly with no phone signal, and it also shows contours which I find v useful. One nice thing that Komoot has that Osmand+ doesn't is that it links to the Bosch e-bike app. Only a benefit if you have a bosch powered bike of course!

Hiya... Touring is my preference, and I bought a Trek Allant+ 8. Brilliant bike and lovely for touring. Comes with mudguards and rearv rack which accommodates Ortlieb panniers perfectly. Front fork is rigid, and it will take front panniers - I use a Tubus Tara lowrider rack. You may not *need* front panniers for credit catd touring, but I think they distribute the weight very nicely. I prefer having my grab and go stuff in a front pannier rather than a handlebar bag, but you may not. Oh yes, and some people have said that the rack on the Allant is a bit weird sas it sits lower than the mudguard so you can't put a rack pack on. First, I love the rack; second, you can fir a rack pack no problem, you just put something on the rack rails first to raise the base. I use a kryptonte lock to do that but a couple of bits of wood would work! I thought the wide tyres would be weird after my steel tourer, but I love them - comfortable, great on rough surfaces. The 625 battery means a good range - 80 miles is no problem if you use eco mode. Anyway, good luck finding a bike that suits. Cheers, John

Ah, I had (foolishly) assumed that you wanted to be able to see the route you were tracking on a map as you rode. Quite right, if you don't want that, you have more options

With a budget of £200 I'd be inclined to use a free app on the phone for distance and route tracking (eg Osmand+), a free website for route planning (eg plotaroute.com), and spend the money on a nice fitness tracker, like a galaxy watch. There may be gadgets that do the whole range of things you want, but as it is easy to spend over £200 on a planning/tracking device and over £200 on a fitness device, I'm guessing that any device that combined those features for under £200 would be a bit basic. Cheers, John

Bosch do an excellent range calculator. You can dial in your bike model, battery, preferred cycling mode, terrain etc and it willtell you how far you can get. In my experience it is excellent: https://www.bosch-ebike.com/en/service/range-assistant/ And yes, it is well worth it, if you ever get near to running out of range on a 500. Cheers, John

.. I also see that the 4+ has the Kiox display, which I much prefer and find more useful than the Purion on the 3+

Hello there... My wife has the Trek TM4+ lowstep, which is basically the older version of the verve. She loves it. Quite upright, plenty of power, very quiet. I think main difference between the +3 and+4 is the battery. My wife's 4 has a 500 battery, wether you need/want that or not depends on how far you want to go. You say 'good range' so I think you need the +4

You could just stick the drybags inside the rubbish panniers

My bike has a bosch cx 4th gen drive and the power support is immediate. There seems to be an extar bit of whoomf when you start off so hill starts are no problem

What a great idea! I used to have an oilskin cape in the 60s when cycling to school, haven't thought about them in years, but it was great in foul weather!

Glad to hear that you are OK. Sounds like you handled the situation very well. It is sad that bystanders arent more willing to lend support. My brother in law was knocked from his bike on a roundabout in Teddington. He was lying on the ground, dazed, for some minutes while drivers just drove past. The guy who knocked him down just disappeared. He was OK, just dazed, but the experience shocked him.

Hiya... I have had a similar problem in the past. Some earlier posts have mentioned North Road or swept back bars, and I can recommend them too because of the way that your hands have a much more natural position than on straight bars. But I dont know what kind of bars you have now; they may already be swept back. With regard to stem riser or adjustable stem, I have used both in the past in different situations. The stem riser I wasn't keen on. Some adjustable stems are rubbish, but Ritchey do fantastic adjustable stems. They are very solid, no creaking, and look great. They give you a good degree of flexibility. The Ritchey ones come in three stem lengths so you should find one that does the job you need. If you currently have flat bars, then getting swept back bars with a decent amount of rise is probably the most elegant solution, and the cheapest. To an extent it depends on how much additional height you need. Good luck, I know the sore wrist thing is a real drag.