With the clocks officially going back, and the leaves falling from the trees, winter is most definately fast approaching! “What better time to test the off-road capabilities of the new Leeds Tour model?!” I thought.
The Leeds Tour is a 26″wheel, MTB style bike. With some quick changes it can soon be made into an all-weather, all-terrain mountain bike! On my personal bike I have fitted a set of Rock Shox front suspension forks, a set of Quad hydraulic disc brakes, and some uprated wheels. I finished off with some Maxxis tyres and she now looks like a true off-road warrior! I did leave the rear pannier rack and mudguard in place, as the bike is used for utility use afterall…..
So with the bike ready, the weather ready (ahem) and the rider totally un-ready, I proceeded to find a suitable proving ground. I regularly ride with a friendly group of off-roaders in Leicester. A right royal medley of people, it is always a interesting nights riding. The ride is usually around the national forest area of Leicestershire, and somehow manages to capture some menacing hills in an otherwise flat county.
Normally I attend this ride on my usual steed, a carbon Fibre Corratec Revolution MTB. More than equipped for the job in hand! I usually meander around the route, somewhere roughly half-way down the pack. The rear is taken care of by whoever has held the gate open at the 1st gate stop, and the chatters. The front ‘peleton’ group usually consists of some of the Leicester road club’s fittest riders, who come along to get some winter training, and make themselves feel better no doubt by making us feel seriously unfit. That is all about to change………
I decided that the weekly ride would be my debut off-road ebike experience. I turned up at 18:45 on a Tuesday evening as usual, said my usual hello’s, opened the van up to get my bike out. Instead of lifting my Carbon fibre steed out of the back, I wheeled out my Leeds Tour. The usual background noise of 20-or-so lycra clad cyclists murmuring about ‘suspension setup’, and ‘last weeks training rides’ all of a sudden dissappeared.
“Oh dear. what have I done?” I thought…….
Now for those who have been asleep for the past 5 years, I shall explain why. Cyclists as a whole aren’t too fond of electric bikes. Often they wrongly assume that they are ‘cheating’. Getting a cyclist to ride an ebike on a serious bike ride is much like trying to get Bruce Willis to film his next action movie with a supersoaker instead of his trusty 9mm handgun. Enter Bruce Willis……
“Lloyd, what on eart is that?” Dave says. Dave is the ride leader. He has turned up every Tuesday, since Tuesdays were first invented, to lead his gang of merry men into muddy battle for 2.5 hours around Leicestershires finest gloop. He also has a very fine collection of bicycles, none of which are electric.
“It’s an ebike, Dave. Wanna go?” I reply, tentatively. Dave wanders over, with a perplexed look on his face. As he approaches, my ‘great idea’ suddenly doesn’t seem so great. I feel like an overweight pre-pubescent nervously waiting on the stage for Simon Cowell to unleashed his viperous tongue on me after a dismal recital of Girls Aloud’s finest hit, ‘Sound of the Undergroud’. This is not comfortable.
“So it’s a bike, with a battery?” Dave says.
“That’s right.” I point to the small Panasonic battery, gesturing that it is lightweight. Dave just eyes it up, whilst the rest of the ravenous pack, that this time last week were my friends, start to gather and circle the bike. I feel like an extra in a horror movie, this wasn’t helped by the fact that it was dark, and I was on the edge of a Leicestershire forest.
“Giz a go then”. Dave finally breaks a smile, much like a kid in a toyshop when told he can have a go on a scooter up the ailse.
“Power button turns it on, and the mode button selects your mode.” I state, a little more confident now. Well confident that I might make it out alive. “Then just pedal Dave, it will do everyting else.”
Dave pedalled. He shot off into the darkness silently, as though someone was silently pressing fast forward on the remote. A nervous few minutes passed, as the ravenous wolves asked me question after question about this newfangled technology. I explained that the system isn’t cheating, and that it would increase a normal persons range to make the bike far more viable as a form of transport. The response I was getting was surprisingly shocking. Most non-cyclists are impressed by the bike and it’s capabilities, that’s a given. But a group of cyclists? This could be a first. It is kind of like trying to convince the Amish that they should watch Strictly Come Dancing on Television. Dave comes flying back into the car park.
“Ere lads, you got to have a go on this! It’s amazing!” He announces. My heart double beats. I’m relieved! The Leeds Tour gets Dave’s seal of approval. One by one the rest of the pack ride the bike, and sure enough they all say the same. Only one was negative, one of the hardcore road club riders, who protested that it was cheating. Well you can’t win them all I guess.
So……..you’re probably wondering how the bike went on the ride? Well, very well is the answer! The ride was approximately 17 miles, and featured muddy singletrack routes, some short climbs, some very fast singletrack downhills, and some fire tracks. Fom the very start the Leeds was flying along at the head of the group, just behind Leicester road clubs fittest member. All the others laughed as I overtook silently, throwing mud up in a rooster tail behind me much like Roadrunner whilst being chased by Wiley Coyote. Unfortunately my incredibly fit road friend didn’t see the funny side, as he down-changed gear as I sailed past, giving chase. Automatically I dumped my Bruce Willis alter-ego and took upon the identity of Steve Mcqueen. The race was on. I could hear his breathing getting heavy as we apporached one of the longest drags of a climb on the route. This was his stomping ground, his area to show everyone else exactly how fit he was. We charged off into the distance, leaving the pack behind. As I changed down gears, the Panasonic torque sensor automatically increases the torque applied by the motor, and I was managing to maintain a steady 12mph uphill, in the mud. Mr. Road rider was not only loosing his legs, he was loosing grip. In a bid to go ‘lightweight’ he had some flimsy little tyres on, whereas I had some beefy off-road tyres. Plenty of grip, and plenty of power.
I summited first, managed to turn round to capture his pain-filled grimace as he pulled up second. The grimace turned into a look of disbelief. Eventually he cracked a grin and stated, “Not bad for a ‘leccy bike”. My work here is done.
The Leeds managed the entire ride with plenty of capacity left on the battery, and in fact enough to complete an on-road trip into town the following day. The Panasonic system being fully sealed, is ideal for off-road use in the mud. I noticed an increase in grip, and a huge increase in average speed. The rest of the group were impressed, I made it back alive and a good time was had by all.
This is just the beginning of my ebike off-road escapades, I have already planned to take the bike to Afan forest, one of Wales’ toughest mountain bike parks, to see if I can beat my personal best lap time for the Whites level trail.
Keep your eyes peeled for a full report and pictures coming soon!
Stay safe!
