HumanPoweredVehicles
...goto http://www.ihpva.org/
for various human powered vehicles...
99june13...the following pix show my new BikeE NX
XL...
...with three racks hanging from the frame...
...and my "wing-tip" mirrors.
99 june 13
The following words describe my first feelings about the BikeE
NX:
...it is a very good bike... when i only had my Thunderbolt
trike and my BikeE AT, i had to choose between the comfort and
stability and drum brakes of the trike vs. the bike's visibility
and ability to ride very narrow "shoulders" of two-lane
blacktop roads here in the texas hill country... now i have a
bike that steers much easier than the AT, is more comfortable
due to a high seat-back, has powerful disc-brakes and retains
the basic narrow-track and seat-height advantages of a two-wheeler...
about the best of possibilities among what's available today.
It's so much fun to ride that i find myself wanting
make local trips even when not really necessary.
But, there are a few dissappointments... most notably
the lack of a kickstand, and although my AT kickstand bracket
was so weak that it bent and finally began to break while supporting
a full load of groceries... also, they ought to include a tail-light
bracket that slides into the groove like the reflector bracket
but with a short vertical tube that will hold tail-lights designed
to mount on a seat-tube... and the third problem is the lack of
docs for the NX... an AT manual came with the NX, but it doesn't
deal with the NX mountain-drive nor disc-brakes...yes, there are
separate manuals for maintenance of those, but not for general
operating instructions.
Finally, I discovered that i could mount a total of
three underseat racks, including one hanging from the XL-tail
in a reversed direction... this gives me a total of six panniers
and will reduce my need to use the BOB trailer.
That's pretty much my report for now (five days of
use is still in the "honeymoon" phase and not necessarily
indicative of long-term use), but i'll let you know more as i
continue to use the NX... (i've hung-up both my trike and my bikeAT
after partially cannable-izing them for mirrors, taillights, bell,
rack, etc).
99 july 15
...in response to some emails from folks who discovered
this page, i wrote the following:
"safety is my prime concern, specifically the
fact is that dual-track trailers are too wide to be as safe as
single-track on the extremely narrow shoulders of the two-lane
blacktop roads here in the texas hill country, especially while
walking&pushing the bike up the hills that are too steep for
my 60 year old body...
the primary purpose of the third rack was to minimize
using any trailer at all, since i don't like to pull the dead-weight
of any trailer...
the two basic limits of mounting three racks are:
1= the tail-rack does not resist being twisted as
well as the others because the frame tapers off...
2= the middle-rack and tail-rack must be
positioned so as to avoid contact with the rear
tire as the air-shock swings thru its full range,
which limits where the seat can be positioned...
finally, i intend to mount an electric motor in the
front rack, withe controller, breaker, etc in the front bags to
help me climb these hills when i'm pulling groceries and other
supplies.
i also plan to update that webpage soon with pix showing
my GPS navigator installation and power-assist components...i'll
post a notice on the bikeE, workbike and power-assist email-lists
when i make that update."
Shown below is my older BikeE AirTech (& B.O.B
trailer)
with "wood-grain" contact paper making it
look like
i'm ridin' on a 2 by 4 ...
and finally my ThunderBolt trike that's a joy to pilot
but too wide to squeeze safely on narrow shoulders
of
the two-lane blacktop roads here in the Texas hill
country.
