Chain suck on an ebike comes quicker than expected

Barries' ebike which is a Giant with a Yamaha motor has developed chain suck after about 800 miles. This is far quicker than you'd expect from a conventional bike but if you consider the more powerful forces on the drive chain with the electrical assistance it's not really surprising. I personally think that you should change your chain much more frequently on an ebike as well as keeping lubrication at a high level, I'm not a great believer in ebike specific chains and tend to buy the cheapest chains on the market as weight reduction doesn't really matter on an ebike

Sunday mornings bike ride had to be cut short due to frequent stops with his bike developing chain suck and we discovered that to try and avoid it the answer was to pedal with less power on the pedals in a higher power mode.

A picture from last weekend when chain suck was not an issue as Barrie demonstrated his skills on a steepish drop at Beecraigs.

Earlier in the week I was out with Dougie on a Pentlands trip when the temperature remained at zero or below the who;e of the ride, the air was crystal clear however and the views tremendous!

The bridge to nowhere which spans the River Esk in the grounds of Penicuik House which provides a great photo but leaves you scratching your head as to its purpose.

A week which started off cold and frosty but dry and changed into milder temperatures but wet with it....think I prefer cold and dry!

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Don't wear these gloves if you're going to jump with an ebike

These double fingered crab or lobster gloves are the dogs bollocks in cold winter weather but don't try jumping with an ebike if you're wearing them unless you're very careful or maybe have them glued to the handlebar grips! 

Barrie tried a jump this morning while he was wearing them and found he didn't have a good enough grip on his handlebars, whether it was because an ebike is heavier maybe, anyway one hand lost the grip and he ended up doing a double somersault down a hard gravelly track which I incedentally found rather amusing! I was a bit annoyed that the video wasn't running when it happened but I got him as he recovered his damaged composure!

Here he is mouthing a few curses not so silently, the bike still lying with the wheel spinning, and he's just texted to say he's at the minor injuries clinic and may have fractured a scafia bone in his wrist, whatever that is!

A good weeks biking never the less with the weather drying up a bit , the danger now being ice.

The yearly target mileage has nearly been met so unless things get really bad I should exceed that no problem!

The search for the track to the climb up Scald Law

This is the man who made us search for the track, I'd met him earlier in the week when I was out alone and got talking to him as he was riding an ebike as well. We got talking about tracks each of us was unaware of and he mentioned a track that came in between East Kip and Scald Law. In return I took him down a track he didn't know about from West Kip down to the Howe so it was fair exchange! I'd assumed he was a fair bit older than me a warned him to take care....it turned out he was 8 years younger!!!

So it was that Barrie, Dougie and myself set off on Friday forenoon to search for this track only for Dougies' bike to have a puncture shortly after we set out, however Barrie came to the rescue with his unique puncture repair kit and we were soon on the move again.

The last climb before we reached West Kip where Dougie turned back as he had a lunch date with his mother... and nobody is ever late for a date with their mum!

Barrie and I found the elusive track and soon were on the climb to the summit of Scald Law the highest point in the Pentland Hills

The trig point atop Scald Law on a cold but sunny November day

Cycling over the top of all the stones at the summit of Carnethy Hill

The view from the summits of the Pentland Hills is spectacular on a sunny day and well worth the effort to get there, which is considerably easier on an ebike by the way!!

A great days biking, and now we need to find the track up from Eastside Farm on the south side of the Pentlands, that might be my quest this week, hopefully the weather is good!

A new heavy duty back tyre for winter on the ebike

And here it is, a Schwalbe Eddie Current 2.8 who's already proven his worth over the last 3 wet mucky days! The tyre I took off a Schwalbe Nobby Nic 2.8 will go back on in the spring next year when(?) the ground dries up....

This was yestarday upin the Pentland Hills, more heavy rain and maybe not quite the Grand Canyon but a gouge down the track where that the rain had made, you don't want your front wheel in that going at speed, it was about 12 inches deep!

Down to Peebles and Glentress early this morning with Barrie and it was tipping it down, Barries new waterproof trousers got a good try out!

Higher up we had not only heavy rain to contend with but a near gale force wind as well, our othe halfs never believe us when we say we had a"great days riding"

If todays weather was a test for ebikes in the wet then they both passed with flying colours!

The ebike's back on the trails!

the Giant Anthem served its purpose over the last 2 weeks in that it made me realise just how enjoyable an ebike is! Don't get me wrong, the Anthem was fun to go out on...but oh these climbs are hard after scooting up them on the ebike!

Out with Barrie in the rain and mud and it seemed all so easy with a bit of electrical assistance!

Autumnal colours are the name of the game just now and even in the rain they were looking good

The end of a long climb and it was downhill from here for a bit. A good hard bike ride to test all the work that had gone into repairing the bike, everything seems to be tickety boo!