Evolution of our Xtracycle

We've owned an Xtracycle Freeradical since 2003. Attached to a fairly basic mountain bike, it's done a lot of work in the past. However, for the last two years, our Xtracycle had fallen out of use. We both had become used to the comfort of Dutch town bikes, and as a result, we were more likely to pile parcels high on our town bikes, sometimes pulling a trailer as well, than to ride the Xtracycle. When I rode it in December, I noticed that the chain was worn and several things felt a little unpleasant, so work needed to be done.

Recently the sales in our online shop have built up and the option of moving all our parcels on the normal town bike had become quite unworkable. We needed a cargo bike again. Over the last few weeks I've done quite a few small jobs on the Xtracycle to get it in usable order once more.

Fundamentally, much of what was "wrong" with our Xtracycle came down to it being a mountain bike with a thing bolted onto the back.

Now I know that many people love their mountain bikes. There is no reason why they should not do so. Mountain biking is a fine sport. The problem isn't mountain bikes, or their riders, but the use of the wrong tool for the job. Mountain bikes are not particularly practical bicycles. MTB gearing is rather on the low side, which is fine for travelling through mud or up steep slopes, but not ideal around town. The sitting position is uncomfortably stretched out due to the long stem and straight handlebars. The high bottom bracket, useful when riding off-road, is a nuisance in town as it requires that one hops down off the saddle at stops. MTBs don't come with mudguards, chainguards or racks, which can be tricky to fit. A kickstand isn't fitted, and permanent fitting of lights is not straightforward. A practical bike needs to have nothing on it which must remove when you park.

Many of the problems with using a mountain bike for everyday transport can be solved with suitable add-ons, and by doing this one can approach the concept of a practical Dutch everyday bike, which comes fitted with everything you need for practical use without requiring work to be done.

Some of the issues are tackled by the Xtracycle Freeradical add-on itself. It provides an oversized rack. If you also fit the Xtracycle specific kickstand then that solves another problem as the bike can now stand upright without assistance. These two things we'd already done. However, the problems that remained with our Xtracycle were typical "MTB as town bike" problems, which have now been put to rest as well as possible.

For a start, the tyres. Knobbly tyres are designed for mud. They're also OK in snow. However (with just a few exceptions) they are inefficient and slow on smooth surfaces. Also, cheaper tyres are puncture prone. There are various add-on products available to try to reduce this problem, but far and away the most effective way of reducing the problem of punctures is to fit better quality tyres with a good anti-puncture layer. I chose the Schwalbe Marathon tyre. It's not fast like a racing tyre, but it's faster than typical knobbly tyres, and puncture resistance is very good. This also makes the bike blissfully quieter to ride as you don't get the characteristic hum of a knobbly tyre on tarmac. While on the subject of wheels, another essential for everyday riding is to fit mudguards (fenders). Because I don't like spray on my feet and shoes, I also fitted the larger and truly effective type of mudflap.

Only half a mudguard is fitted at the back. Sadly, my original model Freeradical had no really good way of mounting a rear mudguard. I understand that eyes for mounting a mudguard are provided on newer versions of the product.

To achieve more comfort when riding the bike required changing the handlebar and stem and also the saddle. My handlebar and stem are a set which we already owned which is equivalent to the combined handlebar and stem in the webshop. This change brings the handlebars a lot closer so that we don't have to lean over so much when riding and the cargo is closer to the turning axis, so the bike is easier to control when heavy. Also, the ends of the bars turn backwards, which is much more comfortable for the wrists than a straight handlebar. The saddle is the same wide sprung and comfortable model as we'd already got on other bikes of ours, and as used by so many people who want comfort and practicality.

Our Xtracycle is fitted with a Steco front rack for extra capacity. This works very well, but it also makes the steering more likely to flop around when the bike is on its stand. For that reason I have fitted a steering damper to the bike. I'd not used one before, but I find that it works very well with the rack. The handlebars no longer turn so much when the bike is parked, and so weight in the front is less likely to flip the whole thing over. It also has a benefit when riding as it tames the front end a little, which is helpful when there is a lot of weight on the rack.

I've also fitted dynamo lights to our Xtracycle. They've a huge advantage over battery lights in that they are permanent, bolted on, part of the bike so don't have to be removed when you park and there are no batteries to be flat. This is essential for practicality.

I'm using a Nordlicht dynamo attached with a special bracket for the V-brake boss, coupled with a Basta headlight mounted on the light bracket built into the Steco rack. There are brighter headlights for use on long rides in the countryside, but that's not what we use our Xtracycle for. For use in town, this provides more than enough light for a very reasonable price. The rear light is difficult with the Xtracycle. Again, there is no good place to attach a light to the Freeradical frame. I've opted for a DIY solution using an old battery-powered rear LED light adapted for dynamo use and attached to the bottom of my saddle.

I would have liked to fit a Dutch style lock to the bike. These are by far the most convenient and quick to use style of bike lock, but they don't fit with the Freeradical in place. Instead, I found a way of mounting an old D lock permanently on the bike. A hole drilled in the advertising board allows the D lock to be swung into the wheel. It also stays in place above the top tube while riding. It's not the highest security arrangement, but it's enough around here.

The triple crankset (22/32/42 teeth) which was originally fitted to the mountain bike which we used as a donor has been replaced with a single speed crankset with 46 teeth. This gives higher gears for a bit more speed in town.

Finally, a bell. Of course, for a large bike there is just one choice - the 80 mm Ding Dong bell.

And how has it turned out ? Well, now the bike is once again enjoyable to ride, and over the last few weeks since the work was done, it's been used several times.

Cycling sisters

David is away this weekend at Cycle Vision so I thought I would write the blog for a change. What he doesn't know won't harm him will it?

A few days ago I was cycling home from college and whilst waiting to cross the canal a young woman and a little girl drew up beside me. The little girl looked at me, smiled, and said "fietsen leuk" - "cycling is nice". I smiled, agreed with her  and asked if they had time to stop and talk to me, luckily they were happy to do so. We stopped on the cycle path and chatted for 10 minutes and I took photos.

I discovered that they are sisters, the older sister is 19 and has just graduated and the little sister is 5 and has Downs syndrome. They often cycle together on this special tandem which they have hired from the local council for 4 years. They pointed out the waist and foot straps which keep the little girl safely on the bike even if she decides to ride "no hands" or looses concentration. Both parents also regularly cycle with the little girl and they have bought her a trike for later on for independent cycling. It was nice to meet them both, I forgot to ask their names, so thanks to the lovely cycling sisters.

Ice-Bat racing

The Ice-Bat is a new recumbent trike for winter competition. It uses a propeller and skates to run on ice-rinks. Good speeds can be achieved like this, with no damage to the surface of the ice.

It was invented by Steve Ellis, another British person living here in Assen.

I featured the original prototype a few months back.

The prototype first tested the concept of running with a propeller. It was based on a Sinner Comfort recumbent trike and ran on wheels. Steve later moved on to parts of the Comfort on skates as a proof of concept. This rode well enough that it was worth going further.

Now the first two production Ice-Bats have been completed by Steve working with Sinner Ligfietsen. These are lower than the prototype, and have a proper propeller designed for the speeds of the Ice-bat mounted somewhat more rigidly than on the prototype.

The machines will be racing here in Assen on Saturday at De Bonte Wever - our local ice-skating circuit.

Wednesday morning update. Another test ride:

Steve's "Air Trike"

A few days ago, Steve Ellis, another British resident of Assen got in touch and told me about his experimental "air trike" - a Sinner Comfort modified with the chain only turning a propeller on the back, and with no drive through the wheels.

Of course I had to go and take a look, and a test ride.

It's a strange experience. Initially there is very little resistance to the pedals. While at a standstill, the propeller is very inefficient and it takes a while to get moving. However, once you're moving the system is quite a bit more efficient and a reasonable speed can be maintained.

I know that Steve has some other ideas in mind, so I look forward to future developments.

Cycling in church

It's Sunday, so why not a church story ? Yes, this video shows people riding a variety of bikes in a church.


Wilfred posted a couple of days ago about a recent bicycle party organised by a local bakfiets specialist. An event in the church next to the shop.

In the distance at the end you can see Wilfred's Mango, Velox Incendia, which still impresses me every time I see it. BTW, Wilfred, it's ready for collection after yesterday's service.

Also there are a variety of other interesting machines including a variety of bakfietsen, an old Flevotrike, and a Drymer prototype.

Previously I posted about people cycling to church.

A TV advert - and the type of bikes that sell most in the Netherlands

Just after I got home tonight my daughter called me to say that there was an ad on the TV that I should see. A few minutes later when I looked at my email, someone had sent me the link to the same. It's above.

The first guy says "Hey neighbour, ESP, ABS, fog lamps, 16 inch rims and 6 gears."

The second guy says "28 inch rims, 8 gears, high power lights and computer integrated in the steering. My wife and daughter have the same."

It's advertising for the bikes of course, in this case a a nice practical bike with everything built in and at the moment they're giving a free mid-week stay at centerparcs with each purchase.

There is a list of the top selling models on the Batavus website, and much like any mainstream Dutch bicycle manufacturer, these are the most popular models in order. First place is taken by the very traditional Old Dutch, a nicely put together traditional bike with back pedal brake and one gear. "As well as black, also available in today's trendy colours," for €400.

Second place is the Weekend. A higher specification bike (eight gears in the hub, aluminium frame, hub dynamo, built in computer etc.) intended for holidays, or indeed riding at weekends. It's the bike featured in the TV ad and sells for €850.

Third place is the Diva, a "fashiobike" with trendy flower prints, it is an upmarket town bike. The feature "make the Diva a fashion statement." It costs €670.

Fourth is the Mambo deluxe. This is a fully equipped Mamafiets, a class of bike with a greater distance between the saddle and steering in order to accommodate the child seat on the front - which is of course fitted as standard at the factory (or at the very least by the bike shop). It is sold to mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers. "Safe, rigid and comfortable. Enough room for getting on and off." That's the way it's sold. Price: €850

The fifth best selling model is the Padova Easy. This is an electric bike with the battery built into the frame. The only bike in this list with an exposed chain, though a closed chain version is also available. Often bought by retired couples in "his and hers" pairs, these bikes cost €2299 each.

Note how all the bikes come fully equipped with mudguards, chainguards (all but the last protecting the chain for year around use), locks, lights. Some models come with pumps and other things you might consider to be separately sold accessories in other parts of the world. Basically these have all the features of a practical everyday bike as I posted about previously.

Batavus do of course also sell racing bikes and mountain bikes, but naturally these sport bikes aren't the most popular models. Most people use their bikes for transportation, not sport. I'm quite surprised that none of the children's bikes make the list.

If you're interested in the type of components used on these bikes, and perhaps wish to transform your own bike to be more like the practical bikes ridden everyday by the Dutch, please visit our webshop which specializes in these parts and accessories.

Quill stems and Paris-Roubaix

This is what is called a quill stem. It's the "old fashioned" way of connecting the handlebars to a bicycle, out of favour amongst racers who prefer the slightly stiffer "aheadset" system, but still in use on virtually every utility bicycle. It's a very good system. You can adjust the height of the handlbars simply by undoing the bolt at the top, sliding the handlebars up or down a little, and doing it back up again. Much more straightforward than the process with an aheadset.

This particular quill stem is on a beautiful racing bike on which Hennie Kuiper won the 1983 Paris-Roubaix race. Paris-Roubaix is known as probably the hardest race in the world, a major strain for both man and machine. "The Hell of the North" was immortalized in a fantastic film called "A Sunday in Hell".

Other features of this race winning bike include five speed non-indexed derailleur gears, single pivot brakes, and a steel frame.

So, why is the quill stem of significance ? Last year it was one of the points criticised by a clueless British newspaper reviewing a "the cheapest bicycle in the UK". There were many things wrong with that bike, but having a quill stem was not one of them. It's better to get information about bikes from people who know about bikes, and of course most of the people who bought one of those Asda bikes would have been better off with something like this.

The bike is from the Velorama bicycle museum in Nijmegen. It was on display in Assen at the start of the Vuelta a Espana last year.

Paris-Roubaix is held annually on a Sunday in April. This year they'll be racing for 259 km on the 11th of April. Tomorrow. Well worth watching on the TV if you can't be there. I'll be recording it, as the ligfietsopstapdag is on the same day.

The wikipedia page about Hennie Kuiper says that "His serious introduction to the bicycle was to and from school". That's the case for virtually all Dutch children, of course, which probably goes some way to explaining why the Dutch have been so successful in cycle racing.

You can buy quill stems, threadless stems, and different shape handlebars in our webshop.

Bram's Mother's Bike

Bram Moens, of M5 ligfietsen, made his mother a new town bike over the Christmas holidays:

Inbetween Christmas/New Year job.......
January 14th, 2010

Super lightweight carbon city bike for Bram Moens' mother, because an
electric bike was not an option!

It's in the genes, that much is clear. Bram's mother is almost 84 en does around 6000 km all year round on the bicycle. Up till now she used an already lightweight custom-made bicycle with Cr-Mo Reynolds tubing.

So, the weight of this city bike was already little with approximately 12 kg, but starting and stopping it was a bit hard because of the relatively high positioned top tube. Therefore a full carbon lightweight bicycle with a much lower frame curve and obviously a lot of lightweight M5 components (hubs, brakes and rims) was made. The result is a remarkably rigid, smooth and lightweight (7.3 kg) carbon city bike with a 9 speed gear system. The crank is acquired from another recumbent builder in the USA (Lightning). Two carbon chain rims around the 42 toothed blade make sure the chain is kept perfectly in place.

The Dutch version of the article also mentions that a 250 gram extra light rear rack is being made for the bike. Hopefully she'll get mudguards too. These are all parts of what make up a practical bicycle for everyday use.

Cycling is for all demographic groups in the Netherlands. While Bram Moen's mother may be exceptional, Dutch people over 65 on average make a quarter of all their journeys by bicycle.

Please read more about elderly people cycling in the Netherlands and about cycling quickly in the Netherlands.

M5's usual products are fast recumbent bicycles, and very nice they are too

Keeping the beaches clean

The local council has a fleet of cargo carrying bicycles which are used by people doing work such as keeping the beaches and other areas of the city clean. They're painted with just the same colour-scheme as the vans, and the same scheme as the council's normal bikes. Typically for a job requiring a few workers these bakfietsen are outnumbered by the "normal" council bikes.

And underneath, here's another one in the city centre (with a standard council bike on the left and a "civilian" bakfiets in the background).

Judy tries some trikes

Next week we have cycling holiday customers who asked for recumbent bikes to ride. They were delivered today so Judy and I took them for a test ride around Assen.

Judy tried quite a lot of bikes and trikes before settling on her new touring bike. To see what she ended up with, click here

Electric bike demographics

Every so often someone asks me who buys electric bikes in the Netherlands. My usual answer is that they are bought by the elderly (Dutch over 65s make 24% of their journeys by bike) and by people with a disability who need a bit of assistance.

This short article appeared in the September issue of Tweewieler magazine. A magazine for the Dutch bike trade, which is distributed to bike shops.

The title of the article reads "Modern e-bike gets still younger buying public"

There was an online survey of 500 people organised by the Dutch "Halfords" chain of shops (I understand this is no longer connected with British "Halfords"). The survey produced such results as that 37% of correspondents said they wanted an electric bike to make cycling easier.

A representative of Halfords claims that the average buying age is creeping down to around 50, which is much lower than previously, when most were bought by 65+ers, but do bear in mind that he's a salesman.

The article also mentions that they often see couples buying his and hers bikes together. This is something I've noticed in the past. Dutch couples who buy identical bikes at retirement so they can cycle together.

The two bikes on the right in the photo are near identical models which were probably bought by a couple. The bike on the left with the number plate is an older style of assisted bike with a petrol engine. These are also limited to 25 km/h, so they were bought by very much the same people as now buy electric bikes. Part of the growth in electric bike sales is due to these types of low power motor bike having been replaced by electric bikes.

Much has been made in some quarters of the number of electric bikes sold in the Netherlands. This article gives a figure of 5000 electric bikes sold in the country last year, with an expectation that this may have doubled to 10000 this year. Impressive growth, but still small numbers compared with the 1.3 million bikes sold per year in the Netherlands.

The reason for the high monetary value of electric bicycles is that when people buy electric bikes in the Netherlands they tend to buy expensive ones. Also, because it's quite common for older couples to buy identical "his and hers" pairs of bikes as in the photo, this in effect doubles the amount spent.

Wooden bikes

I'm not actually convinced personally that wood is the best material for making a bicycle frame. However, who cares ? The results in this case are very beautiful indeed and that's certainly a good enough reason for this bike to exist.

Jan Gunneweg is a Dutch bicycle maker who makes wooden bikes. We saw them on display at the prologue of the Vuelta here in Assen, which is where the video above was made.

There's another video on youtube showing Jan racing and even swimming with his bike. The epoxy seals the wood pretty well, I should think, but I'm not so sure the metal bearings like it.

Mango'd

This morning I made pretty good time on the way to work. There was a slight tailwind, which helped me on the way and it took 55 minutes on the PDQ - an average of 32 km/h.

This evening I borrowed the demonstration Sinner Mango velomobile again. I'm still the same not particularly young and not particularly fast guy that I was this morning, but with a much more aerodynamic bike I rode home into the same wind in just 47 minutes and 20 seconds - an average of 37 km/h door to door. That's the fastest commute I've ever done in my life, on a practical bike with a few tools, spare tyres and tubes and a change of clothes on board as well as myself. An amazing difference. What's more, if it rains tomorrow I'll be dry inside the Mango to get back to work.

My children insisted that a photo was taken of my hair swept back by the wind (just slightly enhanced above but you can click on the photo for a more accurate image).

My name is now on the waiting list for my own Mango. You know you want one too... Not only is it quick, but it's relatively compact for a velomobile, highly practical and has a good turning circle.


Two Dutch bicycles, both white. The Mango and my younger daughter's traditional town bike.

There's a video of my commuting route, and several other posts about riding the mango. Of course, those wonderful cycle paths also go a long way to making a longer commute into a reasonable proposition by bike. Read my review of the Sinner Mango Velomobile.

Sundays

A group of local recumbent enthusiasts meet each Sunday morning. The video shows the ride from a couple of weeks ago. We went about 65 km through the Drents countryside.

It was a nice day, so lots of other people out cycling as well. Not just to get somewhere as they do during the week, but in order to enjoy the countryside, which is of course easily accessible by bicycle.

Perhaps I'll be doing something similar this Sunday too...

Update later on the same day...

... and so we did. I wasn't sure I was going to go as I have had a cold for a few days and worke with a fever. However, it was another excellent ride. Very enjoyable, including the long stop at Anton's for tea. For me it was 87 km this time. I didn't video it this week. However, one part of today's route was this human powered bicycle ferry that I videoed last year:


Wilfred took some photos.

Update 20th July: He also made a nice video of the day:


There are other similar videos of huneliggers rides on this blog, or see youtube.

Borrowing a velomobile

I worked at the ligfietsgarage today, a Saturday, as we had several people wanting to try the Sinner Mango velomobile.

The demo machine isn't needed until Tuesday, when I next work there, so I've borrowed it for the weekend and rode home today on the Mango, leaving my PDQ at work.

It's the first time I've ridden such a machine more than a few hundred metres, so I was timid with it to begin with as I started on the 31 km trip back home. As I grew more confident I was quite happy with speeds around 36-37 km/h, roughly the top speed I'd expect on the PDQ, but in the second half of the commute I started to get more used to it and went a bit quicker.

It doesn't initially accelerate very quickly, but your speed can just continue to increase. Wow, it's fast. In open stretches on the cycle paths between villages I was going along sometimes at 45 km/h without really trying all that hard.

When I arrived home, the elapsed time was just under 52 minutes, the best average speed I've done to date for the commute. If I was to use this bike every time then I'd get used to it and the average would perhaps drop a little on good days.

Several months later: I now own my own Mango.

I've previously shown my commute here and here, or you can see more velomobiles here.

Read my review of the Sinner Mango Velomobile.

What I did last week

I took this photo on Saturday morning. These three bike baskets are amongst those I worked on last week.

I sent the rectangular one with a lid along with a front rack to a customer in the USA, while the D shaped basket with the green willow stripe has gone to Scotland. The larger basket in the rear is being made to fit a Radical Design Cyclone bicycle trailer, and will be finished off this week. It's got both red and black willow in it to produce the pattern.

As well as the standard bike baskets, I make custom bike baskets, for any type of bike and they've been sent to all corners of the world. You can see some examples on my website.

I also work at the ligfietsgarage in Groningen for two days a week, and last week I helped produce these Mango velomobiles, four of which have already been taken to Germany. I made some of the wheels, put together the electrical systems, and made a few other sub-assemblies which ended up in these bikes.

It's really very satisfying to be able to do this varied work, and to see the results going away to be used.
Read my review of the Sinner Mango Velomobile.

Promoting cycling at FlevOnice

Last Sunday, Arjen and I went to a cycle promotion event in Flevoland. It was at the FlevOnice facility, a unique in the world place with a 5 km long outdoor artificial ice-skating circuit. It's obviously not reasonable to keep this thing frozen during the warmer months, so it turns into a tarmac circuit for other purposes in the spring. We were at the first event for "Mei Maand Fiets Maand" ("May Month, Bike Month"), an annual bicycle promotion event. That there is a lot of cycling already in this country is, after all, no reason why more shouldn't be promoted.

Flevoland itself is the world's largest artificial island. I find it fascinating. It's a vast area of land which used to be the sea bed. Draining it has resulted in hundreds of ship-wrecks now being on land, and it's protected by dykes built on an enormous scale (including this one which I cycled over last year). There are no buildings older than the 1960s on Flevoland, and three new cities: Lelystad, Dronten and Almere which were established in the 1960s and 1970s and consist only of modern architecture arranged on modern lines - with plenty of cycle paths of course.


As we were there representing Sinner Ligfietsen, here is the company video presentation showing the bikes, including some glimpses of how they are built.

Ligfietsopstapdag 2009 (recumbent bike try-out day)

On Sunday the 5th of April we have the 4th Northern Netherlands Ligfietsopstapdag (Recumbent Bike Tryout Day) here in Assen. Just 1 km from my home, in fact. There's a lovely bike path from my home to the venue.

There are many Dutch recumbent manufacturers. The following of them will be at this event: Rainbow, Challenge, M5, Sinner, Nazca, Flevobike, Altena and Whike will have bikes (and trikes) for the public to try out.

Here are some photos of bikes from last year's event:

M5 recumbents.

That in the foreground is a very light and very fast machine of carbon fibre. This is a real racing machine, no mudguards and nowhere to carry luggage. Others in the range (behind) are aimed at more practical use.

Inside a Sinner Mango. You'll have seen a few pictures of these if you've read my blog posts about riding on Sundays with the huneliggers group. They are also what I have been helping to make in a part time job working for Sinner (a video of my commute is here).

Very quick, very practical and of course it keeps you clean and dry in bad weather (when the top is on).

A low and fast bike from Nazca, but practical as well as fast (note mudguards, luggage rack, suspension etc.)

Below you'll find a video of last year's event posted by Pjotr, who lives just around the corner. Much better than my boring stills:

Velib, Barclay's London Bike Hire and other public shared bike schemes

I can't be the only person who thinks there is an awful lot of wishful thinking involved in the way that bike sharing schemes are reported. I think a bit of realism is needed about the capability of such schemes.

I recently heard on the BBC news that London is to get 6000 shared bikes by 2010 and that the most optimistic estimates of their use say they will each be used 10 times a day. That's 60000 cycle trips per day (and is somewhat optimistic based on the take up of other shared bike schemes. update: as it turned out, London's bikes are actually used about a quarter so often so all my estimates below are actually wildly optimistic compared with real life).

This may sound impressive, but the greater London area has around 8 million residents. In most places, people make an average of around 2.5 "trips" by all modes each day, so that's around 20 million trips per day in total. If we assume that the bike hire scheme really does reach the number of trips that its proponents say, this means it has a capacity to replace one in 400 trips. 0.3% of the total. And that's the best case if they complete the scheme.

i.e. on average these bikes will account for just 0.002 trips per person per day.

That's tiny. Barely a start, in fact. Where people really cycle they use their bikes an awful lot more than that. For example, here in Assen the population make just short of 1.2 bike trips per day (the population of 65000 make over 70000 trips, more than the total capacity of the London scheme). Up in Groningen that grows to 1.4 bike trips per day. The Dutch, who are only twice as numerous as Londoners, make more than 14 million trips per day by bike. London's estimate of 60000 trips per day may impressive, but it's not. It's more than two orders of magnitude short of what is required (2011 update: actual usage has been under a third of what was predicted, but the hype continues unchecked).

It's great to see anything which encourages people to cycle. However, this scheme can never genuinely result in a large cycle culture. It can only ever be a small part of the picture.

It seems to me that public cycle hire is being picked on by many cities largely because it's the smallest thing can be done which will make it look as if something is being done. No longer do you need to do anything complicated and expensive like re-arranging the streets to make them more suited for cycling, or risk alienating motorists as you do it. Just allow a company to set up doing bike hire and the world's press will be amazed by your achievement.

How are other schemes doing ?
It's much the same picture in other places where these schemes have been introduced, even if there are far more bikes per inhabitant than are planned for London:

Barcelona has a population of 1.6M and 6000 bikes. They claim each one is used 10 times a day, so that's enough for 1.8% of journeys.

The Paris metropolitan area has 12M people, and there are 20000 bikes. Maximum capacity of Velib is therefore 0.8% of the journeys. What's more, the system in Paris is in trouble.


To see successful policy you really can't look for inspiration to nations where virtually no-one cycles. The country to look to is the Netherlands, where there is the highest rate of cycling in the world.

The Netherlands also has a public bicycle scheme called OV-Fiets. I previously covered the amusing promotional videos for the scheme. This has a different emphasis specifically targeting people who need bikes at the ends of journeys on public transport. (i.e. Exactly the opposite emphasis as London) and it is growing in popularity very quickly. But here also OV-Fiets can only cope with a very small proportion of total journeys.

November 2009 update
Can you believe that every one of the 20000 bikes provided in the Velib scheme in Paris has had to be replaced in the first two years ?

In other news, a comparative study of Bike Share schemes around the world showed that none were proven to be effective at increasing modal share.

Update July 2010
Since this post was written, Ve-Lon was renamed and implemented as the "Barclays Cycle Hire" system. It is no more ambitious than ever, and will still not provide for more than a tiny fractional increase in cycling in London. The fact remains that London already had plenty of bikes, and plenty of people who would like to cycle. The lack of decent infrastructure stood in their way and still stands in their way.

Further updates
Actual figures for usage in London have turned out to be much lower than predicted while costs are higher than predicted . My remark above that 10 rides per day was optimistic has proven to be right. It's closer to three in reality.

A later report from London pointed out that there's been no meaningful shift from car to bike and that a large proportion of total users are people who already rode bicycles in London. They use the shared bikes as insurance against their own bikes being stolen.

Nevertheless, London has continued to hype the figures for the bike share scheme though usage has now dropped to just over 2 rides per bike per day. i.e. less than a quarter of the optimistic estimates.

Regardless of this less than stellar success, other countries have gone ahead with their own bike share schemes rather than looking to the world's leading cycling nation and copying policies and infrastructure with proven success at increasing cycling modal share.

London's "Superhighways" are another example of not doing remotely enough.

Would you like to see true mass cycling for yourself ? Come on one of our Cycling Holidays or a Cycling Study Tour.

Xtracycle Kick-Back Review

The photo shows my Xtracycle with Kick-Back stand relaxing in the sun, and remaining upright with 80 kg in the panniers and front basket.

Emigrating is difficult. Setting up a business is difficult. Learning a language is difficult. Doing all these things just at the time that a global recession starts to bite is extra difficult. As a result, I've been doing a part time job delivering mail in order to earn a bit more money. The Xtracycle is the bike I've been using for this.

Unfortunately, my Xtracycle is one of the very early ones which had a weak point in the design at the point where the standard kick stand attaches. This broke off, leaving me without a kick stand. That was OK for trips between home and the post office or shops, both of which places have good quality wheel supporting racks which would keep the bike upright as I loaded it. However, it was a complete non-starter for a delivery job which involved standing the bike outside hundreds of homes each day.

In any case, the standard kick stand on the Xtracycle simply wasn't designed to keep the sort of weight we're dealing with upright.

I looked around for solutions and came across the Xtracycle Kick-Back. This is a specially made stand which fits into the tubing at the front of the Xtracycle.

You can see the parts which come in the box on the right. Everything you need to fit it is supplied.

As my FreeRadical is a very early production example it didn't have the holes required for the spring loaded clips also used by other accessories such as the wideloader. More modern FreeRadicals won't need this extra step of drilling holes.

In fact for most people it is a very quick job to install the stand. The only tools you will need are a screwdriver for doing up the screw which holds a stretchy cord to the rear stay - this is what provides the force to make the stand spring up - and a 5 mm allen key for adjusting the height of the stand. You want it so that it just forces one wheel off the ground when the bike is standing. If it is too high then you will find it is a considerable effort to park your bike.

I found I also needed to cut a couple of centimetres off the length of the black inserts for the stand in order that I could have the stand at a low enough height. I also recommend using copper grease when these are inserted. I ride in all weathers and without it the parts would seize in place.

And there you have it. The bike can now stand.

It's a very good product. The only one of its kind made especially for the Xtracycle, and I have found it to work extremely well.

It's been fitted since January 13th. That may not seem such a long time, but my bike computer tells me that I've covered over 500 km with the delivery schedule since then, and used the stand many thousands of times. Combined with a trailer, I've used the bike to haul as much as 225 kg ( about 500 lb ) of mail at once. It was as struggle to ride up the slightest of inclines, but the bike didn't fall over when I stopped.

If you want a stand which really works with your Xtracycle, this is the only one available which is specifically designed to do the job. It works extremely well and I suggest not bothering to consider any alternatives. It is Available here from BikeTrailerShop.com.

Our Xtracycle now
We now use our Xtracycle. with the Kick-Back, to make deliveries for our webshop. The bike has had several more upgrades since this article was written, and they're detailed in another blog post.

The Xtracycle is not the best tool for all jobs, but it does do what it does extremely well. I've lots more details of the Xtracycle on my web page about it. The front racks are here.