10.03.2023 More e-bike family expertise & OMG!! 😄

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  Friday 10th 30F. Another white frost. Up at 4am. I was reliving the past as nightmares again. Back to bed at 5.00 and slept for an hour. Up again at 6.30. The sky is too smudgy to decide if it is clear or cloudy. Snow showers possible tonight.

 That mole obviously had trouble sleeping as well. Or it was just sharing an early morning. Did I wake you? All the molehills are frosted except for one. It had better watch out! I am losing patience as fast as I am losing territory to the little monster. 🙄

 E-bike delivery day. Any time between 8.00 and 16.00 they said.  Phone switched on. In case they call ahead. To confirm they are nearing ground zero. Or even outside. 

 The freight service involved usually farms out deliveries to random drivers. Of 100m long articulated lorries! Who then park illegally on the blind bend at the end of the drive. Dump the goods on the verge and leave. 

 The Moustache FS27 Speed with the Cambium C17 saddle at its lowest. I was taking no chances on my first ride!

 The freight service terms of service are always delivery to the verge. Or edge of the pavement only. Now it seems they also have a specialist cycle delivery service. Which provides delivery to the door. One must presume a smaller vehicle. To manage the 200m of shared drive and the sharp bend at halfway. This should be interesting. 😁

 Now my brother has rung me to offer his expert advice on e-bike battery care. He has been riding and building e-bikes for over a decade. He suggests a gentle start to e-bike battery use. Break the battery in carefully. Never let it drop below about 40% charge. Don't hammer it on Turbo until it has done plenty of miles. Recharge it to 100% after a ride if it is soon to be used again.

 Keep the battery warm when not in use. 20C/68F is best. Only charge a warm battery. If it is cold it will lose range and power. Let it warm up indoors after a winter ride before charging. Beware of going below the safe charge level on a longer ride or in winter. 

 If caught out on a ride with a depleted battery: Nurse it in Eco mode and power off where possible to avoid serious depletion. A low battery charge will seriously shorten a battery's life. He has batteries over ten years old and still going strong. After countless tens of thousands of miles. Having a reserve battery is always a good idea. Thanks Dave!

 11.30 36F. Still waiting. I wonder if they have to drive all the way from Copenhagen today?  I am still watching YT videos on e-bikes to educate myself. Me obsessive? Never! 😏

 13.20 The bike arrived in a box van. 😊 They had also been to Jylland. [Jutland] They were staff from the shop itself. The huge chap I spoke to could have carried an e-bike under each arm. I was expecting a huge box but they delivered it naked and ready to ride. Exactly as promised.

Now I can relax and take some photos. And a test ride, of course! First I lowered the saddle as far as it would go. Then added a fleece hat and gloves. It was chilly!

 You'll be happy to know that I hadn't lost my ability to balance on a two wheeler. Turning tight circles was a struggle at first but soon came with a bit of practice. After a trial run without power I engaged ECO mode in 2nd gear. Only 45% battery charge on the Kiox display and it was cold at 37F. So I wasn't going to do more than stay in the safety of the gravel drive. Where there is no traffic except for myself.

 This is ECO mode?!!? Woohoo!! I was up to 25kph in less than three yards. Tried Tour mode briefly and hit 30kph in a similar distance. Very controllable, but accelerates harder with cadence and pedal pressure. 

 I can't even imagine how it will perform in Turbo in higher gears. Thanks to the full suspension it simply sails over the horrible potholes in the drive. Effortlessly smooths out grass and gravel. Far better than the car. Infinitely better than the teeth rattling trike! The brakes are smooth and very powerful. As they should be on a machine of this potential performance.

 I was soon running circuits back and forth from the back garden. To a graveled turning space on the main straight of the shared drive. Almost 200 yards with a sharp bend in the middle. The saddle was raised a few inches but needs yet more height for pedaling efficiency. 

 I still need to reach the ground! Sliding forward off the saddle would work. If I can remember to do it in time! The Cambium saddle has a lot of friction against fleece trousers. Inhibiting a quick trial of the ejector seat! On the trike I just sit there while at a complete standstill. A habit which is deeply ingrained from over a decade of riding only a trike.

 Needless to say I am absolutely delighted with my shiny new e-bike! It is everything I had hoped for and more. I think it looks absolutely gorgeous in gloss black with matt accents. Like an early 20th century motorcycle [with one eye closed.] The wheels and tires are just right for serious styling. It doesn't look like a push bike with a motor added as an afterthought. It's a serious bit of kit.

 On a racing bike I would have sneered at chain guards. In this context I find them completely practical for normal clothing.  The flat pedals are reminiscent of MTBs and work very well with my lightly treaded, walking shoes. They provide the confidence I need for learning to ride this new form of transport. [For me.] 

 SPD pedals would have been lethal during these early training rides. I may even keep these flat pedals. To allow me to wear far more sensible shoes. To avoid the constant changing into "full cycling gear." Just to go shopping in the village. Normal shoes just don't work on SPDs.

 I was a teenager the last time I rode a moped. A gutless, old, 98cc James. With rubber band, girder fork, front suspension. Only for riding in circles on the sports, back fields. I'd try to ride as fast as possible around the football field markings. As if I was a speedway rider. I never [ever] rode a proper motorcycle myself. Always a passenger.

 The battery is already indoors to warm up before recharging. The casing was only 12C/53F when I checked it on the coffee table. Placed a good couple of meters away from the stove. Being a solid lump, the battery will take quite a while to reach room temperature. Presently 20C. 

 The bike is now also indoors until the battery is recharged. That will probably be tomorrow now. All the locks should arrive early next week. I am not taking any chances until the bike is properly secured! I just hope it doesn't snow overnight. Or I won't be able to play tomorrow.

 17.00 I just woke from a vital nap to catch up. The battery had warmed to 18C before I lay down. So I put it on charge. The charge indicator is already showing four solid bars of five. With the 5th blinking on and off at intervals. 

 It will have to be toast for dinner again. I have even run out of bread rolls. Now I have to do some homework on the little Kiox display. I was hoping for a Bosch Nyon but it wasn't to be. At least the Kiox doesn't draw attention to itself. Like the much larger Nyon. Which is more of a lounge, colour TV. 

 I struggle to read the tiny text on my bike computer without glasses. So the Kiox is a decent step up in size with bold fonts. The Shimano gears have colour bars on the handlebars to indicate which one, of eleven, is selected. Very useful and I won't need my strongest reading glasses for that. No doubt I will soon be changing gear on automatic pilot. Just as I have done for years on bikes and trikes. The only time I ever need  to look down. To check which gear it is. Is when I am searching for a lower, non-existent gear on a breathless climb!

 I now have the Kiox display paired with my Android mobile phone. This allows simple route planning and transferring to the Kiox from the phone. The route is shown as a line which rotates with each turn. So that the bike follows the route shown turn by turn. While the bike continues to face the top of the display. Simple but effective. 

 The Connect Windows app keeps deferring to German on the Google Play and Apple Play sites. Without an obvious download button. Must try harder? There is no ebike Connect for windows. So I am downloading it to my Android  tablet. Done. Now it will not pair with the tablet. It needs the remote to confirm the identify of the Kiox. The Kiox is not touch screen and has no Select button.

 19.00 Dinner will be poached eggs on toast. With tomato soup but no roll. 

 The battery charged from 45% to 100% in about an hour. A bulky 4A charger is supplied. I left it connected all evening to see what would happen. The indicator lights came back on at intervals. I have now disconnected the charger and left the battery in the warmest room at 20ºC. 

 Fortunately there are lots of YT videos on using the Kiox computer display and the Bosch Connect App. Hours of fun! I have just loaded a route onto the Kiox from my phone. Fast, Scenic and MTB options are all saved as a named route.

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