Joelle and I spent the day looking at bicycles. Well, tricycles, actually. Last year we were thinking about getting one of those fat tire trikes cuz I am a thick boy, but we have decided what we need to do is purchase an electric one with peddle assist. I won’t be here to drive her to work and pick her up in a couple of weeks, and her knee is not to the point that I think she is safe or capable to ride her regular one. So we’re just going to get an electric one. We are looking at this baby:
It’s spendy but I budgeted for a bike this trip, and it has some great features. It’s solid as hell, it has plenty of range to get her to work and back if her knee hurts and she can not peddle, and you can fold the whole thing up and put it into the back of my CRV. She rode it and really liked it, so we are going to try to call them every day for a week or so and see if if they have a scratched one we can get for cheaper.
So that is exciting. While we are out, we went to Matt’s Big Breakfast, a Phoenix staple, and it was very good. Very good unsweetened ice tea and the food was great.
We’re having a zucchini lasagne for dinner and I a starving and hovering around the kitchen being yelled at like I was one of the dogs. The entertainment for the evening will be watching Anora.
You all be good.
Baud
You should secretly scratch one and then ask for a discount on it.
hells littlest angel
Find out where you can get the bike serviced locally. Even changing a tire on an ebike can require special tools and skills.
JMG
Sounds like a great evening John. I am watching Stevie Ray Vaughn on PBS (in between long fundraising pitches, which is why I’m writing now), I made salmon with a lime-butter-basil sauce and broccoli with sauteed mushrooms for dinner.
zhena gogolia
I’ll be interested to hear what you think of Anora. I got in a debate with someone about it. He thought it was pro-Russian. I really didn’t. But I’m not sure what I think of it in general.
Martin
@hells littlest angel: Yeah, this is good advice.
And that bike is pretty inexpensive for an e-bike.
JustRuss
I bought a barely used Lectric last summer, 400 miles on it now, no issues.
Jeffro
@zhena gogolia: I heard ‘pro-Russian’ and other comments a la “Pretty Woman”
but I’m not a movie guy so oh well…at some point I need to settle in and watch this DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN series
kindness
‘Like I was one of the dogs’. Welcome to married life John. It all works out.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Sounds like a good day to me
NotMax
Isn’t it like 110 degrees in the summer there? The thought of commuter biking through that may give one pause.
coin operated
Lectric seems to be the favorite of the full-time RV clan. Used to be more bikes than trikes, but e-trikes are starting to show up in greater numbers.
zhena gogolia
@Jeffro: Every single Russian in the movie is disgusting. I don’t think the main character is supposed to be ethnically Russian.
scav
“Like one of the dogs” can be pretty damn cushy with this lot.
Nukular Biskits
YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!
Martin
@NotMax: You’d be surprised. Particularly on an ebike you’re doing relatively little exertion and get the benefit of wind, it’s pretty pleasant at higher temps than you’d expect. Though Phoenix summers certainly test the limits of that. But I’ve been out in 100 degree days with higher humidity and been pretty comfortable.
Ebikes are also really fun, which can excuse a lot of the side unpleasantness. That’s particularly true if you can get away from the cars.
schrodingers_cat
@zhena gogolia: How did you like it? Have you watched “Americans”.
TheOtherHank
Well, the lasagna I have in the oven right now has Italian sausage, but no zucchini.
WTFGhost
It’s been real, and it’s been fun.
caringandsensitive
Let me be the pedant. “pedal” not “peddle”. With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy Anora. It was highly recommended to me by a friend whose taste in movies is very similar to mine and I hated it. I gave up after about half an hour as I had absolutely no empathy for any of the characters.
NotMax
FYi. Weather related chaos downunder.
SpaceUnit
If you’re willing to put out some extra coin for a cool bike that doesn’t look like it was designed by some doofus tech-bro with zero aesthetic sensibilities I can personally recommend this bike by Vintage Electric:
Vintage Electric Rally
I freaking love this bike and I get compliments on it all the time.
ETA: Oh, and I live in Colorado where it’s not at all unusual to have a bike that’s worth more than your car.
hells littlest angel
@Martin: Yup. Lots of no-name bikes out there which could be designed … eccentrically. Before buying, make sure there’s a servicer who has experience with your particular bike.
Pete Downunder
@NotMax: we had an unusual cyclone, they don’t normally get as far south as Brisbane. Worst area was to the south of Brisbane which copped strong winds and flooding. Chez Downunder is fine so far with just persistent rain. Some trees down around town and scattered power outages.
Martin
@SpaceUnit: Eh. Relies on nostalgia too much. Not everyone longs for 1950s motorcycles. And not terribly practical either. How do I get groceries home on that?
SpaceUnit
@Martin:
I love the nostalgic look. And I have two pannier bags I can attach in a heartbeat. I go to the Safeway on this bike all the time.
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat: I liked it. I couldn’t make it through 15 minutes of The Americans.
Kayla Rudbek
I don’t need another bike, I don’t need another bike, I don’t need another bike…although I could probably fit onto this e-trike.
Mr. Rudbek has officially returned to the office and he’s looking at fixing up his ancient e-bike now. He wants to find batteries that he can return if there’s a problem with them. Maybe we should stop by the e-bike store in Alexandria tomorrow, the one off Washington Street.
Another Scott
This looks similar for $1200 on CraigsList. Maybe they’ll throw in the dog??
Happy haggling, and good luck!!
Best wishes,
Scott.
Leto
Avalune and I bought new bicycles this week. I got a Wilde SuperTramp, and she got a Salsa Confluence. The Confluence is a class 1 ebike; she wanted minimal assist with max range, and that fit the bill. She needs a bit of help, which we all eventually do.
We both want to do more bikepacking, which is part of the reason I got the SuperTramp. I have a Giant Revolt gravel bike, and while I really like it, I want to be more upright for the longer trips we’re planning on doing. You might ask, “Leto, why didn’t you get an ebike?” Per Avalune: “You were hit by a g-d car, and can still out pedal me; wtf do I have to do???” I’ll see what ebikes look like in 2045, maybe 2050.
The Pale Scot
You will like Anora, those NYC girls, expert use of the F word as a noun, adjective, adverb, conjunction, articles, and a couple of grammar terms I can’t remember.
Leto
@Martin: considering it has mounting points for a rack, pretty damn easily. Then there’s Old Man Mountain racks that don’t even need the mounting points and will carry up to 80lbs out back. If you’re carrying more than 80lbs of groceries, yeah maybe you need two bikes.
The Pale Scot
Most definitely. Stick with a name brand, many of the cheeper ones don’t have spare parts available in the USA. Especially with the uncertainty of getting parts from China
Another Scott
@Kayla Rudbek: :-)
Coincidentally, I was scanning stories about the latest Segway scooter and then started looking around at their mopeds and what else was out there now from other manufacturers. And looking at Honda and Yamaha electrics (Yamaha electrics exited the US a few months ago). And, of course, ended up looking at the uber-weird BMW CE 04.
It’s great there are so many electric 2- and 3-wheeled choices these days, but just looking around becomes a huge time sink!!
Good luck! :-)
Best wishes,
Scott.
prostratedragon
@The Pale Scot: Ah, true-to-life, then.
RevRick
@Jeffro: It opens with a metaphorical atomic bomb.
frosty
Ms T got a recumbent trike (CatTrike) after falling and breaking her wrist, then after a year or so had an outfit in Philly convert it to an eTrike with a Bafang motor, controller, and battery. The same thing I did with a Tern folding bike a couple years earlier.
We love them both but I’m sure they were way more expensive than you’re looking at. In any case, an eTrike is the way to go.
frosty
@SpaceUnit: Ms F’s recumbent plus conversion was less $$ than that. My folder plus conversion was half.
Lectric makes a lot of sales because of the price. For us, it was HEAVY!!
frosty
Substitute “guitar”
Damn, I wish I could comment in Visual instead of Text.
frosty
@Leto: Forgive me, but your SuperTramp sounds a little like the hybrids from the 90s. Great concept, can do everything. They didn’t have as many mounts for bags and things back then, but I still love my Schwinn CrisCross (’92) that I bought in a pawn shop for $140.
kalakal
@SpaceUnit: That’s very cool. Curse you, now I want one!
frosty
@The Pale Scot:
Fuck! Fuck the fucking fuckers or they’ll fucking fuck us all!
Exclamation. Verb. Adjective. Noun. Adverb. Verb.
The universal word! It only misses pronouns and prepositions.
SpaceUnit
@frosty:
Yeah, it was expensive. I bought it in 2020 when I wasn’t really spending money on anything else but just hunkering down and trying to survive the whole covid thing.
An e-bike seemed like a good investment at the time, and it gave me a safe and healthy activity. Plus I just loved the look of it. It’s a really good bike.
Leto
@frosty: it really is; there’s been a re-emergence of ATB bikes (all-around/do-everything) and I’m down for it. The guy who founded Wilde previously founded All-City; he’s a recognized bicycle design savant and the bike ride quality reflects it. The bars are kind of ridiculously wide (840mm if I remember correctly) but man they are comfy.
IdahoGoatGirl
I have this exact trike! I had a regular Lectric bike but it made me nervous, I have some balance issues. I got the trike in November and I am really comfortable on it, it feels really stable and I can go at slower speeds without the worry of it falling over. You do need to be careful with turning tight, especially at speed. You should not lean into the turn like a regular bike, but lean to the outside of the turn to keep the outer wheel down. This was natural for me as I have a miniature horse that I drive with a two wheeled cart and lean to the outside of a turn with that. Lectric has excellent customer service too.
prostratedragon
Members of the DC bar:
Gloria DryGarden
@frosty: I am joining you in this universal versatility of our fine four letter word!
universality!
TheQuietOne
I’ll have to get one of those for my wife. She sometimes likes to go with me when I go on a bike ride. We think she has Parkinson’s Disease (neurologist appointment tomorrow). She told me yesterday that I should sell her bike because she didn’t have the balance or strength to ride it anymore. This seems like a perfect solution and it doesn’t cost any more than the gravel bike I bought last summer.
Rugosa
An electric trike would be perfect for me but no way in Boston traffic. I’d be squashed like a bug in no time.
Senator Ted
Just a quick note that the margins for bike shop bike is extremely thin! Bike shops make their money from all the add ons, helmets, shoes, water bottles, etc. but mostly from repair / maintenance. If they’re not going to budge much on price (which they really can’t do), see if you can get a discount on the rest of the stuff.
Unless you’re a bike repair geek, you’re going to need those things.
Lex
Lectric brand e-bikes use a lot of off the shelf parts. Almost any regular bike shop can service brakes, tires, gearing hardware with parts they already stock. Stay away from boutique bikes that use proprietary parts.