Lightweight e-bikes, capabilities and transport

[Rolfe]

You need an up to the front seats boot liner to protect the interior from mud and scratches. Rhino do them for the MG4 from about £113

MG - Up to Front Seats Boot Liner

ekm element element reference ExtendedLinerDesc edit button YES output start output end element name default answer output default This is an answer

rhinoukbootlinersltd.co.uk

I've got one for the dogs and despite their best efforts it's kept the car clean.
View attachment 34684

It does look good, and I can see it would be absolutely necessary with a dog. I might get one. A boot liner I mean, not a dog.

Nevertheless, it would be in the way when camping, and I've spent literally decades lifting bikes in and out of hatchbacks and never inflicted any serious or irreparable harm. Dogs move around and scratch things, and when they lie down a lot of them is in contact with the floor and sides of the boot. In contrast once the bike is in - and it went in quite easily - it stays put and is only in contact with the car in a few places. In fact the rear hub, the left pedal and the front tyre are the only points of contact, and they're all protected by the existing boot liner.

 

[Rolfe]

I have had the bike's handlebars modified to bring them up a bit and that makes it a little more difficult to get into the car, but it's still possible. The prop stand is also slightly in the way now because it catches on the laid-flat back of the rear seat when the bike is pushed forwards, but it's still manageable.

So I went up to Tyndrum to cycle a 26-mile circuit up Glen Orchy I did five years ago on my other bike. It features a four-mile stretch of continuous uphill gradient near the end - not very steep but it goes on and on - which I took at 4-5 mph without any assist. This time I sailed up it at 11-12 mph without breaking sweat.

I cycled 14 miles without getting off the bike, and doing up to 32 mph on the downhill stretch passing Strone hill, then stopped at the Eas Urchaidh car park to eat my picnic.

I then went on the final 12 miles, which had a lot more uphill especially some short steep climbs on the Glen Orchy road, as well as the 4-mile inclined plane on the A82. Again I didn't get off the bike or stop, even though I occasionally thought about stopping just to put the gloves I had discarded back on.

How about that then?

 

[Archev]

I have had the bike's handlebars modified to bring them up a bit and that makes it a little more difficult to get into the car, but it's still possible. The prop stand is also slightly in the way now because it catches on the laid-flat back of the rear seat when the bike is pushed forwards, but it's still manageable.

So I went up to Tyndrum to cycle a 26-mile circuit up Glen Orchy I did five years ago on my other bike. It features a four-mile stretch of continuous uphill gradient near the end - not very steep but it goes on and on - which I took at 4-5 mph without any assist. This time I sailed up it at 11-12 mph without breaking sweat.

I cycled 14 miles without getting off the bike, and doing up to 32 mph on the downhill stretch passing Strone hill, then stopped at the Eas Urchaidh car park to eat my picnic.

View attachment 35786

I then went on the final 12 miles, which had a lot more uphill especially some short steep climbs on the Glen Orchy road, as well as the 4-mile inclined plane on the A82. Again I didn't get off the bike or stop, even though I occasionally thought about stopping just to put the gloves I had discarded back on.

How about that then?

View attachment 35787

Very impressed with that. So yourself and the bike were in top form there. It’s a beautiful area around the Orchy too and looks like the weather was kind to you.

 

[Rolfe]

This isn't wildly relevant as I started from home without putting the bike in the car, but I did the Cross Borders Drove Road from West Linton to the Meldons road on Saturday, and back by the main road. Took me four and a half hours to make it to the road through the hills and the woodland.

I had to haul Hilda over and round fallen trees several times, just as well she isn't heavy. Some of the track/footpath surfaces were anything but bicycle friendly. I had to push her up several hills because the track wasn't rideable. But when it was, she was superb.

I made it to the Meldons road at 6.25. Frankly even if I'd been three hours earlier wild horses wouldn't have dragged me on to Peebles - the feel of smooth tarmac under Hilda's wheels was simply bliss, and the three-mile downhill run to the A70 just irresistible.

I had intended to stop and text a friend when I got to the road, put on my sweatshirt and my hi-viz jacket. But that ribbon of tarmac was so seductive I just went on pedalling. All the way home. In just under an hour. All 13-14 miles of it. Slightly staggered about that, actually, because I was tired by the time I made it out of the forest.

 

[decrep]

Great ride Rolfe!
I've been watching the Giro D'Italia, Some of those riders are putting out 300W for many miles. 600W up a hill.
I've just come from the gym, and battling to do 100W for 15m

 

[Archev]

This isn't wildly relevant as I started from home without putting the bike in the car, but I did the Cross Borders Drove Road from West Linton to the Meldons road on Saturday, and back by the main road. Took me four and a half hours to make it to the road through the hills and the woodland.

View attachment 36900

I had to haul Hilda over and round fallen trees several times, just as well she isn't heavy. Some of the track/footpath surfaces were anything but bicycle friendly. I had to push her up several hills because the track wasn't rideable. But when it was, she was superb.

View attachment 36901

I made it to the Meldons road at 6.25. Frankly even if I'd been three hours earlier wild horses wouldn't have dragged me on to Peebles - the feel of smooth tarmac under Hilda's wheels was simply bliss, and the three-mile downhill run to the A70 just irresistible.

I had intended to stop and text a friend when I got to the road, put on my sweatshirt and my hi-viz jacket. But that ribbon of tarmac was so seductive I just went on pedalling. All the way home. In just under an hour. All 13-14 miles of it. Slightly staggered about that, actually, because I was tired by the time I made it out of the forest.

Excellent that’s an impressive bike ride and a beautiful day for it.

 

[Rolfe]

I still have to do the bit to Peebles that I didn't do on Saturday. I could, theoretically, ride to where I left the Drove Road by the main road, do the stretch to Peebles, then ride home on the main road. That adds 26 miles of road work to the day, but the way Hilda eats up the road miles it might not be too bad. I would, however, absolutely hate it if she ran out of battery before I got home. (I took her for a short spin on Sunday without charging the battery and it did run out or at least got fairly flat and unresponsive maybe a couple of miles from home, so I had to do more pedalling than I had bargained for. Wouldn't like that to happen too far from home.) The app keeps telling me the battery will last about 45 miles, but if I'm going over stony gravel tracks, and then more interested in getting home than getting fit, that might not necessarily compute.

Or I could stick her in the back of the car, drive to one of the picnic spots on the Meldons road - which were chock-full of campervans and tents on Saturday - park there, and just do the circuit of the missing section. Possibly more attractive.

There's also that rather nice track that can be seen in the second photo above. I didn't actually ride that because it's a short-cut home that makes a relatively small loop. I decided not to take it on Saturday, but it does look like a nice short-ish ride.