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Good to hear Carl. They are iconic bikes!

They definitely will George. Just need a whole day dedicated to shooting each vid and that's tricky at the moment. It's been glorious weather since I did this ride - typical!

Glad you enjoyed it Jim!

Probably too chilly! I think Balaguer probably is bustling, normally. Someone had to have ruined those roads!

Blimey Ricardo thank you for your kind words!

But Mark I missed out Charles the Fat, Holy Roman Emperor, or Charles the Simple, son of the Stammerer! I hope I am forgiven!

@ Charles the Simple was also known as the Straightforward apparently !!

I try my best! Ha, thanks Ian 😀

Cheers for that mate. Yup, instead of giving UK viewers a bit of a respite I added to it! Typical! It’s beautiful today!

Glad you enjoyed it Terry, thanks.

You’re absolutely right! A balaclava would have been perfect. I simply wasn’t ready for those temps as I’d believed the forecast! Many thanks Roger.

I do find the alarms quite scary - the same tone as the ones we would have received with nukes on the way! Thanks for the support, Roger.

My pleasure Bub. So sorry you needed that knee revision - fingers crossed they got it right this time around! Hoping you’ll be making a back in the yak vid if you get out tomorrow?

Just need the weather to behave and I should be all the way back in. Oh, also my battery charger conked out, but as soon as the new one arrives…! Hope you’re still smashing it there buddy.

Slowed down on the loss but that was to be expected, slow steady and constant now. FFWd 12 months and I’ll be half the man I used to be 🤞👍

she’s just answered “hide behind a cushion”! Nice to hear from you Mark.

Not surprised you needed a nappy; it was quite a long one, sorry.

Indeed. Rapid progress- not dissimilar to the Wright Brothers to the moon landings being only 66 years apart.

Hope yours was short-lived? Can’t stand being off the bike! Thanks!

Thanks Randy. Not easy making vids in the gloom! Happily it’s rare…

Many thanks Terry - the most polite man on the internet!

our garden has gone from dusty desert to 2ft tall weeds in about 3 weeks. Slugs and snails everywhere! Bonkers!

Many thanks John - this ride set me back a week, but things are looking good now. Should be posting a wee ride out tomorrow then I’m hoping to head for the Pyrenees for the vid after that. Cheers!

Truly is Sharon.

I’m trying mate but it doesn’t want to look after me! This little ride has set me back to the beginning. Grrrr!

Oh no mate, it so hard to keep under control without just staying off the bike, but that is not what you want to hear! Standing rides only? You will be like a racing snake in no time……

Hi Kate - for me, the GPS alone is fine. Another sensor is just something else to forget to recharge/buy batteries for! I don’t think there’s anything close to this for the money - I think you’ll be happy with it.

Thanks for the prompt response Gareth. You're right, it's just creating more faff, especially as it'll be used on a few different bikes. I've ordered some Cyclami C2 brackets too as they have go pro/light mounts below.

@@katepollitt4033 ooo I need to look that up - I need an alternative front mount for my cam as I’m always forgetting my chest mount! Ty

Oof! NOT a good road trip! Did you do any cycling around Teruel?

@@yakoridesagain sorry for long gap in reply. No, not cycled in Teruel but I’ve seen the route boards near the Camping Aire near Dinoplis. It’s usually really cold when we are in Teruel heading for the coast for the winter.

I think every tiny, dry barranc became a raging torrent. They say building had encroached on them, and detritus/reeds had built up they had been dry for so long, impeding the escape of water. Historically this would be cleared away, but it had been so long, people got neglectful. There will be severe repercussions I think. Sadly this little ride opened up all the little tears in my skin down there Neil. I don’t know whats going on. 5 weeks off the bike now.

We were extremely fortunate to have been bracketed by the two storm systems Jeff. Also, with the one that hit Catalunya, the authorities had learned from the Valencian disaster a couple of days earlier and the general alarm (and ‘stay-in-place’ order) came through hours beforehand. Sadly the Valencian government chose to ignore the met office warnings they had been receiving all afternoon, and even did a televised press conference to say the storm had passed just as it was reaching it’s peak and the floods were starting. Hopefully we will learn why this was done. I think manslaughter (3rd degree homicide?) charges will be brought.

Simply, yes. I would personally opt for a 50/34 chainring and an 11-34 cassette, but I’m fat and old. Descending with the gearing this bike had was excellent! I suppose also I’d fit 28mm tyres too but these things I believe are options when buying new anyway. The bike is perfect. Is it on your Christmas present list?

Thanks Jim

Glad you enjoyed it John. I think the pedaloes were grinning too.

Seeing flowing water, albeit without the silver flashes of a darting trout, truly filled me with joy, Ricardo. It’s the little things… I had thought about not including reference to the tragedy in Valencia, but it just wouldn’t be right. The poor souls down there are still in a terrible state - many without water or electricity.

Cheers Terry! Sadly this ride opened up the wounds again, so it could mean another trip to the Doc as this is just weird. You have a great weekend.

Hi Paul. I’m a bit cross to see your comment - because I answered you days ago but it looks like it didn’t ‘send’! Sadly you have happened upon the worst element of owning an e-bike, and in this case, specifically an Orbea. Orbea and Mahle have never sorted out their accountability for when Mahle parts go wrong on an Orbea. They have the reputation of passing such issues off on each other, which is appalling for customer service (and future sales, in my opinion). Saying that, your issue was out of warranty, and it appears neither felt a goodwill gesture was in order. If e-bikes have a general weakness, it tends to be their batteries. If not stored perfectly, (or, again in my opinion, not used very regularly), a fault in one £3 cell can lead to the replacement of the entire £600 battery. With Mahle's system, this is also true for a fault with the controller, which sits inside the same casing as the battery. One resistor on the circuit board blows = new battery. Now for the better news. The Mahle system is one of the more reliable out there. Though I have heard of multiple cases like yours, I have heard more cases of six and seven years of fault-free bikes and batteries. My Gain is a 2018 model and the battery is in excellent shape with 18,000kms done, almost all in the few years I’ve owned it. Another owner did 36,000kms before needing a new battery due to reduced range. The key I think is to use the bike as much as possible, and if possible, to use a DIY range extender which halves the wear and tear, and load, on the internal battery. A Mahle extender will not do this. I’ve made a video on how you, or anyone you know who can do the 2 or 3 soldered joints required, can make one. An extender with quality cells should cost less than £120.

I’ve become a bit of a fervent follower of ebike systems reliability Paul, so what you’ve experienced is not at all rare, I am afraid to report. The Mahle battery warranty at 2 years is pretty much an industry standard, too. There is definitely a question about Orbea and Mahle passing the buck back and forth when a Mahle component goes wrong, but lithium batteries are not particularly robust, as it only takes 1 small £4 cell from the 20 to go wrong and the entire battery is a write off, officially. Other systems are no better, in fact many are far worse. I am sorry to tell you that it may have been possible, depending on the battery fault, to have had your ‘21 repaired/re-celled by some e-bike specialists. A very few have managed to work around some of the proprietary safeguards (that are in place to ensure you can only buy a new Mahle unit - oh, sorry, I mean to ensure your safety, ahem) to provide a cheaper alternative. For the future, all I can recommend is that you use the bike as much as possible. The recommendations for battery charging, use and storage are also useful, but I have never followed them, just used the bike most days, recharging to full unless I know for certain that I won’t be using it the next day. My Gain is now 6 years old, 17,000kms, with a very healthy battery even now, and there are very many others with older bikes and higher mileages that can report the same. Good luck with yours!

Thanks Mark, yes. Contrary to normal weather patterns, this system moved inland to the east rather than following the coast to clobber us as would normally occur. We’ve had an awful lot of rain but not the apocalyptic amount of Valencia.

Happy to have helped! I agree - the MyO custom paint thing is such a great extra on what is a stunning bike. I have no doubt that you will love it.

@@yakoridesagain I am sure i will

Hi Marc. The bike must be switched on to test the voltage. The larger left and right holes of the charge port are the ones to check. I always disconnect the batteries after riding, as the system won’t fully switch off with the extender connected. You will also need to disconnect then reconnect if you allow the system to go into sleep mode, which it will do after a few minutes of inactivity. This can catch you out - you will not be able to get assist, or change assist levels, if the system sleeps, but a quick unplug/plug-in of the extender wakes the bike. Mine extender is still working perfectly, and my now 6 year old internal battery still holds 41.2v when full, so is definitely being preserved by the extender. Good luck with yours!

@@yakoridesagain Amazing, thanks ☺️

Thanks Mare. Sadly not, just the fruit!

Safe to say the X-rated chafing video won’t be released on RUclips! Hoping to be on the bike for the next one, but if not yes, it will be another kayak adventure/history lesson! *lost the lions, elephants etc in the edit. Too dull.

You have a way of putting things in perspective mate! Yeah, it’s getting better…unlike Lucky!

I should have said ‘jeep’, of course, but not everyone knows ‘landrover’. I remember using mine to tow a mates Hilux up a quagmire of a track where he’d got stuck. I wore a huge smug grin that day. Going to try a ride later today Dean, many thanks.

Going for a spin later, rain permitting, Neil. I missed some perfect riding/camping weather sadly. Thanks mate.

That’s limited only by your imagination. You could hug it, invite it over for a movie, teach it to dance a tango - the list is endless. Most, I believe, yell: “I found it!” at the top of their lungs.

@@yakoridesagain You could bark at it.

Glad you enjoyed it John. It’s not exactly a cycling adventure, but the best I could do in the circumstances!

Many thanks Terry. Hopefully back to normal next week.

I agree completely- but then, those that work on their own bikes would know to avoid bikes that have features that make servicing very difficult. Sadly, it seems many cyclists are unable to perform ever basic maintenance, so I suppose many of these modern bikes are fine for them!

How so David?

Me too! 😉

Yup! Completely clueless! Probably the first time ever in mud! I got better, but my month with the Rise was the most painful cycling month ever! Loved it!