#bikethings

[raeuberkotzenrotz]

Streek Cargo Trike

About STREEK

日本の街にカーゴバイクという新たなライフスタイルを提案する電動アシスト三輪自転車「STREEK」。日本の生活環境に適したサイズ（普通自転車サイズ）でありながら電動アシスト3輪＆車両中央に配置した大容量のカーゴスペースによ ...

[raeuberkotzenrotz]

Randonneur today. A pretty slick affair all things considered.

A sturdy Velotraum SP-200 frame in a fairly standard spec, but with some slick details.

GRX 2x11s, hydro brakes and a full equip load with lights, fenders, rack etc.

As is typical of a Velotraum you find large brake rotors (180/180mm the customer elected not to put the massive 203mm disc on the front), wide tires, the 50mm Schwalbe G-One Speed not even being the widest option and a generally beefy demeanor.

Lighting system is the ultra-elegant SON plugless, which uses a contact plate in the righthand dropout. Ground is going through the fork itself. No more fiddling with the generator plug when removing the front wheel. The Edelux II Light comes with a readily included junction for the NC-17 Appcon 3000 USB charger, which is essentially a powerbank that mooches off the generator hub and sits neatly contained within the steerer.

The rack is truely exotic. The Tubus Locc was a briefly produced cooperation between the king of cargo racks Tubus and the (local) king of bike locks Abus. The Locc came ready with a TexKF mount for Abus U-Locks, allowing them to neatly slot onto the Bike. It is, however, long out of production, but the customer was so keen on it that he brought us his old one. I then proceeded to further modify it with a drill for a neater cable routing on the rear light.

The old rack will brandish the latest and greatest in terms of locks however, it'll wind up holding the Granit Plus 640, a U-Lock that manages to marry a fairly low weight with standout security.

The workshop is well overloaded right now so I was happy to find a quiet hour tonight well after closing and get 'er done. Bike's being picked up on Saturday after all, and I'll need tomorrow night to put a cargo bike together.

[raeuberkotzenrotz]

A picture from this angle really is incapable of showing just how HUMONGOUS the HNF CD2 is.

[raeuberkotzenrotz]

Shimano Cues is deeply upsetting.

One of their most major product launches ever, the product is good. The marketing is abysmal in a way that I don't think I've ever seen in the industry.

"Create Unique ExperienceS"

REALLY? That was the best your presumably well paid marketing team could think of???

[raeuberkotzenrotz]

My new folding bike needs its own post yet but the new pedals come first.

These come from Saarland based component manufacturer by.Schulz, best known for their G.2 suspension seatpost and an overall innovative yet reliable portfolio. My curiosity for these almost absurd pedals piqued after I got my folding bike a few weeks back and came face to face with it's stock pedals.

The company's brand new sales rep C. and me have some history from his previous inning, so when C. showed up at the shop this week in his new guise I jumped at the opportunity and pestered him for a set. Tragically no test unit was forthcoming but by now i was mentally in too deep (and also swayed by a small discount) so here we are.

Most folding pedals are hot garbage, I know the ones that came with my Dahon are. The only decent option thus far has been the MKS FD-7, a tried formula, executed with commendable effort on Mikashima's part. A passing grade.

What the Z.1 pedals promise is a flatter profile when folded, an even better build and what the company calls "Z.Line". What it means is that the riders foot gets placed right onto the center of the pedal axle (virtually), promising a greater ride experience. I am still somewhat skeptical, the pedals will have to prove themselves in the field.

Retail is an eye-watering 200€. While the high quality, innovation, small quantity etc all work to justify this price in the end it does mean the target demographic will be scant.

The build is as faultless as it frankly has to be at this asking price. Nothing is left to chance. Large amounts of machined aluminium, plastic that feels so good I feel like the term "plastic" is insulting to it and a single massive 35mm double row angular contact bearing. Even with a single bearing the whole thing is rated for 150kg of rider weight. The folding action feels utterly delightful.

The surface is covered in griptape and it comes with the requisite pedal reflectors integrated into the main body, courtesy of a scam set up by the SS back in the day (no, really). No major surprises.

One last thing to note is the weight. This was clearly a secondary concern after functionality and sturdiness, so we're looking at ~800g for the pair according to my kitchen scale. Which is bloody heavy.

In any case I am very excited to get these up and running and will update this post with impressions as I do.

[raeuberkotzenrotz]

Pretty happy with this one. A fairly basic trekking bike all things considered but it did come out nice.

The tanwall G-One Tires really do wonders for the look. Logo will be added at a later date.

Also the debut of the new Ortlieb QR klickfix mount on a customer bike. Removal still requires a bit more force than I'm comfortable with but it's a thoroughly elegant affair aside from that.

[raeuberkotzenrotz]

Slowly starting what I call "the ugly singlespeed", basically an everyday bike for a friend with the goal of having the least amount of maintenance possible.

Rear hub is ordered, expect more interesting updates as the parts come in.

[raeuberkotzenrotz]

Another expedition bike this time around and it's a hefty one. I don't know where the customer intends to take it yet but chances are it'll be far.

The Velotraum VT-400, is one of if not the most overbuilt and indestructible frames on the market right now. Massive custom steel tubing and a no nonsense approach yield stiffness on par with aluminium frames. Together with the C-425 fork (which is yet to fail in the field outside of dramatic crashes) you get an official weight clearance of 180kg.

The Rohloff hub is a classic for this application, 14 gears, spread and efficiency on par with derailleur drivetrains and a gearbox capable of six-figure mileages.

The Shimano generator hub powers a Busch&Müller lighting setup as well as an NC17 appcon usb harvester tucked inside the steerer.

Rest of the build is fairly standard, Magura MT4 brakes, Tubus cargo racks, Ryde Andra 30 rims and the venerable Schwalbe Marathon Mondial.

Contact points are supplied by Ergon and Terry.

There are always certain archetypes of a bike in it's category, platonic ideals of how such a bike should be first and foremost (round these parts the cube nuroad springs to mind with how it practically came to be the defining commuter) and while the Velotraum may be too rare to rival the likes of a Koga world traveller, it's certainly got the chops to do so technically.