I rode my ebicycle all winter long. Last night I laced my hub motor with new sapim spokes and a new rim, then I fixed the hall sensor wires and gave wires and motor and rim a clean.
Today I rode the ebike down to the train to go downtown and I got a pinhole leak with the brand new tube, so I walked with bike to Mountain Equipment COOP to buy Rim Tape, Tube, 5 speed freewheel, Tire Protective Wrap for the inside, walked it back to the train to go home and called for a ride.
Once I got it all fixed was about to ride when I saw my half ass red+ and black- sense wires broke while I was doing the tube change. The others I soldered then elec taped, but I didnt know which one of the + - was which, both are black wires, the rest green. So I did a loop tie for ground and will just twist it together and tape it, then maybe one day I will solder and heat shrink it, maybe one day
One thing I found out is that the 7 speed freewheel I had on there previously was too wide, I used a washer so it wouldnt bind on the gears, worked good for a year or two. Wheel itself was off center by an inch. With the new 5 speed freewheel its pretty much centered now. Note on that 7 speed deal, it started failing, washer got squished and I was having freewheel freely spin issues, chain kept coming off the crank.
AnyWHO
The snow is falling good today plus its not too cold. But its the kind of snow that camoflauges ice so I ride slow. I kinda dig it with the fog 'n all. Wish I was rich so I could buy some $125 each, studded tires. Perhaps I will be rich come Friday when I win the Lotto Max $25,000,000
As for long rides, I can get about 18-20km on my pack right now. Which is not considered a "Long Ride" in my books. That is a half of casual cruise. When I think of LONG RIDES, I think of 50+km. Which I am still pondering whether to do my 2500km trip or not. I may just buy a 500W generator to recharge my battery packs as I ride and buy some more Makita power pack battery packs. I am pretty sure I will follow through with my plans for 2500km round trip.