Comments on: Eurobike 2009: First impressions

By: henry

henry — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:23:47 +0000

Hi Nicolas,
Well, as long as you’re cycling we won’t worry about which bike(s) you do it on. Those posts on the Curbside blog and a number of other blogs as well were quite distasteful, but that’s not your fault.

We’ve sold a few Fr8′s to customers in Paris and we should soon have a dealer in Paris too so you’ll be seeing more.

Groeten,
Henry

By: Nicolas

Nicolas — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:33:06 +0000

Also, I wish I’d seen the “anonymous” trashing of Pashley bikes on the Curbside blog before I went ahead with my purchase. It’s not nice to feel like you’re buying products from people with unethical marketing principles.

By: Nicolas

Nicolas — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:29:19 +0000

Ow man, thanks for getting back to me all that time ago, I just didn’t notice, silly me… and my gf ended up getting us both Velorbis. Oh well… after the first tune-up, I can honestly say I’m satisfied with my ride. I’ll see how long that lasts, but the bike does feel solid, and my LBS is reputable so I don’t think I’ll be let down.
Anyway, I was just writing to let you know that on my daily commute I see a dad with 2 kids on his beautiful Fr8 pretty much every morning, and I have a little thought for Workcycles. Cheers!

By: henry

henry — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:19:24 +0000

Bonjour Nicolas,
Trashing Moof? No, I think the bike you’re referring to is called a “Woof” like the sound a dog makes. I’ll try be diplomatic about Velorbis:The Pashleys they seem to have copied are nicer bikes and I think most of the bikes from reputable Dutch makes are of better quality and design. Of course we’d be happy to set you up with WorkCycles bikes if you want to spend a weekend in Amsterdam. But if that’s not convenient Azor (http://www.azor.nl) has a couple dealers in Paris and a pair of well-equipped Azors would keep you happily cycling for many years.

By: Nicolas

Nicolas — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:44:50 +0000

Groeten Henry,

Thanks for the insight on Eurobike. I have a question that’s not really related to carrier cycles but since you’re trashing the Moof and you guys have opa/omafietsen on your catalog I’d like to have your opinion. I’m on the market for a couple of new city bikes (his and hers, for Paris) and my bike store carries Velorbis. Since they were at Eurobike as well and they make all sorts of city/transport bikes, I figured you probably had an opinion on them, like, do you consider them “just another retro fashion lookalike” or a serious brand that’s going to give me satisfaction for decades to come?
Don’t want to make you badmouth colleagues, but I also don’t want to buy a bike that’s nothing but a fashion accessory. So let me know if I should just factor a Thalys ride into my budget and come buy a bike from you instead

By: Rob

Rob — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:11:19 +0000

For me the important thing is that folk carry loads comfortably on their bicycles.
I ride FR8′s with a frame mounted massive rack so loaded that i find it hard to lift it yet can ride it hands free for a second or two….I ride bikes with baskets fitted to handlebars with a 6 pack, milk and bread in it…even a dog at times and its ok, not as stable but ok……a choice….!st choice for me…frame mounted rack every time…do i have a problem riding a bike with handlebar/fork mounted basket?…absolutely not…racks/baskets is where its at….where ever they are mounted.
I am tired of seeing folk with £90 dual suspension bikes with two or more shopping bags hanging from the handlebars….
If you want to know how different set ups affect riding then talk to your local bike shop they should have bikes you can try so that you can find out for yourself…..try it…..don’t take anyones word for it…not even henrys. Then you have your own definitive answer to your own questions.
My opinion….rack mounted are more consistantly good, fork mounted racks can be hidiously swingy…
Rob

By: henry

henry — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:08:51 +0000

Todd,
No that’s too complicated a discussion for here nor would I even know what scientific data would be necessary to compare frame and fork mounted carriers. On the basis of what criteria anyway?

But just for the sake of a rough comparison: A fork mounted carrier with 20kg is already very heavy and slow steering while a WorkCycles Fr8 with frame-mounted Massive Rack still steers rather normally with a 100kg load.

Let’s not push for any regulations at all please! I’ve never said that fork mounted carriers are unsafe or that they should be banned. You’ve read that in yourself. They’re just generally inferior to frame-mounted carriers for most applications. If other companies want to keep designing and making fork mounted carriers more power to them. Some will do it well and others will do it poorly and yet others will randomly copy those who do it both well and poorly. That’s their business.

By: Todd Edelman

Todd Edelman — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 06:54:21 +0000

Could you please explain the difference with loads of 10. 20 and 30kg on fork-mounted, stem/handlebar-mounted and frame-mounted racks in scientific terms? Some people have experience with low-rise front panniers or have seem and figure they are cool, etc.

Is it really much cheaper to make a fork-mounted rack than the frame-kind? Can’t you get “safety bonus points” for a frame-mounted rack or even bribe relevant officials to make fork-mounted racks illegal?

By: henry

henry — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:46:49 +0000

patrick,
I was just waiting for somebody to catch that “mistake” I put in there to catch the true nerds amongst us. Nonetheless I don’t really understand why the underfunded and short-staffed Rebel Alliance got the more advanced and effective X-wings while the Imperials had to make do with such fragile TIE fighters.

I believe that a properly designed porteur type bike can work fine but the big-name copycats have clearly missed the subtleties that make the difference between OK and handles like crap. Still, I’ll take a frame-mounted carrier any day. Larger fork mounted carriers are pretty stone age.

By: patrick

patrick — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:52:59 +0000

Hi Henry, I can’t believe no one has said this already and am embarrassed that i even noticed, but Lord Vader doesn’t have an X wing, he has a T.I.E. fighter. Or a version of one, if I recall.

As for the front loading stuff, I can agree with Fred that a low trail geometry works pretty well with a big front basket. I have a Kogswell like him that carries a bunch of stuff on the front (and in front panniers) with no complaints.

Can’t wait to see production models of the Gr8, though… that might just put me on a Dutch bike.

Thanks for the incisive, informative, and humorous post.

Cheers

Patrick