The Gazelle is my everyday, shopping bike. It has two large panniers permanently attached and gets used most days for shopping and short trips. In fact, if it is just me travelling and the trip is under 20km, this is the bike I will use.
It is also particularly useful in the hot humid Brisbane summers. With the e-assist, one can ride at about 15-20kph in normal clothes and arrive at the destination in a reasonably sweat-less condition! I can get about 35-40km on one charge or 60km if I utilise ECO mode as much as possible. Brisbane can be quite hilly, so the BOOST mode is very attractive to help up the hills. In the early days, I found the e-assist was the decider in terms of will I take the car or not-nowadays I don't even think-if the stuff I'm getting can fit in the panniers, I take the bike.
As Brisbane is very car-centric and congested, it makes for a much more enjoyable journey-for journeys under 10km I would argue, probably just as quick on the bike. The sit-up position is extremely comfortable, providing a good view of the road ahead-it is a pleasure to ride.
Greenspeed GT3 Recumbent trike
I got the Greenspeed second hand about 7 years ago and it gets a little bit of use, perhaps as not as much as it should! I have always been interested in recumbents, especially trikes. I had followed the Greenspeed evolution from inception, but until recently didn't have spare funds to take the plunge.
They are extremely comfortable to ride-this was partly the reason for getting it-ongoing discomfort in my neck, shoulders and hands on my DF road bike is now a distant memory while riding my recumbent bikes.
The GT3 is very fast downhill, ok on the flats, but slower uphill than a conventional bike. I have long given up dreams of being a climber, at my weight it was never going to happen! I accept now that with longer hills I just gear down and spin the pedals going at a slower speed than I would on a DF bike. The bonus is, when tired I can just stop, regain my breath, then continue. They have some very low gears, so you never have to walk up steep hills ( I managed a ride recently with 17 & 20% climbs) like I would have to on an upright bike.
Lots of people worry about the visibility of a trike on the road-my experience is this is not a problem. People often tell you they have trouble seeing you, but I ask "But you did see me??" If you can see the white lines on the road, you can see me-if not perhaps you should question your right to be driving on the road!! Certainly they are lower to the ground, the fact is you do change your riding style-you ride more as a car, take the lane more often, never ride on the inside of stopped traffic unless you are sure you can get to the front before they start to move again. You always make eye contact with a driver in give way type scenarios.
Being head up, you have a better view of the world, good brakes mean you can stop on a dime and not go arse over tit. Downsides are you can't, or shouldn't filter traffic, you can't hop up or off gutters as with a DF bike. So in a place like the northside of Brisbane where cycling infrastructure that goes to useful places is non-existent, commuting is probably not as efficient as a DF, but with decent infrastructure they would make a great commuter.
They are ideally suited to touring, or so I'm told. I will be able to confirm or deny this fact shortly, as I am taking the Greenspeed on the Great Victorian Bike Ride later this month. A friend of mine has ridden from Sydney to Perth on a Greenspeed and he is very positive about them as a touring machine.
I have been riding it a lot in the last few months as conditioning for the ride and I'm loving it. I will use it for more utility trips as it handles the crap bikepaths, deep gutters and kerbs just as well as the Gazelle and is that little bit more comfortable-but a tad more sweat inducing!
Sinner Mango Sport
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I've written lots about the Mango before-it is truly a great riding experience, handcrafted to high standards in the cycling mecca of the Netherlands. It is fast, comfortable and certainly noticed here in Brisbane! This could be the perfect all-round personal individual transport vehicle (and it is in certain parts of the world). But it is let down a bit in Brisbane because of the infrastructure and the aggressive attitude of some motorists.
It's streamlined shell requires shallow path ramps and gutters. There are lots of areas where these are good, but mostly they are on recreation bike paths along creeks and coastal areas. This is fine for me, as I am retired, but for a person wanting to commute to, say, the CBD from the north of Brisbane-well the Mango is probably not the best vehicle. However from the west and south of Brisbane with their great bikepaths, it would probably be fine, we are still waiting to play catchup in the northern suburbs.
But all that aside, these are great rides for longer distance-experience overseas shows they are great for touring, even in hillier areas with appropriate gearing is possible. On the flat I could comfortable maintain 32-35kph all day long, nearer 40kph with a bit more effort, downhills they fly to highway speed limits! On rolling hills they are fine as well, you can carry a lot of speed into the hill and be up and over without a great deal of speed decay-however on a longer hill with a decent gradient, it's gear down and spin! I read a recent account of a velomobile ride completing a 600km Randonee 9 hours ahead of other riders! Google 'ROAM' and 'EuroTour 2014' to see what these machines can really do and the distances they can cover in a day.
Like the trike, they are given a wide berth on the road because they are so unusual! On each ride there will always be someone drive alongside with the passenger taking a phone with their Iphone. A 2 hour ride can stretch longer as when you stop you invariably have strangers come and have a chat about the Mango. They are very attention attracting and unless you seek this, it is one of the downsides of velo ownership!
Surprisingly in summer they are good to ride, as long as you are moving! Your body is protected from the direct sunlight, there is adequate ventilation until you stop-then you melt! At the other end of the weather spectrum, European riders report riding in the middle of winter with T shirt and shorts, but plenty of layers for when they stop.
Short summary-fast, comfortable, ideal individual transport where provided infrastructure is good. It is my favourite ride, I just wish I could utilise it to it's full capabilities with upgraded infrastructure. I am hoping to do some touring in it in the next few months, look out Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast! A must for eccentrics!!
Vivente World Randonneur Touring Bike
Had this bike for about 10 years, it is a great bike for what it is designed for-touring. The standard gearing was inadequate for loaded touring, the picture above was a tour in the Scenic Rim out Boonah-Rathdowney way and a lot of hills were walked. I put a 24T ring on the front and now it is fine. I rode this in the 2013 Great Vic Bike Ride from Mt Gambier to Geelong, it was fine up Lavers Hill and the Deans Marsh hills with the new gearing.
It is very solidly built, comfortable to ride for hours at a time, although my neck does get a bit sore on it. It comes with Marathon Plus tyres which are bomproof-never had a puncture yet!
When I drive somewhere, this is the bike I take-quickly on the rack and away we go. Did the trip to Melbourne and return last year with stops in Canberra, Beechworth, Coonabarabran and lots of riding in Melbourne.
It's a bit heavy, but very stable to ride and makes an excellent commuter. There were lots of them on the Great Vic ride last year, so obviously a very favoured tourer as well. I even rode this on the Brisbane Valley Rail trail this year between Moore and Yarraman and return-although I must admit it was just viable!! Definitely better on a MTB!
A good workhorse but not a head-turner (which is nice!)
This is my current stable of bikes, it covers all the sort of riding I like to do and takes up a fair proportion of the garage!
