Judy's new touring bike - Review of the Sinner Spirit

Judy got a new bike a few days ago. She has needed a new touring bike for some time as we sold her old touring bike, a Flevobike Oke-Ja, three years ago before we emigrated.

The Oke-Ja was, well, OK, but to be fair it's only a middling recumbent. It was one of those bikes with the pedals lower than the seat. This makes them very easy to ride, and particularly easy to get on and off. However, they are not really comfortable except for very short distances. The Americans have a term for this: "recumbent butt." Many people try to counter it by replacing the seat cushion (often more than once). We did the same with the Oke-Ja. A friend of mine went through different seats on a BikeE. The problem is due to the position with the feet too low and the real solution is to ride a bike on which the pedals are higher. This is more daunting for beginners, but you get used to it and it's really much more comfortable in the longer term. It's also more aerodynamic. If you're not particularly interested in speed, note that this means you make better progress - especially into headwinds.

We've tried a couple of other things out over the last couple of years, including some trikes a few months back, but really the best option for most people most of the time is a bicycle. They're a bit more efficient, they take up less space and they're mechanically more simple.

I used to work for Sinner, so of course we looked at their line-up. I have a Sinner Mango velomobile but Judy really wanted an open recumbent. She has always preferred above seat steering, and wider mesh seats over narrower hard seats (they're usually a better choice for women and for more "full figured" people) so this narrowed down the choice to the Spirit.

Judy tried a Spirit on a very pleasant ride in May and she got on very well with it. With help from my colleagues I secretly organised a similar bike - in Judy's preferred red, and surprised her with it on the day of a recent cycling event in Groningen.

Sinner bikes are sold complete. Both a front and rear light were included, as was a computer, a kick stand, mudguards and a rack. The standard tyres are of decent quality (Schwalbe Marathons), the brakes are also decent quality Shimano Deore. All these things come with the bike, nothing needs fiddling with beyond setting the bike to the correct size. When we picked it up, Judy rode it home from the shop. These are bikes for "grown ups". For people who want something solidly engineered, on which everything fits, everything works, and on which you'll be able to ride for many years.

I've added three things to the bike. A Busch und Müller Cyclestar mirror, which is essential on a recumbent, a good quality frame lock, and of course a basket. I make baskets for all types of bikes, including recumbents.

The Spirit is a great bike. All the details of the design are improvements over my own two wheeled recumbent, a Pashley PDQ. In comparison, the Spirit wins with front suspension, much better rear suspension, better engineered special parts such as the pivot on the steering, and much better quality rack and mudguards. I think it's also a bit faster - the seat can be installed more reclined for a more aero position, and the larger rear wheel rolls better (while occasionally people make silly claims otherwise, rolling resistance of wheels is always inversely proportional to radius). As a result, fitted with similar tyres, the Spirit has about 15% lower rolling resistance vs. the PDQ with its two 20" wheels. Judy's not bothered about speed, but when we ride together this small difference between the bikes helps to keep us matched. We suffered from the opposite effect when Judy had the Oke-Ja as it was obviously less efficient than my bike. The Spirit is better for marital harmony.

The new bike is a success. Such a success that just one week after she got it, Judy was confident enough to come for the first time on one of the Sunday morning rides of the local recumbent riders, and to ride further in a day than she's ever ridden on any other bike before - 101 km. And all that without a complaint about discomfort beyond tired limbs:

Why choose a recumbent as a touring bike ? Well, they're ideally suited. These bikes are remarkably comfortable and you get to look straight ahead and see where you're going. What's more, these bikes also help many people who have medical conditions to be able to continue to cycle. We've made all our longer tours on recumbents.

Many Sinner customers ride their new bikes directly home from the shop. Last December one of our customers made a particularly impressive first journey.

End of week roundup

The Mango velomobile that I borrowed for a few days was great fun to ride. However, I had the small problem of keeping track of my possessions while riding. I lost my keys under the seat.

This prompted me to make a basket of the peculiar shape needed to fit beside the seat so that I could drop things like the keys into it, and I rode the machine back to Groningen without losing my wallet, keys or my lunch which travelled there in the basket.

The weather was absolutely terrible for the Thursday commute, so I didn't take any pictures. Regardless, it took just 53 minutes despite a mighty headwind and strong rain. Only my head was exposed and got rained on.

I also made some more normal bike baskets last week, including the basket of white willow for a customer back in Cambridge where we used to live.


I'd noticed last week that the rear tyre on my PDQ was badly worn again. I last wrote about this in November when I wore out the last tyre. The tyre worn , and now it's time to swap again. The tyre through to the anti puncture strip this week is the one fitted in December. Despite getting to this stage several times, I've still not ever had a puncture with a Vredestein Monte Carlo tyre, so I'm happy to stick with them.

We went to the Ooievaarsringen ( "Stork Ringing" ) yesterday evening. It takes place at Droonessa, just 6 km or so from home.

The first photo shows the unsuspecting mother sitting in her nest.

The mother remained remarkably calm when these guys turned up and took her children.

The ringing took place with a huge audience. Children were allowed to sit in front for a good view, but it was difficult to see past the crowd.

I couldn't help but take photos of some of the bikes that people had ridden to see this. It had been advertised for several weeks on signs outside, and as it is on my commuting route I'd been past lots of time.

There are very many more photos to view by following the "fotoboek" link from the Droonessa web page, and even a webcam. The birds are happily back in their nests now.

Finally, a video made last Sunday when we still had the Mango:

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.

Be like the Hovis boy !

Back in the 1970s, the TV in Britain often showed this advertisement for Hovis bread. It features a boy making a delivery on a traditional delivery bicycle.

These bikes are very practical and still in demand. However, it can be difficult to find such real butchers bikes in good condition these days. I can help out. I sell front racks for bicycles in several different styles which can be fitted to most bicycles.

There is a frame mounted rack like this:

And a handlebar mounted rack like this:


You can see full details of both styles here. I can of course make a bike basket to fit either style, or indeed to fit a genuine old delivery bike.

You may also be interested in a page of description of British delivery bicycles

Hoogeveen (en weer terug)

Hoogeveen (and back again)

Some of you might have noticed that I sell some very useful and very sturdy front racks for bicycles. I get through quite a few, and yesterday realised that I'd sold the last one I had in stock. So, today I went to fetch some more from a bicycle factory in Hoogeveen, a town just about 40 km south from here.

As ever, the ride was a pleasure. Just two traffic lights to stop for on the way there, and one traffic light plus giving way to some traffic twice on the way back. Here are some photos from the journey.

For quickness, I take the direct route right down the side of the main road. However, that doesn't mean I have to ride on the main road.

For about half the journey there is a cycle path. For the other half there is an access road as shown here, which is used by farmers vehicles and residents as well as cyclists such as myself and this child who is riding along on his own in the middle of no-where.

Note the high level of subjective safety due to him not riding on the same road as the truck is travelling on.

This dog always delights in chasing me the length of his plot every time I pass. This time I was ready for him and got a photo. It's not as dangerous (for me) as it might look. There is an "invisible fence" wire on the ground between me and him. And look, dogs really do lift all four legs when they run. Muybridge would be proud (or perhaps turning in his grave).

A later stretch where there is a cycle path. Nice and smooth and wide, though in this case not quite so far from the traffic as most of it is due to having to pass the property with the flags.

Note that the flags are all pointing in the wrong direction. Towards me. The headwind is my excuse for my tardiness today on the way to Hoogeveen.

We're half way there in Beilen. This bus stop, like all of them, has plenty of cycle parking. On a work day it's full with commuter's bikes.

It's called integrated transport. The one down side of it for cycling is that people who cycle only as part of their journey are not counted in figures for percentages of people who cycle for their journeys. In another post I show the amount of cycle parking at the railway station in Beilen.

Cycle paths mostly have priority over side roads. Stopping and restarting on a bike is akin to making a detour of about 100 metres, so it would add up on a long journey.

The priority really helps with getting where you're going in good time.

The bike parked outside the factory. Actually, this is on a previous visit. I didn't think to take a photo today. I fitted in one extra rack today so in total rode with six of the handlebar mounted racks and five of the frame mounted racks.

The bike is a Pashley PDQ recumbent (a touring recumbent, not particularly fast) and I tow a BOB Yak trailer for this journey. My bikes all have bicycle baskets, of course.

Despite the greater than 35 kg weight of the racks, the return journey was quicker due to not having a headwind to deal with.

Here's a video showing parts of the journey in both directions. It's not anything like a complete record. Sometimes I took stills, sometimes I took video:


I've noticed that some people like to write what they've been doing in the way of exercise. It's not really what this blog is about, but this is how far and how long etc.

• Date: 6/11/2008
• Total Time: 2:53:00
• Distance: 75.7 km (47 miles)
• Average Speed: 26.2 km/h (16.3 mph)

4001 - a utility cycling odyssey

I noticed yesterday as I put it away that my town bike had managed to clock up exactly 4001 km on its bike computer.

The computer was given to me for Christmas by my children and fitted around the middle of January. January 15th to September 26th is 255 days, so this bike has covered an average of 15.6 km, or just less than 10 miles, each day.

So how does this break down ? First, what this doesn't include:

• I mostly work at home so don't have a commute.
• Most times I take parcels to the post office I use the Xtracyclee.
• For longer rides I use the PDQ (or, later on. Mango).

So, what does make up this distance ?

• Dog walking takes about 3 km a day.
• Shopping
• Going out for shorter rides with the family
• Two days of 90 km+ when the PDQ broke down in the middle of a tour earlier in the year and I had to swap bikes.

Is that it ? No. The PDQ also has a bike computer and has done 2500 km in the same period. It was a surprise to me that all the little daily utility rides added up to more than the "big" rides, but they do. I've no idea how far the Xtracycle has gone, but that does the post office run a couple of times a week and did a 100 km weekend due to visiting a basketmaking exhibition (only 40 km away, but I also had to get between the venue, the campsite, the barbecue etc.). The folding bikes do very little by comparison.

So, that's about 7000 km in total so far this year, and I'm in line for 10000 km by the end of the year. I'm looking forward to the next 3000 km !

And what is this bike ? It's an anonymous 1980s British made "all steel" 3 speed equipped bike with proper 26" wheels (26" x 1 3/8 or ETRTO 590 - over an inch bigger in diameter than MTB 26" wheels). It's also still got its original steel mudguards and chainguard, so it's a bike you can ride in any clothes without getting dirty. It's not light, it's not at all flashy, it wasn't expensive when new, but it's very reliable, very comfortable and definitely suitable for everyday use.

The bike actually came to me by an unusual route. It was found dumped in a lake north of Cambridge some years ago when walking the dog.

It looked a bit of a state, but the only thing that made it unrideable was the state of the tyres and needing a few more spokes in the rear wheel. It's since had a new chain (steel chainrings aren't like alloy ones and last almost forever), another set of new tyres, a proper dynamo light system (what would it have cost me in batteries by now if I used battery lights ?), new brake blocks, a new brake cable, a black hammerite paint job to replace the nasty red/white that it had from the factory, a new black saddle to match the paint (and to replace a damaged one) and a new front wheel hub when I rebuilt the wheel that last week. Apart from fixing things which had been broken by the person who'd dumped the bike, these are parts that eventually wear out on any bike.

Buy a Dutch lock online

The bike is fitted with matching front and back baskets which carry a lot of shopping between them, and it's gained a couple of small Dutch influences in the form of the very useful wheel lock and the "Blij dat ik fiets" sticker on the rear mudguard. This translates to "Happy that I cycle". And riding along comfortably on this bike, I smile as much as the figure on the sticker...

A typical use for this bike is a shopping expedition.

Bikes and baskets

Bicycles have had baskets for as long as there have been bicycles.

I've just returned from a fabulous weekend at the Nationaal Vlechtmuseum in Noordwolde. This is the national basketry museum of the Netherlands on a site which used to be the basket-making school and this was a special weekend, the Nationale Vlechtdagen.

The first photo shows a sign on a minor road heading into the village. The village has the usual blanket 30 km/h (18 mph) speed limit, and the sign says "Welcome to the basket-making village of the Netherlands".

It was a fabulous event. As well as a chance to sell a few of my baskets, This was a chance to meet 25 other basketmakers and see other people's work, as well as have a look around the museum.

Of course, there is a special bicycle in the museum, as shown in the photograph on the right.

Noordwolde is 40 km away, I cycled down on Saturday morning and returned on Sunday evening with my Xtracycle cargo bike pulling a trailer with baskets and a tent. It's a cumbersome thing to ride when loaded up to that extent, but the cycle paths here don't have any obstructions on them, so once the bike got up to speed I could keep going quite steadily and the journey took under 2 hours.


This video shows some of the people at the Vlechtdagen. It was a very enjoyable event.

The Nationaal Vlechtmuseum has interesting exhibits, a restaurant, and is a very pleasant place to cycle to. It will be a destination on our cycling holidays next year.

I specialise in making bicycle baskets. You can see them on the bicycle basket page on my website.