~~
Thursday 9th -5C/23F. A white rhyme frost. Bright and clear again. Possible light snow showers later.
8.15. -2C/28F. Time for my walk. Cool but warm in the sunshine. To the lanes as usual. Which quickly cured my aching back. Small birds were twittering in the hedgerows.
I am wary about prematurely buying a Diamond rated, U-lock for the e-bike. Ideally, the shackle wants to be long enough to capture any street anchor, the frame and the rear wheel. Though not always. Depending on the circumstances.
This may be further complicated by the rear suspension, gas strut. Two U-locks are likely to be needed if the front wheel is to be secured to common [supermarket] bike racks. I cannot test this until I know the fatter tires can easily enter.
Locking the front wheel to the frame is further complicated by the geometry of the down tube. Which is deliberately placed a long way from the wheel in an MTB-style machine. This is to avoid wheel to frame contact under full suspension compression. Contact would accidentally apply fierce braking to the front wheel. Probably throwing the rider over the handlebars. While simultaneously inhibiting any steering.
No bike shops, within a wide radius, stocked the best ABUS U-locks. So I have ordered two ABUS Granit X-Plus and Plus U-locks online. One long and one short. 300mm & 150mm respectively. Plus their 12mm Granit chain with loop. That should ensure I will always have secure options regardless of circumstances. Paranoia about theft has its value but should not inhibit normal behaviour. In that it should not prevent full enjoyment of the machine.
The advice online seemed to be to spend 1/10 of the value of the machine on locks. I can't order an app based tracking/alarm system until I have the bike. The control unit may have useful options or limitations. Which may suggest further choices be made.
Being insured is no compensation if the stolen bike becomes unavailable. Or later models are less attractive. I am wary of relying on alarm locks. Better to force the thieves to try elsewhere. If a bike is not secured to something immovable the risk remains. Lifting an e-bike into a van or pickup is not impossible for a grown adult. Better to make them think twice. With a ridiculous and highly visible display of excessive security.
11.00 +3C/37F. It is warming up at last. So I ought to have a trike ride. 14.00 Lunch over. It became steadily more cloudy on my hilly ride. The new helmet was very comfortable. I hardly noticed I had it on. No issues with my hearing aids being crushed by the chin straps over my ears. As occurred with my old helmet. 16 miles. Going quite well despite the cross-headwind going both ways. I did my best to keep my cadence high. It is brightening up again now.
21.00 0C/31F. I continue to do my homework on e-bikes online. Mostly on YouTube. With background research by Google searching.
Dinner was a salmon pasty with beans and tinned tomatoes. With a bread roll to mop up the juices. Though I had to strain the tomatoes through a slotted spoon to save being completely awash. Normally I use pasta to soak up the excess fluids. I deliberately overcooked the pasty. To avoid the soggy results I had previously.
~~
No comments:
Post a Comment