Thursday, September 16, 2010

RotoVelo photos

I've ridden it to work a few times (and had my first puncture). It's a blast to ride - I'm still getting used to the way it rolls on for ages after I stop pedalling, and how headwinds are just noisy rather than show-stoppers. On the other hand, I go fast enough that bumpy bike paths are a major irritation. There's a couple of places where I used to just stand up on the pedals for bumps where now I get airborne, and I definitely have to slow down for speed bumps.
So, some photos:
RotoVelo rear 3/4 view
RotoVelo rear view
RotoVelo top view with mud
There's a theory that I'm supposed to be keeping my velo clean and shiny for more photos in a couple of weeks. But my ride to work takes me along a creek and through the occasional puddle. So it's accumulating a bit of extra weight. Hopefully I will be able to clean it all off before Ben sees it.
RotoVelo front 3/4 above
RotoVelo steering detailhttp://www.moz.net.nz/rotovelo-blog/rotovelo-moz-7.jpg
A commenter on The Recumbent Blog thread asked how the steering works, so here's a photo. Front of trike to the left, steering at full lock pushed away from the camera. Note the wee push button on the brake lever for the handbrake.
Moz's Garage (TriSled parking area)
And in my garage is a TriSled collection (I told you I'd been buying these for a while). Hanging up is the long, short-wheelbase recumbent bike I use for touring. I suspect "used to use" but you never know. You can only see the back half, and it has no wheels (there's a limit to how many Rohloff's I'm willing to buy).
Under that is my quadricycle, or quad. Four wheels, a big black plastic bin, and two wheel drive with a Rohloff and three chainrings. It'll hold 120kg reasonably easily, and more if you're careful. I've had that much soil in it with a similar bin also full of soil on my trailer. Which is why the quad also has disk brakes on all four wheels. (I'd just like to make it clear there is no connection between me doing things like that and bikes just mysteriously breaking for no reason).

Moz's bikes
And here's a couple of bikes that I built for my partner and I. Note that mine uses a Rohloff in a 406 wheel, just like the one in my RotoVelo. The other bike... doesn't have a Rohloff. The front protrusion is a rack that takes two large Ortleib panniers and is attached to the frame rather than the front wheel. That unbolts, and I have one for my bike too. The rear rack on the far bike will take another two large panniers, but the somewhat flimsy one on my bike is designed to remind me not to load it up too much. I have the quad for load carrying.
(I've uploaded larger versions of all of these to my website and clicking the images should take you to those)

4 comments:

  1. Can we see more pix of the yellow swb recumbent? Is it a Trisled?

    Regards,
    ~Nanda

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  2. Also what is the largest tire that can clear the wheel wells? Perhaps a 2" Schwalbe Big Apple would soften the big bumps?

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  3. das, it's a TriSled one off touroing bike. There's a bunch of photos on one of my sites that are not loading right now and I'll fix later this week. It's a SWB bike with a half metre extension behind the seat to give more load capacity.aking it a "long short wheelbase recumbent" :)
    For sale as a project if anyone wants it, since it needs a hub gear to work (or someone really strong as there's no provision for a front derailleur). Works well, I've done a couple of tours on it, but it's not as useful as my quad for the touring I do (heavy, slow touring).

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  4. The rear tyre size limit is pretty large, but the suspension effect is limited by the turning forces - the Marathon Plus squidges sideways noticeably on corners, so I suspect a bigger tyre would do the same. I'll ask Ben what he thinks, but he's more inclined to fit Stelvios than even Marathons...

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