CONTENTS

SEPTEMBER 2007

Velo Vision is published quarterly by Velo Vision Ltd. Subscription details, news and updates can be found on www.velovision.com

ISSN 1475-4312

Velo Vision Magazine The Environmental Centre, St Nicholas Fields, York, YO10 3EN, UK Tel/Fax +44 1904 438 224 (from UK, 01904 438 224) Email peter@velovision.com Website www.velovision.com

EDITOR AND PUBLISHER: Peter Eland ART DIRECTOR: Brian Holt WEB PROGRAMMER: Simon Ward PRINTER: Stephens & George Magazines Ltd, Merthyr Tidfil, Wales, UK. Tel 01685 388 888

PUBLISHING SCHEDULE: Issue 28: December 2007 Issue 29: March 2008 Issue 30: June 2008 Issue 31: September 2008

Velo Vision is a member of INK, trade association of the alternative press in the UK. www.ink.uk.com

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.

Velo Vision is printed on paper produced from sustainable forests to Nordic Swan standards.

COVER PHOTOGRAPH: Riding the Strida. Photo by Peter Eland.

OPPOSITE: The Velo Vision trailer is usually used to move bike boxes around York, but here it’s helping some friends move a sofa. Photo by John Isles.

4 News Two new folders, the bike dispenser, Tomcat Trikes and more. . .

8 Travels with a tuba A pedal-powered musical journey bringing education by bike

14 Eurobike 2007 Full coverage of all the new products at the world’s largest trade show in Friedrichshafen, Germany

24 Aboard the Anura We ride Greenspeed’s two-wheels-at- the-back trike – does it match up to the Kettwiesel benchmark?

28 Work of genius? Reviewing the small but ingeniously formed folding bike from France

31 Riding the Triangle The Strida is a daring design – but is it a convincing cycle? We test it to find out.

34 A super-sized cycle Heavier riders have a steed to suit in the USED BigBoy – and it’s a low-maintenance cruiser for anyone. . .

37 Short reviews Bike-Eye mirror, Stash folding helmet, ATC2000 helmet cam, Carradice Carradry cameras, Velomobil book, and Richard Ballantine’s new urban primer, City Cycling.

42 Back to front A recumbent tandem which can face forwards or back to back

44 Row, row, row your... trike We pull the electronically-steered Streetrower out for a ride. . .

47 Pedal powered soap Blending by bicycle makes for more efficient eco-friendly production

48 The 1000-mile test ride Taking a Scorpion from Land’s End to John O’Groats

50 Letters Choppers galore, stand solutions, fridge transport and more. . .

55 Subscribe to Velo Vision How to order, back issue contents, and details of our distributors worldwide

56 Advertisements The first place to look for specialist products and services

EUROBIKING I hope, dear reader, that you will excuse the late appearance of this September issue – as last year, we delayed publication so as to include the report from Eurobike, which takes place in early September. It really is the focus of the European cycle industry, with many manufacturers timing their R&D effort to have their latest and best ready to exhibit to the thousands of dealers, journalists and distributors at the show. As a journalist, I’m privileged to have perhaps the best job of them all: seeking out the interesting and the new, without having to get into the nitty-gritty of buying and selling. The manufacturers and designers are keen to tell me about their work, and I try to repay their enthusiasm and hard work by reporting their innovations as fully as possible. Perhaps the most difficult part of the process is the editing: cutting down the masses of photographs and notes to a length which won’t overwhelm the rest of the magazine. I’ve done my best, as ever, and I hope the report will let you enjoy a vicarious visit to perhaps the greatest cycle show on earth. Peter Eland

ISSUE 27 SEPTEMBER 2007 VELOVISION

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