The Vortex-Leader custom trike got the 3×700 wheel set for a couple of weeks now and it’s a blast to ride.
Compared to the VTX, it should have slightly worst aerodynamics from the big wheels and the more upright seat, but its actually consistently 3-4km/h faster.
We did a short tour with the recumbents today. Starting from our usual meeting point at Kaltehofe, going through Vierlande to the Zollenspieker Elb ferry and further to Winsen to get some cake.
I went with the guys till the Zollenspieker ferry, wished them a nice ride and went back home.
Elb ferry at Zollenspieker was first mentioned in 1252 and is still operating.
I headed back north to Bergedorf and included a little gravel tour along the way.
From Bergedorf I took the quiet path along the small Bille river, then through the Boberg lowland nature reserve past the sand dunes from the last ice age and back home through Billstedt.
It was a 61km tour that took nearly 4 hours with chitchats and convenience breaks.
Since WordPress completely changed the editor for the worst, doesn’t allow the use of the “Classic editor” anymore and (judging by the posts in the WordPress forum) is unwilling to change its course, I need a new blog hosting website.
Any suggestions?
Blogger is owned by Google, so thats no alternative.
(damn, this new editor really sucks! I mean, just look at this mess!)
Christoph (who wrote Velomobil Grundwissen) is currently playing with anonymized user data of the German velomobile forum to create a user map. Due to strong privacy laws in Europe its a delicate project so currently every user on the interactive map has a bogus name and points to a single user profile. But thats actually not the point of this post.
click image to enhance
Naturally the user map is skewt mainly to German velomobile riders and while not every German velomobile owner is member of the German velomobile forum, it gives a good approximation about the sheer number of velomobiles in Germany.
Due to the language barrier, especially French and Spanish velomobile riders are probably massively underrepresented, but its pretty obvious though that Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium have the highest velomobile density in the world.
Compare the user map to the interactive map of Velomobile Shops and Manufacturers in my earlier posting.
Took the Milan for a tour to Toxy in Wrist today.
Had a good look at some Toxy ZR Lowracer (the blue on on the right). Actually, a chopped down ZR handlebar might be a good fit for the Vortex-Leader, but they are on back order.
Image: Toxy Liegerad GmbH
From Wrist I headed south to the Elb ferry from Glückstadt to Wischhafen.
rolling onto the ferry in Glückstadt
Milan on the ferry
While I was standing a few meters from the Milan, a guy comes by and grabs the mirror to lift the hood. He just wanted to make a photo! Idiot!
rolling off the ferry at Wischhafen
On my way home, I came past the old Prussian fortress Grauerort and this time stopped for a visit. Due to Corvid the museum was closed and wasn’t much to look at from the outside.
convenience break
The track
It was a 190km tour that took a bit over 6 hours with stops
Since the VTX got its 3×700 wheel set back, shot with narrow tires, the old wide fender looked a bit odd. Hence I’ve installed a SKS Raceblade Pro XL fender.
The Raceblade looks quite pretty
Hellrich made a Google Map of current velomobile shops and manufacturers. Its still work in progress and obviously a bit eurocentric.
Since the snow seems to stay a bit longer and the temperatures will drop to -10°C in the next days, the VTX got shod with a set of Schwalbe Marathon Winter.
I only used the Marathon Winter twice for about a week on the e-trike some years ago and was quite curious how slow they actually are on the VTX. To my utter amazement, they actually don’t feel slower than Schwalbe Kojak.
On the shopping run with the VTX yesterday.
Even with 3×700 wheels, 5cm of snow make a trike quite slow. The average speed for the 8km through the park to the super marked and back was a mere 11.2km/h.
However, the G-One Allround 40-622 at the rear provided much more grip than I hoped for, but it seems the snow will only last a week or so. If the snow would last longer, I’d probably put some G-One Allround at the front and a G-One X-Bite or something similar with more thread at the rear wheel.
A few days ago a set of Continental Contact Urban in 42-406 size arrived, went yesterday into the Milan and today I’ve rode a 109km tour on still slightly wet roads at around 1°C.
Wet grip of the Contact Urban seems to be on par with the Schwalbe Marathon GT365, but the Contact Urban is noticeably quicker and more importantly, isn’t as loud as the GT365. No surprises when going quick around corners or braking hard even from 80km/h+! The Contact Urban simply sticks to the tarmac no matter what.
Among all the tire models I’ve tested so far in the velomobile, only the Marathon GT365, the Marathon Winter and the Contact Urban offer exceptionally good wet grip at cold temperatures (<10°C), but only the Contact Urban isn't really slow.
Looks like, I found my new standard tire for the cold and wet season and as long as there is no snow, the GT365 will probably never go back into the velomobile.
