During the last week end in April, Europe’s largest Show for recumbents, recumbent tricycles, quadracycles, folding cycles, tandems, family cycles, velomobiles, transporters, electrical bikes, special needs bikes, adult kick scooters, child and load trailers, customized designs, accessories, the Special Bikes Show is held in Germersheim. BentBlog sent a mail to the exhibitors asking them which new products will be presented there, which known stuff they will show and which bikes and gear can be tested on the exhibition. This is the first of a series of posts presenting their answers.
Radnabel will come with their bikes atl klassik, atl falter (the folding version of their bike) and their fairings “shark” and “delfin“. The bikes are long wheel base comfortable scooter bikes meant for the everyday use. They are designed with interesting technical details such as a parallelogram suspended front fork, chain enclosure and a suspension with long travels and can be test ridden. Booth A.23.
Utopia will present their electric assist system which can be used with all Utopia models. The system is, according to the firm, meant for bike travelling. Hence the batteries are included in the carrier in a way that panniers can still be used. No cable must be unplugged when the battery is released, but they can be locked, controler electronics are integrated into the carrier, cables lie in a cable channel on the mudguards. The motor in the front hub serves as a hub dynamo if no battery is attached.
EKSTUNDO from Slovenia comes with something I’ve never heard of before! E-HUB is a rear-wheel hub (‘E’ both for Easy and Energy). The patented invention was designed to overcome the pedals’ dead spot at the top and bottom of the pedal path by a special spring-effected system. In effect, the E-HUB shall redistribute the cyclist’s force on the pedal during the circular pedal path, yielding more constant power on the rear cogs. This is thought to enable cyclists to significantly improve their performance and to save their energy. eHub has an UCI certificate so it is allowed on all UCI races. It was originally developed for diamond frame bikes, but they say they are now also getting positive feedback from recumbent cyclists and also HandBike cyclists. They state, it turns out it really helps a lot for people which normally have problems cycling because of a damaged leg or some other disability. I have no clue whether this works or not, however if it works, they speak of a 7 to 10% power gain. Booth 2.29.
VELTOP from France exhibits something between a rain cover and a fairing for bikes. VELTOP is composed of a windsceen, a canopy supported by arches plus two side protections. The firm writes it is easely spread out and folded back when needed according to the weather. It is reported to be adaptable to all bikes and almost on all trikes. The whole device can also take place on recumbent bikes with special fixations. I’d really love to know how this behaves on a two-wheeler with strong side or diagonal winds. On the Spezi they will have a recumbent roof on a Catrike Road an upright roof (VELTOP Classic) on a Flyer C8 Model. Booth 2.7.
So far for today – expect more to come within the next days.
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