Daily Archives: January 10, 2013

EuroTour 2013 Cancelled – for now …

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8ada8b01a991faf3f98f4a7470382ef6_XLThe European sequel to ROAM, planned to take place this coming summer, has been cancelled.  Unlike the US event of 2011, which essentially involved one country and one language, the EuroTour planners have been faced with the challenge formed by: not only  a route crossing multiple countries, with diverse legal requirements; but also with language barriers, and a lack of on the ground volunteers to support the planning effort.  The sheer scale of the event, with the number of registered participants well over 100, has also added to the difficulties.

Sean Havins made the following announcement in the EuroTour forum:

It is the middle of January 2013 and we still do not have routes defined for Belgium, much of France or Switzerland. This makes it impossible to know many basic things that we must know to make the tour happen. It is too late.

Also, we must have help in France to register with the local districts if we are to ride together as a tour. Several ideas have been put forward to try and circumvent the French laws. I will not do this. Several ideas have been put forward to split the tour or skip France entirely. If this was the only major problem, I would consider one of these ideas and continue the tour.

To those of you who have invested your time in this tour; Thank you. I am sorry that your work will not be used for this year. I firmly believe that EuroTour WILL happen. When it does, your work will be of great value.

After volunteering to fill the  for the 2013 event Sean also announced that he would be stepping down from any organizing role for a possible 2014:

 When I first volunteered to lead the organization of the tour, I knew that I was not qualified. I assumed the role because at the time, I felt that someone had to. I hoped that someone more qualified would volunteer. Here is a link to my original post where I volunteered for this job.
http://www.bentrideronline.com/messageboard/showpost.php?p=849292&postcount=82

Since the tour is in Europe, it needs leadership who is familiar with the countries involved and can communicate well. I have never been to Europe and I only speak one language.

I am not a manager. I am a technician. The management skills that are needed for a project of this type do not come naturally to me. I had hoped I could learn by doing and become the manager this tour needed. I did not.

For these reasons, I must step down and hand control to someone more qualified. If no one volunteers to take the role of organizational leader, this tour will not happen.

It is my hope that someone will pick this up and make it happen in 2014. Much of the work has been done and much still needs doing. I believe this tour can happen and and that when it does, it will be wonderful.

I will continue to manage this forum as long as there is interest in the EuroTour or as long as the new organizers, whoever they are, want it to exist. If someone takes over the organizational role, and would like an internet presence and a place for files and calendars of the daily rides, I will happily help with that.

HPV_WMSo there is some prospect for a tour ride in 2014, if some capable organisers will step up to the plate.

But that is not all.  Based on comments in the forum, it also seems quite likely that a much reduced group may still attempt a 2013 tour on an ad-hoc basis.  The suggestion is to start immediately after the 2013 HPV World Championships which are to be held in Germany.  So … watch this space.

Carbon Rotovelo

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rotovelo-carbon-sideTrisled have brought out a new variant of the Rotovelo, their robust budget priced velomobile.  The Rotovelo Carbon is, as it’s name suggests, is made in the same shape as the original Rotovelo but with a body of carbon fibre instead of the original roto-molded HDPE.  We briefly mentioned the body material advantage of the original design in a post regarding the sale of the machine reviewed by Velovision Magazine (Issue 41 Jun 2011).

What was not mentioned was the bare-bones spec, which includes no installed suspension system and simple cruciform frame, since the body is not sufficiently capable of carrying load.  The specification is justified as part of a design whose objective is robust simplicity and low cost.  That this bare-bones spec has been translated directly to a machine with a costly and relatively fragile body has raised a lot of comment and questions along the lines of, “what are they thinking!?”

The following short video by Trisled illustrates the Rotovelo Carbon in action.

A typical velomobile can be expected to weight upward of 30 kg with the sporty machines weighing in the mid 20s.  Perhaps the lightest of these is the Go-one Evo-Ks at 21.5 kg for the bare model.  What Trisled have achieved with the Rotovelo Carbon is a low weight – obviously depending on component choice, as low as 19.5 kg (the same weight as my Claude Butler run-about bike!)  Given the attractive weight there are some saying, if the Rotovelo Carbon came with suspension they would have one, and it is claimed to be the most asked for feature for the original Rotovelo, so what gives?

Firstly there is a weight saving by excluding active suspension, so the record low would not be possible otherwise.  Secondly there is a helpful and fairly extensive rider report on the Rotovelo on the Bentrider Online forum by mikeatlbch which gives a more balanced perspective and argues that for most practical cases active suspension is not needed.  One thing he highlights from his own experience is the passive suspension provided by the Rotovelo frame.  While he still prefers the HDPE body for its ability to take the knocks he appreciates the value low weight would offer in a stop-and-go urban environment where ease of acceleration and therefore low weight is important.

So while the armchair velonaut, accustomed to ever increasing technical complexity, may be puzzled: what Trisled have produced is, from their perspective, a logical compromise; satisfied with the ride performance of the original Rotovelo, they have traded a robust body for easier acceleration.  It remains to be seen whether there are buyers who agree with them.