The Week of October 3

It's a blast running erands on the e-bike. Truely, this combination of bicycle and electric technologies is the most effiecent way of running to the store when you only need a few things.

Monday was a normal day, the kids were in school and Heidi (a/k/a Director of Finer Details, a/k/a Mrs. Jim) was working on her business. While the house was empty I ran packages to the Post Office and made a trip to the hardware store for some odds and ends. Well with a zoom and a huff, I was in town in a flash, parked in my usual parking spaces - "right in front of all the places I needed to go." Before I knew it, I was home without using any gasoline.

Tuesday and Wednesday were weird, these are the High Jewish Holidays - the holiday isn't weird (I'm Catholic, the Mrs. is Jewish - and do we know guilt...), but weird is the kids were only in school for one day, then they were off for two. Well at least we got to spend some quality time together at home (no one went Postal on anyone), but at lunch on Tuesday my 7-year old daughter explained to me how her classmate threatened her and told her he was going to have is brother shoot and kill her. THIS IS ONE TYPE OF INCIDENT EVERYONE SHOULD TAKE SERIOUSLY IN OUR POST-COLUMBINE WORLD. The next 48 hours were spent notifying the Teachers, getting the Principal involved, the kid's parents were dragged into this, and the bottom line was the kid just out of line make inappropriate juvenile-type remarks to impress my daughter - no one actually had a gun. Needless to say, the event made for an exciting few days.

Wednesday the truck got it's first workout it has had in a while. I needed a cubic yard of top soil, there were some awkward packages that needed to be mailed out, etc. Next week we pick up a cord of firewood.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I drove the truck to work (note: since early September I have only used 7 gallons of gasoline in the truck). Not only was I starting my rotation at work, but I was working nights and we were in the middle of a tropical depression that dumped 8 inches of rain across most of the area - it was wet, work was busy, and the luxury of the truck was well worth it.

Last night, Sunday night, I rode my e-bike, this was a welcome change. I have been noticing that I have not been getting a good connection between the charger and the charger's plug on the battery pack. I suspect road grime and poor manufacturing, and a summer of bike commuting have taken it's toll here. I plan on going to Radio Shack to get replacement pieces and do the repairs myself. I also notice that now that it is a little cooler and the batteries have been cycled 50+ times, they aren't keeping the charge they use to - or - this could be a function of a poor charger connection. After I see how the charger connection repairs work out, if I notice little or no improvement, I am going to remove the motor and battery from the bike until the spring and/or sell it to someone in a warmer climate who may get winter use out of it - I would also consider selling the complete bike for the right price ($400.00+ shipping).

The motor removal scheme came to me after I did some work on the bike last week. I removed the battery pack to attach a custom-made light bar to my rear rack that accomodates 3+ LED flashers - I am now very visible from behind! [note: I need to upload photos] The bike felt extremely light without 30+ pounds of lead acid battery, and I realized the bike will feel even lighter removing 20+ pounds of motor. After a summer of riding, I am in sufficient shape that I might not physically need the motor to keep my commute times where they are at now (30 minutes +/- 5 minutes). However, I do like the motor. Perhaps my next setup will be with a brushless (less drag) motor and NiMH batteries (less weight, but more $$$).

Thinking I might swap off the motor I grabbed the stock wheel and gave it a spin in my hands. Wow! The gyroscopic effect was cool, but the grinding of the bearings was unbearable. This made me realize that I really need to overhaul the Cannandale. This also made me think that if I overhaul the Cannondale, remove the motor and battery, I might just end up with a very low rolling resistant and light weight commuting bike.

Now here's my delema. If I over haul my bike, it will cost me about $100 in parts (new cables, I would switch my brakes to v-brakes at the same time, and I would replace the chain and tubes - the tires are still fine), and I would take me 8 hours to complete the job. I value my time at about $68/hour. So the actual cost of overhauling the bike is close to $650.00. Now because I have the highest credit rating in the world (I pay my bills and have no credit card debit), I can afford to lay out $650 for a new bike (hey, isn't that what credit cards are for?). So do I fix the old, or buy new? If I buy new, do I sell the old, or keep it as an e-beater? What would you do if your were in my position?