Pedals & Pathways: Bike to Work Day, Rail Trail Ribbon cutting, Swytch Kit + more

Depending on the thickness of the crank, and room available, you may need to install this ring with (1) an extra inner ring, or (2) a thinner extra inner ring, or (3) no inner ring at all. You have to try each of these arrangements and then judge which one works best. Once done, it looks fine, makes sense, and works great. Simple in retrospect. But it is a step that is greatly glossed over in their videos.

After filing my new wheel’s axle and finishing the installation on my bike, I proceeded to my wife’s. My bike is a 20-year-old Marin hard-tail mountain bike, while my wife’s is a 2-year-old Specialized mountain bike with front suspension. On her bike, the new front wheel fit just fine, no filing required, and everything else went smoothly. On my Marin, the pedal cadence sensor ring fit snugly with the thin inner ring, while her Specialized had no room for the inner ring, so the pedal cadence ring had to be installed without it. Still, the end result worked fine.

I have to admit I let life and laziness get in the way of my filing exercise. But with spring approaching I finally tackled it. And this week we took both bikes out for a ride. They were great. Note: once this system is installed, you can still ride your bike in a completely conventional way, with the system turned off, or even with the battery removed. When the battery *IS* present *AND* the system is turned on, you can choose from six different levels of pedal assist, numbered from zero to five.

Level zero is, as you might guess, absolutely no assist at all, which is great for flat or downhill stretches when you don’t need the assist and want to conserve battery power.

When you face some uphill slope, a single button press on the handlebar-mounted control will increase your pedal assist level by one step. Five presses and you’re at the max. At the top level of five the amount of assist is quite noticeable. It’s like a strong invisible person is running silently behind you and pushing. If you stop pedaling, the assist stops. If you start pedaling again, it takes the sensor maybe 1/2 a second to detect that and then the assist comes back on.

At maximum level 5, the wheel supplies 250 watts of power and 40 newton-meters of torque. A very noticeable boost. Consider that a beginning cyclist alone may produce 75-100 watts by pedaling, while a fit cyclist will produce more than 100 watts.

The Swytch Kit applies power when you’re pedaling. It doesn’t care what gear you’re in, it doesn’t care whether you’re going uphill or downhill, riding straight or in a curve, it doesn’t care how hard you’re pedaling. So in some ways, it’s very simple. It has a top-speed cut-off at 15 mph, above which it applies no power at all. And it does pay attention to your cadence: as you pedal faster, the amount of assist decreases (since maintaining speed requires less power than accelerating). In my experience that decrease in power is barely noticeable.

Oh, one more thing. The Swytch Kit is virtually silent, even when providing maximum assistance.

Weight? About 6 1/2 pounds. That includes everything, the motor on the wheel, the sensors, the battery holder, and the battery. Roughly the weight of a 6 pack. The lithium-ion battery itself, which is designed to be easily removable, weighs 2 1/2 lbs. It provides 36 volts, and when fully charged holds 180 watt-hours of power.

Distance? Swytch claims 30 km or about 18 miles. This will vary of course with the level of assist used, the hilliness of terrain traveled, the weight of the bike and the rider. Swytch’s range estimates are based on riding over flat ground at level 2 assistance. Personally, if I’m on flat ground, I’d use zero assist, saving that help for when I need it more. Well, maybe I’d use some when accelerating from a standing stop. At any rate, when riding with maximum (level 5) assist over hilly terrain, the estimated range drops to 6 miles. Note also that they offer a few different battery sizes, some smaller than mine, some larger.

Swytch also sells a variety of accessories, such as adapters that let you mount the battery behind your seat post, or to your frame using bottle cage bosses, freeing up space on your handlebars. They also sell extra batteries, larger batteries, and a handlebar-mounted throttle.

Some similar products produce friction when powered off, due to interactions among the magnets in their motors. The Swytch seems to have an extremely low amount of such friction. You can hold the front wheel off the ground, give it a spin by hand, and it spins pretty freely. So the Swytch adds very little handicap to your bike, beyond the 6 1/2 pounds of extra weight.

Your experience may differ, and will very much depend on your routes and riding patterns. But it is very much worth your consideration.

As part of National Bike Month (May), a series of bike tours introduced riders to the rail trails around the Granite State. The event takes its name from the Tour de France and nods to New Hampshire’s French-Canadian connections. The mission was to give people a safe and fun place to explore bicycle riding and see some of the amazing trails available in our state.

The Manchester leg of this series was a big success. Twenty-seven cyclists pedaled 18 miles throughout Manchester in just over 3 hours. Some came from as far as Connecticut.

The Queen City has more rail trails than any other community in New Hampshire but often requires the use of on-street bike lanes to reach your destination. Many people are uncomfortable with those situations and may be worried about navigating the city independently. We could give people “safety in numbers” through the Tour de New Hampshire rides. They knew this was not a race and we would not leave anyone behind.

Our ride started in Arms Park and had our first stop under the Bridge Street bridge, where we heard from Jyl Diane, a local artist who painted murals on the bridge piers. Our next stop took us to the Hilton Garden Inn; on the way, the Manchester Police Department Community Policing Division stopped traffic on Granite Street while we crossed as a group. 

At the Hilton Garden Inn, we met with the General Manager from the Fisher Cats, who talked about the team, the stadium, and the relationship with the City.

We next crossed the Hands Across the Merrimack Bridge on our way to the Singer Family Bridge. 

We then continued several miles into Goffstown before stopping to talk about the history of railroads, their fall, and the subsequent rise of the “Rail Trail” revolution. The group also learned about active transportation and how many people bicycle commute from places like Goffstown to Downtown Manchester.

The group returned to Downtown before heading south to see the newly completed South Manchester Rail Trail and its newly restored trestle bridge. 

After discussing the future rail trail connections to the Londonderry Rail Trail, the future Granite State Rail Trail, and eco-tourism, we made our way downtown, stopping next at Queen City Bicycle’s Community Bike Shop to learn about their mission while recharging with some refreshments.

After making a loop through downtown, we stopped at the “Greetings from Manchester” mural on Hanover Street before making our way back to Arms Park. Many people who only knew Manchester by reputation were surprised to see the beautiful places, the friendly and diverse people, and the various neighborhoods and businesses that make up our city.

Some great people helped facilitate the Manchester ride:

• Tammy Zamoyski (Southern NH Planning)
• Paul Susca (Bike Walk Alliance of NH)
• Elyza Agosta (Queen City Bicycle Collective)
• Florian “Flo” Tschurtschenthaler (Queen City Bicycle Collective)

The ride series was sponsored by several state-level bicycle advocacy groups, including Granite State Wheelers, New Hampshire Rail Trails Coalition, Southern NH Planning Commission , and the lead sponsor, Bike-Walk Alliance of New Hampshire. All organizations contributed time, labor, and finances to make this event a success.

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