[ contents ] JUNE 2003

Velo Vision is published quarterly by Velo Vision Ltd. Daily news and updates can be found on www.velovision.co.uk

ISSN 1475-4312

Velo Vision, The Environmental Community Centre, St Nicholas Fields, York, YO10 3EN, UK

Tel +44 1904 438 224 (from UK, 01904 438 224) Fax +44 1904 438 236 (from UK, 01904 438 236) Email peter@velovision.co.uk Website www.velovision.co.uk

EDITOR AND PUBLISHER: Peter Eland DESIGN: Brian Holt WEBMASTER: Simon Ward PRINTER: Stephens & George Magazines Ltd, Merthyr Tidfil, Wales, UK. Tel 01685 388 888 CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER: Jason Patient Photography Tel 01890 883408

PUBLISHING SCHEDULE: Issue 11: 3 September 2003 Issue 12: 4 December 2003 Issue 13: 5 March 2004 Issue 14: 6 June 2004

VELO VISION AND VELO-VISION We weren’t first with the name. Velo-Vision (note the hyphen) is a progressive HPV-friendly bike shop in Köörten, near Bergisch-Gladbach, Germany, who also make their own recumbents. Velo Vision magazine is working in friendly harmony with Velo-Vision in Germany. Contact them on www.velo-vision.de

Cover photograph:Peter Eland.

Opposite:Michael Brandist stretches his legs in front of Leicester’s National Space Centre after a ride in the Cargobike. Read Steven Brandist’s review on page 32. Photo: Steven Brandist

4 News Disk brake peril, bicycle pasta, Moultons ride out, a

human-powered bus and more...

10London leads the way

How an enlightened Mayor is putting cycling on the

capital’s map

16Thwarting theft A revolutionary theft-proof bike from Amsterdam – and

how to lock yours tight

18Art on the island A cycling artist lets creativity flow in Canada’s countryside

20Technology roundup

A rolling road trike, latest from the Lääufer, and two

up-and-coming folding bikes

24Triking on the Triclops A reader reviews his Organic Engines recumbent trike

28Look no chain!

We test a shaft-drive commuter bike, with surprising results

31A heavenly hub The Pantour suspension hub courier-tested

32Sounds like a job for... Cargobike Man! Family cycling transport isn’t just for superheroes

36Letters

Your feedback, ideas and more

40FietsRAI 2003 A full eight pages of reports from Amsterdam’s annual trade show

48SPEZI 2003 Readers report back from the Special Bike Show in Germany

50Buyer’s Guide Feedback

Your comments on last issue’s Guide – and some we missed

52Buyer’s Guide: folding bikes and portables

Our overview of the best fold-up or take-apart bikes and

trikes available today

58Subscribe – and win a KMX Kart! A KMX Trike up for grabs in our competition

59Adverts

The best, most interesting advertising around!

Please support these companies, who support this magazine.

THE RIGHT BIKE

Sad news. The bike on which I began my cycling life has finally gone to the great scrapheap in the sky. A cheap, secondhand steel-rimmed ‘racer’, it did sterling service – at the age of 16 giving me the cycling bug, and even taking me

on my first proper cycle tour in Corsica

before becoming my student steed in London. Then it was adopted by my younger brother James and for almost a decade it’s been his daily city transport – despite my best efforts to get him to buy something better, with brakes that work in the wet. But a few months ago, with buckled wheels and a utterly shot transmission,

it had reached the point where, senti

ment aside, a new bike really was called for. So he found a newer, younger model to take him to work and back... and is delighted. I couldn’t persuade him to go for hub gears, but at least he has decent brakes and gears that, for now, click not graunch. The point of this slightly sentimental rambling? That while you can have a

great time, catch the cycling bug and

be happy for years on any old rustbucket of a bike, the right machine for the job can make a huge difference to your cycling pleasure and safety. This is especially the case when you start to take on cycling tasks that go a bit beyond the ordinary – for example train travel or child-carrying. We’ve ideas in this issue for both...and much

more besides.

Peter Eland

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