First 300km brevet in DF

First 300km brevet in DF

I’m a bit late reporting on industry activities, I’ve been busy lately.  One of the things that kept me busy was the installation of the 155mm crank in the DF.  Randy at Bluevelo sent me the new crank but the instructions were missing.  I found this video on line to explain how to remove the crank arm something that is not obvious.

This weekend, I rode my first 300km brevet in the DF.  I think the DF provides very good performance for brevets.   The DF climbs well, much better than the old Carbon Quest.  The lighter and stiffer machine compensates for the slightly higher gearing in the DF.

I’m still finding the new steed a bit cramped inside, getting in and out after long sections is a bit of a challenge.  The new 155mm cranks provide me a bit more room, I still have to be careful while pedaling; I hit my knee on one of the hatch cover bolts while I was repositioning myself in the seat and giving me a bloody gash in the process.  

I’m happy with my performance as I finished the brevet with 1,900m (6,200ft) vertical in 10 hours and 57 minutes.  While it is early in my season and I did not have a chance of riding on the hills this year, the performance is respectable and according the RUSA results stats compiled, I’m in the 1% who finish their 300km brevets in less than 11 hours.  You can read my more complete report here.

Velomobiel

The order list for the Quatrovelo is quickly growing, there are now 20 on order and one of these new machines is coming to North America.  There is still no official price set but it is expected to be similar to the Carbon Quest but for what version Fiberglass or Carbon?  Maybe a bit more info on the velomobile would be useful.  We know that it will have a fixed axle at the rear, a Schlumphf Mountain Drive, possibly pneumatic shocks, 20 in wheels but beyond that, very little information has been officially released.

On the production side, Velomobile delivered 8 velomobiles in April; 5 Carbon Quest, I Carbon Quest XS and a Strada.  With the Quatrovelo, the orderbook has reached 28 velomobiles by the end of the month but has increased significantly since.

Intercitybike

Intercitybike celebrated the first year of operation with the delivery of 62 velomobiles.   Unfortunately the production is still affected by the delivery problems of rear shock from DT Swiss.  Ymte indicated that they are actively looking for alternate supplier for the rear shock but in the mean time delivery of velomobies is postponed until at least May 16.

Ymte and Daniel are travelling to Romania to start the production of the hoods.  They set the price at €650 and extra visors will be available for €25.  The production is expected to be 1 to 2 units a week so current owners could have delivery by winter.  The same hood will fit both the DF and the DF-XL, only the size of the bib (flat part over the cockpit hole) will be cut to the larger dimension for the XL.

On the production side, Velomobile delivered 6 velomobiles in April5 DF and 1 DF-XL.  Problems with availability of parts have affected the number of units delivered.  Hopefully, these issues will be solved soon and production numbers will get back to normal.  At the end of April, there were 82 velomobiles on the waiting list.