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| Devon peacefully slips into a new day. |
The torque sensor responds by giving more assist when you make more effort and push harder, rather than being a simple on/off switch like the hub motor pedal assist. The hub motor will now become the workhorse on my work cycle, a role to which it is perfectly suited. The new motor won't suit new riders or those who want some extra shove for free. You have to work to get the best from these mid-drive motors.
Just for reference, during this change over I moved the seat rearwards a little as there would be more weight upfront and generally fiddled around with the rack and how much the seat reclines. The battery is now back on the boom, upfront. By the time I was finished I was keen as mustard to get out and try the new motor.
Off we went, out of the close, waving to people on the way. The new motor whirred away like a small electrical screwdriver, noisier than the hub motor but not too invasive. The first hill is Park Road. Steep enough first thing to be a pain and a real pull. I put the motor on tour setting (2 of four levels) and cruised up the hill, still working hard enough, but oh so easily in comparison to unassisted efforts. And that was running a 42 tooth front chainring! This was grin inducing. 
It's not always dry though.
Being so unlike the hub motor still felt like a surprise, although I don't know why? I have since learned that you can use the torque sensor to run the motor really efficiently, giving really good range from your battery. This is because you only apply a lot of torque on the steepest parts of hills. In between you can back of as until the assist start to fade and stay there. Utterly brilliant, it feels so natural to use.
Down the next hill I let the trike roll and it seemed less sensitive and more stable than previously. Another bonus then? The sun continued to shine and I continued to grin as I played with my new toy and headed for Abbeyford woods.
The daughter of a friend had once said that she had seen fairies in these woods (she was 8 years old then). They certainly feel magical for some unknown reason and I love to park up there and take a cup of tea from my flask. On this day I didn't, I just slowly and gently continued my ride, listening to the birdsong and sucking up the peace emanating from the wide-variety of trees. I felt as quiet as the woods internally, a great change from recent anxiety ridden nights and the main reason I cycle. Through the thicket of branches the sun played like a child with a torch, flickering and flashing as I rode along, changing the light constantly and unpredictably.
The other end of the woods ends in a plummet, a steep descent with sharp bends and little room for two vehicles to pass. Rolling down here, brakes at the ready, The trike seemed more stable again as I continued in a relaxed and happy state to the valley floor where I headed for he wonderfully named Monkokehampton.
This is one of the roads that the Tour de France used last time it was here. It undulates, but never gets too demanding and it twists and turns in places making it great fun. I reached the farm at the top of a significant rise, which is followed by a si descent that could be taken at speed, were it not for the fact that the road is not too wide and other vehicles tend to come around the bends on the wrong side of the road to meet a recumbent trike that they didn't expect to see heading directly towards them.
Scotland in May!
This can often lead to a panic reaction from them as they swerve and head for the hedge before they realise that there is plenty of room for us both really and that driving a little slower would have really helped in this particular situation.
Anyway, what happened next is a bit of a mystery. I will consequently hear people shouting loudly via social media about direct steering etc, but this was not the fault of the steering. the fault I think lies with me alone. I heard the back wheel lock. The rear of the trike spun. Prior to this it didn't feel slightly twitchy or unstable. I think I then counter-steered into the skid, maybe not. If I did counter-steer, then I may have overdone it because Hercules slewed the opposite way and high-sided me. PING, just like a Moto GP crash, only much slower and lower. Given that I was round a slight left bend, the physics says that I should have rolled the other way. That is why I suggest that I over did the counter steer into the skid.
I hit the ground on my left side and then the trike hit me, rolling over my head and finishing up on my right side. The only thing I thought while all these shenanigans were taking place was, 'What the fu**'. What followed is typical of us cyclists (and motorcyclists, I should add). How's my trike, was the first thought. That was followed by the realisation that I was lying in the road in exactly the right place to get squished by any vehicle that could appear rather quickly around the corner at any moment,
I jumped up, no thought for any injuries, and dragged Hercules, and myself, to the grass on the side of the road. At least we were safe now. I did a quick summation of my injuries: sore ankle, elbow, knee and left buttock. All the usual then? More importantly, in my mind only, was the condition of the trike. There were a few scratches and scrapes on both sides, but other than that it looked fine to me. In this situation you can do one of two things: sit and feel sorry for yourself, or self rescue (get on and ride). I have a lot of experience of this! I packed up my paraglider and walked away carrying the glider following a crash in Snowdonia after losing control at 100 feet and hitting the ground super hard. I didn't know I had broken my spine, collapsing one of my vertebrae. It is amazing what you do under shock, isn't it? This was a minor irritation in comparison, so I got on Hercules and pedalled again. Apart from the fact I had lost some skin and was bleeding a bit from various scrapes I was fine. Phew. 
Trike,. Celtic cross. What's not to like?
Now call me daft but I felt really curious after that as to what had caused the crash. I never believed it was anything to do with direct steering (other than my overreaction when the trike spun. So, in the name of science I let the brakes go down the next hill and let the trike do it's own thing. I stayed relaxed and the trike rode beautifully with no tendency to spit me off again. Hmmm.
On reaching home I felt sore and knew that the next week or so would not be pain free. It takes me much longer to heal now than in my younger days, but I knew that I would. I spent that week wondering what had happened, deciding I would never know and letting it go.
A few days later I decided to investigate the poor gear changing I had experienced that day. As soon as I started this process it all began to make sense. When I fitted the motor I hadn't changed the chain length because it previously ran on a 42 tooth ring anyway. What I didn't allow for was the fact that in this configuration I would be using all nine gears at the rear, not just four as I had previously with the Triple chainring when it was on the big ring. As a result, I think I must have shifted gears for whatever reason (getting ready to pedal again?) and locked the back wheel. So, it was all my own doing because I should have checked the gear changing performance after fitting the motor and prior riding out.
This would explain why the rear wheel was all but ejected from the frame, bending the quick release skewer along the way. Luckily the drop-outs were still fine. They are tough cookies these KMX trikes. I have now added some extra links to the chain and I have checked the gear operation. All seems well again, which is more than can be said for my poor, battered body, which will take a while longer. A salutary lesson then? Never hurry. Always double (treble) check things out before riding. I usually do, and didn't on this occasion.
A few days later I was back out, marvelling at the new motors ability to help me out whilst using very little power. It was good that I did that, relatively hard ride because the day after that it packed-up! There appears to be no link to the crash, the motor was unmarked. I had swapped the Blue gear, a notorious plastic gear that strips-out eventually. The brass replacement was so much noisier that I swapped it back. After some thought I decided that it would probably quieten down if I fitted it again and gave it time to bed-in. I did that, double and treble checked my work and went out to test it. Nothing at all. Not a sausage,
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| Someday very soon again, we hope. |
Assuming I had done something wrong, I stripped it out again and replaced the blue gear with the expectation that it would work again. Still nothing at all. The display lights. The speed sensor works, but nothing else does. Ooer!! Basically, I had parked up after the long ride across to Dartmoor and back and the motor possibly failed.
Opinion seems to be that the controller has exploded, hence the funny noises! The seller has agreed to replace it for me straight away. I just need to strip the motor and have a peep. It may be that this particular motor is old-stock. They were renowned for blue gear failure and controller failure. Yes, I am annoyed, but what can you do? Of course I'm back working this week so I can't do anything right now. I will take a peak next weekend though and I will be taking pictures as I go along, I look forward to sharing those with you.
Until next time...........................
