I know, nothing for months and then two posts in one day...
I thought I'd better elaborate on why the K...
Firstly I'm feeling the need for speed. At least for more speed than Whitey Glyde has to offer. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed the Glyde but at times Whitey can be slow and her weight can be telling. At around 40 kilos she is rather a load to haul up hill, even with the mountain drive. The next leg of GAB taking in Devon and Cornwall is focusing my attention in that direction a little. With my options the Evo will be coming in at around 20 kilos. I'm not a weight weeny, but even I can see that dropping 44 pounds from the kerb weight of ride is going to make a big difference.
I am very happy riding a trike with 'tank' steering - with a handlebar by each hip - but I've not felt so confident on any of the trikes I've tried with a freefloating joystick in the centre - this includes various machines I've tried from the Windcheetah/Speedy, a couple of bikes who's names escape me through to the Quest that I owned for a while.
The gearing on the Glyde is fine - a Mountain Drive and 11-34 cassette give a reasonable range and reasonably sized steps tho a little more top end would be useful I have been reluctant to compromise the lowest gears on Glyde. I've ordered the Evo-K also with a Mountain Drive but this time with a monster 11-36 cassette. This is running on a 26in rather than 20in rear wheel and over 10 speeds so should yield around 30% wider gearing hopefully without the step size between the gears becoming a problem.
I've uprated the brakes from the stock 70mm Sturmey drums (which I've had on trikes before) to the new 'oversized' 90mm version. In hilly country I've experienced brake fade from drums on a long descent. The potentially higher speeds from a velo need more stopping power... The drums are customised by the Go-One guys to reduce the weight - less weight to carry is a good thing, I'm not so sure reducing the thermal mass is a benefit but I'll reserve judgement until I've ridden them. As this machine is using the 'Euro-standard' velomobile suspension struts there are after-market DIY options to change to disc brakes if necessary.
The downsides? Luggage space is restricted to a claimed 30litres. I'm hoping there is space around the inside of the velo to cache equipment, eg. ahead of the front wheel boxes. It shouldn't take too much imagination to hide tent, sleeping bag and mat there.
I'm looking forward to the first reviews from Peter Haan who has a glassfibre version of the Evo-K due for collection in the next week or so. I'm not expecting his reports to change the options I have ordered but it could be useful information whilst I'm still able to tune my new ride.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What were your thoughts on the Quest, Rob? While it's one of the longest established 'fast' machines, even in revised carbon form it's still a little on the heavy side compared with the K. I tried out a bluevelo standard Quest in 2009 and, being of the Speedy generation quite happy with joystick steering, but I was also very taken with the ride quality – how does the K compare?
ReplyDelete