New York Bike Tour

Because of my ebike I consume a lot of content about it on Youtube. The channel of Propel Bikes is one that I regularly watch. It's a good window of ebikes which are not available here in the Philippines. Sadly, the local market isn't as broad as the US market. The local market has more affordable bikes though compared to theirs. The US pricing of ebikes probably wouldn't thrive as much here though since these would be priced on average about $2,000+ and that would costs as much as a scooter. I think the sweet spot her locally is about $500 to a high of $1,000 which is the cost of the current range of ebikes locally.

I'm not posting about ebikes though. While the channel was about ebikes, this time they used a cargo ebike to go around New York. I found their tour one of the more interesting ones. I've actually used Youtube to 'travel' since I'm mostly confined at home due to the pandemic. Youtube has been my eyes to see what's happening locally via creators and this video by Propel was one of those that helped me travel. Enjoy the sights of New York city!

Fiido L2 Issues After 10 Months

 After about 10 months of ownership and about 1,000kms traveled my Fiido L2 conked out. The bike essentially broke down twice. The first time we were able to make the bike run again by fixing some wires connected to the batteries. The bike ran a for about 8km after that until it finally gave in. When the bike first broke down I asked the FB Fiido community based in Laguna to recommend potential people who can service the bike. While one of the recommendations was a reseller of Fiido ebikes I didn't get the impression that they could service it. The other recommended entities were other escooter sellers and ebike sellers.

When my Fiido L2 broke down and second time I decided to get in touch with the most recommended company on Facebook which was Pro Scooter Shop which was in Manila. There were other potential options but they were the most popular and they immediately answered my messages on FB even if it was on a Saturday evening. I decided to go straight to them because I didn't want to wast time on generic ebike or escooter shops. I set an appointment and it was an hour and a half drive from home. It would have taken longer if it wasn't for Covid. 

Traveling to the city was a great decision. The issue was diagnosed within 5 minutes. Everything could have been done in less than 10 minutes but I had to wait for a part that had to be picked up in another location. It turns out the main issue was the LCD which controlled the power and settings of the bike. The wire had been worn down because of the constant turning. I also decided to replace the battery harness/connection since it was about to break. Given the distance and effort it takes to go to Pro Scooter I wanted to make sure everything was working well.

This is the LCD (that's what the call it) and that's the wire that had been run down.

 

This is the battery harness. As you can see the red cap and one of the prongs is already loose. This essentially still works but definitely it won't last.

I was also considering upgrading the controller which will increase the speed and I think torque of the ebike but I didn't think it was appropriate to spend a large sum of money given the recent calamities which befell the country. With an increase in speed I felt I will also need to upgrade the brakes which is another expensive upgrade. While the bike is slow with a max speed of 22kph based on the app Strava, it does its job. I still have fun with it.

I'm very much disappointed that the Fiido L2 broke down so quickly. I somewhat understand the wear and tear of the wire. But the battery harness should last longer, especially that I don't take the battery off that often. My hypothesis on why the battery harness broke down quick is that the bike may have been the display unit and the sales personnel kept removing the battery during their sales spiels. The guys in Pro Scoot Manila placed a plastic protector around the wires which touch the steering column hopefully it's going to last much longer. At the very least I know what to watch out for. 

 I really do enjoy having an electric bike and this was a sad incident given it's not even a year of ownership. It does seem that a lot of Fiido ebike owners are very happy with their bikes. I actually enjoy riding my Fiido L2 a lot especially as the Christmas season approaches. I'll take the opportunity to take night rides and enjoy the holiday atmosphere.

Here's a quick summary of the issues since I got it last February 6, 2020.

1. A little over a month after my purchase the tensioner fell off. Luckily I heard it fell and I was able to get all the parts back (minus the spring) and return it.

2. The tensioner fell again around April or May. It turns out another user experienced the tensioner falling of in another FB group.  I guess this has to be tightened once in a while.

3. A flat - around early October but this isn't about the bike. Had to mention it though.

4. LCD and preventive change of the brake harness thingy. 

I don't use my ebike as much as others and it seems there aren't that many issues that I see on FB at a least. I'm hoping that this bikes gives more joy than headaches. So far no biggies and I don't expect any more in the foreseeable future. So I'll bike on.

The Laws of Kobe

This is probably not an official documentary film of Kobe but it outlines very good life lessons using Kobe and basketball as a jump off point. They summarized the philosophy and the thinking of what made Kobe Bryant great, not only in basketball but in his endeavors after he retired. I found the laws on this video really good and these are lessons from the game of basketball translated into the bigger picture of life and living a great one.

Law #1

The law of presence - Performance increases as though decreases.

Law #2 

The law of reverse effort - The harder you try to play well, the more difficult the game becomes.

Law #3

The law of extremes - As emotion increases, consistency decreases.

Law #4

The law of transformation - The player who seeks growth advances faster than a player who seeks accomplishment.

Law #5

The law of identity - The player you believe yourself to be is the player you will see.

Law #6

The law of magnetism - The game comes to a player who does not try to pull the game towards himself.

Law #7

The law of mastery - The game rewards the player who needs no reward other than the game itself.

Law #8

The law of transcendence - Basketball is not life; it is a teacher of life.

 

 

Watch the video below as it masterfully connects these laws through Kobe and basketball.

Bad Instagram Ads

I'm posting this because I was constantly looking at the profile to get good deals. It does seem that they have really good discounts for Nike stuff. Their store is not exactly near but it's a convenient place for me to go and this is why I sometimes look at their profile. Also, it seems it's better to go to their actual store than ordering online.

Their Instagram ad came just before the 10/10 sale. For those who don't know, online selling platform do a monthly sale during the "double numbers" - October 10 so 10/10. This year it started June 6 I think but I'm not really sure which month it starts in a normal year.

This is the ad. Just a normal Insta ad.

And I checked and read the comments.

Note that there were undelivered items posted by followers. This would definitely discourage consumers from buying. Just look at the last comment above. 

Why so negative?

I've posted about accidentally zooming in on a 12 session free personal / life coaching meeting, yes pun intended since it was the first time I used Zoom. William Hitzke, my coach decided to continue with regular sessions to those who were interested. It has been 6 months since then and we continue our inner journeys together.

It was serendipity. It was a gift.

It was really serendipity on how I found the meeting. Now, I consider it a gift as well. The world is experiencing a pandemic and it was, and still is a tough time for everyone. The meetings, the lessons and the exercises were really helpful. The meditations in particular were really calming. On really good days you feel that you went through an emotional spa. If you were feeling some weight on your mind almost immediately it goes away after the session.

 I have one goal.

I've gone through a 6 month personal growth seminar more than 10 years ago so I had a very good idea on how it is and how it is going to be. At the start of the year I was actually thinking about getting in touch with a personal coach. My thought bubble there was "to get in touch IF or find a circumstance to" -  in essence just an idea no forward action would have gone into it. My goal was clear though. Find a bigger source of income via a business, side hustle or work. Ok, maybe it wasn't so clear but I need bigger source of income. The specifics of the how may not have been clear at the start but it actually firmed up as I went through it. In one session, I got singled out on what my goal was and I envisioned how it's going to work out. I am now one step in to my goal and about to move to step two. It's going almost exactly as I saw it to be. There may be other goals that I want but I will focus on this and focus on this alone.

I know myself but I really don't know.

After every session, I always seem to be in a more reflective mode. You look back in your life both the good and the bad, and look how you felt on those situations. This is where I see how powerful these meditations are because you feel the emotions one again. Some of these emotions are the same some are different and at times stronger. The ability to look at situations in your life differently. It's not simply viewing it with your memory, you feel like you re-live it with a different set of eyes and a whole new set of emotions. You learn more about yourself that you already knew but with a different perspective. I find it hard to explain this, so maybe this example will make it clearer. I was always shy and an introvert and with reflection - I want to be invisible. I want to go through life with as little fuss and as little attention. It brought up front and center. Things you know about yourself, whatever issues those are become more well defined. You look at yourself with a new set of eyes. I knew that about me but I did not know.

Why so negative.

My entrepreneurial journey began 10 years ago. Anyone looking at the startup industry would know the journey of the entrepreneur is up and down, circular, left and right and putang-ina!! These ups and downs have probably weighed down on me, plus all the bad experiences I've had in my corporate life. I became more aware of this negativity in the past few months, maybe a year. There's always this little thought bubble that something wrong might happen. While I was aware if this, I can now clearly identify this issue and tackle it. While it may seem small, outside looking in, it is the consistency of the though that bothers me. Until recently I always though of myself as an optimist. Maybe because there's an innate confidence in me but my subconscious says otherwise and this must be changed. Why so negative? I don't know. MUST.FIND.OUT. ....and get that goal!!

Faith

A client of mine is a professional executive coaching company. For a time, during the lock down, I kept attending webinars on coaching just to give me a broader perspective on the process. The best way for me to describe this coaching, manifesting, personal growth stuff - I feel all these is a mix of religious faith, science, psychology and mysticism. I'm quite sure if I talk about what I'm learning to some of my friends they're probably going to be a bit weirded out. But I believe in it. I've been scrolling through the internet to learn more about it. After the first session, which I enjoyed, I committed to it with openness and acceptance. I don't think I consciously jumped into it with that mindset. But because I have a goal I will stick to it. I have learned enough to learn the logic of it. I have seen and experienced things to believe in it. Faith is not knowing how but knowing that it will be.