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Section check: Who's On The Other Side
Six lessons, six decisions. Get one wrong and it will tell you which lesson to go back to, and you can come again as many times as you like. Finishing this section means you got all six right, not that you scraped a pass. The Road Badge itself comes after all eight sections.
Step 1 of 6
1Decide
Your machine has 750W stamped on the frame and nothing else written anywhere. A friend says that number alone tells you everything you need to know about what you're riding.
Yes, and knowing which third it is matters. Watts is one of three questions. The other two are the cut-out speed and whether the pedals still turn the wheel with the power off. A rider who can answer all three knows what they’re riding anywhere they go, and a shop’s description can’t do that job, because most places don’t sort machines by class number at all.
Watts is real information, but it’s only a third of it. It has to sit next to the cut-out speed and the pedals question before you actually know what the machine is, and a shop’s own wording is even less reliable than the label – a label can’t be changed to sound better in an advert. Go back to 2.1.
Pick the right one to carry on.
2Decide
You're about to try a throttle-equipped machine you've never ridden before, somewhere you know well.
Yes, and the reason is the throttle, not the road. A throttle can move the machine with no pedalling and no warning, so the first minutes on any unfamiliar machine belong somewhere nothing can hit you if it surprises you. Feet set, then power – and you can’t be sure of that order until you’ve felt what the throttle does.
Knowing the road doesn’t tell you what this machine does. A throttle takes no input from you at all – a thumb is enough – so what matters isn’t how familiar the street is, it’s how familiar the machine is. That’s exactly what the empty car park is for. Go back to 2.2.
Pick the right one to carry on.
3Decide
You're coming up to a junction on this machine, carrying more speed than you would on the pedal bike you learned on.
Yes, and it’s the one instruction that survives all the arguing. Nobody can tell you exactly how much further this machine needs to stop, but every source agrees on the behaviour: start earlier than you would on a traditional bike. Earlier costs you nothing. Later does.
Braking harder is the option you have least of. The machine is carrying more weight and more speed into the same junction, and the ground you cover while deciding has grown too. The only part of the stop you can still choose is when it starts. Go back to 2.3.
Pick the right one to carry on.
4Decide
You've grown a couple of inches since the saddle was last set. You loosen the clamp and pull it up until it feels about right.
Yes, and check both halves. Heel on the pedal, leg straight, hips level as you pedal backwards – that’s the actual test, not a feeling. And the minimum insertion mark on the seat post has to stay covered, because past that mark there isn’t enough post left inside the frame to hold safely.
Comfortable, and higher-is-safer, are both guesses. The heel-on-pedal method with your hips checked for rocking is the real test, and a saddle pulled out past its insertion mark is a different, worse problem than one set a little wrong. This is also how it goes wrong in real life – a few millimetres at a time over a year. Go back to 2.4.
Pick the right one to carry on.
5Decide
You run the check in order – air, brakes, chain – and the rear lever comes back almost to the grip.
Yes, and this is what the whole check is for. Finding a fault in the drive costs you a ride. Finding the same fault at the bottom of a hill costs considerably more, and a soft lever is one of the cheapest things on the machine to put right – if you catch it before you leave.
Not on something this heavy. One working brake is a plan that holds right up until the moment it has to be a good plan, and a lever doesn’t fix itself by being squeezed a few more times. The whole point of the check is that the answer can be no. Go back to 2.5.
Pick the right one to carry on.
6Find them
Which of these mean you stop using the battery?
Tap the ones that count.
Find all 5.
Section done: Who's On The Other Side.
Every question right. Seven more sections and the Road Badge is yours. Show a parent this screen tonight, and tell them one thing from this section you did not know before.
Next section: Your Phone DealSection 2 · Who's On The Other Side
2.1People are not their profile2.2The friend of a friend nobody has met2.3Anyone asking you to move somewhere private★Section check