12000 km service

My Mango reached 12000 km last week. I thought it about time I gave it a service...

The Mango has a fully enclosed drive-chain. This is a very important feature for a velomobile. Because abrasive dirt stays on the outside of the body, maintenance is very low compared with most bicycles. All that's needed for a long life with little hassle is that you regularly oil the chain (a few drops every 500 km) and wipe off any excess. You also need to put a couple of drops of oil into the top of the suspension struts. Some people have ridden as much as 40000 km on their first chain by taking care like this. I was a bit more lax with the regular oiling and just managed 12000 km. However, this is still a very good chain life. Chains exposed to the elements will often last only a quarter so long.

Testing with a chain wear checking tool (new chain above, old chain below) it was apparent that my main chain had "stretched" a little beyond the point where I should already have replaced it. To say a chain has "stretched" is a little misleading. The metal does not stretch. What actually happens is that abrasive dust gets inside the bearings in the chain links themselves, wearing it out from the inside. The result is that chain no longer fits the chainrings correctly and it starts to wear them out. Also efficiency is lost. However, all this happens later and to a lesser extent if your drive-chain stays clean.

I replaced the existing KMC chain with brand new SRAM 9 speed chain.

I had a brand new cassette ready to replace the old one. I took apart the old cassette and looked at each sprocket individually. The photo shows the most worn tooth of the most worn sprocket on top of its new replacement. This tooth is where the sprocket is narrowed in order to make shifting easier, but which also means that this tooth wears out quicker than most. However, there is almost no wear at all. That's really very impressive. It helps a lot that the cassette is mounted inside the body, away from any dirt. The front chainrings were also not worn.

The second chain in the Mango uses 3/32" chain, but an 8 speed chain will do in this locations, so I used a PC-830. This chain was really only half worn, but I replaced it anyway. As you can see, the teeth on this sprockets for the rear chain barely have any wear at all. Even most of the paint remains on the sprocket on the intermediate drive.

The idler wheel under the seat looked a bit rough. The plastic from which it was made has actually distorted. That curvature is real, not just an artifact of the photo. Perhaps this was due to the effect of oil on the plastic. However, I'm not complaining. This was a prototype idler from Alligt, made of softer plastic than the production versions. The teeth on the wheel inside folded over quite soon, and the wheel itself had actually started to deform quite quickly. I rode with it for a whole year because I wanted to see how long it would last. While it looked bad, it didn't fail. Actually, it still works just fine except that the deformation has got bad enough that it now rubs against the bracket which it was mounted on. The replacement is the new design of idler from Alligt.

There's now quite a bit of play in my steering so I also need a new plastic block for the universal joint. That will come from the Ligfietsgarage next week.

To check your transmission you need just the chain wear checking tool. To replace it you need chains and other parts available here. For a main chain of the Mango you need about 2.5 normal chains (buy 3 the first time you do the job, and you may need just 2 the second time) and for the secondary chain you need just one.

I'm looking forward to more adventures over the next 12000 km, but shouldn't have to do much maintenance.
Read my review of the Sinner Mango Velomobile.

Cyclists' Special

Way back in 1955, this popular film was made of cycling in Britain:

Part two can be viewed on youtube

It's a great film. I find it interesting to see that once-upon-a-time, British Rail bent over itself to make taking bicycles on trains easy even occasionally for large groups - this film was made by an organisation which existed specifically to make films like this.

Britain was a very different place when this film was made. It was normal to cycle. When that film was shot, in 1955, British people still each cycled an average of over 350 km per year, a figure very similar to modern day Germany, and about a third of that now in the Netherlands. This was a time when people travelled in total a lot less than they do now so these are significant figures. British people made these bicycle journeys over the very same landscape as where many people now make excuses about hills and the weather to explain the current low cycling rate in the UK:

Many British people don't realise that even within their own lifetime, before motoring took over from everything else, it was quite normal for all sorts of people to ride bikes for everyday journeys.

Of course, the group in the film aren't entirely average. They're cycle-tourists, and have relatively fancy bikes. You can see that from the dropped handlebars (British touring bikes traditionally have dropped handlebars, usually set a little higher than most racers would have them) and from the derailleur gears which many of them have.

"Hills or headwind don't put me off,
A Sturmey Archer hub gives wings to my bike."

The film was made a time of transition, when tourists started to use derailleurs instead of the same three speed Sturmey Archer hub gears as normal everyday bikes had. Yes, those hills were once ridden on bikes with three gears, and little was made of it. In fact, contemporary advertisements tended to stress how easy it was to climb a hill with the luxury of three gears.

The change in British attitudes regarding cycling took place over many years. Rather like the proverbial frog in a pan of boiling water, many people didn't notice what was taking place around them. Drivers in Britain, who have had the infrastructure of the entire country altered to suit them, now quite commonly believe that they are the victims of a "war on the motorist". Indeed, the government has just taken more steps to placate them.

Meanwhile, many British cycle campaigners have continued to campaign for the same thing as they always have. i.e. the "right to ride on the road", even though those roads have become a far more hostile place for cyclists than they used to be, and decades of campaigning on these same issues have not resulted in any progress. The reason is quite simple: the over-abundance of motor vehicles makes British roads an unpleasant place to be on a bike. This is now the main reason why people don't cycle.

It makes me very happy to see that there is at last a move in the UK now towards campaigning for the same sort of infrastructural change as prevented the Netherlands from suffering from the same fate as befell the UK. You can find examples of this here, here and here. It took time for the decline to occur, and it will take for cycling to grow back. However, there is enormous pent-up demand, as can be seen anywhere that something attractive to ride on exists.

A change in attitudes can come, but only due to a real change in how it feels to cycle. Go back and look at the people in that film again. There are no reflective vests and no helmets. In 1955 people felt safe on a bike on Britain. Remember what I said about pit canaries a while back ?

The chart appeared in a previous post, but I think it worth repeating in a different context. Another small point: Have you ever seen such a large group on a CTC ride ? Touring cycling thrives when more people cycle. All types of touring are popular over here.

New year cycle

A group of us went out for a huneliggers ride today, as usual on Sunday mornings. It was a bit warmer than two weeks ago, just hovering above freezing point for most of the day.

Wonderful weather for a morning ride in the Mango.

Last week it was quite cold. -8 C when I rode to work on Thursday morning, for instance. However, by New Year's Eve it had warmed up a lot and much of the ice was melted. As a result, we could enjoy the fireworks without getting frozen.


Today started with a very light sprinkling of snow. This meant I could tell in advance that Peter was taking part in the ride, as I followed the three tracks in the snow left by his Mango's wheels between Assen and the starting point.

There were four of us humans today, Anton (who lead the ride), Georg, Peter and myself. Georg brought along his world famous "velodog", Russell.

As usual, we rode through the countryside along cycle paths and minor roads. We were again lucky with the weather - everything looked wonderful. We had some very light snow fall on us for a bit, but it was nothing troublesome.


Our lunch stop was by a lake in the forest. It's not really a touristy spot. In fact, it's really a quarry where sand is extracted (hence the "no entry past this point" sign and the pipes. However, it was completely quiet today and it looked really beautiful.

One energy source on top of another...

I'd not got around to making sandwiches for lunch. However, I had something else: Kendal Mint Cake which my Mum gave me for Christmas. It's perhaps not normally the healthiest thing to eat, with the proud boast on the packet of "350kcal per 100g", however even though we weren't putting in quite so much effort as the British Everest expedition of 1975, it was very enjoyable.

I rode through Kendal back in 2006.


We stayed at the lunch stop for quite a while, talking, admiring the view, enjoying the sun and taking photos.

Most of us wrapped up to stay warm but Russell, like all dogs, seemed to enjoy rolling in the snow.

Last Thursday I had a bit of a fright on the way home from work as I crashed my Mango on black ice. It had been quite cold in the morning, but had warmed up just above freezing in the day, rained a little bit, and then gone back below freezing by the time I left for home. Very dangerous conditions. Even though the gritters were out on the cycle paths and roads before I went home, there were slippery patches.

I found one of these on the way home. I put the brakes on just before a junction on a minor road and my Mango span on the spot, fell over and slid to a halt on snow at the edge of the road. Luckily there was no damage to me or to the bike. When I went to look I could immediately see the cause: Where I'd brakes, there had been ice under the rear wheel and one front wheel, while the other front wheel was still on asphalt. When I got home I fitted a Marathon Winter to the rear wheel of my own Mango and went for a short test ride. In the same treacherous conditions the bike remains in a straight line, whatever is under the wheels when I brake. Much better.

Today was the first proper ride with this rear tyre and I'm very happy with it. Of course, I'll change back to a non-studded tyre when the danger of ice has passed.


After lunch, just as we were starting to cool down a bit, it was time to go, heading through more of the beautiful countryside.

We started off heading North, towards Groningen, which was good for Anton and Georg, but not really the right direction for Peter and I, so after a bit we left the other two and turned towards home.

Just under 65 km in all. Not a long ride, but a very enjoyable one.

Happy New Year, everyone. I hope you've also been able to get out on your bikes, whatever weather you have.
Read my review of the Sinner Mango Velomobile.

December photos

A few photos. Some from today, some from a couple of days ago...

Merry Christmas everyone.

A Sunday ride through a snowy landscape

A bunch of us met for a huneliggers ride through the countryside again today. Wonderful weather for it.

It was -7 C this morning, and had "warmed up" to -6 C by the time the ride itself started. That's still T-shirt weather with a velomobile, so of course I rode in my Mango, but whenever you get out you need to put a coat on sharpish. And of course you also need to wear a good warm hat and scarf while riding. But not gloves.

The countryside just looks so fantastically wonderful on a day like this. That is the reward for going out on a cold, but bright, day like this.

The sun was relatively strong for a winter day, and there was no wind to speak of, so it was really rather pleasant. Good company is vitally important too, of course, and that's the reason to meet up with a bunch of people and ride together. Today, Peter, Robert and Harry were already at the start point. Harry set off towards home quite early as he had only come for the Marathon Winter studded tyres which I had brought with me. Peter and Robert both also live in Assen, so we rode back together through the countryside.

The cycle paths locally have not been swept quite so well this year as last. The weather has been difficult, thawing and re-freezing repeatedly. However, the "superhighway" stretch between Assen and Vries was quite good. I had few problems yesterday cycling within the city.

Here's the video of today's ride:

The game that is being played is called Klootschieten.

In a recent post, I explained what a huneligger is.
Read my review of the Sinner Mango Velomobile.

Winter's here...

Last weekend we had a big thaw, and we took the opportunity to go and collect a Christmas tree from one of the local growers. I rode the Xtracycle again, as it's good for moving long things.

On the way back we saw the amusing sight of a car driver trying to use a bus road but coming up against an obstacle which has featured before on this blog. You can see in these photos why the driver changed her mind and turned around:

After the mild weekend, the cold weather returned, and there was snow and ice for the rest of the week. My children cycled to school on Wednesday morning, just like every other morning. It was -2 C, and there was snow on the ground but there was no suggestion of travelling any other way:


Orders have continued to come in to the Dutch Bike Bits shop and as ever the customers parcels have made their way to the post office by bike.

In this case I had seven parcels in all, for customers in Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, the USA and one staying within the Netherlands. Four of the customers had ordered Schwalbe Marathon Winter studded tyres in the 20" size (which we have in stock now), and those are the parcels stacked on the back of my bike.

It was very pleasant riding to the post office in the freshly fallen snow, but on the way back it turned into a blizzard, and I saw these two people and one umbrella on a bike going in the opposite direction to a snow-plow on the same cycle path. I guess they sorted it out before they collided:


I also did a day's work in Groningen yesterday, setting off at 7 in the morning when it was -5 C (23 F) and returning at about about -2 C. As ever, the 60 km round trip went without any drama, I went a little slower than usual and took care on the corners so it took an hour and ten minutes in each direction. Though fresh ice had fallen/formed on some of them afterwards, the cycle paths had all been swept except for the same five metre long portion in the middle which was missed last year (the centre photo here):


It's -7 C this morning. My eldest daughter is travelling today to see grandparents in the UK before Christmas. Some of the Dutch trains are working on half hour services instead of quarter hour services at the moment, and there might be some delays, but it seems they're all running. I don't think they'll have any problem with getting to the ferry terminal, not on the ferry, but I'm a bit concerned about the trains in Britain. As ever there are reports of "Travel Chaos" despite weather which other countries seem to be able to cope with, and indeed which Britain also used to be able to cope with:



However, some problems have been caused here too, as you can see from this news report from here in Assen:


The other major thing this week was the meeting about the Netherlands Cycling Embassy, which was the subject of another blog post.

Assen railway station bike shop: Longer opening hours, more guarded cycle parking spaces

A small story in the local newspaper. Longer opening hours at the bike shop at Assen's railway station. The shop was previously open from before the first train in the morning until after the last train in the evening. Now the opening times each day will be from 5 in the morning until 2 the next morning, easily covering the times for trains. At any time, the shop will be able to offer bike sales, repairs, rentals (for normal rental bikes and also OV Fiets bike share bikes.

The longer shop hours also mean better availability for the approximately one thousand secure indoor cycle parking spaces (this has quietly increased from 750 places last year), though of course the 1550 outdoor spaces can be accessed at any time.

Such long opening hours are quite exceptional in the Netherlands. It is rare here for shops to open late at night, and virtually all shops are shut on Sundays and on Monday mornings. As such, this bike shop will be one of very few shops of any kind which are open at such hours. Outside these hours, there is still the vending machine.


View of the indoor cycle parking from a platform at night-time.


Outdoor parking on the Western side of the line.


Outdoor parking on the Eestern side of the line.

Assen's population is 65000. The railway station has parking for 2550 bicycles. That's one space for every 25 of the population. You can work out a comparable ratio for your own town. There are other posts about railway station cycle parking.

Update 2013
New plans for the railway station will expand the size to 3500 bikes to keep up with increased usage. Another blog post will include details in the future.

Assen is not a university town. This is a fairly typical amount of railway station cycle parking for a normal Dutch town without hoards of students to boost cycling numbers. You find such numbers even in villages, at railways stations all across the country.