All Weather Rocket

End of last week my Stromer ST3 Pinion Edition arrived. I had hoped to get the fancy red launch edition but had to settle for a black one in the end. From far away it looks a little common in black. Common is not exactly the word I was looking for but one way or another it seems not special enough for this bike. If you inspect the bike up close and look at the craftsmanship that went into making the frame it is stunningly special, even in black. My son said that if Batman would ride a bike it would be this one. The first thing I did was change the standard saddle for my trusted Brooks B17 saddle from my previous bike. As the standard pedals looked OK I decided to give them a try first. And yesterday I used the bike for the first time on my commute to work. It is definitely fast, as expected. And because of the engine in the rear wheel it also rides very different compared to my previous Cannondale with a mid motor. The biggest difference in terms of power of the motor is the ease with which you can maintain high speeds. Because of the higher speed the dents and holes in the bike paths are felt harder and the overall stiffness of the frame doesn’t help here. So I am glad I opted for the Kinekt seat post. This really helps to smoothen the ride, more than the fat tyres. I took it easy on the first day and decided that I really need to also change the pedals for something like the Shimano EH500. Not only do they make the power transfer more efficient, they also reduce the risk of losing contact when you hit another unexpected bump in the road. Apart from that nothing to complain about after the first ride. The horn is a bit loud so I am a little afraid to scare people with it. The battery is large but because of the motor power this is really needed. I rode to work using the highest support level and my 42km round trip with some climbs in it managed to drain 80% of the battery. Looking forward to see how the pinion and carbon belt improve the daily use of the bike during the winter with lots of wet conditions. Looking forward to using the bike and no longer having to clean and lube my chain after a few days riding on rainy days ! Having high hopes on that front I decided to name the bike my All Weather Rocket.