Last Friday, I had the chance to visit Nazca-Ligfietsen, with only 20km detour as I was in the region anyway. The Nazca shop is situated in a tiny village (Nijeveen) in the North-West of the Netherlands. The address (Dorpsstraat 67) illustrates nicely that this is neither a glass and steel designed consume temple in a pedestrian zone of a metropole, nor a factory building in a business park: it turns out to be a nice house at the rim of an uneven cobble-stone road, the sun is shining, everything is green around, you can hear the birds twitter, in one word: idyllic!
I was welcomed by Monique Holterman who is running Nazca with her business and family partner Henk van der Woerdt. So we had a coffee and waited for Henk, who had to take care of a customer first. Meanwhile, Monique explained that the frames are not produced in Nijeveen but about 150 km from there at Rainbow in Aalten. They weld the frames and do the powder-coating. I asked her which model she rides and she pointed at a Paseo which is standing in the shop. I started making jokes because the bike did not have pedals and she claimed to have ridden it the day before, so I assumed rather not too serious that Henk might have sold them – for some reason we did not clarify this when Henk finally showed up. Subsequently we had a nice afternoon talking about recumbents in general and Nazca recumbents in particular.
Monique and Henk started their business in the late 1990s. Initially, they wanted to produce a variety of cycling goods additionally to their recumbents. However, their first models (the Cruiser and the Explorer) sold so well that they decided to „only“ produce the bikes. Looking for a name for their brand, they first did not find a meaningful name. As they had been travelling with their kids in Mid- and South-America prior to founding their business, they decided to pick a name reminding them of this journey: Nazca!
Henk is an engineer for ship design by education (people with a close relationship to ships cannot be bad people) and had worked as a project manager in power-plant construction projects. He was sick of this and wanted to become self-employed. He is the designer of all Nazca-recumbents and he told me that it took him roughly two years of designing per model. Today, Nazca offers six different models in a lot of different setups. You can divide their portfolio into two generations:
Cruiser, Explorer, Fiero and Pioneer belong to the older generation: the frames have a rather simple structure of a main-frame and rear-swing which is attached to it with a rather small link bracket. These four models are actually only three as the Cruiser is not more than the above-seat-steering variant of the under-seat-steerer Explorer. You can have all Nazca-bikes with ASS, Aero steer or USS except the Fuego and the 28 inch Gaucho which are not available as USS.
Gaucho, Fuego and Paseo are members of the newer generation. Looking at their frames your eyes will be caught by two nice aluminium plates which connect the main frame with a part that holds seat and carrier. Also the rear swing is attached to these plate using large bearings. The advantage of these newer frames is a finer reaction of the suspended rear-swing to unevenness of the road and a better chain line as the attachment of the swing does not reach over these plates.
Henk told me about another advantage of this solution: When he takes his 28“ Gaucho on holiday trips, he unmounts wheels, nose-boom and seat, loosens the screws of the rear shock and of the seat-frame-part. Then he can „fold“ everything together and it fits into a large suitcase. It takes him 30 to 40 minutes to do so, which may be the reason for not advertising the Gaucho as a foldable recumbent;-).
Of course there is a disadvantage of the newer frames as well: they are more complicated to produce. Therefore these bikes are some hundred Euros costlier. To anticipate this: the elder frames drive very well too. I compared this riding a Pioneer and a Fuego.
When I wrote that Nazca sells six models in a wide range of setups, this is not only limited to the components they attach to the frames: additionally, the Gaucho is available with 24, 26 and 28 inch wheels. Together with the Pioneer this is the highracer-section of the Nazca-portfolio. Explorer, Cruiser and Paseo cover the classical European 20/26 inch wheel design and they are accompanied by the 20/26 inch semi-lowracer Fuego and the 20/20 inch Fiero.
All bikes can be modified in a lot of different ways: nose-boom, seat and rear shock can be adjusted in manifold combinations to finally suit the rider perfect.
Asked what the next model will be, now as the Gaucho is on the market, Henk fought with himself whether to tell me or not – finally he lost and told me that he is in the process of designing a tandem. The reason to build this tandem is interesting: he wants to do the Mont Ventoux with a friend of him who is blind. Henk intends to build it as a 26/26 inch model. By the way: Henk did the Mont Ventoux allready with his 28” Gaucho and was only some minutes slower than with his mountainbike when he did it a couple of years before.
When we walked into the workshop, which is in the back part of the building, Henk showed me a list of parts which they create, every time a new bike is ordered. You can find each individual needed screw on this list. This is necessary, Henk explained, as they have to manage supply and orders of all parts, both at the Nazca headquarters in Nijeveen and at Rainbow in Aalten. All bikes for Netherland dealers are assembled and sent from Aalten. All bikes going to other countries come assembled to Nijeveen first, to have their last check and are sent from there. Bikes being bought in the shop in Nijeveen are assembled there.
The workshop is situated in a winter-garden, a bright working place with everything a bike workshop needs and stairways to the storage place under the roof, where tons of components, tyres, wheels and whatever you need are stored.
In the workshop, I met Peter Haan, whom some of you may know from his blog pjotr320.blogspot.com. When I asked him via mail some weeks ago whether I would fit onto a Pioneer in spite of my short legs, it turned out that we have the same height and leg length. Now I can see that he is about half my weight; he is a racer – I am not! Peter is working for Henk and Monique once a week.
As his bosses, he is a nice person too and again, we “wasted time” chatting about recumbents, HPV-developments, politics, the financial crisis and whatsoever.
Finally I realized that I also wanted to ride some bikes and quickly Henk adjusted a Pioneer and a Fuego for me.
First I rode the Pioneer. It was the first time for me to ride a 26/26 inch bike. The seat is just low enough for me but getting the left foot up so high after starting to roll is less easy than I thought. Finally I make it and immediately get a positive relationship to the bike. Due to the big wheels, it behaves stable even at low speeds. Unfortunately, the tiller was not adjusted correctly when I started. This did not harm while I was going straight. However as soon as I rode the slightest curves, I kicked the handle bar with my legs. This is not the Pioneer’s fault. We had talked just for too long, consequently we had to hurry to make me ride at all!
The shop closes at 18:00 on Fridays, hence I just did a short trip. The Pioneer is a great bike for commuting, travelling and everyday use. In spite of the conservative frame design and the rigid front fork, it behaves comfortable and easy to operate. Apart from enhancing stability, the big front wheel makes the bike a little harder to accelerate (which might be an issue for race-Peter, but not for me) and even with my short legs (inner leg length of 80cm), the crank does not touch the wheel. At no time during my ride did I touch the wheel with my shoe.
When I asked them for the price of a Pioneer frameset, I learned something about Henk and Monique. It seemed embarrassing for them having to tell me that they just had to raise the prices. Don’t worry, Monique and Henk, I think it is still a well priced bike!
The Fuego rides entirely different. You immediately sense that it is made for higher velocities. Riding slowly, I had my problems of keeping it in a stable ride. I believe that this is a matter of practice: after 100 or 150km this would not have been a problem, I am convinced. The best solution for this issue is riding faster and actually, that is what this bike is made for.
Riding the Fuego made me feel like lying rather in the bike not on it – one more difference compared to the Pioneer. It accelerates easily, yet appeared to me as less maneuverable than the Pioneer. When I turned around on a slim road to return to the Nazca-shop, I even grabbed the bike at the carrier to turn it around; the road was not wide enough. A fine bike, which I would love to have as a sports-bike beneath my everyday bike. To ride brevets or fast one or two day trips with few luggage.
Finally, I brought the bike back and let Monique and Henk lock up their shop. I had occupied them for long enough. I’ve had a fantastic afternoon and met extremely nice people – I am sure, this is not the last time I was in Nijeveen.
As a Nazca owner in the USA, I appreciate your write-up on your visit to the Nazca factory. I hope to go there myself within a year or two.
I am not yet a Nazca owner, but did pay a visit to Henk and Monique early in July. Before making a purchase, I decided I would pay them a visit to test ride a Pioneer and a Gaucho 24. These test rides confirmed my suspicions that purchasing a Nazca recumbent will not be a mistake. As mentioned in the article, this was not my last visit. I am beginning to make plans for a return trip in a year to take possession of a Nazca recumbent.