The Recumbent Blog

Et Cetera…

2009-11-08T16:00:47Z

Here is a collection of the things we didn’t make a whole post on this week…

iHome bike speaker for iPods

“The universal proliferation of Apple iPod mp3 players has spawned thousands of portable listening devices, among them the bicycle-friendly US$59 iHome iH85B canister-style iPod speaker with a handlebar-mounted wireless remote control. The iH85B is waterproof, and sits snuggly in a custom water bottle cage mounted on the down tube. The speaker is built into the top of the unit. A slight twist of the top, midway down, separates the unit to allow the user to dock the iPod.”

Details at Bikeradar.com →

Catrike awarded Florida Manufacturer of the Year

“Paulo Camasmie, Big Cat HPV founder and Catrike designer, received the award in person, saying, “This was a lengthy and strict process, and the competition was very high, so it is a great honor for us to receive this award. Only in this country, a person without knowing anyone, but with a dream, the will, and a fair amount of competence can start a business and, 9 years later, receive this incredible award.”

Details at RecumbentJournal.com →

John Schlitter Finishes First in UMCA Ultracup

“…John Schlitter was the top points finisher in the UMCA’s Ultracup standings, finishing ahead of all other bicycle types and age groups, and a very tough international group of UMCA and RAAM racers. John’s 197 point total was 7 points ahead of the next European upright bicycle racer, and 30 points ahead of the next American upright competitor.”

Details at Bentrideronline.com →

Mountain Equipment Co-op raises ire of bicycle industry

“Mountain Equipment Co-op, which has built its retailing reputation on a feel-good image of environmental and social responsibility, has ignited anger in an unlikely place – the bicycle industry.

Its foray this month into bike selling has been criticized by rival specialty retailers for everything from unfair competition because of its tax-exempt status, to a Wal-Mart-style money grab, to unethical sourcing.”

Details at Bikingtoronto.com →

Banner Set #3

2009-11-08T21:39:33Z

For those of you who sent us pictures for the banner lately, they are no doubt included in Banner Set #3 that is up and rotating.

Keep sending us your photos — we’re fascinated by the diversity of what you ride and where you ride! All we need is a picture that will yield a good ratio of 4 wide by 2 high and we can reduce it to the 800×200 pixels that fit the banner size.

Thanks again…

Powder Coating

2009-11-07T17:24:43Z

The list of things I have yet to learn isn’t getting much shorter… every time I learn one thing two new questions pop up. One of those things was powder-coating; I’d heard of it and seen powder-coating shops here and there but had no idea how the process really worked.

Fortunately the Internet and specifically YouTube are rich with explanatory videos, like this one of a young woman getting her DF repainted…

So now I know… except I wonder about removing and then reinstalling decals, and why did they mask some parts off… and I wonder if the powder gets up inside tubes at all… and how does clear overcoating work? Hmm…

E-assist on a trike…

2009-11-06T16:34:26Z

Penny has e-assist on her EZ-3 delta trike. I don’t have it on my Catrike Expedition. I am just a tiny bit (ok, not so tiny) jealous.

So I am going to be watching this project with interest. First this fellow did a home-built lighting project on a trike and now he is contemplating an e-assist project on the same Greenspeed GT3 using this motor:

See all the details in this post by “Richard” on Capolight.wordpress.com →

Round 2 – Banner Pictures

2009-11-06T21:39:33Z

Soon we’ll have enough new banner pictures from you folks to run another new set in the rotating banner… then we’ll have to alternate between banners 1,2 and three…

If you “hover” over the photos it should show you who sent them to us. Keep them coming in… I can`t stop at 13!

Ryan Duplex (Fleetwood) Tandem

2009-11-06T17:22:20Z

Every once in a while someone offers up a recumbent for sale that catches my eye…

If you go to the BROL site you’ll find that a user by the nom-de-plume of “Weaklink” has a 1990’s Ryan Duplex for sale. On the Ryanownersclub.com site they have this to say about this tandem, “Originally called the “Fleetwood,” this tandem version of the Vanguard is a legend. Dick Ryan says it was the first production tandem recumbent. This beauty is looong! Bob K. has one, and he says, “It’s not for sale at any price.” I think many of the other 249 owners feel the same way.” They also have some fascinating 1993 and 1996 articles in review (the latter from RCN).

I don’t know Weaklink or this tandem personally at all but someone who loves recumbents should own this piece of the past…

The BROL Classified – For Sale listing is here →
The Ryan Duplex photos are here →
The Ryan Owner Club link is here →
The Recumbent Cyclist News #32/33 (1996 Buyers Guide) Reader Review is here →

… and yes, this tandem is just as long as it looks!

RecumbentBlog – Event Calendar

2009-11-06T04:28:33Z

What is the expression, “Pick the low hanging fruit first!” ?

A reasonable number of people were interested (in the last poll) in seeing an Event Calendar. We already had one that was combined with a world map to show not only WHEN events were occurring but also showed WHERE.

That was probably a case of over-thinking the solution (as if I’ve ever done that before), and it got clobbered in a minor computer kerfuffle we had a while back… so I have just restored the Calendar alone.

I will try to add pertinent events in the “recumbent world” into that calendar and this is an open invitation to send us whatever dates and events you think our readers would want to know about.

Just click on the word “Calendar” up in the upper-right hand corner and you’re there, click your back key or “Home” and you’ll be back in the main page.

The winner of the “First New Entry in the New Calendar” un-contest is the HPRA Florida Challenge to be held Feb. 20th & 21st, 2010 at Brian Piccolo Park, Cooper City, FL. Check it out and/or go to Recumbents.com/WISIL/calendar for the proposed schedule, last year’s results and HPRA rules, etc.

Video: Autumn Ride – Nazca Pioneer Nexus P4

2009-11-05T21:16:14Z

I dearly wish I am someday able to learn enough about videography to turn out a video like this… beautiful work “pjotr320″!

Not only does “pjotr320″ make a great video, he restored this Nazca from a rather sorry state. See the Flickr photos of that restoration here →

The music was thanks to Hawksley Workman @The Vinyl Cafe and the video was shot in Asserbos, Netherlands… gorgeous country!

Found this video while cruising BROL here →

Testing the waters…

2009-11-05T04:32:31Z

So… every now and again I need to do something new or I get peevish… and I once got a marketing tip from a very wise colleague. He’d say “In almost any business, every once in a while you have to hang a new pork-chop in the window “.

So, here are a couple of new ideas:
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

I don’t mean to suggest that I WILL do all or any of these things because Video Interviews and a Forum would involve me learning some new software but they are “do-able”. The Podcasts and Event Calendar I know how to do but I’m not sure folks are interested to any significant degree (we’ll see!) and the Contests would be a lot more interesting if I could offer up some fabulous prizes… and that could present its own challenges. But, mostly I want to know what piques your interest…

Escape Pod

2009-11-04T17:56:13Z

Been looking at bags/boxes/cases to put on the rear rack of the Expedition. I have a soft-sided bag and two rear pannier bags on the Burley but I have to either swap the rack bag back and forth… or get a new rack setup for the Expedition.

This “Rear Rack Cargo Box” over at Planet Bike (rather cleverly called an “Escape Pod”) might work:

Made from 100% recycled plastic
Lockable
Cargo net and soft interior protect your cargo
Watertight
Versatile and heavy duty rack mounting system
Retro reflective rear sticker
Dimensions: 15″(l) x 8.5″(w) x 7″(h)
Volume: 892 cubic inches

That is a lot of the features I want packed into 892 cubic inches; I particularly like the watertight feature and the lockability…

Saw it here at Planetbike.com →

Longbike Slipstream: Handmade in Colorado

2009-11-03T18:01:51Z

Interesting bike… interesting site. Flexibility seems to be their middle name — check out the “Hip Hinge” on the seat with four incremental adjustment positions allow a seat to back angle of 95-115 degrees in 5 degree increments to fine tune the back position, and the Bolt On Rear Triangle. “It also gives us the ability to produce differently designed rear triangles in the future for different needs (Different size wheels or suspension)”; that is an interesting feature in my opinion.

The specs read like this:

Slipstream Specifications
Frame:	Designed and Handmade in Colorado, 4130 Tube, triangulated frame. Bolt on rear triangle with removable drop-outs
Wheel Base	70.5" Std. Longer or Shorter Frames Available, call.
X-Seam Range	42-47" for Standard Size Frame, + 4" Long frame is 47"- 51". Longer or Shorter Frames available.
Seat Height	23"
Seat Position Adjustment	8"of total seat adjustment. Body measurements may make a longer or shorter frame advisable however.
Bottom Bracket Height	17.5"
Fork	1" Threaded, 1 1/8" Chromoly Tapered Blade, disc brake only.
Head Set	1" Alloy, Shimano 105 threaded or equiv.
Seat	Two piece Hip-Hinged, 7005 Aluminum tube frame, full mesh.
Steering	Indirect Underseat
Handle Bar	7/8" 6061-T6 Aluminum Tube
Bar Ends	Longbikes 2 axis adjustable for perfect hand/arm positioning
Front Wheel	Alexrims DA16, 406, 32 spoke
Rear Wheel	Alexrims DA16, 26", 36 spoke
Front Hub	Shimano LX or Longbikes sealed cartridge bearing
Rear Hub	Shimano LX or Longbikes sealed cartridge bearing
Front Brake	Avid Mechanical Disc BB-7
Rear Brake	Avid Mechanical Disc BB-7
Brake Levers	Avid Speed Dial 7
Shifters	Shimano Dura-Ace 9 Speed Bar Con’s
Front Derailleur	Shimano LX
Rear Derailleur	Shimano SLX
Crank Set	Forged Aluminum, 170, 30/42/52, 9spd compatible
Pedals	Basic platform pedal
Idler	2, Urethane, ball bearing
Bottom Bracket	Sealed Cartridge
Chain	KMC Z9000
Cassette	Shimano LX 9 speed 11-32
Front Tire	Kenda Kwest Recumbent 100 psi 1.5 * 20" (406)
Rear Tire	Kenda Kwest Recumbent 100 psi 1.5 * 26"
Paint	Bright Chrome Yellow with clear coat & top mount decals

See their site (and links to an extensive list of accessories) at Longbikes.com →

Bubble and Squeak

2009-11-03T18:02:25Z

Over at the British Human Power Club, member Miles Kingsbury has posted an extraordinary detailing (with extensive photography) of the processes and planning he went through to create this beauty. He says in part (of his design choice):

“Another consideration in my design choice was that our company helps out a local secondary school with building and racing 4 wheel electric cars in the Greenpower series of races around the country. We had some success in 2003 and became national champions in 2004. We achieved this largely by employing the aerodynamic principles we are all familiar with in HPV racing.

Unfortunately, some other teams then went the same way and the result was that quite a few inexperienced 11 to 16 year old pupils were racing in machines capable of 50mph. Not surprisingly, the organisers had to change the rules to try and reduce speeds. This was achieved partly by the elimination of battery charging during the event and insisting on a head out cockpit rather than bubble canopies.”

And just a little later he says “I have based my new design on the bubble type machine which was easy to construct…”. “Easy to construct” if you are Miles Kingsbury maybe but I am in awe of the complexity it would present ME!

This is a beautifully documented project… go see it at Bhpc.org.uk/bubble-and-squeak →

Puns by their nature should never have to be explained but if you don’t live in Great Britain you might not get the reference: “Bubble and squeak” (sometimes just called bubble) is a traditional English dish made with the shallow-fried leftover vegetables from a roast dinner.

IHPVA Worlds Tilburg Criterium Race

2009-11-02T16:54:27Z

A day ago we ran a Russian video featuring the Criterium race. It prompted this response from Pat Franz (of TerraCycle):

Most of this video seemed to be from the criterium race, which was on a track that was like a u inside of a U, if that makes any sense… so there were long straightaways and some fairly sharp, slightly banked 180s. It was very exciting to watch the racers going through the tight turns. All the two wheelers were leaned pretty far over, and the trikes were on the edge of going 2 wheeled. A slight bump at the end of one turn really made for some extra excitement.

Lee Wakefield also has a fun, from inside the streamliner, video complete with crash from leaning over too far. Worth googling up if you enjoyed this one.

Here is the video Pat is referring to —

He is right… what an ending!

Video: Barbara Buatois World One-hour Record (Tentative)

2009-11-02T17:01:31Z

This video of the event is just in. See details in French at Velorizontal.bbfr.net →

46.376 kilometers in one hour… incroyable!

Enrico Mauletti’s B2R

2009-11-02T02:45:50Z

B2R? It means “Born To Run” and it is an Italian home-built mid-racer, RWD, OSS (Over Seat Steering) with aluminium frame and SRAM Dual-Drive rear hub…

Enrico Mauletti sent us some of his new creation’s photos to use in our new photo banner project. Here is a link to his Flickr account slide-show on the B2R.

But this is just one of several of Enrico’s projects (which he runs under the name of LOSNA) and he has a fascinating historical spread on his fascination with recumbents leading back to an encounter with a Flevobike on a 1991 trip to Holland.

Check out this link to the historical development of the LOSNA beta LT →

If, for some reason, you want to start at the beginning, here is his main site →

Thanks for the pictures Enrico… you have beautiful bikes and a beautiful site…

Velodreamers…

2009-10-31T16:48:38Z

I am not a velomobiler per se, either “store-bought” or a home builder. These lads (some of them appear to be VERY young) from Russia obviously are… I find this velo above very interesting!

Recumbent-gallery.eu ran a post the other day on Russian homebuiders they called “Velodreamers” and they gave a link to a Russian site called just that www.velodreamer.com, created by Alex Ganshin and Karina Akhmedova.

Very cool (very Russian) site… turn on your translator and start cruising, it is a very large site. It is an interesting look at Russian recumbent homebuilding and an intriguing look at one aspect of Russian life…

Advertising…

2009-10-31T16:24:49Z

Jeff Bales (owner of Bikelanebillboards.com) and Alan Hoffman (owner of the gorgeous WAW velomobile below) have something, obliquely, in common… they use their rides to advertise.

Jeff uses a motorized trike to pull his new sign-trailer. Before you get too exited about the “motor” it gets 150 mpg, he treks up and down Mt. Lemmon (to 9,500′ from 2,500′ and back) and logs about 60-80 miles in a 4 hour period! Depending on terrain I am sure there is a place for motorized, pedelec and pure pedaling… “chacun à son goût” as they say up here.

Canadian art photographer Alan Hoffman on the other hand has used the body of his WAW (or three-quarters of it) as a peripatetic billboard. Several velomobile owners we have heard of have had advertisers pay to “rent” space on velomobiles, while paying to have the removable “Skins” both produced, installed and removed.

Sure, there are logistical issues (billboards catch a great deal of wind and need to be designed with that in mind for one thing), aesthetic and legal issues to be determined and worked out but all of these seem very “do-able”. We suspect that more and more we are going to see cycle-commerce of one sort or another.

Check out Bikelanebillboards.com here →

and Alan Hoffman here →

Russian Streamliner No. 4

2009-10-31T16:25:32Z

Cyclevision incredible from Jan Jan on Vimeo.

It isn’t every day we connect with velomobile videos from Russia… actually today is one of the first. We saw this first on Recumbent-gallery.eu from Europe who apparently discovered it on the Russian internet. They say of this video:

“This is incredible video from Cyclevison. I am mostly impressed by the shots from inside of the streamliner no. 4 and how the bike can lean in curves. Simply beautiful.

Well, this is not my video, but I could not find it on elswehere on youtube or here on vimeo. I found it on russian web, but it is not obviously their video too. If there is anybody who knows more, please leave a message in comment of recumbent-gallery.com”

Coincidentally,the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) voted unanimously Friday to allow scripts other than Latin characters in domain names (after six years of debate and technical work on the issue) and this may lead to many more connections with users who are more comfortable with the Cyrillic and other alphabets… like Russia.

Barbara Buatois

2009-10-30T21:24:40Z

Barbara Buatois will make an attempt on a new World Hour record at Bordeaux (at the Velodrome du Lac I assume) on the 31st of October at 18:00. It is a fast and fabled track… hope we can show you video soon!

Car-free cities…

2009-10-30T17:10:54Z

Who knew… a neighborhood of 5,000 people and no cars! (There are only some 7,000+ people in Olds, Alberta, Canada… we have a few cars and several thousand pickup trucks!)

A very interesting article in the Guardian.co.uk Bike Blog says:

Vauban in Germany is one of the largest car-free neighbourhoods in Europe, home to more than 5,000 people. If you live in the district, you are required to confirm once a year that you do not own a car – or, if you do own one,

We are not anti-car, we are pro-choice.

you must buy a space in a multi-storey car park on the edge of the district. One space was initially provided for every two households, but car ownership has fallen over time, and many of these spaces are now empty.

Vehicles are allowed down the residential streets at walking pace to pick up and deliver, but not to park. In practice, vehicles are rarely seen moving here. It has been taken over by kids as young as four or five, playing, skating and unicycling without direct supervision. The adults, too, tend to socialise outdoors far more than they would on conventional streets open to traffic (behaviour that’s echoed in the UK, too).

Read the whole article here →

Here in Canada, at least in Alberta, there is NO smoking in public areas, not in restaurants, not in bars or even gambling halls/bingo halls (long thought to be the last bastion). If you had asked if this could come to pass 10 years ago I would have bet against it with my bottom dollar.

If you ask me today if we’ll see car-free neightbourhoods in Canada… I wouldn’t bet against it…

Folding Baskets…

2009-10-29T23:16:36Z

I have pannier bags on my Burley Jett Creek but they work better for touring than they do for that grocery run with the environmentally-friendly canvas grocery bags. So I was glad to see these folding wire baskets… they just hold a grocery bag when open and fold out of the way the rest of the time…

These ones shown above are from Summit but Wald Sports and I suspect others may make similar models.

Check with your local bike shop…

Quotable Quote

2009-10-29T22:02:07Z

I like this, at a lot of levels…

“Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends.”
(Lewis Mumford, 1895-1990)

…hmm, people like us…

If you’re looking for a children’s trike…

2009-10-29T22:03:12Z

…this is recommended (by the manufacturer) for the 6-13 year old crowd.

Only the “manufacturer” is the Morgan Motor Company and they say of this model:

“The SuperSport Junior Pedal Car – It’s light, it’s zero emission and it’s fun!

Designed to be built alongside the normal range of cars at the factory, the 2/3rd scale SuperSports Junior pedal car will appeal to the younger element of the Morgan fraternity. Suitable for 6-13 year olds, it requires energetic pedal power rather than petrol or hydrogen for forward motion.

True to our core Morgan values it retains our legendary high power to weight ratio. Made from only the highest quality materials and featuring a cast aluminium look-alike engine, the limited run of 500 are expected to sell as fast as they move!”

If you are a Morgan buff, see the details at Morgan-motor.co.uk →

Looking good… room for many more!

2009-10-29T04:02:44Z

It seems we’re off to the races — here are some of the photos we’ve received to date:

Keep the cards and letters coming in folks, we can handle a whole lot more. Many thanks so far to Honza Galla, Warren Bowman, Robert Sommer, Stephen Fox, Travis Prebble, Rob Hague and Enrico (maulettilandia)!

We get questions… this one has me baffled!

2009-10-28T21:21:33Z

“Renier” from South Africa asks this question:

How and where could one purchase a second hand Hase Pino as in South Africa we have a rather weak currency! Where would be a good forum to search on?

South Africa is just too far from Olds, Alberta, Canada for me to be able to answer this question very well but I thought one of you folks might be able to help Renier out with some Hase Pino advice?

Thanks.

Alan Maurer’s trike and then the Jetrike.com site…

2009-10-28T03:16:30Z

Alan Maurer invented this leaning trike that features steering modulation control. This is an inspired design. You control the lean by pushing side to side on the handle bars. At the same time you control how much the lean influences steering by pitching the handle bars forward and back. The only potential problem with this design is that the breaking torque on the front wheels is transferred to these steering controls. Alan entered the trike in 2002 HPV Championship held at Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Here are some detailed photos of the front and rear. His patent was filed in 2001.

The reason the last paragraph is a “blockquote” is because I found it on a fabulous site in the whole tilting trike phenomenon. That site is JETRIKE, An open Design and you want to see the score or so of trikes in this genre… what a collection! Actually the “Prior Art” section is only one sliver of the site; you’ll want to see it all if you are into tilting trikes.

Give yourself a good half of an hour when you go to see Jetrike.com here →

Hey all you shutter bugs…

2009-10-28T02:22:12Z

Well we’re puzzled… we offered up a chance to display your favorite bike or trike, or maybe the best scenery in your neck of the woods… and so far the response could most gently be described as a touch on the cool side. That’s not to say nobody has responded but two folks to date only accounts for maybe .1 to .2 of 1% of you. Heck I’ll just bet we could accomodate TWICE as many people, maybe more!

Come on folks… get off your f-stops and send us some pics!

No box-tops or coupons required… just the original offer here →

Troubling statistic… get lit!

2009-10-27T20:17:06Z

This quote from WashCycle makes you stop and think…

“While only three percent of bike rides happen at night, over half of all cyclists killed are hit while riding at night without lights. In conjunction with the distribution of the bike lights, WABA and its partners will be handing out bicycle safety literature while reminding cyclists that it is the law in the District of Columbia and Virginia to have a front white light and rear red reflector, or rear red light, when riding in the dark.”

I know, I know… we tend to babble on a bit about lights but this is the main reason; do yourself a favor… get lit!
.

Trike LED light project…

2009-10-27T02:48:45Z

The mechanically (and electronically) minded among you may just be interested in this site. This is a site describing the development of a 4 LED light package, and controls, that has been self-constructed for a recumbent trike.

A very interesting timeline of articles on this project is at Capolight.wordpress.com →

Swingtrike

2009-10-26T21:20:25Z

This note come in today from Travis Prebble “A carving crank-forward front wheel drive upright delta trike. And it’s actually available for purchase.

The tag line in one of their videos is “You think tricycles are something only for children?”

http://www.swingtrike.de/video_en.htm

– Trav”

What have I been looking for… a tilting, front wheel drive, delta trike. They are starting to connect all the dots…

All the details are here →

Thanks a million Travis…