Just back from a very warm & sunny Germany with 14 like minded cycle freaks, it was a ball, I really enjoyed it and it was lovely to finally put faces to names like Cyclist John!
Piccies to follow! For now, it's 'wine o'clock' :beer: :roflmao: :roflmao:
LittlePixel
04-28-08, 01:53 PM
Glad you had fun - was tempted to go meself but couldn't make it;
I hope you got up to all sorts of folding shenanigans...
Let us know on the boards if you plan to do a repeat...
Looking forward to the pics!
Chop, agree - an absolutely top weekend. Many thanks to you and Peter for all your work to make it as enjoyable as it was. Great to finally try out the Go-Bike (and at the other extreme, the A-bike) - I'm guessing there were more folding bikes on the bus than on display at SPEZI - certainly our pile of bikes out the front (and particularly the Stridas) attracted lots of interest. Definitely one to do again - 2 buses next year?
cyclistjohn
04-30-08, 03:33 AM
Likewise, a great opportunity to meet fellow enthusiasts & try some bikes. There were as many interesting bikes & riders outside the hall areas as there were inside. The good weather helped of course!
Most of the group were keen to try out Chop!'s selection of bikes he had on board for the trip. There was a lot of interest in his Strida 5, & I managed to clock up several enjoyable miles on it around the local town. His Go-Bike was also in demand for testing, but I didn't find that to my taste, so I won't pursue researching that further, unless a redesign appears.
Brought by bus group members, I also tried a modified (mainly lightened) blue Birdy, which was nice & nippy, & rode an A-bike which wasn't too bad actually, & its owner Paul, did a very respectable pace on it at the front of the group ride to a restaurant. That surprised everyone, so as usual, a lot depends on rider skill & experience, even on an A-bike. He also bravely rode back to the bus in the dark! Another Paul brought along a Giant halfway which I also thought was a decent bike, with a nice smooth gear change. I like the cantilevered wheel approach on it (like Strida) as punctures are really common where I live, & it makes tube & tyre changes nice & straightforward. Frequent punctures, along with regular flooding, which often means riding up to hub height through stretches of water, are actually swaying me away from hub gears.
Time flies, so having the tour bus as a hotel means it's easy to find others in the group in the evening to discuss ideas that have cropped up during the day's visits to the manufacturers' stands.
The Spezi show's particularly useful for recumbent enthusiasts but there were some folders too. R & M (Birdy), Berndts, & Dahon were there, & I tried out a very nice riding white Mu, one of the most comfortable, light, & fast folders I've tried.
One distributor carried Tikits & the Mezzo range, one of which I tried at Matt52's suggestion, & again found pleasant to ride, with the capability to use the behind the seat area to carry quite large boxes.
It will be nice if we can find a show sometime where it's easy to actually buy equipment & bikes, as most of the shows are just that - showcases for bikes rather than direct sale of bikes. Only a few stands at Spezi were actively selling their wares there. Chop!'s tour bus is a very convenient way to bring bulky items back home.
I too will post a link to some pictures & a bit of video later.
Glad you all enjoyed it as much as I did :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: As Cyclist John says, the only let down was the fact that you could not buy very much in the way of bikes & accessories, so we were forced to spend our hard earned on sausages & demon drink! :beer:
Definitely be up for another bus trip to Spezi or another show, but next time making sure there are enough bikes to cater for all onboard. Thanks again to Peter Eland from Velovision and all of our 'Veloship' for the laid back & enjoyable long weekend.
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