May 26, 2023
Velomobile Delivery Day
Meet the Bülk and Die Rote Rakete
The big project today was taking delivery of a Bülk and a brand spanking new Alpha W9 velomobile. The Bülk you can learn about on my YouTube channel here:
The Bülk is what I have been riding since March. It is an outstanding bike. Fast, handles well, has a lot of really neat features. I have the fit dialed in perfectly. It is the only bike that ever beguiled me into commuting exclusively by bike up a 9% grade hill at 8:30am.
But that’s not what I’ll be riding. When I discussed this trip with Jan at Velomobile World, the original plan was to import and resell two Bülks after the trip. However, there is another new model, the W9, just coming to market. We decided this was a good opportunity to bring a new model into the US as an opportunity for people to try it out before ordering one (yes, I offer test rides!) I was going to resell the W9 after the summer, that is, until my Quest got destroyed by a car driver. The insurance settlement put me in a position to actually keep the W9 as my backup ride or to allow me to ride along with test riders. And that is how I ended up wandering around the parking lot looking for a truck with two Velomobiles in the back of it.
I wandered for awhile around the parking lot. I finally located the truck in the back corner, the driver curled up sleeping on a giant stuffed teddy bear. I felt bad for startling him awake. It’s a long drive from romania. It’s possible the poor guy drove straight through to get the bikes here on time. We didn’t share a common language so I hope I was able to convey my appreciation to him.
For those velomobile nerds out there, the third bike, the yellow one, is being delivered to the one and only Daniel Fenn. My bikes can say they shared a truck with one of Daniel’s bikes.
First, I have to say that I’m the 40 Bülks since my #56 arrived in March, Jan and his team have managed to even further improve the quality of the Bülk. It’s really neat getting to see a current build. They’ve taken the suggestions people have made and used them to turn out an even better product. I didn’t test ride the Bülk yet, but I’m looking it over I noticed several enhancements such as improved cushion strips along the edges of the race hood, a sealing strip to keep rain from running down behind the helmet visor, and several other things my very tired brain has forgotten about.
But that’s not what you’re here to read about, is it. You want to hear about my new bike. Well, let me tell you all about the W9. First, I’ve been mildly panicking silently about whether or not the seat would work for me. It is a massive risk to undertake a high mileage two week trip riding a bike you’ve never even test ridden. In fact, I would not attempt this if I didn’t have a great deal of faith in Jan to make sure the bike would work for me. We exchanged an awful lot of messages about the bike order. I don’t know how they managed to keep track of everything.
Oh, you wanted to know about the bike ITSELF? Well fine. My first through unpacking was: oh man. Is this thing going to actually work for me? Jan went ahead and used the dimensions k took for him ageism back to estimate the position of the seat. The seat in Daniel Fenn designs is not easily relocated like the Bülk. You’re pretty much stuck with one spot, unless you install a different seat. At the moment the model ia so new that they don’t even have other seat sizes. Fortunately with the use of the thick seat pad from my Bülk, I fit very nicely in the W9.
After unpacking and organizing things, I thought I had better go for a short test ride, especially to check bottom bracket position. Honestly I was just going to ride a mile or two. 9.25 miles later, I pulled into the hotel parking lot again with a great big smile on my face. Not only does the seat seem sufficiently comfortable, but the bike rides great. The drivetrain is the smoothest running drivetrain I think I’ve ever seen. I like the elastomer suspension, but what really got my attention is how light it is (21.5kg roughly is the rumor), and how quickly it moves down the nice flat roads around the airport.
Final ride stats today were 9.25 miles, 80ft of elevation gain, and an average speed of 20.3mph. In a brand new bike on unfamiliar roads running a gravel tire in the rear. Oh, and I wasn’t pedaling especially hard. Talk about efficiency! I leave you with those lovely photo gallery of my new at beloved bike. I have named the bike Die Rote Rakete, which translated from German means the red rocket.
Today's ride: 9 miles (14 km)
Total: 9 miles (14 km)
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