Royal Dutch Gazelle Orange C8 HMS
To give it's full title, is the e-bike I decided on after 6 years of sitting on the fence. An average length of time for my deliberations, not being one to make rash decisions, especially expensive ones.
I am from Yorkshire after all, deep pockets, short arms.
I've decided to try and use an ebike full time instead of riding a motorcycle which has been my daily ride for the last 30 years. Bit of a wrench actually but I just don't enjoy it much any more and the cost, although minimal in reality, is beginning to wear thin when compared to the benefits it offers. Lots of my motorbike gear is old and worn and I was looking down the barrel of the best part of £3K to replace everything and get the bike running smoothly again. This money more than covered the cost of a new ebike and as cycle commuting is, on my 9 mile inbound trip, only a few minutes slower and on some days can even beat the motorbike, it seemed like an obvious choice for the job.
Normally I ride road bicycles, drop-bars, full lycra, full mamil, lightweight speedy machines that let me fly along in traffic easily keeping up with the cars and dropping them as soon as they get snarled up in the endless jams that mark out my ride into work. Seems like a good fit for commuting too until you realise that I live at the top of a hill and my ride in basically consists of 9 miles of downhill. This of course is wonderful. The return journey, not so.
Now it's not that I'm unable to do this, I am perfectly capable of climbing that return leg. It's just that I don't want to. I'll happily ride climbs at weekends but after work you can keep this one. I just want the most efficient and enjoyable means of getting back home. Without the lycra. Just like being on holiday cycling in the Netherlands on my other Dutch bike. Without the cycle paths.
5th March - day one - round one.
A Royal Dutch Gazelle bike, e or otherwise is often cited as being the Rolls Royce of bicycles and for good reason. Long history, great designs, proven durability, long guarantees, excellent after sales service, undamageable paintwork from the longest factory paint shop line on earth, a mile long as it goes.
So this is what waited for me in the garage this morning as I made sure I had everything I needed in my new pannier bag and that I'd transferred all the bits and pieces I carry for work from the motorbike bag. Battery is full, fired up and ready to go. Turns out the Shimano Steps system and I need to get to know each other. It's trying to learn my cadence and I'm trying to figure out how hard to press to make it do the work I don't want to do so there are quite a few odd changes of gear.
It's fully automatic. I'm nothing if not lazy if opportunity presents itself and thinking about gears and pressing the thumb button to change them just seemed like a step too far when there was an option that let me just ride, which is what I want and what I will get once we figure each other out.
So, minor false start over the first climb before the main downhill sections and I'm happy even if I'm battling, well the bike is doing most of the battling, into a 30mph headwind and I can tell because I'm quite relaxed about it all where normally I"d be white knuckling the bars and chipping a few teeth with the effort. Down the big hill at almost 40mph without pedalling, with 28kg of bike all up with my gear, gravity is all you need. Then a long flattish descent before the last minor drag up before arriving at work and suddenly there's a new sound.
Tick, tick, tick.
Now anyone who rides regularly will know the sound of a spoke magnet hitting a cadence sensor or the like, regular rotational click in time with the rotation of the wheel. I think to myself I'll sort it when I get to the office, just a mile left, it'll be fine. But it gets worse and soon it's obvious that, given the thump through the bars I need to stop. Back wheel spins freely and silently but the front stops after half a rotation, tight against the front right pad. Hmm.
I free it up and decide to try again but see as I set off that there's a bulge in the tyre? Not a bulge actually, it's coming off the rim and as I stop again the gap opens and the tube starts to disgorge, my front wheel is disembowelling itself before my eyes. In my long riding history I've never seen this happen much less experienced it. So, a mile from my destination I resign myself, after partially dislocating my left thumb in the vain attempt to reseat the tyre enough to get to work, to calling International Rescue, as better halves are commonly referred to in cycling circles.
A trip to Cycle Heaven bike shop in York, my bikes dealer, reveals a tyre with a seriously defective bead, high quality German tyre brand no longer manufactured in Europe and with some obvious QC issues. It leaves me a bit miffed that my Rolls Royce has been let down by one of the cheapest components that it's comprised of but I am well looked after, given a new tyre and tube and I'm good to go.
Day one -round two.
I try again. This time it seems we are getting better acquainted and the uneventful ride is pretty much what I expected. I do seem to have to apply a bit more pedal pressure than I want to and there's still confusion on my part as to how to get the motor to react sometimes. Do I press harder or back off? But on the whole I'm a happy chap when I eventually make it to the office.
Day one - round three.
The return leg.
Big test time, some small draggy climbs followed by a long rise followed by the hill. That hill. Red Hill it's actually called. One of those that starts off steady and ramps up and up till right at the point where you have had enough, it turns the screw and hits 12% just to finish you off. It's perfectly fine on a normal day out unless you've overdone it already but after the office it's an unappetising prospect.
Good start. When cutting through stationary traffic I need to pass in front of a similarly stationary bus, I get out front and he decides to move ignoring me except to open his window to shout "Prick" before falling in behind me on the long road to the lights at the next junction. The long road that's too narrow to pass me on unless I ride in the gutter or deliberately make room. I decide to avoid possible squeezing and sharp objects in the gutter and take the lane at a sedate 12mph with the bus just behind me. I might be riding a bit slower than I normally would on this occasion but I feel I need to give the driver some time to think on his reaction to me so I stay where I am for a good half a mile so he can see the prick holding him up. His ulcer will be killing him this evening.
On up the next drag it's fine, I hit 15mph, about the top of the assisted speed and it's effortless. Over the top and it's obvious that I'm slow now. Usually I'd be riding at 25mph here and I'm aware that the traffic is more frightening at this speed. I begin to wish we had US speed rules and were allowed to run these bikes at 20mph with assistance. I work up a bit of a lather which is totally against the ethos of this bike and against my own wishes as I try to stay out of danger at this point. The whole thing fizzles in a moment though as the traffic stops and begins it's slow crawl to the lights a mile away while I scoot between the lanes to the advance cycle stop box, to which there is no access other than the unoffical centre gap between the two lines of cars. I'd kill for Dutch cycle lanes ...
Long steady 'relaxing' drag to the turn off to the climb next. I'd hoped it would be a pleasant ride at this point but the speed differential I don't experience on my road bike is pointed up once more as cars fly past me again in places where I normally hold my own. It's going to take some adjusting to but I think I'll get it eventually.
There's a 10% drag here now, with a short section of bike lane, dotted line a few feet from the kerb which passes for one anyway which offers some limited protection for slow moving bikes at this point and after a short flat it's the start of the hill. The auto gears are all over the shop now so I flick it to manual and pick a gear. This feels good but what I don't like is that the power shuts off if I change which leaves me struggling until it kicks in again, if it decides to. I settle into a nice rhythm after the glitches and get on with it. All good. At the steepest section the speed is down to 8mph, less that expected but I'm sure there's a knack to this I have to master and over the coming weeks I'll either find it or find that there isnt one and this is how it goes. Either way the hill is a lot easier and perfectly manageable on a daily basis now. Which is quite a relief to find out.
Return trip is about 10 mins slower than the motorbike version and will be, once we are fully au-fait with each other, a lot more relaxing.
Now, what I really need is to find that switch. The one in my head that makes me ride a road bike flat out every time, despite my protestations that "I'm going for a gentle ride today" .... and turn the bloody thing off for a bit.
I am from Yorkshire after all, deep pockets, short arms.
I've decided to try and use an ebike full time instead of riding a motorcycle which has been my daily ride for the last 30 years. Bit of a wrench actually but I just don't enjoy it much any more and the cost, although minimal in reality, is beginning to wear thin when compared to the benefits it offers. Lots of my motorbike gear is old and worn and I was looking down the barrel of the best part of £3K to replace everything and get the bike running smoothly again. This money more than covered the cost of a new ebike and as cycle commuting is, on my 9 mile inbound trip, only a few minutes slower and on some days can even beat the motorbike, it seemed like an obvious choice for the job.
Normally I ride road bicycles, drop-bars, full lycra, full mamil, lightweight speedy machines that let me fly along in traffic easily keeping up with the cars and dropping them as soon as they get snarled up in the endless jams that mark out my ride into work. Seems like a good fit for commuting too until you realise that I live at the top of a hill and my ride in basically consists of 9 miles of downhill. This of course is wonderful. The return journey, not so.
Now it's not that I'm unable to do this, I am perfectly capable of climbing that return leg. It's just that I don't want to. I'll happily ride climbs at weekends but after work you can keep this one. I just want the most efficient and enjoyable means of getting back home. Without the lycra. Just like being on holiday cycling in the Netherlands on my other Dutch bike. Without the cycle paths.
5th March - day one - round one.
A Royal Dutch Gazelle bike, e or otherwise is often cited as being the Rolls Royce of bicycles and for good reason. Long history, great designs, proven durability, long guarantees, excellent after sales service, undamageable paintwork from the longest factory paint shop line on earth, a mile long as it goes.
So this is what waited for me in the garage this morning as I made sure I had everything I needed in my new pannier bag and that I'd transferred all the bits and pieces I carry for work from the motorbike bag. Battery is full, fired up and ready to go. Turns out the Shimano Steps system and I need to get to know each other. It's trying to learn my cadence and I'm trying to figure out how hard to press to make it do the work I don't want to do so there are quite a few odd changes of gear.
It's fully automatic. I'm nothing if not lazy if opportunity presents itself and thinking about gears and pressing the thumb button to change them just seemed like a step too far when there was an option that let me just ride, which is what I want and what I will get once we figure each other out.
So, minor false start over the first climb before the main downhill sections and I'm happy even if I'm battling, well the bike is doing most of the battling, into a 30mph headwind and I can tell because I'm quite relaxed about it all where normally I"d be white knuckling the bars and chipping a few teeth with the effort. Down the big hill at almost 40mph without pedalling, with 28kg of bike all up with my gear, gravity is all you need. Then a long flattish descent before the last minor drag up before arriving at work and suddenly there's a new sound.
Tick, tick, tick.
Now anyone who rides regularly will know the sound of a spoke magnet hitting a cadence sensor or the like, regular rotational click in time with the rotation of the wheel. I think to myself I'll sort it when I get to the office, just a mile left, it'll be fine. But it gets worse and soon it's obvious that, given the thump through the bars I need to stop. Back wheel spins freely and silently but the front stops after half a rotation, tight against the front right pad. Hmm.
I free it up and decide to try again but see as I set off that there's a bulge in the tyre? Not a bulge actually, it's coming off the rim and as I stop again the gap opens and the tube starts to disgorge, my front wheel is disembowelling itself before my eyes. In my long riding history I've never seen this happen much less experienced it. So, a mile from my destination I resign myself, after partially dislocating my left thumb in the vain attempt to reseat the tyre enough to get to work, to calling International Rescue, as better halves are commonly referred to in cycling circles.
A trip to Cycle Heaven bike shop in York, my bikes dealer, reveals a tyre with a seriously defective bead, high quality German tyre brand no longer manufactured in Europe and with some obvious QC issues. It leaves me a bit miffed that my Rolls Royce has been let down by one of the cheapest components that it's comprised of but I am well looked after, given a new tyre and tube and I'm good to go.
Day one -round two.
I try again. This time it seems we are getting better acquainted and the uneventful ride is pretty much what I expected. I do seem to have to apply a bit more pedal pressure than I want to and there's still confusion on my part as to how to get the motor to react sometimes. Do I press harder or back off? But on the whole I'm a happy chap when I eventually make it to the office.
Day one - round three.
The return leg.
Big test time, some small draggy climbs followed by a long rise followed by the hill. That hill. Red Hill it's actually called. One of those that starts off steady and ramps up and up till right at the point where you have had enough, it turns the screw and hits 12% just to finish you off. It's perfectly fine on a normal day out unless you've overdone it already but after the office it's an unappetising prospect.
Good start. When cutting through stationary traffic I need to pass in front of a similarly stationary bus, I get out front and he decides to move ignoring me except to open his window to shout "Prick" before falling in behind me on the long road to the lights at the next junction. The long road that's too narrow to pass me on unless I ride in the gutter or deliberately make room. I decide to avoid possible squeezing and sharp objects in the gutter and take the lane at a sedate 12mph with the bus just behind me. I might be riding a bit slower than I normally would on this occasion but I feel I need to give the driver some time to think on his reaction to me so I stay where I am for a good half a mile so he can see the prick holding him up. His ulcer will be killing him this evening.
On up the next drag it's fine, I hit 15mph, about the top of the assisted speed and it's effortless. Over the top and it's obvious that I'm slow now. Usually I'd be riding at 25mph here and I'm aware that the traffic is more frightening at this speed. I begin to wish we had US speed rules and were allowed to run these bikes at 20mph with assistance. I work up a bit of a lather which is totally against the ethos of this bike and against my own wishes as I try to stay out of danger at this point. The whole thing fizzles in a moment though as the traffic stops and begins it's slow crawl to the lights a mile away while I scoot between the lanes to the advance cycle stop box, to which there is no access other than the unoffical centre gap between the two lines of cars. I'd kill for Dutch cycle lanes ...
Long steady 'relaxing' drag to the turn off to the climb next. I'd hoped it would be a pleasant ride at this point but the speed differential I don't experience on my road bike is pointed up once more as cars fly past me again in places where I normally hold my own. It's going to take some adjusting to but I think I'll get it eventually.
There's a 10% drag here now, with a short section of bike lane, dotted line a few feet from the kerb which passes for one anyway which offers some limited protection for slow moving bikes at this point and after a short flat it's the start of the hill. The auto gears are all over the shop now so I flick it to manual and pick a gear. This feels good but what I don't like is that the power shuts off if I change which leaves me struggling until it kicks in again, if it decides to. I settle into a nice rhythm after the glitches and get on with it. All good. At the steepest section the speed is down to 8mph, less that expected but I'm sure there's a knack to this I have to master and over the coming weeks I'll either find it or find that there isnt one and this is how it goes. Either way the hill is a lot easier and perfectly manageable on a daily basis now. Which is quite a relief to find out.
Return trip is about 10 mins slower than the motorbike version and will be, once we are fully au-fait with each other, a lot more relaxing.
Now, what I really need is to find that switch. The one in my head that makes me ride a road bike flat out every time, despite my protestations that "I'm going for a gentle ride today" .... and turn the bloody thing off for a bit.
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