A little bit of assistance

What a day to introduce my new bike to some local trails. It's absolutely filthy, hacky and dirty out there, plus due to being over wrapped up last week I decided to cut back on the layers and ended up be rather chilly today

Out on my New Ride Specialized Turbo Levo

John doesn't need a motor LoL

So first impressions of this new fangled Specialized Turbo Levo which I got from the very friendly people over at Rutland Cycles and their Specialized Concept Store in Nottingham. It's canny! In "eco mode" it kind of brings back a recollection of what it used to feel like riding with 2 legs. The bike enables me to bimble along at a nice pace and keep up with my mates. I was not sure I had made the right choice in getting the size XL, however after a proper run out today the bike feels good under me. Using my BTK Crossover I have to say getting up and out of the saddle is effortless. I know not much to all you "Norms", however for us one legged blokes riding out the saddle takes a bit of practice. Especially to maintain your pedal revolutions and even more so if attempting to ride up an incline.

It was proper manky over on Chapman's Well

Not being entirely used to an eBike, it did take me a little amount of time to get used to the bike. I discovered on my first encounter with a steepish climb that I was in fact in a high gear and pretty much motoring up the incline. This was in "Eco Mode" too. Now normally I would be on either my granny ring or on the 11 speed Fatty in the lowest gear possible. I was still a little out of breath after the ride up past South Moor Golf Club and onto Wagtail Lane and that is because I did not want the bike to do all the work.

BTK and Bike preforming well together

In trail mode the bike is awesome, especially in the muddy areas I encountered and believe me there were lots. Due to the motor kicking in, it just gave me that little bit extra drive so that I didn't come to a stand still and then have to put my foot down.

 
Other than experimenting for a short blast in Turbo mode, to see what it was like I did not use this mode much at all today. I noticed in Turbo the motor cutting out, once I had reached the 15.5mph. Oh and I also tried pedalling with the motor off all together. It is weird as once you have been using the motor and pedal assist and you switch it off, it is like riding a bike with a flat tyre and you really feel the weight of the bike. Speaking of weight, you definitely notice it, for instance before getting to the trails I had to pop the front wheel up over a kerb. This sort of caught me off guard as the front end feels proper heavy. I suppose it's like anything else just getting used to it. On the trails the bike feels pretty planted, not sure of the tyres at this point too early to say. They did feel a bit better than my Maxxis Mammoths, which are fitted to my Fat Bike, they just offer no traction at all.
  

Set my camera up then had to push...man it was slippy

I was out with my friends Lee and John today and really enjoyed the adventure,  it's great to not have to beast myself to keep up and now that I am sat at home I don't feel wrecked. I know a lot of people bash the whole electric bike scene, as I have mentioned before, however it's horses for courses.

Moving on may as well leave you with a moan, yeah it's the whole camera thing again. It must be something to do with the bad weather as my shots recently have almost always come out either blurry, dark, grainy or generally just not up to standard. I have messed with setting etc, but once again it's a kind of fail. It is really difficult trying to take photo's when you are out and by yourself. The downside of the Hero 5 is that it does not have a timer on. Oh and I tried voice control today, however my GoPro once in it's protective case must not have been able to hear me. No amount of "GOPRO TAKE A PHOTO" was going to work. In the end it was more a case of "Awww GoPro Feck Off". I see the new Hero 7 has a few more features including a timer and also the photo quality is supposed to be better without messing with lots of settings. May have to invest.

Sitting on the fence...do I or don't I

My last post, looking back was the 5th of October 2018, this is due to the fact my immune system has been under attack yet again and I have been feeling quite unwell. More anti-biotics, this time for a terrible chest infection that has had me out of action for going on 6 weeks.

Anyhoo not hear to bore you with my tales of woe. Nope I am here to let you know about why I have been sitting on the fence, with regards getting a new bike.

Specialized Turbo Levo Carbon Comp XL 2019