It happened, finally... The batteries failed to get me up the last hill on my way home today. For the first time in months I had to drop into my granny gear - sorry Granny, I had too. With 50+ pounds of battery and motor now being dead weight, thank heavens I still had a granny gear.
Between a little grease on my bearings, the chain needing a good cleaning and lube, all the dead weight, and my largeness due to consuming to much c6h12o6, the ride home today was an awakening. But do note, it is 7:45 AM and I have just finished my second glass of wine - I worked the overnight and just got home - O.K.?
Decisions, decisions, etc.... I am leaning toward selling the e-bike as-is (it will need $40 of new batteries) for $400+ shipping, and I love PayPal, and buying a new bike. I have been eyeing the Dahon Speed TR because it folds (I can take it on a train to Manhattan) and it has the SRAM Daul Drive with an 8 cog gear cluster, plus 3 speed internal hub for a gear range of something linke 29 to 111 inches - you can't beat that on most road tandems!
I have also been playing with a couple of conceptual designs for a trailer/carrier for a folding bike that will allow the rider to haul a substaintial load in the trailer without compromising the foldability of the bike, and then once the bike is folded, the bike stores in the trailer that is then convereted to hand-truck stlyed wheeled lugage/carrier. The attempts I have seen at working this concept have seemed to lack the energy/input of anyone who would seriously use this type of system on a day-to-day basis. I hope my concept can reach the masses and revolutionize transportation as we know it.
On the revolutionarianism side of things, I have been thinking of a new business (in addition to the two I already have) that sells bicycles, bicycle accessories, and other items to caiter to bicycle commuters. What do you think? Is it a worthy business idea?
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