Removed the rear bag and rack

So with great sadness I removed the rear rack and the rear bag from my bike and my rear mud guard. The coupler that attached to my seat post was sticking out and rubbing against my legs, which I was ignoring for the most part but after yesterdays 2hr bike annoyance just got to me.

All the metal nuts and bolts that was holding it on to the bike was decaying.  This might have to do with the fact I drove the bike almost year round (minus 2 months)  

Also the old saddle is back on the bike.  This one is wide enough to support my weight and doesn't bounce. 

New bars again and tighter cluster

New Mirror, slightly raised bar that curves in a bit.  I need to find a replacement for the shifter, this one is just TOO darn big for the small space that I have available.

Handlebars

So I've decided that it's time for me to move onto new handle bars finally.  Taking the time to move things over.  I did end up trying the handle bars I mentioned in a previous post but there wasn't enough space to hold onto all the leavers, computer interfaces, buttons, etc.  So I had to revert back.

I'm now in search of a place that sells beach cruiser handle bars with in my city.  Buying from ebay will take longer than I care for.  My hands are going numb due to my posture on my bike, I'm getting older and I need to lean back more than lean forward.

Seat / Saddle

So I decided to get one of those retro looking brook saddles.  Figured with the hard seat and springs I would have a nicer ride.  Well, that ended up NOT being the case, at all.  Every time I pedaled, the seat would bounce and cause me to go up and down.

I felt like I was on a kids ride.  Bouncing up and down.. up and down...

So I put the old seat back on and going to see if one of my kids may like it.  If not, it's going to become a wall decoration in my shed.

Adjusted and rolling!

So I took the time to adjust and align all my disk breaks.  I ended up using my hitch bike carrier on the back of my van as a way to hold up the bike while I worked on it. 

It took forever!  But I finished my first real ride in and it was finally working better.  Instead of just holding 18km at max speed I'm back up to 22-24km!

Lessons Learned:

• Even if I am in a rush to get back to riding, I really need to take the time to make sure everything is ready to go.  Going for a ride with the breaks engaged the entire time put a sour taste in my mouth and I really didn't want to go for another ride...

Pedals.. more pedals.

I've finally decided to get a nice large foot print pedals, with little "spikes" to help rip the bottom of my sneakers apart while I pedal.  I tried using the hooks that lets my feet not slide around but that ended up being useless since the spikes won't let me slide my shoes into the toe area.

So far these are much better than the ones that came with the bike.  I sure hope they hold up to the pressure too.

First long ride

25km in and the bike almost killed me this morning.  I was sweating bullets and the bike obviously needs some adjustments.  The disk breaks are to tight, it felt as if I was biking with the breaks engaged the entire time.  Sluggish and my average speed was about 18km where normally I could keep the bike going at 23km easily.

The ride home could be a bit better but man, I am starting to think about going back to a normal mountain bike.

And it's alive

Fat bikes or Phat Bikes are a pain to get parts for.  I knew this and yet, I didn't know this. 

So after looking around and getting quotes for a new rear rim+spokes+axel+hub, I would get quotes that started off at $400 and that would rise to $800 or $900, with reasons (lame but reasons) and it's annoying!  

So I went out and purchased a complete bike from Canadian Tire, expecting only to use the rear rim.  It's a "quick release" 26x4 rear rim.

However, the rim didn't fit on my other phat bike. The rubber that came with it, was just to darn large.  Rim was 26x4 but the height was more than the previous rear tire.

Next, to see if I can combine the two to make one in some way.  Putting it all aside for two days and let the thoughts just roll around in the back of my mind, I decided that I would use this bike and just transfer my electronics from the front of the bike to the new bike. Simple right?  Okay.

Step 1: Move the battery from first bike.  In my case, I'm using the water bottle style.  If this doesn't work, then I can't move forward with moving everything else over.

Result Step 1: With almost no trouble, the holder fits and the battery slides in.  I removed the red stickers from the bike at the same time.  It was so hot out at the time, they just peeled off!

Step 2: Remove the electronics from my custom case.  And move it onto the new bike frame.

 Image 1: Showing the muffler bolts I used to hold the case in place.

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 Image 2: Showing the controller in place in place.

Image 3: Case back on top of the controller.  Hides it nice.

Step 3:  Add the front tire with the motor already mounted to the front.  This was a bit annoying , since I had to move the front forks from my old bike to this bike.  The front tire was to wide.  If it's not one thing, it's another!

Step 4: Replace the rear saddle with a new one. 

And now complete with the rear bag.  Question is, when will I give it a full on test drive?  Seems there isn't enough time in the week for this.  I did drive it around the block a few times and it's going to take some time to get use to but I'm sure things will work out.