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CAt user review: Trek Conduit

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CAt user review: Trek Conduit

Old 04-07-19, 11:16 PM
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CAt user review: Trek Conduit

I've been playing with the idea of buying an e-bike for almost two years. Saturday I finally caved and decided to lay out some big money. Been more than 10 years since I bought my last bike. Been eye-balling ebikes on the web for a long time. Came close to buying one last year but didn't quite have the money. Currently I have a MTB bike and a hybrid / flat bar road set-up.

For me owning an ebike is about peace of mind. I just can't do the type of riding that I used to do. Now if I could lose 40 lbs that might change but so far that ain't happening. I turned 64 back in March. I wanted an ebike for two reasons; one...I now may be able to commute to work on a bike. No showers at work so I don't want to arrive all sweaty not to mention at the end of the day the road home has me climbing one of he steepest hills in the area. Last time I climbed that hill on my triple road setup I had to stop 4 or 5 times just so my heart wouldn't blow a gasket. Then after a short reprieve I then have to climb a more moderate but longer hill. With my ever waning energy levels no way was I going to commute to work on a regular bike. Second reason; With my ever worsening health as I get older, I still want to be able to do some rides that are longer than twenty miles and not worry about killing myself when I start to do the hills.

I could of bought something cheap on the internet but decided to give the LBS my business. Besides if something goes wrong with this bike I want to be able to have it serviced where I bought it. I chose the Trek Conduit. Looks like a very nifty ebike. Trek only sells ebikes that "power assist" so there is no throttle or option to just sit and ride without pedaling. You still have to pedal to make it go. Mine has three levels of assist., eco, moderate and high. I ended up doing two rides today although I had to cut the second short due to some rain moving in. No doubt the motorized assist is a game changer. I've got 10 gears and three assist levels. The funny thing is the new bike looks almost like my current road setup.

Anyway, today was my initial day with the Conduit. So far I'm very impressed. First thing I did was test it on a fairly steep hill. Never broke a sweat or had to do any heavy breathing. On eco-mode it is suppose to have a range near 50 miles. High mode is listed at about 37 miles. Since my commute is only 12 miles one way a 24 mile round trip should not be a problem. Now the only problem I have now is getting the bike setup with some type of saddle bags so I can carry work clothes, shoes and other stuff to work...not to mention rain gear if it decides to rain after I get off work. Also need a good bike lock. I'm hoping my boss will let me park the bike inside the office and let me lock it there. I really don't want to leave it outside while I'm away from the office and in my work vehicle.

So far I really like the bike. Interestingly Trek designed the frame to include a front light on the head tube and two little red rear lights at the very end of the chain stays. I already own a plethora of bike light stuff but that little front light does a half decent job. Not as good as my Raveman's but nice to know it's there if I need it. Yep, now I have to also figure out what accessories I need. I'm contemplating buying a good suspension seat post but I'm also very fond of the Thomson set-back seat posts which I have on my other two bikes. I'll need to think that over a bit before I decide to buy something else. ..FWIW...a stock photo below of he Trek Conduit. I'll include a photo of mine once I get it all dialed in.
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Old 04-10-19, 10:52 AM
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A quick update; I didn't realize that the Trek Conduit was a discontinued model. If I had known that when I bought the bike I might have tried to barter with the shop for a lower price.

I took a nice ride just the other night. Since I mostly use the bike on the "eco" setting I still get a pretty good work out. Matter of fact my legs are a little worn. Been a long winter season though so my legs are out of shape. Riding the ebike will make me want to ride my regular bikes more as well. Still haven't taken the ebike on one of the monster hills near me but if the weather holds out I'll be doing that real soon. I do still need time to figure a better seat solution though. Just haven't had the time to F with it. Sometimes you just gotta hate having to go to work. ( I want to play with my new bike Damn It! )
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Old 04-14-19, 08:15 PM
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Finally! The big Hills

Today was the day when I planned on tackling one the biggest hills on my ( future ) planned commute to work. Still I was very apprehensive because the route I had planned had me doing the biggest hill toward then end of the ride. With that said I still had fears that the bike would still work me hard. I have an anxiety disorder and there are several situations that can crop up while I'm riding that can trigger a panic attack. Panic attacks are no fun. One of the things that can crop up that triggers an attack for me is if I feel I am over doing things physcially. If I start to get over-heated and start breathing hard this sometimes can produce what I call , "an exercise induced panic attack". I don't always get them but sometimes they happen. I have medicine that helps control this but sometimes the medicine doesn't always do what it's suppose to do. This is why I don't do as much MTB'n anymore as mtbing can be very physically intense. Anyway, so much for that. Need I say it is a royal PITA if you love outdoor activities and have to deal with such a physical limitation.

Anyway as I was heading out with the bike on back of the car I had the idea to change things up from the original planned route. I decided to start the planned route ( about 12-13miles ) at the bottom of the biggest / steepest hill. I figured, "Why wait to do the worst part till last", so that is exactly what I did. I was going know one way or another if the Conduit was going to get me up this massive hill with out over stressing me.

As I started up the hill I slipped the bike into "eco" mode, the lightest assist level. Wow! I have to admit I was quite surprised at how well I was climbing as the bottom of the hill happens to be one of the steepest parts of the hill. Up I went and as I rounded the first turn I was breathing a sigh of relief. As I rode along I eventually came to another steep section and just to see how things would work out I slipped the motor into the second level of assist....Wow! what a difference! Not only was I not panting, huffing or puffing I was having fun again!. Got past the major hill without even breaking a sweat. The ride I was on was a planned loop and although I was familiar with the roads it had been a long time since riding some of these roads. One road in particular I had forgotten how many hill sections there were. No worries though as the Conduit preformed like a champ.

After clearing the last of the big climbs I got rewarded by one of the steepest downhills in the area. The disc brakes were really getting a workout here because the hill was curvy and steep. No problems though as long as I kept my speed down to 25 mph. Finally I got down to the bottom of the hill where I was suppose to hang a right and cross over into Patapsco State Park over a commuter bridge that crosses over the Patapsco River. That was when I got a real Surprise. The bridge was closed off! OH F. ME! Now if the bridge is open I cross over and get basically a flat ride all the way back to the car. It never occurred to me that over a month ago the Patapsco River had flooded and so apparently parts of the commuter MUP had sustained damage and had been closed off to the public....OH NO!. This realization began to trigger some anxiety because the only way back to my car now was to double back. I had keep telling myself that I'd be okay, I was on an electric bike so this should not be a big problem but it did mean I would have to re-climb out of the valley from the very bottom. Since I knew the roads well in the area I decided to take a road that was more of a gradual climb, but a very long gradual climb at that.

Didn't take more than a couple minutes before my fears began to evaporate. Still using just eco mode I realized as I was climbing that it was not going to be a problem. A bit unplanned but not a problem. I think throughout the entire ride I only kicked it into the second assist mode just a few times and that basically only for a minute or two. Now as I was about half way up the hill coming up from the bottom of the valley I did notice that one ( of five ) bars had disappeared from the battery indicator on the handlebar controller module.

After clearing the valley hill it was pretty much smooth sailing back to the car. Other than the slight scare at the closed bridge earlier I ended up really enjoying the day. In an odd way having to climb twice as many big hills as planned ending up being quite beneficial as it boosted my confidence level immensely. Round trip was 13.4 miles. That may not sound like much but almost half of it were on either long and / or big hills that had to be climbed. As I put the bike on back of my car I noticed I still had 4 out of 5 bars of battery charge according to the module on the handle bars. The battery on the other hand which has it's own indicators was still showing five green lit LED's.

Other things I noticed while on the ride: The Conduit e-bike doesn't like rough roads. Since it's heavier than a normal bike any hits you take from road cracks or bumps can be jarring. While I was considering a suspension seat post I really like my Thomson set-back seat post. I saw a nice looking saddle while in REI the other day that looked to offer a little more cushion that the saddle I was using on my other road bike. I think I'll buy that saddle and hope that it works better on the harder bumps. I'll also be ordering one of those clip-on racks with a trunk on back. Should come in handy when I start doing longer trips which I already know I will be doing. Todays ride gave me a lot of confidence. When I get the Conduit setup the way I want I'll post a photo. Should be completely dialed in by Wednesday. I have some days off next week ( Thurs.and Fri. ) so hoping for good weather....My only worry now is how the bike will preform if it starts raining. For that I'll just have to wait and see.
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Old 04-24-19, 12:46 AM
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Thought I'd finally throw out a photo. The little rack / box I added on to carry my basic stuff and perhaps some extra clothing on those days when it might be needed. The Thomson setback seat post is from my other bike. I also added a new seat with a little more give to help take the hits when using the heavier bike. I'm starting to take longer rides. This is greatly increasing my confidence. Slowly, my legs are getting a little more stronger.

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Old 04-24-19, 06:20 AM
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Enjoyed your first ride report!
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Old 04-24-19, 08:14 AM
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Excellent report, and FME you can't go wrong with Trek.
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Old 04-24-19, 09:33 AM
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re suspension seat posts, the Cane Creek Thudbusters (and the no longer available Moxie) totally rock. absolutely no sloppy twisting of the seat, it just goes back and down, which keeps your leg-to-crank distance relatively constant.

if you have sufficient seat post showing with your normal riding position, get the LT version. if you're on the heavy side, put their #7 or #9 elastomer on the Thudbuster.

The most comfortable cushy seat I've tried is the Giant Unity I put this on my wife's bike after she complained about nearly everything else we tried. I avoid springer seats as they tend to roll from side to side while you pedal, very disconcerting... This Unity has rubber elastomers instead of springs, and doesn't do this at all. But, grrr, of course, its no longer made.
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Old 04-24-19, 10:52 AM
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I might have to nix the saddle. The front seems to catch my riding shorts. The Cane Creek Thudbuster was on my watch list until I saw this seat post. The Shockstop seat post has me drooling. Way cool looking and almost doesn't look like a suspension seat post. I do have an old USE suspension seat post that I had on one of my old bikes that I no long use. It does however have some side to side movement which I don't think I'd like on this bike. If I can get the shim out of the old bike I might give it a try though.

Just loving the look of the new Shockstop but if I order I might not get it till June.

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Old 04-24-19, 12:15 PM
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that does look cool. Its a shame Moxey got driven out of business by Cane Creek, I really like theirs.



note thats not the original elastomer, it was too soft for my wife and I and bottomed out too easily... I replaced it with a trimmed down rubber automobile spring spacer block, its been on there for like 5 years now, and still works great.
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Old 04-24-19, 10:21 PM
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CMD; you might look at the Cirrus too; I have one and it works well. Those USE posts were highly rated in their day though; maybe you can rebuild it to eliminate the side play.
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Old 04-27-19, 12:24 PM
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Originally Posted by pierce
re suspension seat posts, the Cane Creek Thudbusters (and the no longer available Moxie) totally rock. absolutely no sloppy twisting of the seat, it just goes back and down, which keeps your leg-to-crank distance relatively constant.

if you have sufficient seat post showing with your normal riding position, get the LT version. if you're on the heavy side, put their #7 or #9 elastomer on the Thudbuster.

The most comfortable cushy seat I've tried is the Giant Unity I put this on my wife's bike after she complained about nearly everything else we tried. I avoid springer seats as they tend to roll from side to side while you pedal, very disconcerting... This Unity has rubber elastomers instead of springs, and doesn't do this at all. But, grrr, of course, its no longer made.
Which version of the Thudbuster are you using? The longer or short version?. This is for a road bike so I'm thinking of buying
the short version the short version
. I'd rather have the one I mentioned before but not sure I'm willing to wait till June if I order it. Thudbusters have been around for a good number of years. Not sure if they give a choice of elastomer for the road version though.
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Old 04-27-19, 12:32 PM
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Originally Posted by 01 CAt Man Do
Which version of the Thudbuster are you using? The longer or short version?. This is for a road bike so I'm thinking of buying the short version. I'd rather have the one I mentioned before but not sure I'm willing to wait till June if I order it. Thudbusters have been around for a good number of years. Not sure if they give a choice of elastomer for the road version though.
I have a moxie, not a thudbuster. its definitely LT

electrifying an existing bike adds something like a minimum of 20 lbs (15 for a middrive, 5 for a small battery pack) to bike, so I'd be rather hesitant to electrify a lightweight road bike. my 700x32 hybrid is 25 lbs, the 30 lb stepthrough 'comfort bike' I electrified came out at 63 lbs (12 lb 864 W*Hr battery pack, 20 lb 1000W rear wheel), and I'm very happy the stepthrough has the long travel suspension seatpost when its carrying that weight and I'm going over railroad tracks or whatever.
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Old 04-27-19, 04:03 PM
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I have the short TB too, which came with three different elastomers (I'm using the stiffest), and it's been reliable for at least 10 years. For me, the Cirrus is slightly better.
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Old 04-28-19, 05:25 PM
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Originally Posted by 2old
I have the short TB too, which came with three different elastomers (I'm using the stiffest), and it's been reliable for at least 10 years. For me, the Cirrus is slightly better.
Thanks, very useful information. Right now I'm vacillating Between the short Thud Buster and the Shockstop. I need to be patient. I can get the TB is days or the Shockstop sometime in June ( maybe? ) Just spent a boat load of money this last month so I need to put buying new expensive stuff on hold for a while. Not to mention that the tax man hit me harder than expected. I ended up paying the State 5x what I usually pay. The reason behind this was because my mortgage loan unexpectedly dropped the amount of interest I was paying to half of what I was paying from last year. Yikes! I guess they do these things when you are nearing the end of your loan. The end game was I discovered that I ended up paying way less on state tax on my paychecks (2018 ) as I did from my last return. Not so sure why that was but dang it, that took another bite from my funds when I needed it the most. Meh, I did work some overtime this week so I might pull the trigger on something. whatever.

I realized again today while charging the battery on the Conduit that the carry box I have on back of my bike has a notch under the box designed to hold a small mini pump. I already knew this of course when I bought it but had no use for it at the time. Today it dawned on me that I have a very nice amber LED torch that I use sometimes for daytime rides , I noticed it would fit perfectly right into that little notch and POINT STRAIGHT BACK!...wonderful! This torch has a very nice custom UI that offers a multiple of different flash modes. Not sure how many lumens it puts out but being over-driven as it is somewhere around 300 lumen is my guess. Narrrow beam pattern and the triple flash and pause mode is very attention getting from distance. Now I can either run the Leyzne Zecto Max Drive on daytime ( low double flash then bright pulse ) or the torch.

Special note on what it takes to ride an ebike with e-assist only. A couple days ago I took one of my usual hour rides after getting home from work. On this particular ride ( without prior planning ) I ended up pushing things a little more than usual. The next day I arrived at work and noticed my right Achilles tendon was inflamed. ( I use SPD pedals so I'm definitely spinning the cranks. ). Feeling better now but I had to use a pad under my heel and take Aleve for a couple days. After my last ride I raised the saddle to compensate for the softer seat. Might have to tweak it more but need to test it out. I'm hoping that I find after a couple more rides that I don't need a suspension seat post but I'll have to wait and see before I decide to spend more money.
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Old 04-29-19, 01:40 AM
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Continued from my last post; In keeping with my last sentence about whether or not I may or may not need a suspension seat post: Foolish human that I am. I completely forgot that the seat post I'm now using on the ebike is the seat post from my other road bike. I need the Thomson set-back reinstalled back on my regular road bike since I fully intent to continue to use that bike.

This of course means I have to buy another seat post, suspension or otherwise. ( stupid me ). The Thomson set-back cost almost just as much as one of these suspension seat post. This being the case I am very tempted to just throw down the gauntlet and try something new like the Thudbuster. I'd like the other one but I need a seat post NOW and as soon as possible. I can't wait till June and then just move the Thomson from bike to bike when ever I need a change. Nope, no can do. With all the attachments I have on the ebike that would be too much to mess with. *sigh* Looks like I place an order come Monday morning. If I get the TB ( road version ) I just hope like hell that it has something REAL to offer that makes a significant difference. If it doesn't I'll surly return it and just get another Thomson.

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Old 05-02-19, 12:27 AM
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A ride down hemmoroid alley

With the weather at night holding at about 60°F where I live I've been trying to get as many rides in with the Conduit as possible. Had to cut the ride short tonight but only because it had gotten so humid that it was almost like riding through fog. Thankfully I could still see pretty well but the lack of distance visibility was enough to warrant cutting the ride short. E ( assist )bikes move along pretty fast even on the lowest mode if you are still in pretty good shape. Lots of deer where I live and they are very active at night. With the lamps I ride with I always see the deer way before they are a threat. That changes though if you are dealing with high humidity and or sections of fog.

Two nights ago I had the chance to really see one of the major differences between a regular road bike and a road ebike. As I was riding the Conduit along I decided to short cut through one of the local MUP's that interface with the community I live in. Turns out the short paved path I was on was only about 500ft. long but when I started riding it with the Conduit I couldn't believe how bumpy it seemed. Now I must of rode that section of MUP maybe 20 times with my regular bike before and never at any time did it ever faze me that this section of paved path was particularly bumpy. Ebikes must be like "Bump Amplifiers". ( probably doesn't help that the tires are inflated to their max but it you want the bike to move fast and get good mileage you keep the tires well inflated )...Anyway, my butt was getting so beat up I finally had to stand a bit. That has never ever happened with my regular road set up. Not to mention my butt took a couple good hits tonight as well even though I was on paved roads the whole time. Hard to try to avoid cracks and bumps if you're traveling so fast that you can't react fast enough to avoid them. The high humidity with the lack of visibility didn't help things much either.

Yep, time to order the Thudbuster. I should get it by Saturday. Suppose to rain this weekend ( Boo ) Not too worried about that though because I do want to test the Conduit in some rain before I decide to ride it to work. . First thing I'm going do when I get the Thudbuster is test it on that MUP I rode the other night. Really though I just want to make riding the Conduit on normal roads a little more comfortable.

Can't wait to get my Thomson set-back seat post back on my regular road bike as I'm really anxious to see what it's like to ride my other bike again. Just the other day as I was walking past my other bike I decided to pick it up and I almost couldn't believe how light it felt. My God compared to the Conduit the Specialize Sirrus I own felt as light as a feather.
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Old 05-04-19, 04:41 AM
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Continued from last post;

Damn, I hate when I order something from Amazon and they end up sending it to me via UPS. Yeah, they sent me an email advising me they were going to do this but unfortunately I didn't get the email in time in order to arrange for a more timely drop-off. For some unknown reason my Samsung 9 email app isn't able to sync with my primary email address all the time. Sometimes it works some times it doesn't. Anyway, UPS drivers are renown for bringing me stuff I ordered and then chosing not to leave it. This means I won't get the Thudbuster till Monday or Tues., depending on where I want them to deliver the package. I hate when stuff like this happens. Oh well, maybe I might be able to pry the shim from my old USE suspension seat post out of my old MTB and screw around with that....then pray like hell that it doesn't rain all day ( which it is suppose to ).

On a side note; When I was riding the Conduit just the other night I think I finally came to the realization that I need the extra light ( lamp ) that I have on my other road bike. That lamp ( Gemini Duo with wireless remote ) I always used for momentary "high beam" duties. With the extra speed of the ebike being a factor, I'd really like to have use of that lamp ( and wireless remote ) again. Problem is the handlebars on the Conduit already has something mounted in the spot where I had the bar extension mounted on the other bike. The computer control module for the motor sits right in the middle of the bars. I have my cell phone holder mounted right behind it but mounted on the stem. A bar extension would do the trick but not sure it would work on the ebike because the bars are slightly like the riser bars on my MTB. Because of that I'm not sure there is enough room to mount the extension ( with the control module being in the way )..

I'm going to hate doing this but I'm going to take the extension off my other bike ( ) just to see if it will mount and sit straight on the Conduit. If it works I suppose I can buy another extension. There is of course another option. I could mount the lamp to my helmet. That would work fine but then I have to mount the 2-cell battery on the helmet which I really don't like to do. Decisions...

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Old 05-06-19, 12:18 AM
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finding anal nirvina

As I expected it did rain most of the day. Didn't matter anyway since I had chores to do. After running to the grocery store and putting all the items away I did what I've been wanting to do since last week; mess with my old USE suspension seat post. Didn't realize how easy it was going to be to remove the plastic seat tube shim from the old bike. I did have to remove the rack and box assembly from the Conduit though.

Anyway, with the Thudbuster still unavailable till likely Mon or Tues. I thought it would be nice to have something else to compare to. I put the USE suspension seat post on the Conduit and with nothing to worry about but wet roads ( it stopped raining for a number of hours ) I went out for a late night ride.

Riding the Conduit ebike with a suspension seat post turned out to be a real hoot. I can't tell ya how much of a difference it made! Heck, I was purposely aiming for all the big cracks and man-hole covers. What a wonderful difference the USE seat post made! The only downside was what I mentioned in my previous post; the USE seat post has about a 0.5 inch lateral movement. ( measured from the nose of the saddle ) Kind of annoying but not a complete deal buster. After I ride with it for a time I figure I'd likely get use to it ( like I did before ). Now what I want to see it how the Thudbuster ( short version ) will handle these same road bumps/cracks. If the Thudbuster has little to no lateral movement and can suck up the bumps like the USE than I'll likely keep the Thudbuster. Crossing my fingers now and hoping I like the TB. Now if I find the TB to suck I will continue to use the USE seat post unless I find something better. The movement in the nose of he saddle I know I can deal with because I rode with the USE seat post on my hard-tail MTB for a good number of years.

Had to cut the test ride short tonight because apparently I over-dressed ( got too warm ). If I had brought the rack / box along I could of stowed the jacket in the box. That would of helped cool me off. Hard to understand how I got so warm when it was 55°F when I started. In retrospect I guess putting the tights on was a little over the top. I also was dying to take off my wind breaker and at that temperature that made no since. I'm only guessing but since this ride took place just after a rain I'm assuming the humidity most of been really high. I never overheat usually in that temperature range ( and I was not riding hard )

Edit; on a side note I seemed to have lost 5lbs this week. Is is possible riding an ebike can still be a good form of exercise? ( I'm being completely factious of course..

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Old 05-07-19, 01:05 AM
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I picked up my Thudbuster Monday at the UPS store. Sadly I had to go to work so no time to play with it till I got home. Unfortunately I had to put in some extra hours at work and didn't get home till 1:30AM.

Didn't take long to put the seat on and dial in the seat height. After that I took a short ride. As late as it was no time to give it the same acid test I gave the USE seat post.

My initial observation was that the Thudbuster didn't seem as compliant ( plush ) as the USE seat post. That said once I got riding down the road it was hard to tell the difference. I'm figuring the elastomer on the Thudbuster ( I'm using the middle one ) will likely soften up a bit once it starts to get used more and then be a little more compliant. I did get a chance to ride it over some pretty good bumps and it does a fairly good job at taking the edge off the hits. Either way both suspension seat posts make riding the Conduit ebike a much more pleasant experience. * Yawn* Time for a quick snack before hitting the sack.
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Old 05-08-19, 01:30 AM
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Once again I finished up a late night ride tonight with the Trek Conduit. For the most part uneventful and when riding late in the early morning hours that is exactly what you want. Damn, I could of rode twice the distance I did tonight but when I ride this late at night I feel uncomfortable about taking too long a ride. I am more than ready now for some longer rides and to see just how far one of these bikes can go on a single charge. Not gonna happen though until I get the chance to do a nice day ride. Rained a lot last weekend. Hoping for good weather for this weekend.

Here's a photo of the Trek Conduit with the Thudbuster seatpost, rack and box. This was after my night ride tonight so almost all my lights are still on. You can't see the front lights in the photo. There is a Raveman CR-900 to the right of the stem phone holder and down on the right leg of the front fork is a small mini flasher. Leyzne Zecto Max Drive is clipped to the rear of the box. I also have a Gemini Iris on back of my helmet. I guess you could say I'm very visible at night. ( just a reminder, the Conduit has it's own built in lights front and back as well )

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Old 05-08-19, 06:12 AM
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Looks like a really nice set up. Don't know what traffic is like on your roads, but the ones around here aren't conducive to bike travel (for me). Except for an occasional errand, my rides are off road.
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Old 05-08-19, 12:32 PM
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Originally Posted by 2old
Looks like a really nice set up. Don't know what traffic is like on your roads, but the ones around here aren't conducive to bike travel (for me). Except for an occasional errand, my rides are off road.
I ride the roads during the day sometimes when I get the chance but I work a night job so when I come home at night it is usually after midnight. During the day I've never ridden my area during peak traffic hours. When I come home from work late at night there is not much traffic on the roads. Sometimes I'll ride for miles and not see a vehicle.

I love riding off road when MTB'n. This is why I am now considering converting my MTB to an ebike using a conversion kit. I'd love to just buy a new e-MTB but to get what I want would cost over $3K. Right now I don't have that kind of money to just drop on something like that. Besides, where I live we seem to get lots of rain as of late. Last year we had so much rain that I think I only had the chance to ride my MTB less than a dozen times. Pretty sure we set some kind of record for rain fall last year in Maryland and I have the sneaking suspicion that we might get the same thing happen this year. Hard to justify spending the big bucks if you really can't ride what you just bought because of bad weather. When I MTB I like the trails to at least be fairly dry. I hate dealing with mud and having to clean off a bike after too muddy a ride.

I'm seeing conversion kits ( mid-motor and battery, the type I want ) that might cost me $800 ( USD ) . That includes paying for professional installation. I might actually be willing to do that but if I do it won't be till late summer. I really do hope though that we here in Maryland don't get the same rain fall tallies we had last year. Last year was the worst year for rain in Maryland that I can remember.
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Old 05-08-19, 05:44 PM
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Don't be overwhelmed by the seeming complexity of a mid-conversion. Ir's so easy (IMO) as to be intuitive. The most difficult part is removing the cranks and bottom bracket which is easy if you have the appropriate tools. I built a BBS02-equipped hardtail four years go and it's still going strong.
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Old 05-11-19, 09:17 PM
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I knew it was going to rain today so whenever that happens I usually don't plan on any long road trips. That said I decided to try to dance around the rain cells and ride close to my home. After checking the radar I still figured I might get lucky and just see a little drizzle....

Well...didn't get so lucky it seems. No more than two minutes after I left my building it started coming down pretty good. Not a down-pour but a steady moderate rain. I did say I wanted to test ride the Trek Conduit in the rain and it seems I was now getting my chance. I really wasn't wearing rain gear though. Didn't think that was going to be a problem since I was wearing a cycling wind breaker but turned out that I had a lot to learn about riding in rain. The main problem turned out to be my hands. Should of brought along the full finger gloves. Cold rain ( 56°F ) makes your fingers feel like ice cubes in no time flat. Not to mention I have no strategy for keeping my my feet dry. Looks like I'm going to need some good waterproof shoe covers if I decide to commute to work.

I already own a good waterproof rain shell ( with hood ). If I had decided to extend the ride I likely would have stopped and put it on since I had it with me in my rack/box. Since I was but minutes from my home and already having problems with cold hands I just decided to bale and then beat feet back to home base. No problems with the Conduit and no problems with any of my lights ...thankfully. While out I also rode another good spot for testing a suspension seat post. On the way back to my home there is a particularly bad section of side walk that I use to ride sometimes on my other bike ( since it was uphill and on a busy road ) and so I thought I would take that sidewalk and give the Thudbuster a really good acid test. The Thudbuster works but being the perfectionist that I am I'm starting to lust for the more plushness of the USE seatpost. Just the other night I was checking out a YouTube vid on the Shockstop suspension seat post that I mentioned before. Good video. They had the bike setup on some sort of treadmill with "a bump" somehow added to it. The camera was able to show you just how much the seat would travel when hitting the bump. The Shockstop seat post just sucked up the bump like it wasn't even there. Damn, I would love to have that. Doesn't help that it is also the most aesthetically pleasing suspension seat post I've ever seen....that subject to be continued.

Back to the subject of riding in the rain; I have some rain gear but looks like I need more. I have full finger gloves but they're not waterproof. What I have would be okay for a short ride in the rain but if caught in a cold rain downpour I have a feeling I'd need something way more waterproof if I'm riding some distance and don't want my hands to turn to ice cubes.

I've only ridden in a cold rain one other time, probably 15 years ago. At the time I had dropped my car off at the local shop to have something fixed and rode my bike home ( ~ one mile ) once again at night. While I did have a good cycling rain jacket at the time that was about it. On that night it was raining buckets. Oh yes, remember that one very well. I couldn't wait to get home as it was absolutely miserable. Anyway, even with the best rain gear I will likely still have problems riding in rain but only because I wear glasses. If I'm going fast enough, even in moderate rain it gets really hard to see with droplets all over my lenses. If there's a fix for that I haven't come across it yet.

Going to rain all night. I might go out again only this time with the rain jacket, rain over-shorts, some dishwashing gloves and my old shoe covers if I can find them ( haven't worn them in years ). I'm tempted to try RainX on my glasses but since my glasses have an anti-reflective coating I wouldn't want to risk damaging the coating.

Originally Posted by 2old
Don't be overwhelmed by the seeming complexity of a mid-conversion. Ir's so easy (IMO) as to be intuitive. The most difficult part is removing the cranks and bottom bracket which is easy if you have the appropriate tools. I built a BBS02-equipped hardtail four years go and it's still going strong.
Good to hear these motors can last. I'm really tempted to buy the BBS02 kit / battery. Just not sure I really want to convert my MTB and sadly I really don't want to drop major coin on a new ~$3-4K e-mountain bike. It's May already and I've yet to get a MTB ride in this year. Just keeps raining when ever I feel I want to do a MTB ride.

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Old 05-16-19, 02:33 AM
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Just a little feedback from my last couple rides; I managed to get two rides in over the last handful of days. That was because on many of the other days I had to deal with some very unpleasant unseasonal cold and rain that was hanging over the area. Today thankfully the weather turned out to be more seasonal. Still by the time I got home tonight temps did drop just below 60°F.

No problem with that as long as I have the right amount of clothes on. Turned out I was having such a good time tonight that I decided to do an extra loop. Helped that the moon was almost full and peaking through the clouds. Nice to have something scenic to look at when riding at night. Seems to provide some added spice when I'm listening to music as well. ( Note to self: need to down load CCR's, "Bad Moon Arising" from Google play ). Basically I'm a "Classic Rock" type of guy but I do love other forms of music as well. Lately I've downloaded and been listening to some of the songs from New Age artist Shastro. Something about a flute playing in concert with the natural sounds of the forest. Very relaxing and very calming. Nice to have background music because if I had to just listen to the whining of the motor while I'm pedaling I think it would drive me crazy. Not that the motor's really loud....just something about the sound that I find kind of repulsive. As a cyclist, I'm used to the gentle tranquil sound of a human powered drive train. Something almost "Holy" about that sound. Not to hear it when pedaling on a bike is one of the negatives of owning an ebike. Yeah, you can turn off the motor but then it's like pedaling a tank once you start to go uphill. Need I say, having to climb a big hill without the motor would be a major buzz kill. Anyway I only ride with music when on the road and I've only been doing that ( on /off ) for about 6 months. Since getting the ebike I found I almost have to have music going because I just don't want to hear the motor. Need to find my helmet mirror though. I'm getting tired of always turning my head to the side just to find out if a car is approaching ( or not ) ( if I'm playing music I can't hear cars coming up from behind, need to find that mirror.

At least with ear buds in my ears I don't hear the sound of the bike's motor...which if I do say suits me very well.... Anyway, from the last couple rides I've put 35 miles on the current battery charge and the battery is still showing 5 green leds ( although the control module shows four bars. This is when riding in a fairly flat area with only a few moderate hills. Still I find that encouraging and it has me hoping that I can get longer rides in. I'm really looking forward to a dry, seasonal weekend so I can get a good long day ride in. Maybe this weekend if I'm lucky. Forecast is calling for temps in the 80'sF with a 20% chance or rain. Hmmm...if I keep an eye on the radar screens and carry my rain gear along I should be good to go.

Funny, but tonight when I was climbing one of those longer moderate climbs ( in eco-mode ) , just before reaching the top I decided to switch up to the next assist level just to see the difference between the two. Just amazing. On what they call "normal mode" it almost feels like you are not even pedaling it's so easy....too easy for me. No way would I ride in that mode unless for some reason I had completely run out of energy or had some sort of physical melt-down and just needed to get home. So far I've been able to ride even the super steep hills only on eco mode as long as the hill isn't miles long. With that said so far I've only tested the "normal mode" a few times but really only needed it maybe once ( and that for only less than a minute ).
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