Starting to nudge into higher speed riding.

[Elwood]

I've got a Nik+, and after a couple hundred miles I find I'm riding in the upper 20's low 30's mph. I'm old so I don't want to go sliding and bouncing across the pavement so I researched and played with settings to avoid that. Seems like the Nik will safely do 33 to 35 ish even down to around 20%  battery. I set tilt back to around 20mph and got a feel for it so it won't surprise me when it happens. (Gotway tilt back is way more gentle than my V8F, you just smooth into it), then set tilt back to 33mph in darknessbot. Beeps are impossible to hear with wind around the 30 mph mark, but feel still works good, lol. I  have the new eWheels batteries, and I can't tell any real difference in them compared to the old. The way I ride I never get much above 30 something amps or 70% pwm in darknessbot, I use full gear, even put a bike helmet mirror on my Bell Adventure ( one of the best things ever for riding on streets, I think), keep the battery over 30%, and barring electronics failures, I should be safe I think. This may seem lame to the daredevils, but I think the majority of riders might be like me and in that 45 to 60 year old range. We're so much more brittle, lol.

[Tawpie]

Sounds like you're doing all the right things... keep those knees bent, ride loose, go slower on unfamiliar routes and have fun! "Safe"? It's an inherently unsafe activity, kind of like getting out of bed.

[VikB]

You will crash. So don't do anything at any speed/environment/safety gear that assumes you won't crash. So if you are unwilling to crash at 35mph don't ride that fast. Just read as many crash stories/videos as you can get. They all start with something "That never happens!" "I was doing everything totally safely!" Etc.. Etc..

[mike_bike_kite]

I have a Nik+ and I'm happiest riding around 25mph. I occasionally touch 30mph but I don't enjoy riding at that speed. Obviously there are folk that like to ride at higher speeds but I feel I'm bright enough to know how much it will hurt if something goes wrong. If I want to go fast I take a motorbike or a car. Enjoy life, ride slow and smell the roses. It's not a competition.   

[Funky]

I also like riding around 22mph most times. On completely smooth, familiar roads i go 25mph. (25mph i have set my alarms, so when i'm riding the "beeps", i know it's 25mph. Plus, minus ~2mph.) At ~27mph i get "voice" alarm - the loudest one. At 25mph i get quiet beeps.

I personally have set my tiltback at 31mph, as i don't want to feel it.. And i'm pretty happy with my alarms. (I have never missed the first alarm - the quiet beeps.) Doh i have noticed i get them more and more.. But i still slow down everytime i hear them. I know i could go little bit faster - but i don't want to, i'm happy riding 25mph.

Doh when i wear only wrist guards, i normally go 2x slower. More or less i go under 15mph. Simple slow riding, no need to hurry anywhere. I don't know why, but i like riding at slower speeds, maybe because i don't have any gear on.. (Normally i wear full face helmet, wrist/knee guards.) Thinking about adding elbow guards - Worth?? I don't know.

My ~60 year old is riding without any gear at all btw.. Doh he goes max ~18mph. And rides everyday to work ~3miles around trip. Sure he has fallen, but still don't get any gear - even wrist guards. (One plus is that we live in "ghost" town, so most paths are empty/not busy at all.)

I personally have not fallen once - YET.  (Knock on wood.) 

Edited July 26, 2022 by Funky

[winterwheel]

I go 40-50kmh all the time, no gear whatsoever, many different wheels.  Somehow I've survived six years and counting of riding in this guaranteed death mode.