Subnostr

i finally broke down and i'm gonna get myself a little electric bicycle... one with nice wide fat tires for the often wet and steep roads around me... i dunno how the brakes are gonna work out... probably will need to make sure i get some spare discs and brake pads and cables because hilly terrain like this means sometimes nearly red hot brake discs (i saw this in Sarajevo in the hills on the south side, which are friggin crazy steep, just like here in madeira)

i will still get my exercise, probably will work out the same because i'll travel more this way

days like today, easter sunday, really drive home the importance of having a bit more mobility here... only places that were open today were on the tourist strip right next to the beach, 6km away, down 400m of altitude

i will need to get some proper rain suit gear tho... legs and a jacket... and maybe even get a motocross/bmx style helmet mainly to keep my head from being saturated by rain

best part though is gonna be being able to ride the slow sloped roads down, and if i ever want to, get off the track and walk it to take a shortcut

#deardiary #bicycle #electric #madeira

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Discussion

cloud fodder 1y ago

Just don't get hub motors.. those can't hillclimb. (Which prob means don't get moonbike style tires either, you don't need em, just reg mountain bike tires are good)

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 1y ago

well, i sorta had in mind that i would probably use my legs for the steep slopes anyway, the motor is there more to move things along on gentle slopes

yeah, i have some experience with scooters in recent years and a 350W couldn't hack what i have here some of the way... yes, exactly, to do the steep you need gears on the drive

anyway, this is europe... they don't let you go faster than about 18mph on a bicycle anyway, at least it's not as insanely bad as australia's anti-independent-small-unlicenced-vehicle rules

i don't think i'll find a geared motor drive for a reasonable price tho

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 1y ago

oh also they aren't moon tires, just your typical BMX style

i prefer the small radius wheels, and in this case it does mean a bit more torque for the slopes

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 1y ago

https://www.worten.pt/produtos/bicicleta-eletrica-dobravel-ado-a20-xe-cross-country-20-vel-maxima-25-km-h-7657951

cloud fodder 1y ago

This looks kinda nice, esp for the price. I worry about folding bikes tho I imagine it getting beat to shit on downhills I would prob want a solid frame w more aggressive handle bars (lower)

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 1y ago

yeah, downhills are not an option... i gotta take the gentle slope paths only, and enjoy the ease of it until i have to go up a hill again later on, and bust my ass...

nah, this is just for 2-3 days a week doing a run to the supermarket, and it's light and small enough i can take shortcuts on foot, and when i have to come back up the slopes, the motor will make it a little easier

cloud fodder 1y ago

Sounds like a plan.

cloud fodder 1y ago

Ya they're expensive. 😭 Hub motors , while being cheaper are also are extremely heavy, my electric moonbike was almost 90lbs. Makes for harder pedaling though it does assist you if you can pedal hard enough. Typically, I would have to jump off and walk it up the hill (using the motor, it then turns into a pack horse while you walk if you have a load, heh).

Enduro motorcycles are pretty nice and cheaper than the nice ebikes

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 1y ago

oh yeah, enduro style is my favourite style of motorcycle in general... i used to have a Sachs Madass 50... that thing with spoked wheels, turbo and 80cc big bore and enduro medium-knobblies would have been a great thing to do mountains on

i'm a mountain man, what can i say? i love the peace of it so the cost of such things as the hassles of transport that can deal with the rigors of the terrain are fine... i can't stand living in flat places packed tight with thousands of other assholes, and the many many other features of urban living that just plain suck

it can be nice in the flat country regions but mountains are just better in too many ways i am glad to be again in them

unit 1y ago

They're great, I enjoy mine

Sometimes, I just want to go somewhere without alot of effort

Last thing I want is to show up all sweaty and stinky when I'm meeting up with friends 🤣😂

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 1y ago

well, i suspect i'll still get an opportunity to stink it up but i don't have any friends to visit around here anyway, this is just for getting supplies mostly

unit 1y ago

You'll make friends, you seem very personable to me

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 1y ago

well, these seem to be nice people around here, not like the kind of people i encountered on the south side... these are like more chill, quiet, and robust people

finding a place that is fun to hang out for a 5 hour stint on a weekend is really the thing i've gotta find... first night i came to this area, there seemed to be some techno party going on across the valley somewhere, no idea where it was exactly, except ironically i'm sure it was near me, but i haven't heard such an event since then... so maybe it's just down season for north side parties

Niel Liesmons 1y ago

Cool! I've been looking for what daily bike-life is like over there. Keep us posted 🙏.

Btw: is cargo-bikes a thing there?

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 1y ago

no, everyone has cars here, and practically all women on the south side of the island have giant michelin man energy storage devices 🤣 🎈

it's a really hard terrain... that's why i'm going for a 20" bmx style tire, this is mountain landscape, you need high torque, and i don't expect the motor to help me much going up, and i doubt it's regen, and i start from up high as well, so i have to pick my paths down to be not too steep so i don't end up with red hot discs

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 1y ago

the majority of cyclists i have seen on this island have been young men riding mountain bikes, but rarely i see them riding uphill either... just rarely at all see them

i'm pretty sure i know how to deal with this kind of terrain... some hard work is required to avoid needing to be subject to the onerous demands of vehicle licensure, i just object to the whole thing, it's like, people complain about being tracked and traced with their mobiles? bitch please, they been doing this with cars since the 60s