Out and about and a handy Gadget

A favourite local ride.

There's a fine view of a famous pub, the Altisidora (named after a famous racehorse that raced a nearby Beverley Racecourse) across the pond and the war memorial cross at Bishop Burton
(They do great meals too!)

And this lovely village is only 12 miled from home, an easy ride on the Ebike (in this case the Viking Eco stepper)

And on the way home.

Right now the cycle paths pass some fine Daffodils and trees, this is the local ring road

A very handy gadget: a chain cleaner.

This was how it looked when new.

And when disassembled to put the chain in for cleaning

It works very well too, but there is a snag: it's very fragile!

The locking lugs that hold the top and bottom together failed the first time I used it and the curved handle failed on the fourth use.

I can still use it by gripping the top and bottom halves together, but really it is far too fragile, which is a shame as it does a great job of cleaning the bike chain!

I use this degreaser from Halfords, it costs £9.99 and there's enough for at least a year as the gadget takes about half a cupful!

When the cleaning is done I usually spray the chain with WD40 and wait for it to drive out moisture as the degreaser is water based, before oiling the chain.

Those strange saddles of mine

Are the reason after having Prostate Cancer that I was able to take up Cycling again, as my privates were so damaged after Hormone and Radiotherapy that I was no longer able to tolerate a normal Bike saddle.
Here is the advert that led me to buy first one, then another
Hobson Comfortable Bike Saddles
And here they are. the first one I bought was the "Easyseat 2", the cheaper of the two.

Originally to fit to my Brompton, but now on the Viking Eco stepper, as I have purchased the deluxe model as I intend longer journeys on this bike.

This model is called "Pro Hub X2"

And it is marginally the more comfortable of the two.

They are both adjustable with regards to the gap between the seat pads, and can be locked into that position with a thumbwheel and pinch screw.

The two pads actual pivot vertically as you pedal, and while this at first seems a bit strange, you soon get used to it.

The main thing is that I  can ride comfortably any distance I like on them!

A temporary repair that has sort of become permanent 

This odd looking disc is the PAS magnetic disc that is pushed onto the bottom bracket shaft that takes the crank and pedal, the teeth are soft and distort around the square shaft to grip it so that when the pedals are rotated the disc revolves past a sensor mounted on the bottom bracket, causing the motor to rotate.

I had some slack in the bottom bracket bearing as the locking ring had come loose and when I took the assembly apart all the little teeth dropped off the disc.

As I knew there would be a delay in getting a replacement, as a "keep going" bodge I simply put Blu Tak on the outside of the disc and glued it to the crank.

This proved completely successful, so much so that I have decided not to fit the new disc till the "Bodge" fails, and a couple of months later there is still no sign of that happening and the new disc sits on my Computer desk waiting for it's time to come!

I forgot to mention that I had bought a different puncture sealant while in Whitby.

And when we got home and I took out the Viking I found that the rear tyre had  slow puncture so this was a chance to try it

This one actually claims to make  a permanent repair for the life of the tyre; it has fixed the slow puncture and I shall wait with interest to see whether it actually does as it claims.

When this back tyre wears out I shall replace it with a Schwalbe Marathon Plus to get  the maximum puncture protection I can buy!

Whats happening while we are home?

Well, I am getting out and about on the Viking E stepper, and that means a ride to the park each morning to start the day

Here it is in front of the main lake of east Park.

Sometimes I ride there in the evenings, and occasionally get a glimpse of the deer that stay hidden during the day when the park is busy.

And then there are some mods to do to the Brompton

Like improving the brakes, and these Swisstop Brake shoes have certainly done that!

The difference is dramatic and well worth the slight expense, but it did highlight another problem that has been bothering me.

Keeping the handlebars from moving when braking!

I  have had no luck just tightening the pinch screw  that is supposed to do this, so bought sone thread sealant and hopefully it will do the trick.

We shall soon find out whether it has worked.

I have also sent off for a spare Shwalbe Marathon Plus tyre which has a arrived, and just now an inner tube for it from Wiggle bikes.

Final ride of this Holiday (April 1st) Whitby Abbey

The weather forecast was for rain in the afternoon, but I thought I might get the ride in before that happened and set off about 3Pm , dropping down the side roads to Hawsker before joining the main Whitby road.
Most of the roads were wet on the steeper sections reminding me that I really need to fit those Swisstop brake pads that are hopefully in the post and ready to be fitted next week before out next holiday.

Though mainly downhill there are some pretty steep uphil sections too, especially when you approach Hawsker itself. After that it's mainly but not all downhill along the main road before turning off for the Abbey.

I headed for the front of St Marys Church as I wanted a shot of the cross

The great view down over the Harbour into the town,

And a great view  down the 199 steps!

After that it was a strong headwind and an uphill journey all the way back to camp, the voltage on the display frequently dropping to the pint where it beeped as being low, yet it kept going without any problems and I ran into rain on the last leg of the journey where the road crossed from the Coast Road to May Beck, 

The bike and espcially the chain and sprockets will be getting a thorough clean when we get home!

A serious hill to conquer: Lythe Bank North Yorkshire

Another view I always meant to take, and now have

The problem of course is you can't stop your car on the hill to take in this magnificent view down Lythe Bank onto Sandsend.
However, if you pedal up the hill on an EBike as this foolish old man who should have more sense did, you can coast back down the footpath from the village to St Oswalds Church at the top of the hill, and stop where you like to take a photo!
And the fun doesn't end there, you coast down the hill with brakes getting hotter and hotter and on the last bend at the steepest bit into the village, the footpath disappears into the bank,  and just to add a bit of interest, the front brake cable clamping nut chose this precise moment to lose some of it's grip, so the brake lever just about reached the handlebar before having any effect, so I had to  to choose either dropping about a foot onto a busy road, with only partially operating brakes on a steep hill, or turning up onto the grassy bank in the hope of gravity stopping me.
As it happens it did and I slid gracefully and slowly down onto the yard of the old Railway Station.
After adjustment the brake was fully restored and I coasted down to the bottom of the hill safely.
Obviously when repairing a puncture I cant have tightened the nut enough,
And I recalled the wise words of my father as he so often said to me
"Nothing is Foolproof to the Talented Fool"
One of these days my tombstone will read "It was the way he wanted to go!"
Remember if you haven't grown up by the time you are 70, you don't have to.

And here is the view that made it worthwhile.

Rides from our Caravan site of the Brompton

The bike is actually a little slower than the Viking Eco Stepper, topping out at 15MPH, and its a LOT noisier too,setting off on just throttle makes it growl and sound distressed, as does applying too much throttle at low speeds.
On the credit side I can't fault the hill climbing power, as it can handle any hill less than 25% (with some pedal assistance) and I have even managed the climb out of Robin Hood's Bay that has a short section of 25%, so in that sense I am well pleased with it.
Gale force winds don't bother it and me either, and my only concerns are for the noise level from the motor (though I was told at the free service that it was fine) and how many times I can unplug and re-connect the Motor, throttle and display before the connectors fail.
You have to do this of course every time to fold the Brompton and put it in the car boot
Still it has a years guarantee, so we shall see. Already I have covered over 600 miles and it seems to go very well.
Here it is on the entrance to the swing bridge in Whitby harbour

Our Caravanning site is at the top of a 5 mile hill out of Whitby that I would have had no chance of riding up without the conversion fitted!

The red electrical tape on the frame is to protect the paintwork as in my old age I tend to catch it with my shoes getting on and off the bike (memo to self to find something more permanent)

And to order a new tyre from the internet, as after a severe puncture I had to drive over 40 miles to York to get a replacement in the right size!

On Punctures, slime, and tyres...

After a month or so I got my first puncture about an hours walk from home and it was of the "sudden death" variety the wheel went off with a bang!
I was the amount of green goo all over the wheel and ground that indicated that the tyre had been treated with "Slime" but as the puncture was a half in slice through the tread I wan't surprised it hadn't done the trick, so went off to the local Halfords where the only tyre in my size 20" by 1.75" was a cheap BMX tyre from Sri Lanka.
I also bought  a new inner tube, and as my previous experience with Slime had been positive (an old tyre when taken off the Brompton proved to have been punctured 14 times before failure. I  bought a bottle of slime too.
I was concerned as I had never taken out a front wheel with Hub drive but this proved to be a doddle and I duly injected Slime into both tyres.
Next time it was the rear wheel.
One morning I found the rear tyre had gone down a few psi, pumped it up and did my morning ride to get back and find the pressure had been lost again, so I turned the bike over and took out the rear wheel, complicated by the rear stand and coaster brake and the two bolts and locknuts on the Torque arm, this is what  I saw

So the slime had at least got me home, probably twice at that! so I bought a new inner tube and then had fun getting the wheel back in as the twin torque nuts are difficult to start and tighten up

Believe me you wouldn't want to attempt it by the side of the road at night!!!
Since then I have had several more punctures and replaced the front tyre with a Schwalbe Marathon Plus, and the next time the rear wheel punctures it will get one too.

Back in the Saddle or is it saddles?

It all began with a conversation with a friend at the Castleton Tea rooms, when I mentioned I had a Honda 125cc Dylan Scooter I was thinking Of selling and buying an Ebike.

And he replied, I would love that scooter, and I have an EBike I would be happy to swop for it..
And here it is, after I had added proper mudguards and a handlebar mirror.
And most crucial of all a "Hobson Comfort Saddle" actually two saddles side by side as you can see in the image below, and hence the reason for the name of this blog.

Although it is one of the cheapest Ebikes, and had a problem with the power turning off without warning, with a little sorting and a new key "ignition" switch, it runs really well and will do over twenty miles on the small battery in the plastic case under the seat.
It is a Pedelec, and so you have to pedal as it has no throttle, more than adequate around town.
He in turn is delighted with the Honda scooter, so it was a good deal for both of us!
There are two drawbacks, it is heavy, but more significant it more collapses than folds and even then is only slightly smaller, so I started thinking about getting my Brompton converted to a "Sparticle" Ebike, so we could take it with us caravanning.