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Any problems with winter road salt?


rdalcanto

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Stay far away from road salt! The inherent corrosive factor can deteriorate aluminum, bearings and wiring connections! If you must ride in those conditions strap the EUC to the side of your car and run it through a car wash afterwards. 

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Salt residue is on every road and parking lot in every part of the country that has snow this time of year.  My worry is corrosion, but if everything is sealed, I hope it won't actually be a problem.  I'm hoping someone can give real world experience with an EUC, and either say that they've ridden 1 or 2 seasons with no problems, or that it ruined their wheel.  Where do you live Rehab1?  

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To maintain our biking fitness over the winter, my brother and I train on the snow on Fat Bikes (yesterday we put in almost 3 hours of low cadence, high power interval training).  When we drive to the trails to ride, the bikes are on a hitch rack on the back of the car.  They usually get coated with white salt dust.  You can see it on the side of the seat and seat post in this pic.  To my surprise, after 3 years, there is still no corrosion to speak of.  If I wash the bike when I get home, then a little surface rust will form on the chain if I don't lube it right away, but it seems to come off easily.  If I don't rinse the bike, then there isn't any rust.  

 

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@rdalcanto that is one cool trail, all the turns make it look fun.  Fatbiking is new to me, what's the idea behind it?  It looks perfect for snow trails, but seems like it would take a lot more effort than a standard mountain bike.  Although it looked like you were going pretty darn fast for a long time.

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5 hours ago, steve454 said:

@rdalcanto that is one cool trail, all the turns make it look fun.  Fatbiking is new to me, what's the idea behind it?  It looks perfect for snow trails, but seems like it would take a lot more effort than a standard mountain bike.  Although it looked like you were going pretty darn fast for a long time.

We are running 5 inch wide tires.  If the conditions are soft, we will lower the pressure of the tires as low as 2 psi, so the tire gets even wider and doesn't sink into the snow.  When the snow is packed and firm, we are running 6-8 psi.  The idea is to be able to mountain bike year round by not sinking too far into the snow.  Kind of like using a snow shoe instead of trying to walk in snow using regular shoes.  It is more work than a regular mountain bike on dirt, but a regular mountain bike with 2 inch wide tires would not be rideable on many of the snow days.  If it snows more than 6 inches, then even the fat bikes don't work until the snow gets packed down a little.  One of the trail systems we ride has a bike shop that grooms the single track using a snowmobile and a weighted sled behind it.  The trail in the video is not a very steep descent, but it is perfect for fat biking.  The climb is only about 8 minutes (so you don't get to sweaty), and the descent is only 4 minutes (so you don't get too cold when you are going faster and not working very hard).  Most of the places we bike in the summer are the same mountains that make Salt Lake City famous for skiing in the winter, so we climb 2-3,000 feet (some take the ski lifts up in the summer with the bike), and then ride down for a long time.  In winter, that doesn't work too well because you get too sweaty on the way up, and then freeze coming down.  I train 6 or 7 days a week, and doing it all on an indoor trainer for 3 months during the winter is enough to make you blow your brains out.  Being able to Fat Bike is more fun, and because the speeds are lower than being on the road on a road bike, you don't get nearly as cold.  Fat biking has become extremely popular in the last 2 years.  Bike shops and bike manufacturers are making a killing selling every mountain biker another bike for winter....  :thumbup:

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I've watched some 'fat biking' videos on Youtube, posted by Minnesota biker's.

I don't know about the salt issue either. Presumably , when dissolved in water, the salt would penetrate to places beyond the shell and then dry. After that...?

The thought of winter EUC'ing on snow (mentioned by MaxLinux) reminded me of this YouTube video.

It doesn't look like salt was much of an issue for the YouTube riders but scenes of their EUC wipeouts in the snow make for a fun video go watch (and to listen to if you speak Russian). I think that winter transit alternatives on rivers are important for Russians to explore, hence the video. I've watched a hovercraft video or two on the topic.

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On ‎01‎/‎01‎/‎2017 at 7:43 PM, rdalcanto said:

 I'm hoping someone can give real world experience with an EUC, and either say that they've ridden 1 or 2 seasons with no problems, or that it ruined their wheel.

There was one or two example of EUC riders here where after one full season of riding including "mild" winter with mainly dry-ish but heavily salted streets and sidewalks ended with broken-off main axle (KS-14 or KS-16). Hard to say how much the salt actually contributed to this fault though not only KingSong wheels are known to be prone to cracked or broken off axels. Inmotion products in general are much better designed and built so with a bit of care you should be able to survive at least 3 - 4 full seasons. That's just my estimate though based on comparison of quality between KS and IM EUCs. I personally wash the V8 every day after riding on slated bicycle lanes at home in shower under low pressure stream.

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If you're in the UK you're laughing, because there are far more rainy days than there are salty icy ones, so if you take your wheel on a beachfront cycle path one day, and get a bit of salt in the works, it will usually get rinsed off in the next wet ride. If I didn't have those regular wet days, I would be washing my wheel off every time I got back from a salt water or sand run. But I tend to avoid getting salt near my wheel if I can because it is abrasive, and mildly corrosive, and I am aware that you can't really get to the axle with any reliability (or visibility) to clean salt off it, without removing the cover, which nobody can be bothered to do just to clean it.

Top Tip: Ride through a car park where people are washing cars, and idle in the soapy run-off, to clean your tyre / wheel with zero effort.

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We got another 4 inches last night, so there will be no riding outside for at least a couple days, assuming we don't get any more.  But, on the plus side, Fat Biking this morning in 3-4 inches of fresh powder was GLORIOUS!!!  :cheers:

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On 1/1/2017 at 11:43 AM, rdalcanto said:

Salt residue is on every road and parking lot in every part of the country that has snow this time of year.  My worry is corrosion, but if everything is sealed, I hope it won't actually be a problem.

That's one of the problems.  These outdoor vehicles are not completely sealed from the elements.  Some might be water resistant or water tolerant as they often coat the control boards with silicon goop, but I would be careful about riding in too wet conditions.  There are videos of people riding KS18's in heavy rain, and I've had to ride back to my car in a downpour on my Ninebot One E+.  If you take apart your wheel you might notice a few areas that aren't exactly waterproof.  I don't think they use waterproof connectors?

I remember a few people with corrosion inside their motors due to the covers leaking.  @Flash did a nice photo write-up of how he added a bead of silicon sealant to the rim of his motor cover plus I think he may have sealed up some other areas.  Manufacturers should really make these as waterproof as motorcycles and other all weather vehicles as an electrical short can be trouble especially on one wheel!

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16 hours ago, rdalcanto said:

We got another 4 inches last night, so there will be no riding outside for at least a couple days, assuming we don't get any more.  But, on the plus side, Fat Biking this morning in 3-4 inches of fresh powder was GLORIOUS!!!  :cheers:

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I had seen these bikes in stores and was curious about the market for these (they look pretty cool, but the resistance would be too great for just regular street riding).  Very nice video; I can see why the sport is attractive!

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18 minutes ago, Chris Westland said:

I had seen these bikes in stores and was curious about the market for these (they look pretty cool, but the resistance would be too great for just regular street riding).  Very nice video; I can see why the sport is attractive!

They are also used to ride on the beach, because the tires don't sink into the sand nearly as much.  They are slower for regular street riding, but there are still mountain bikers that use them year round.  I don't, because I'm all about light weight and speed, but fat bikes do make you feel invincible.  It is like you are riding the Bat Mobile, and things like gravel that make you take notice on a regular mountain bike tire, become irrelevant with a fat tire.  They have become so popular here, that bike shops rent them during the winter for snow riding.

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9 minutes ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

They sell them at Walmart.  I remember seeing them and wondering wow that tire looks pretty heavy duty!   I don't know if they are any good from there though.

https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=fat bike

They should make one with electric assist like an E-Bike.

Yeah.., probably not very good quality if under $2,000, and from Walmart.  :o

They do make Fat Bikes with electric assist!

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/men/bikes/mountain/turbo-levo/turbo-levo-ht-comp-fat/118334

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1 hour ago, Cerbera said:

So how long before someone pops out a fat tyre EUC, immune to potholes, and rutty ground ?

A few years. I would already be content if we would have a wider choice of EUCs fitted with 2.5" tires.

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21 hours ago, Cerbera said:

So how long before someone pops out a fat tyre EUC, immune to potholes, and rutty ground ?

There was that one guy who fitted a motorcycle tire to the dual motor hubs of an Airwheel Q series EUC.  He had some nice custom metal frame work and a handle along with a green plastic housing IIRC.  I can't remember his user name, but I think he was from Europe somewhere.  I remember his video distinctly... he was riding with his son on a bicycle... Darn don't you hate that when you can't remember every single post over the last year?  :pooping:

EDIT:  Oh I found it.  It was @alon av

 

 

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1 hour ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

Darn don't you hate that when you can't remember every single post over the last year?  :pooping:

Try sleeping on a memory foam mattress!:P

 

1 hour ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

EDIT:  Oh I found it.  It was @alon av

Interesting design! Reminds me of a lawn edger. Darn, I forgot about that job! Nice.. first you ruin my car, then cast the 'rotten weather' spell , block my path with goose dumpings and now add to my duties!:crying:

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On 1/3/2017 at 9:18 PM, rdalcanto said:

Yeah.., probably not very good quality if under $2,000, and from Walmart.  :o

They do make Fat Bikes with electric assist!

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/men/bikes/mountain/turbo-levo/turbo-levo-ht-comp-fat/118334

A fat biking pro went to the top of Mt. Washington last winter on a fat tire bike. There is an lengthy (7.6 miles) auto road to follow that people pay per car load to drive up and down.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Washington_Auto_Road

Last night a local TV broadcast called Chronicle mentioned fat bikes and Mt. Washington, New Hampshire.

http://www.redbull.com/us/en/bike/stories/1331777090543/first-ascent-mount-washington-winter-on-a-fat-bike

I winter summited on foot years ago (not windy that day but plenty cold)  and upon reaching the summit a National Guard fighter jet approached from the north , banked and 360 degree circled the summit at eye level. After that the pilot terrain hugged the jet down the east side, pulled out of the descent towards the bottom of Pinkham Notch and headed over the next ridge east (Wildcat Mountain). There is a trail called Lion's Head that gives quick terrain shelter from wind on both up and down climbs at the tree line. Walking down the auto road is a really long trek and the road terminates at the base several miles north of Pinkham Notch where most hikers park .

 

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