GCN cycling network had an episode on sports nutrition at the gas station.
I gotta give credit where due. Praising your sponsor's products is SOP in media. Our motorcycle magazines aren't going to be really critical of the new Gold Wing when Honda pays for a dozen 2 page ads.
GCN is no different, but this time they got an expert from a company that sells athlete fuel ( easy to digest carbs etc. Aka runner candy ) to comment/analyze on what gas station snacks are good for cyclists.
Sure, they did, repeatedly, show neatly arranged rows of the guy's products, with the # of carbs or whatever the packet of sugary goo is to replenish prominently displayed.
But rather than the typical "you need to buy our stuff, because regular food isn't patented!" Schtick, he gave intelligent answers on what works and what to avoid on real world shelves.
These companies sell what I call "diabetic coma snacks" to refuel athletes in endurance sports. Mostly flavored gells you can squirt in your mouth when running or cycling without stopping & power bars, drink mix, ditto.
Low residue stuff so you don't have to stop for a restroom.
If you're an athlete, pro or amateur, who does any long distance/time exercise, like walking the Appalachian trail or marathons, then keeping from shifting metabolism gears and burning carbs in a controlled manner is really useful and healthy technique.
I'm too old and a metabolic disaster to use the Sports Fuels, mostly. But it was a good primer on the subject. And surprisingly little commercial content.
Next video on sports eating, had the volunteer ex-racer "journalist" pound down the SAME number of carbs a racing pro would, like 5000 calories, and a diabetic coma of sugars, on a planned 6 hour ride.
At 3 1/2 hours, the fast guinea pig commented that he felt fine, had plenty of energy, and in retrospect, hadn't eaten enough during the race in his past career.
Then the control dude passes him a 90 Carb high tech semi-liquid pack to squeeze into his mouth.
Cut to retching rider leaning on a wall clinging to his bike.
The moral isn't that the speed fuel is bad stuff. It's actually really good, and mostly tastes decent, I tried a honey-coffee-mocha squeeze pack with enough caffeine to wake me from a coma, and enough carbs to last all day, if delivered in small doses, and it was quite palatable. Good even. Unless I'm actually running a marathon, it's WAY too much sugar in one hit, and I vibrated for a while, but keeping you going during serious exercise, in one easy to digest slam is the reason they exist. It's a science thing, the carbohydrate metabolism is quick to refuel, and you "bonk" when you run out and switch gear, metabolically. A fast to absorb sugar rush is a good thing, where needed.
But unless you are a pro or gifted amateur athlete putting out over 300 watts continuously, ( about 3 times normal ) you don't need that much fuel all day. A couple packs, or power bars and lots of water will do you fine.
Common sense is often overcome by marketing. Unless you work like a farmer, you don't need the farmer's food quantity. He does.
And... the Brit Bike Nut Channel does a photo competition, weekly, and while it's a plus to have a high end bike, the judging is actually based on posing the bike the way they think it should be, based on arcane lore. Or a marketing guru from the 19th century, No one knows, it's just the Way It Is. If you follow the rules, they ring a bell and praise you, your picture goes online to show off to your buddies. If the wheels aren't posed right? Loser!
The weirdest part is how old the cult of posing is! My typical ride with my house mates, ( Young adult hetero males, btw ) was 15-20 miles at speed, then a stop to drink a beer and brag. Or mock. Repeat. But we posed our bikes, at least the cranks aligned, and wheels posed to show off the Brand Name, although we didn't shift into a particular gear, ( You want to just get on and ride ) or go for Photo neat backdrops, leaning against a tree was fine. It was a combination of ironic humor, and faked conformity. ( If any pros came by, our bikes looked Right ) And the weirdest part, none of remembered who TOLD us to do it... it came from the magazines?
Project 2 complete, "The Greyhound Bus"? except for cockpit adjustment, it's got very adjustable handlebars and I'm riding with a Park allen key set for a while so I can fiddle.
Photo to come, It's a Rans Stratus XP loooong wheelbase dual 26" wheel recumbent. It's a classic Touring bike, with capacity to carry excess luggage, ( I only have a seat bag, that's plenty for me ) and might be considered the Gold Wing of bicycles.
Stock, it was a 3x9 drivetrain, Sram X9 ( once upon a time the top of the line ) with twist grip shifters, which, after cleaning perhaps a decade of barn funk, worked fine. But...E Bike time, I swapped for a Bafang 750 Watt mid-drive and Shimano Deore XT mountain bike 1x11 speed gearing.
With a 70.5 degree head angle, and a raked fork, the Stratus XP has wheel flop at zero to low speed, a Lot like a Honda Shadow, which just means you have to actually steer/hold it straight when starting off and stopping. At speed, it's stable and it's pretty solid at 30+ which is good, since the steering setup is long and flexible, an invitation to PIOs if it was unstable.
I bought a pair of 26 x 2" Continental Race King mountain tires, for the gravel trails, but the rear didn't clear, just, so I'm waiting for another slightly smaller, from the shop, while running the 1 1/4" ( 559 x 32mm ) touring tire in back it came with. ( Pity, it looked cool with the big knobbies )
Definitely a case of "If I'd known then..." as the long wheelbase acts like the whole frame is a big spring, on bumps, so even the 32mm tires don't beat me up like they did on the stiff V-Rex. Also a much easier learning curve with a lower crank than the short wheelbase V-Rex.
OTOH, that was good training on the quicker steering machine, and it's running just fine.
Nice run today, a few stops to recline the seat more, and a mellow 12.9 mph average. ( 23 mph top ) On trails, I'm still running in 2 of 5 on the power boost, until I get more miles, and it just climbs up the hill back to the house like I'm on the flats. ( the top speed was on gravel, I reset the computer at the trail head ) Not as fun as....
Still doing cable management, so a few untrimmed zip ties, disc brakes are probably next, plus more lights. I got a 42 tooth front ring with the motor, but the 52 tooth ( Aussie ) ring was loaned by a buddy, and I want to see what the top end is, but want to get a few more miles in first.
That's 2 entire uncut Shimano Linksys chains, 252 links plus 2 masters. Waxed, of course.
Rear hub internal transmissions are very popular with touring bicycle riders. There's less hanging off the rear wheel to smash on rocks & logs & curbs, etc. Fewer external parts to get jammed with debris. ( I have to pull weeds out of my rear derailleur fairly regularly )
Read hub trannies are popular with Trikes in particular, plus returning riders who want simplicity and don't want to learn the tricks/technique for getting the best out of a dual part drive train.
I'm used to a typical mountain & Road bike drive train with a 2 or 3 speed range system, which gives overlapping gear ratios, and in trucks. The "3x9" or "2x12" systems with front and rear derailleur don't have 27 or 24 usable sequential gears, in practice. You treat it like a multi range system.
( unless you're a serious gear geek and custom build your drive train to use double shifting to get close spaced sequential gearing. I've had gear charts with shift sequence taped to my handlebar. After going to the effort I understand why they don't do it commercially. Not a beginner friendly thing. )
The Downside to rear hub internal transmissions is weight and cost.
Gear range, from lowest to highest is another issue, But for now let's go with "more costs more", and ignore it.
Crank/center mount transmissions share the downsides of weight and cost, but it's low centered mass, and not unsprung mass like a rear hub trannie. ( if there's suspension ) As Buell riders should know, centered mass improves handling.
It's a bit more complicated when you add a motor.
I'm riding 2 different systems.
My Catrike has a rear hub motor with a "regular" 3x9 mountain bike front and rear derailleur. Extra mass in the rear compared to the acoustic version.
My Rans bicycles use a "mid-drive" motor that replaces the foot crank bearings, and a 1x11 rear derailleur. More mass than no motor, but on a mountain or road bike, low and centered. ( on my recumbents, forward and higher, but the different geometry is part of the price for comfort and aerodynamics )
The Pinion system in the video above tries for the best compromise, most centered mass, etc. It's pretty impressive and probably the wave of the future for Performance E-bikes. Cheap ones will use rear hub motors.
But there's competition for the easiest to use system. The combination of mid drive motor and CVT rear hub, computer controlled, ( Shimano & Enviolo ) offer no thought automatic gearing. You can set your desired cadence ( leg spin rpm ) and it just changes itself.
Anecdotal... The founder of ICE trikes in the UK is an expert rider, and perfectly comfortable with traditional gearing systems. Wasn't interested in riding the new tech, despite his company using it in trikes. ( smart and innovative guy, if it sells, he'll make it ) Then his engineering minions handed him the latest product to test drive. Computer controlled CVT with electric boost. Set it to his preferred cadence, and no further thought needed. Automatically downshifts at stops. 100% of attention can go to navigation and collision avoidance. He's a convert.
BTW. Credit to Utah Trikes for the motor reaction arm to the frame, that replaces the Bafang serrated ring that digs into the Bottom Bracket to keep the motor from spinning/slamming into the frame.
The stock part offends me, it scars up what should be a smooth flat machined ring of alloy in perfect geometry. Parallel with the opposite end of a hunk of tube and exactly perpendicular to the thread Axis. Literally the blueprint Datum you measure everything else from.
And high praise for TerraCycle ( T-Cycle division ) for the battery mounts. Pricy, perhaps, but solid, American Made CNC mounts that hold the single heaviest object on the bike, ( except me ) and are little works of engineering art.
The Direct Mount battery thingee has a series of offset threaded holes that allow positioning as desired. I'm running 2 in mirror flipped orientation and get a nigh perfect alignment. Impressive precision.
