Since it is getting dark earlier now, we had to huddle in the pool of light just outside the building entrance in order to check out velomobiles and trikes galore. There was a Leitra (which could only be looked at outside since it wouldn't fit through the 36” doors of the community center), Mary Arneson's Cab-bike (with a nice job of repairing the fiberglass ding in the back), a new EZ3 aluminum trike, and a Russian Berkut FWD trike!
Carl Gulbronson showed a few goodies he brought back from the Interbike show in Vegas:
- A new model Park pro work stand that broke down to travel in a smallish bag and had an extended range clamp suitable for backbone frame recumbents.
- For gag gifts or personal giggles, he had a Park pizza cutter in the shape of an old high wheeler bicycle and a Park toilet paper holder that looks like a headset and mini-fork.
Jeff Caswell brought in a few pieces from his production Microbike (yes, he actually has at least one customer lined up!).
- It uses 32 hole 349x16 Velocity rims with Primo Comet tires. He likes the Velocity rims a lot, but strongly recommends the heat treated version instead of the cheaper non-treated one.
- The bike will be FWD with a Shimano Nexus 7-speed hub in an intermediate drive position, just like his personal Microbike. Also like that bike the handlebars will be low down and fastened directly behind the front fork.
- Many of the frame tubes are aero profile .049 wall steel in two different sizes. He wondered about how to hold tubes with this odd shape in a brazing jig. Chris Burbank could digitize the tube shape and have it cut into some custom blocks, but that is a lot of work and may run into problems with slightly inconsistent tube shapes. It was suggested that two blocks with side V cuts at the appropriate height would be much simpler and work just fine.
- The bottom backbone tube is round and turns out to be just the right diameter to hold 11 D cell NiCad batteries in a cardboard tube for a lighting system.
Jim Black passed around some prints of digital pictures he shot at the Interbike show:
- Sun has at least three new models they will produce if there seems to be a demand for them, including an EZ Sport with rear suspension, a tadpole trike to go with their existing delta models, and a SWB rather like a Rans Z-rex.
- There was a slick Taiwanese folder called a Frog that is smaller than a Birdy (and undoubtedly way cheaper). The picture showed it folded, so it was hard to figure exactly how it folds or what it looks like unfolded.
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