Biking Gates Pass with Bionx 48v / 11-17-11

Raleigh Talus 5.0 mountain bike with a Bionx 48 volt system making the climb up west slope Gates Pass (a piece of cake). Got a ride to the Circle K on Kinney Road then rode the rest of the way up. On the way up the battery indicator went down one or two notches then on the way back down on the east side of the mountain the system charged itself back up to full by the time I got to PCC West.
The climb averaged 4 mph with Bionx set to Assist_3.
The Assist_4 mode (highest) gets jumpy and jerky plus it takes a lot of battery power to run.
By the time I reached the overlook area, the system had automatically derated power throughput due to motor temperature.

The video ends as I make a beeline to the restroom at the overlook area just before starting eastbound down Gates Pass Rd. to Anklam Rd. by nightfall.

Camera is GoPro HD Hero 960 on a handlebar/seatpost mount. The mount was clamped to a 'T' extension that has the Bionx G2 controller on the right with camera on left side.
The 2GB card in the camera ran out just as I was to start back down. I'll buy a 32GB card soon.
The raw video file was a lot longer in time than what I show here.

The Raleigh Talus 5.0 stock front fork was replaced with Rockshox Reba RL .
Both front and rear rims are Bionx 26" with Continental TravelContact tires that have protective strips installed between thorn resistant tubes and tires.

Final assembly of Raleigh (Ajo Bikes) with Bionx 48v system (NYCEwheels) in August 2011.
Without the Bionx addition, it would have been impossible to keep riding in the summer. The Bionx made it possible to do scorching hot weather rides with minimal amounts of water bottles (less exertion).
Q- How does a bicyclist know that it's scorching hot in Tucson?
A- They're the only ones on the road still riding a Bionx based bike.

There were plenty of high-end looking bikes with riders in spandex along the road but I simply put on a long sleeve shirt, cotton pants and slung a daypack over my shoulders.
At the start-out parking lot, I applied White Lightning wax-based lube to the chain.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Tucson Arizona
• Gates Pass
• Bionx
• GoPro
• Rockshox
• Raleigh
• Continental TravelContact
• Ajo Bikes
• NYCEwheels