Or it was yesterday. So far we are having a mild winter with only a short spell of minus temps overnight. It is damp though.
Today it’s a wet, blowy day with more to come tomorrow so I thoughtI don’t want to ride, have I got enough material to Blog? and the answer is “Yes”.
E-City punctured
The morning after the ride covered in my last post I came out to get the bike and found:
That made me think. On the first couple of rides I did carry a toolkit and a puncture repair bag. I checked in the bag, the inner tube was a 20” one and so would have been no use on a 26” wheel. What was I thinking! The bag did contain the puncture repair kit and tyre levers so that was OK. What would not have been OK was the tyre pump sitting on the trike and not Mr. E-City. A puncture out at Bishopsbourne would have been a bit of a problem!
OK, I had to get the inner tube out for repair. How exactly? I don’t want to rip into it and pull the wrong cables off the motorised hub. An attempt to get at the inner tube by releasing one side of the tyre and pulling the tube out didn’t work as too many bits of bicycle got in the way. It would have to be rear wheel removal.
A useful video on YouTube described how to remove the wheel of a bike with a rear hub. Comparing the video bike set-up to mine it looked very similar and so with a hum and a happy whistle I began. Initially disconnecting the motor went well but then work came to an immediate stop because none of my spanners fitted the axle nut. None of my sockets fitted either. I called Colin seeking to borrow an 18mm spanner – he hadn’t got one. I resorted to a big shifter which felt really bad to use and, in fact, was quite awkward just because it was so big. Gentle use of this “sledgehammer to crack a nut” tool did manage to undo the nuts and didn’t seem to do too much damage to anything else.
The wheel was eventually out after manipulating the rotor past the disc brake and chain off the cogs and I was able to pull off the tyre and inner tube ready for repair. The actual holes in the tube were tiny and could only be found using the tube in a bowl of water method. Two holes close together bubbling slightly in the water. I reckon I rode with a flattish tyre and had a pinch episode cycling over a rock or a hole and the tyre bit into the tube. It was getting on by now so I put patches on the tube and left it to set overnight.
We headed into Launceston the next morning and I bought a couple of 26” x 2” tubes and an 18mm spanner. On return the tube repair was holding and everything went back together with only minor hassles. Lesson learnt, I now have toolkit, pump, spare tubes and an 18mm spanner in the bag ready to go riding.
While fixing the puncture I realised the front wheel was not spinning freely. Another visit to YouTube and I learnt 3 things to do to make sure the disc brake rotor is not binding on the disc pads. Luckily the first “thing” actually fixed the problem. Winner.
Cans and Bottles by the Roadside
I have reported previously on my attempts to clean up the roadside verge and I have also whinged about the State Government not implementing our Bottle and Can recycling system which was initially promised to be operational in 2021.
Well, much to our surprise, Tasmanian Bottle and Can collecting stations have finally come on-line and are open for business. There wasn’t much of a fanfare maybe because it is only 4 years behind promise. Anyway, I have been doing my usual thing of collecting :
but now turned my attention to cans and bottles. I could turn a profit on them! Maybe.
On one of my first rides with the E-City I rode this short stretch of gravel. I noticed a can, then another and quickly filled one pannier. You are not allowed to crush the cans as the machine has to read the barcode, so I can’t fit in as many cans as there are cans by the roadside.
The above was the haul from the gravel road.
The pannier was filled again on a ride to Woolmer’s Bridge. The haul made a small dent in the total number of cans on this short ride.
A Hilly Ride
After doing a couple of relatively flat 30k rides it was time to see how the E-City battery fared on a hilly 30k ride.
The Deloraine / Exton / Deloraine loop has a good number of hills and made a good test.
I thought I had sorted out the 360 camera and so took it along. The weather was misty, foggy even in places. There was no wind and the temperature had risen to only 10°C on my return to the car. IE not a nice day. The bike took to the hills well and the stats showed we managed an average speed of 19kph – quite a bit faster than the recumbent trike would manage.
Battery usage was another thing. I rode mostly using power level 3 of 5 and on the steepest hills selected levels 4 and even 5 for a couple of climbs. The hub motor is not happy when laboured (most hub motors aren’t). This one makes whinging and whining noises and feels like it might stall. To avoid this I had to keep the speed above 10kph which was not so easy on the steeper climbs. Osmaston Hill (known locally as Heartbreak Hill) is a 10% to 11% gradient for quite a stretch. My way to tackle this and keep above 10kph was to use power level 5 combined with fast pedalling in gear 2. It worked for the bike but was not so good on the old bloke riding it! My 2-wheel bike riding muscles should redevelop over the next few weeks. Back to battery use – on the steep hills there was quite some voltage sag. 35.1 volts was displayed at one point but at the top, when the pressure came off, it returned to the high 36s. At the end of the ride the battery which began the day at 41.5 volts, was reading 36.2 volts. So over half the charge had been expended. Gradually I learn what the bike is capable of.
The 360 camera started off OK but then decided to not record anything but tell me with visuals and beeps that it was recording. So here is a video from the start of the ride to where the camera said “NO” but told me “OK”.
Car
The car managed the trip to Deloraine without chucking a wobbly so I am wondering if the troubles we have been having may be aggravated by hot weather. The replacement part is now due from China by 4th August. I want to go on a ride with the NW Group this coming Sunday which means a drive to Latrobe for the start. This is approx. 80k away. Maybe I am being overly confident but I reckon all will be OK!!
’til next time ……………………………..
Tony's Tasmanian Cycling Blog 
I didn’t realise changing a puncture on an e-bike would be quite that complicated. I guess I’d never thought about all the mechanisms that would be on the wheel. Your video feels very wintry, but good to see the birdbath is not frozen 🙂 Shame about all the clearing for lifestyle properties, but I guess there will be more and more as mainlanders come down to escape climate change. I’m sure there would be a lot more already if TAS had more work opportunities and better access to healthcare. It does seem you are really learning the ins and outs of the new ebike and its capabilities.
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Thanks Emily. I think you are right about a mainland influx as the reality of climate change kicks in. Although the bird baths remain mostly unfrozen this winter it’s still pretty cold – especially when it’s windy. That extra chill factor is not very nice. Hope all is well with you and the Project Team is working well.
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