I'll be back!

After a Winter hiatus I will be back with new blog entries.  Have had the Strada on the road only twice this Winter.  The Winter has been a rough one in Western Canada.  Reminded me of the brutal Winters of the 1960's and 1970's when I lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

I have been working on the Strada after having some problems with the rear derailleur.  Will be testing it out this week and see if the new cables make it shift better.

It seems to be running fine, but Mother Nature has kicked us in the head again and now more snow and ice on the roads!

Decals from Holland & Toronto

New Strada decals were applied yesterday. I received the complimentary "strada" decals from Ymte Sijbrandij, at Velomobiel.nl.  He was so kind as to send them to me for free and they arrived in less than a week!   The decals match the silver pinstriping I put on the Strada.

Today, I also received the decals from Bluevelo and they went on before my ride today.

I completed a 100 kms in the past two days and find myself getting more and more comfortable on the road.  The two mirrors are great in keeping tabs on the traffic. I also think my body has finally found the "sweet spot" in the seat.  I stopped wearing a helmet since it always hit the back rim of the cockpit.  I like wearing a helmet.  It has become a habit that I cannot shake.  Will look for another model that has more of a flat  back.  Someone suggested a skateboard or snowsport helmet. 

 

Detailing

While not wanting to put too many "doo dads" on the Strada, I did want a bit of detailing on the body.  I put the silver pinstriping on the seam and a couple of Canadian flags near the rear.

... and of course,  a small ol' bluecoyote decal on the side just in front of the wheels!

I have been waiting for Bluevelo's decals to arrive in the mail but nothing so far.

In addition, I plan to get a "Strada" decal made to make it look very much like the European model.  Having a hard time determining the font on the European Strada logos.

Plan to attach the Flevo roof today, so I can get out on the road in the rain.  I just will not stop raining here!

Update to this Post:

Ymte at Velombile.NL sent me an email saying that they would send me the "strada" decals in the mail.  Thanks so much!

Fits me like a glove! A snug glove!

Well, I finally have the Strada totally fitted to me.  It had been quite a challenge finding the sweet spot in the seat so that my shoulders do not rub the underside of the cockpit.  It is not easy readjusting the rear of the seat lower so that it is seated properly on the rear support, but front of the seat up enough to cradle my butt!  In addition, I did not want the bottom of the seat to bottom out on the floor.  This whole process involves taking the seat out and adusting the various fittings up and down many times.

I also changed my pedals, from the supplied Shimano M324 SPD pedals, to the Shimano A520 pedals.  The latter are only one sided but they hang facing toward you when you clip in.  No need to spin them as is the case with the M324.   I have used the A520 pedals for a number of years and have just become really comfortable with them.  They look great too but that really is not a factor in a velomobile. 

I am really starting to enjoy the ride and my speed is improving daily.  My average speed is up over 5 kms an hour over my average in my Catrike Expedition.  The one thing that I am impressed with is my hill climbing ability.  I had thought that that would have been reduced, but in many ways the Strada climbs better than I had ever expected.

I did a night ride the other evening and the headlight is really good.  The Strada does need some side reflectors. The one thing I did discover is how nice it is inside.  My body was toasty warm while my head was fairly cold by the time I arrived back home.

I am hoping to find the time this week to do a longer trip along some smoother pavement than I have been on lately.  The suspension on the Strada is nice but I find the ride no better than my Catrike Expedition. 

Wheel Discs Installed.

I have resisted putting the discs on until now.  I have been running the tires with different pressures and did not want to remove the discs each time I changed tire pressures.  I have settled on 55 psi on the front Schwalbe Kojaks and 70 on the rear Marathon Supreme.   I also positioned the Flevo roof to see how it would look.  I will install it later when the weather gets a bit worse. I will have to drill two holes for the front support fittings.  I really pained me to drill a hole in it to install the second mirror.  Drilling two more will really hurt!

Some more photos of the Strada

 

This photo shows that I have added another mirror. I also installed my Garmin GPS.  No high tech mount, just added a strip of Velcro™ to the back and it seems to stick no matter how bumpy the ride gets.  I added a mount for the bell on the right side using an unused hole where the body sections meet.  I used a Minoura bottle mount with a 2.5" chunk of handlebar in it.  The brass Mirrycle Saturn Bell fits easily without rubbing the side of the body.  It has a great musical and loud sound when you spin the outer ring!

 

Click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

TWEEKING, TWEEKING, TWEEKING!

Today, as for most of the Summer, it is raining. so, I am doing a bit more "tweeking" or in English "making adjustments" on the Strada.  Firstly, I increased the size and shape of the reflectors on the rear and used it to cover up a few seams at the rear.

I also need to install my GPS and this will require installing the mount where I can see it. I can hardly see the Cateye speedometer, that is inside the velo, since I am no  'wisp of a boy" and rather fill the cockpit!  I have scoured the internet looking to see how others have done that and nothing really strikes my fancy.  I do not want to drill and more holes in the body so I might have a look at using Velcro.  Hopefully, it will resist vibration. I Will work on that this afternoon and show the results of what I come up with in a future post.

I had an e-mail from my friend, Christine in Ottawa. She said something that made me stop and think.   Very astutely, she said and I quote; "Wow! This is fabulous! You always have the best toys. But don't spoil that beautiful aerodynamic exterior with too many do-dads and decals."  She might be right and I will have to re-evaluate what I am going to do for the exterior design.  I might go really low-key and simple!