Bike by the numbers

I get asked at times how much it cost me to put this bike together and I really don't think of it that way at all.  I think of it as a work in progress.  I've learned alot of the years driving this beast.  I'm going to attempt to break down the bike in it's add-ons.

1. USB Rechargeable 550 lumin light, $100
2. Bag and controller, bag $45, controller $45
3. Long/Wide Ulock $150
4. Side front fork bag $45
5. Front motor $250
6. Daves mudshovel $20
7. Large tooth crank (replaced the default Norco one) $200
8. Blinking lights $5x2 (One on each side)
9. Rear bag $40, battery inside $500
10. Rear rack $50
11. After marked kick stand $25
12. Norco bike $1000
13. Seat $100
14. Big claw pedals $50

Skipping the gas station while on a 60km bike ride.

So in total, I've easily spent 2600 on this bike and really, compared to many other people with bikes, I know.. I spent next to nothing.  

I use this bike as a daily commuter, getting exercise and not having to waste time in a gym.  I'm well ahead of the game.  

I save on parking, gas, insurance, car maintenance and over all peace of mind.  If I would do it all over again, I would do the exact same. No regrets!

Winter is coming... Wind Deflector for hands

I've been looking for something to block the wind from my hands that can attach to my handle bars.  I think I found something that will work for me at a motor cycle shop.  I haven't mounted them yet but this maybe the exact addition I need to my heated gloves.

I tried a pair of pogies but I couldn't stand it.  I have some black calking, so I may just plug up those holes shown.

1. I couldn't see my gauges, break handles, etc.
2. I couldn't release from my handle bars quickly, which in an emergency could lead to more risk than it's worth.
3. Looks ridiculous. Normally I don't care about how I look but I had to draw the line somewhere.

Winter is coming..Studded Tires

I've had my eye's on some studded tires for a while now.  Last winter, there was a huge thaw and then it all froze, creating a skating rink under all the snow.  Being a utility fat bike rider, this caused me to stop riding for a few weeks and I kept wiping out on the ice.  On a Facebook group, I asked what people thought of the studded tires and found someone who just upgraded from Dillinger 4 to 5's and luck would have it, they had not sold their Dillinger 4!  So I now have what I think might be my best option for riding this winter.

I am actually a bit excited about winter coming now..  but I'm hoping I don't have to pop these on until late December.

Quest for a seat 3 fo 3

 So this one was a long shot.  13" wide bottom, adjustable rear support.  I thought maybe if my lumbar would have some support then my coccyx wouldn't be taking all the pressure. 

This seat came with no shock, springs, and almost no gel.  When I had the seat mounted, I couldn't mount the bike as per normal.  I swing a leg over the back side and go.  This seat sat high enough to stop me from doing that, which made this seat the biggest failure of my ideas yet.

The seat also sits much more forward, so even with the seat post at the most end position, the seat was still feeling like it was forward. 

So the bike seat quest continues...

Quest for a seat 2 fo 3

 
I decided next to go unconventional.  This had some promise with no nose (don't think about going hands free with out that nose cone).  This was a hard plastic with no gel, split seat and hard metal with a single "shock" on the back to help with the bonce.
 
I really, REALLY, wanted this one to be awesome. I tried this one on and off, when ever I felt more adventurous I would try this again... and again and it's a crazy feeling, as if your just sitting on a bar.  I'm sure there is some magical angel that I need this to be at that makes it comfortable but this didn't do it for me..

Quest for a seat 1 fo 3

I've accidently moved into a weird quest for a comfortable seat.  I sit upright and rider for more than 1hr at a time.  So when I get off I can feel my Coccyx (tail bone) aching.  If I can ditch that feeling, I could ride for hours with no issue.

First seat, had a wide 12" rear with tons of gel.  Had to rear springs on the back for a little more bounce but damn, it hurt still. So I decided that I needed to find a seat that was split into two, giving my tailbone somewhere to fall with out pressure being pushed onto it.

The seat didn't do it for me.

Summer Joy!

I've been driving like crazy on my bike this summer and man I have been enjoying my ride more than ever.  I'm still doing 25km twice daily and the other day I was able to complete that with in 36min!  Which is insane... and I was pushing my fat bike almost at a constant 30km non-stop.


I've made some modifications to the bike:

• Bigger peddle sprocket.  Went from 22 tooth to 26, doesn't seem like much however it made my ride faster and harder. 
• I've tried a few different saddles.. some traditional and some not so much.  I plan on writing that up.. 
• Put in some nice peddles that are smooth and have replaceable bearing
• Made a useful modification to the Dave's mud shovel

In the mean time, I'm biking daily in this 30+ heat and won't stop...

Large wheel parking

Issue I have with riding a fat bike as a commuting bike, is parking the beast.  

Almost no bike rack can hold it, unless I park beside the rack.  I found this spot be a perfect spot and at the same time, make me laugh.

At the time same I would also mention that I moved the controller again, this time from the middle to the front bag (yes, this makes the front bag near useless now but it's cleaner looking). And I replaced the rear rack with one that doesn't hold onto the seat post.

Full on!

With all the ice, I've only been able to commute half way of my normal route but today I did the entire ride. 1hr 35min bike ride and I made it from home to work with minimal ice.  With in a weeks time I think all the ice will be off the bike paths.. until then, it's slow and steady.

End of last year: 25km 48min

Today: 25km 1hr 35min

I have some time to make up.  It's never been about speed for me but almost double the time is pretty bad. But by the time I got to work, I was tired!

Time to get serious

I'm rather upset with myself, as this winter I wasn't nearly as productive has I had hopped. 

To much ice on the ground, which leads to unpredictable movements.  Snow, 1 feet deep.. No issue! 1 square inch of ice on the ground, boom.. I can slide out!

So now that spring is almost here, I've decided for the next month I'm going to be taking a different approach with my habits and removing the thought of eating out of my mind all together.  This is just going to be for a month long.

I'm doing a full month long Soylent 2.0 meal replacement.  Starting March 17th, as the products should be coming in only today.

The PLAN:

• 1 before leaving the house
• 1 after I get to work
• 1 at lunch
• 1 before I go home 
• And have a normal dinner at home.

Currently back up to 315lbs (I gained 15lbs since December! 5lbs per month..)

Each bottle is 400cal, my size requires 3000-2500 per day.  So in drinks alone, it's 1600 cal, leaving me with 1500cal for dinner.  I'm not going to go crazy and count every cal but it's something to keep in mind as I do this.

Fat Bike Rack

This winter has had a lot of challenges.. mostly a certain area that has been less than safe to travel by bike.  So I'm now a proud owner of a fat bike bike rack.  This sucker holds 2 fat bikes!

So now I am driving part of the way to work and then dropping my car off and biking the rest of the way in.  I'm still getting about 2 hrs of biking in daily, I just don't take the direct route into work.

Winter Riding part 3 - Hands

Warm Hands!

One of my issues with an e-bike, that I somewhat need to see my computer interfaces on my handle bars, so unless I get really creative, the idea of using Pogies is out of the question for my riding.

However, I found some awesome DAKOTA gloves that are rechargeable via USB, that warms up my hands, all the way into the fingers and for me.. most importantly, my thumb!

These are very comfortable and bend really easy around the handlebar grips.

Winter Riding part 2 - Feet

Cold Feet

Once when I was around 14, I got frost bite on my toes.. They were black but didn't loose them thankfully and generally they are normal except when it comes to being in -10 weather.. then the big toe goes numb and start to hurt.

I had to come up with a solution to continue riding. So I started to look around.

• Heated hockey socks ($250 CDN) a pair and had to be washed.  Not ideal, expensive but would work.
• Heated souls, ($200 CDN) came with long cables and external battery packs.  Cumbersome but would work fine.
• Then I found a pair of carbon wire souls that were all in one with a remote fob in the hunting section.  ($100.00 CDN) but to recharge them I had to remove them from my shoe everytime.  So I did what anyone else will do, and made them work for me...

Step 1: Adjust the soles to the boot, this requires some trimming and I cut the rubber cover off the back, where the ON switch is and the recharging port is.

 Step 2: Measure up the back of the heel to where the ports are on the soul so I can get at them.

Step 3: DRILL baby DRILL! I drilled both shoes the same way and then put a boot cover over the boot to give it protection from the elements + protection from the wet snow from my feet, double win!  These black boots are pretty old, so I had no issue with trying this out on them and with out the boot cover, the desert dust that is embedded into the boot is there to stay, so with out the cover, they were damn ugly.

This is what the boot look liked with and with out the cover on it.  It stays pretty good, ideal for biking but not really for walking around on.