One Tough Velomobile? No! Two Whole Teams.

In typical Ozzy style Trisled performed the following good humoured stunt to effectively demonstrate the durability of their robust and practical Rotovelo velomobile.  Perhaps the beginnings of a new sport – Velomobile Ice Hockey.

The video clip was produced and edited by Lochlan Gay, a Year 11 student from Mt Eliza Secondary College. Working with six cameramen across 26 cameras, Lochie was then charged with poring over 20 hours of footage to produce the final five minute cut.

The players are evidently enjoying themselves immensely, and the resilience of the roto-moulded shell to the repeated impacts is clear.  As one commentator has remarked, “don’t try this in your Quest.”  Perhaps not so obvious is the clear stability of the trike compared to a bike in icy conditions.  Another feather in the velomobiles all-weather cap.

The opposite extreme to Trisled’s practical velomobile are the high end racing machines that they produce for Australia’s flourishing sport of HPV racing (See the Australian HPV Super Series Pedal Prix and RACV Energy Breakthrough pages).  Trisled took these machines a step further in 2012, when they entered one bike and one trike, in the World Human Powered Speed Challenge at Battle Mountain.  The Trisled machines performed well with the trike, with Gareth Hanks in Completely Overzealous, setting a new world record in the three wheel category and stimulating interest in further trike development.

The following video gives a mostly cockpit eye view of the record setting run.

Trisled are expected back at Battle Mountain this year with an all new trike, All Overzealous, no doubt with expectation to push the trike record further still.  The results should be available by the end of next week.

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Battle Mountain 2014 Coming Up

WHPSC Battle Mountain 2014med The 2014 World Human Powered Speed Challenge, organised by the IHPVA and held annually outside the town of Battle Mountain in the US State of Nevada, starts on Monday 8th, and promises a week of interest as several International teams of engineers, technicians and athletes compete to set records and push the speed boundary achievable by human power alone.

It has been two years since we last reported on Battle Mountain and the last two occasions set new records in several categories and served to raise the public profile of the event.  The 2013 WHPSC was significant as a new top speed world record was set by Sebastiaan Bowier of Human Power Team Delft, in the Velox 3, with a speed of 83.13 mph, displacing long time record holder Sam Whittingham.  A depiction of the Velox 3 is featured on this years WHPSC poster.  Human Power Team Delft and Sebastiaan are back this year with a new machine, the Velox 4, and two new riders.  Sam Whittingham has suffer a couple of injuries recently and will not be competing this year, however Varna builder Georgi Georgiev will be there with female world speed record holder Barbara Buatois, to defend and/or extend her title.  After pulling out of the 2012 WHPSC, Graeme Obree did compete in 2013.  While not achieving his stated aim of 100 mph, he was successful in setting a new prone rider world speed record as well as drawing media attention to the event as a whole.

Additional teams include: Team Cygnus, also from the Netherlands; a Canadian partnership between the HPV development lab AeroVelo and the University of Toronto with their ETA which used Kickstarter to raise funds for the build; a team from Russia; and several other teams and individuals from the US, Europe and the UK.  Not wishing to jump ahead too far but a couple of similar university teams/partnerships to AeroVelo have plans to compete in 2015, but more of that when the time comes.

Lastly and by no means least, Australian velomobile manufacturer Trisled, who set a tricycle world record in Completely Overzealous in 2012, are back with a new and more advanced trike, All Overzealous, and the old trike has been passed on to a US team so it should be interesting to compare how each perform.

Results should be posted as usual on the WHPSC 2014 Results Page.

For any unfamiliar with the WHPSC, the following News clip provides a good, albeit dated, introduction.

Cyclevision is on for 2013

Cyclevision 2012 LogoThere were rumours that the Dutch specialist cycle, recumbent and HPV event Cyclevision had run out of steam and been cancelled for 2013.  However we learn from Ligfiets.net that this is not the case and the dates have been set for June this year.

Cyclevision has also returned to the usual location of FlevOnice near Biddinghuizen on Flevoland.  Last year FlevOnice was undergoing financial difficulties which forced a relocation to the Midland Motor Racing Circuit outside Lelystad, on the other side of Flevoland.  Now with a new owner those difficulties have been resolved and it is possible to return to the preferred location.

Map of FlevOnice 2011More details will be posted on the usual Cyclevision page in due course and there is also a facebook page and a facebook event page.  Links to photos blogs and reports on Cyclevision 2011, the previous time at FlevOnice, are on this page.

The program is still being developed but there will be the usual races, competitions, lectures and recumbent try-out opportunities.  New this year will be a dedicated dealer and manufacturer area and trade show.

EuroTour – Plan B, Plan C and 2014

Euro Tour LogoAs hinted, when the cancellation was announced, other plans have arisen from the ashes.

A new European based volunteer, Evelien van Jeroen, has stepped forward to continue the plan for the original EuroTour, which has now been postponed to 2014, and lead the organising.  With the organisation now based in Europe there is good hope that many of the difficulties the previous organiser encountered will be easier to over come.  At present there are plans for the organisers to meet at SPEZI in April, meantime announcements will be made via the logical-vehicles forum.

Additionally, a group has been formed to continue with plans for a somewhat smaller tour, to take place this year.  Originally proposed by Carl Georg Rasmussen of Leitra and dubbed Plan B, more details, and the option to register, can be found at the original eurotour2013.com site.

EuroTour Plan B Draft Map

The tour is expected to take place over two weeks with two rest days and the intention is to start the tour in Leer, Germany, about a month after the HPV World Championships are held there.  The route will then take the velomobiles through a number of principal cities in the Netherlands followed by Belgium and a corner of France.  From there the proposed route will pass through Luxemborg and then follow the Mosel and Rhein rivers back to Leer.

A third plan has also been proposed, by organisers from Austria to incorporate a further small scale tour into their third summer velomobile gathering at Lake Constance (Bodensee).  Perhaps it might be appropriate to dub this additional alternative Plan C?

However these various plans develop, there looks to be plenty of positive velomobile promotional activity over the coming months.

EuroTour 2013 Cancelled – for now …

8ada8b01a991faf3f98f4a7470382ef6_XLThe European sequel to ROAM, planned to take place this coming summer, has been cancelled.  Unlike the US event of 2011, which essentially involved one country and one language, the EuroTour planners have been faced with the challenge formed by: not only  a route crossing multiple countries, with diverse legal requirements; but also with language barriers, and a lack of on the ground volunteers to support the planning effort.  The sheer scale of the event, with the number of registered participants well over 100, has also added to the difficulties.

Sean Havins made the following announcement in the EuroTour forum:

It is the middle of January 2013 and we still do not have routes defined for Belgium, much of France or Switzerland. This makes it impossible to know many basic things that we must know to make the tour happen. It is too late.

Also, we must have help in France to register with the local districts if we are to ride together as a tour. Several ideas have been put forward to try and circumvent the French laws. I will not do this. Several ideas have been put forward to split the tour or skip France entirely. If this was the only major problem, I would consider one of these ideas and continue the tour.

To those of you who have invested your time in this tour; Thank you. I am sorry that your work will not be used for this year. I firmly believe that EuroTour WILL happen. When it does, your work will be of great value.

After volunteering to fill the  for the 2013 event Sean also announced that he would be stepping down from any organizing role for a possible 2014:

 When I first volunteered to lead the organization of the tour, I knew that I was not qualified. I assumed the role because at the time, I felt that someone had to. I hoped that someone more qualified would volunteer. Here is a link to my original post where I volunteered for this job.
http://www.bentrideronline.com/messageboard/showpost.php?p=849292&postcount=82

Since the tour is in Europe, it needs leadership who is familiar with the countries involved and can communicate well. I have never been to Europe and I only speak one language.

I am not a manager. I am a technician. The management skills that are needed for a project of this type do not come naturally to me. I had hoped I could learn by doing and become the manager this tour needed. I did not.

For these reasons, I must step down and hand control to someone more qualified. If no one volunteers to take the role of organizational leader, this tour will not happen.

It is my hope that someone will pick this up and make it happen in 2014. Much of the work has been done and much still needs doing. I believe this tour can happen and and that when it does, it will be wonderful.

I will continue to manage this forum as long as there is interest in the EuroTour or as long as the new organizers, whoever they are, want it to exist. If someone takes over the organizational role, and would like an internet presence and a place for files and calendars of the daily rides, I will happily help with that.

HPV_WMSo there is some prospect for a tour ride in 2014, if some capable organisers will step up to the plate.

But that is not all.  Based on comments in the forum, it also seems quite likely that a much reduced group may still attempt a 2013 tour on an ad-hoc basis.  The suggestion is to start immediately after the 2013 HPV World Championships which are to be held in Germany.  So … watch this space.

Oliebollentocht – Record Number of Velomobiles

Oliebollentocht Logo157 velomobiles participated in the 2012 Oliebollentocht, upping the record from 149 in 2011.  The day was clear and relatively warm for the time of year, which made for some good photography, and photos and videos from riders and others, are now appearing online.  Several are linked to from the Ligfiets page.

The ride commenced in Zwolle and, after counting for the record, the velomobiles left in groups of about 50.  Looking at the videos it is fair to say that the Quest and Strada velomobiles represented the largest group.  However there is a surprisingly large selection of machines to be seen, these included: Flevobike Orca/Versatile; various iterations of Alligt and Flevo Alleweders; WAW; Milan; a couple of Go-One Evo Ks; Velayo; and even a Leiba Classic.  The following video takes you on a wander round the parked velomobiles assembling for the ride.  The Duo Quest with a trailer also participated and is featured early in the video.  It is clear from what is shown, that at least three children could be transported in this way, though I read a report on the Strada 112 A blog that there were four children carried!

The following video also takes you around the assembling velomobiles but also includes some of the ride itself with a mixture of cockpit views and stills which all help to give a flavour of the day.

The next video is quite long at 24 minutes, but features an extensive cockpit eye view taken from a Quest equipped with a carbon race-cap.  The view is not all from the cockpit as the rider gets out several times including after rolling onto the ferry at Genemuiden.  It is amusing to see the small ferry overwhelmed by the number of velomobiles all trying to cross at the same time.  I believe Andre Vrielink can be seen on the ferry with a similar, if not the same, Orca that I test-rode last September.

The following is a much shorter video but with rather flashy production including quite a number of shots in fast-play, which create their own effect and impression.

To conclude there follows a compilation of well-shot video of one group en-route and obviously enjoying themselves.  David Hembrow of A View From the Cycle Path is featured smiling at the camera as he passes in his Mango.

Roll Over America – The Book!

ROAM logoThe Roll Over America (ROAM) velomobile tour which took place in 2011 is now documented in book form.  Available either as an iBook for iOS 5 or 210 Mb PDF from Google Docs, Josef Janning chronicles the story of the first ever velomobile tour across the United States from Oregon to Washington D.C.  The 210 pages cover the 28 day, 5300 km journey in detail, together with additional material and comments from riders and observers.

Cover of ROAM the storyAs one would expect the opening chapter deals with the background and planning for the tour.  The book also closes with a number of after thoughts and hints at possible future tours of a similar kind in both the US and other parts of the world.

It is good to see ROAM documented in this, more permanent, fashion as the original site at http://www.rolloveramerica.eu, while reserved, no longer has any content accessible, demonstrating the frustratingly short life cycle of too much of the information available on the internet.

Oliebollentocht

Oliebollentocht LogoIt is the time of year in Holland in which Oliebollen are cooked and eaten.  It is also about the time of year when a large number of velonauts gather for what is the world’s largest social velomobile ride – the Oliebollentocht.

Oliebollen are a spiced fruity dough-ball fried and traditionally eaten in Holland around the end of the year so in other words Oliebollentocht is Dutch Doughnut Time.  The Oliebollentocht velomobile gatherings have been held yearly in various locations in the Netherlands, and the 17th such gathering is to be held on the last Saturday of December in Zwolle, about a week from now.

The following video produced by David Hembrow and available on his blog – A view from the cycle path – illustrates the experience from a velonaut’s eye view in the 2009 Oliebollentocht held in Utrecht.

Organised through the Dutch HPV site ligfiets.net there is a page with more details for those wishing to participate.  This is strictly a velomobile-only event.  This year the exclusivity perhaps takes on more significance, as velomobiles have been excluded for the first time from participating in a similar event, the Elfstedenfietstocht, despite participating without incident in previous years.

Last year there was a record number of 149 velomobiles in attendance and there will be high hopes to break that record next Saturday.  The following video shows a selection of the assembled velomobiles presumably while most of the riders are inside consuming Oliebollen and coffee.

The following video is a Dutch TV report of the same event and contains some nice shots.  There are also English subtitles which helps for those without Dutch.

All-in-all good promotion of the velomobile helping to raise the awareness of the concept in Holland and possibly elsewhere too.

The Cycle Show 2012 Report

Here at last is the promised report on this year’s Cycle Show.

2012 is the second year the show has been held at the NEC in Birmingham. It is also the second time I was able to attend, what aspires to be, the premier cycle trade event in the UK. However, with the current growth in cycling, the Cycle Show is beginning to face some competition from other new trade shows, that are developing in other parts of the country. The previous occasion I attended was in 2010, the last time the Cycle Show was held in London.

Photo of NEC atrium entranceThe move to the NEC was intended to broaden the appeal and hopefully attract a greater number of attendees than the previous venue at Earl’s Court in London. The NEC venue, with it’s central location in the British Midlands and good road and rail transport links, is well placed to provide this, and I think the figures from this year’s show, prove the decision to move, was a good thing. For myself, a London based show was preferable, as it is always possible to stay with friends, and then use their home as a base from which to visit, without having to make a long commute. None-the-less I, and a little helper, were able to make a day trip to Birmingham via the train, but it was something of an epic journey.

This being my first ever visit to the NEC, I was impressed by the shear volume of exhibition space. With it’s twenty-something halls, which can be opened up to create a multi-hall venue, the location is well able to accommodate future growth. The Cycle Show occupied three of these halls (9, 10 and 11), and according to Cycle Show figures had an 11% increase in trade stand space over 2010. While attendance in 2011 was down it was up by 30% this year and surpassed the 2010 figures.

As one would expect the show is dominated with sports cycling particularly road racing and BMX, two sports that have been much in the spotlight since the Olympics earlier this year. However there was still plenty to see relating to more practical cycle use, and again one was impressed with a large area, in hall 11, given to electric bikes and systems. The evident increase in this sector since 2010, is a reflection of the massive growth being seen, as the technology has begun to mature and become a much more practical option.  From a personal point of view, there did seem to be something lacking, and I am hard-pressed to put my finger on it. There were a number of exhibitors missing, which I had seen in London, but these should have been made up by others who were new to the show. Perhaps Earl’s Court had a slightly more intimate feel, but that was probably due to the cramped condition of a show, that had reached the venue’s capacity. Maybe the balance between sports and utility cycling was different, and not to my taste, I’m not sure. It is still early days for the new venue, so comparisons may not be altogether fair, however the prospects for the future look good. Hopefully this year’s figures will encourage the absent to make the effort to attend next year.

Photo of ElectricBike stand at the 2012 Cycle ShowThe main entrance was through hall 11 and it was in this hall where the first item of velomobile interest could be found. Here Peter Eland was manning the Velovision/Electric Bike stand, the link with Electric Bike magazine and the surrounding exhibitors was obvious. After chatting with Peter, he directed us to the Ocean Cycle stand, which had been moved from hall 10 to the other side of the electric bike area in 11.

Photo of red Ocean Cycles Challenger with front opening canopyOcean Cycle were exhibiting two Challenger velomobiles one of which was equipped with a Sunstar electric assist system. The two models also illustrated different hood mounting options. One designed to open sideways in the style of the Cab-Bike and the other tilting forwards in the style of the Leitra.

Photo of a black Ocean Cycles Challenger with side opening canopyOcean Cycle is the work of Marcin Szewczyk. He and a colleague Chris, were on the stand demonstrating the machines and answering questions, and while I was there, they seemed to be getting plenty of attention. Marcin can be seen, in the rather fuzzy photo, of the black Challenger. Ocean Cycle make some other recumbent specific products but the Challenger is very much their flagship.

The Challenger itself is built on the ICE Sprint trike, also made in Cornwall. The velomobile is available, both as a kit to mount on a trike you already own, or as a complete ready-to-ride velomobile. The weight for the complete machine comes in at 32 kg, which is not bad, the body alone being 16 kg.

Photo of interior of black Ocean Cycles ChallengerThe fairing is made from glass fibre, with a number of small detail areas reinforced with carbon fibre. Being a fairing-on-frame type, the body is quite light-weight, and might feel a little flimsy, to those used to monocoque or self supporting velomobiles, but it is capable of supporting your own weight as you get in and out.

The Sprint is ICE’s “in-between” model not as low, and therefore fast, as the Vortex, but lower than the “go far” Adventure. As such the seat in the Challenger is quite low. However any disadvantage this might pose is offset, by both the ease of entry, and the lower centre of gravity – a definite advantage for handling at speed.

Photo of red Ocean Cycles ChallengerThe Challenger’s external styling is certainly attractive, but such styling can sometimes result in some loss of function internally. Looking at the Challenger one is immediately concerned that the rider’s road view will be overly restricted. Sitting inside however, I found the view to be reasonable and the cabin had plenty of space, but, as with the machines I sampled at SPEZI, a static assessment is not enough, and a real world test ride is needed to make a final judgement.

Photo of interior of the Challenger showing the wiper handleI did attempt to take a panoramic shot of the view from inside but, not surprisingly at such close range, it was unsuccessful. One nice feature, which again needs real world assessment, is the windscreen wiper fitted to the hood. This is operated by a convenient handle from the inside, and should go a long way to solving the wet weather visibility problems experienced by most head-in velomobiles. A visit to Ocean Cycle, and a test ride, are things I plan to do in the coming months, time and finance permitting. Meanwhile if there are any readers with first hand experience of the Challenger in the “wild” then please add your comments below.

Marcin and Chris have been very helpful, and naturally want to get the word out, contact details are on the Ocean Cycle website, and I do recommend taking the opportunity to visit and take a test ride, as I hope to shortly.  It will be good to see more of these machines on the road soon.

Photo of ICE Sprint trike with Sunstar iBike system battery mounting The next stand I visited was Sunstar. Sunstar is a multinational corporation with Japanese roots and quite a diverse range of interests, ranging from toiletries to motorcycle parts! Their eAssist system falls under their Environment & Amenity division.

Photo of ICE Sprint trike with Sunstar iBike system installedOn their stand, they had a number of cycles fitted with examples their system. One of these was an ICE Sprint as used in the Challenger which gave a good opportunity to view the installation from all angles. The Sunstar system is designed to be fitted to most cycles as an after-market upgrade, and looked quite tidy and impressive, in a quiet sort of way. More information is available via their website.

An after-show email from SparticleBikes, who seem to be representing the Sunstar system in the UK, highlighted the proven reliability of the system – Tried, tested and evolved for 10 years in Japan, and pointed to a demonstration video showing the ease of fitment. They also added the following photo of a recently retrofitted Challenger.Photo of a Challenger Velomobile

The other recumbents to be seen at the show, were designs tailored to special needs rider requirements, and while interesting in their own right, have little to offer the velomobile enthusiast that is not better catered for elsewhere.

The rest of the day was spent visiting other stands and going over the the mainstream cycle offerings. Perhaps the most interesting of these were the cycle tracking systems from Spybike and Eagle Hound, and the arm mounted signal indicator from Indic8or.

While theft of a velomobile is very rare, they naturally stand out and draw attention, not something a thief wants, it does occasionally occur. As velomobiles become more ubiquitous and socially accepted, their high value will make them more of a target of theft, and therefore a tracking system, which enables the safe recovery, and hopefully the capture and charging of the thief, will be a welcome option. Most trackers are designed to be hidden somewhere inside the tubular frames of regular bikes, which restricts their application for both recumbents and velomobiles. Though I’m sure someone could devise a creative way to embed these somewhere in a velomobile.

The system from Spybike was particularly interesting, as they also offer a none-tubular variant, designed to be mounted on a motorcycle. The only catch being that it presently depends on a 12 volt supply, as normally provided by a motor vehicle battery.

All-in-all it was an interesting show and I believe there is reason to look forward to next year.

OceanCycle’s Challenger velomobile at The Cycle Show

The Cycle Show, the UK’s principal Cycle exhibition for both the trade and the public, started on Thursday of this week.  This is the second year the show has been held at the National Exhibition Center in Birmingham, and Friday is the first day open for the general public.

Though the show is mainly geared toward upright cycles it is possible to find occasional recumbent offerings.  This year Ocean Cycle from Cornwall, with their Challenger velomobile, are on the exhibitor list.  I expect to be visiting the show on Friday and will make a point of visiting their booth so there should be a report posted in the next couple of days.

Meanwhile here is some video footage of a Challenger velomobile taken from an accompanying recumbent and presumably shot somewhere in Germany.