When I got it home my 19 yr old son was the first to jump in and get his perspective …Even before I had a chance, sigh.
I spent the afternoon sprucing up the Mango, changing to winter studded tires, adjusting the bottom bracket 2 inches closer, generally going over it to familiarize myself with it. At one point I had to call Rob because I could not figure out how to get the rear wheel off to change the tire. Bob laughed as he had the same problem when he got it too. Then he reminded me that you just have to loosen the tire from the rim and slide it off on the one side – ‘cause its only mounted on the one side! Ha Ha.
Before and after pix
One problem I foresee is having a good manual on how to properly and thoroughly handle maintenance and replacing parts. Some I know is basic but... other stuff is not. For you Europeans its easier to drop in at Sinner or Velo’.nl. Your infrastructure is a whole lot better than in N.A. I think there is only 4-6 velos in all of Alberta and only 1 recumbent LBS. Part of what I want to do for the velo market in Canada is to find and consolidate vids and instructions for repairs upgrades etc. on my blog. So if you have any let me know and it will get placed there.
In the mean time- go a velo'in
Ps. if you are interested in a t-shirt or something you can check out http://www.cafepress.com/thediff
Nice! Congratulation on the Velo. I am from Toronto and planning to get a Velo in the future. Your experiances in the cold Canadian climit will be very educational to others that are considering a Velo. My biggest question is how is it in the snow with the studded tires?
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Hi, this is , I'm happy to see you're getting ready to go out there and try your new toy... ehem Velomobile. I will get my new Carbon Quest in March as I don't want to ride in the winter when the snowbanks are blocking the view of motorists.
ReplyDeleteThere are several videos and sites on the Net showing how to do maintenance on your VM. In particular, H@rry has posted a video on YouTube on how to change a tire (in the rain). There was a long thread on wheel alignments on BROL and several worthy maintenance subjects. A quick search on the Net produced an English Mango Manual for the Sinner Mango http://www.hembrow.eu/personal/EnglishMangoManual.pdf but I'm sure it is not too different from the Velomobiel Mango. There are also Quest manuals. Good luck assembling all this maintenance advice because I may have to refer to it at some point!
Luc On The Go
Congratulations on the Mango.
ReplyDeleteI know of 4 velo's in Alberta. Two Mango's (Edmonton and Cochrane)and in Calgary a Go-One3 and an Allweder AAW. I came across the AAW on a chance meeting riding along a bike path in Calgary.
As it happens, when I worked at Sinner I updated the user manual and translated it into English. You can download a copy from here.
ReplyDeleteHow'd that BlueVelo decal get on there?
ReplyDeleteOoops make that a Strada in Cochrane and a Mango in Edmonton.
ReplyDelete