Minimal.bike is here! |
November 17th, 2016 |  |
This time not a recumbent, but certainly an attractive project! | ||
 To keep the mind clear it's necessary to do something outside the daily proceedings. In this particular case it's still about bicycles, but this time you're going in an upright position against the wind. The last two years have been pretty busy with this full carbon project on top of the (not really) daily routine plus the 2-SPOKE plus the Carbon Handbike project. But this minimal.bike project started at the M5 counter in October 2014 during a visit of Aart Roelandt (senior industrial designer offering a wide range of products). I've been asking him for years to come up with a nice idea or product which could be manufactured in carbon. His proposal was: devise, draw, make a lightweight carbon citybike. There are definitely reasonably well, or simply well, handling compact (folding) bikes that are good looking, but each of them have their own characteristics and flaws:
After several sketches, soon a basic shape was determined and subsequently 1:1 AutoCad drawings, cardboard shapes and real wooden 1:1 models were made. It is imperative to actually feel the frame in your hands instead of only seeing it on a screen as a flattened 3-D model, particularly because the frame will be manufactured in expensive steel moulds. Apart from the frame and the front fork I also made several wooden handlebars with air-foil shape, which resulted in two carbon production versions. One with integrated handlebars and thumb notches and the other with cylindrical carbon tube ends which allow assembly of standard shifters and brake levers. One of the main goals was to adjoin all parts as much as possible. So, no carbon frame from the year 2100 with an old fashioned pre-1900 looking (aluminium or steel!) saddle or handlebar stem just because these are available readily. Seen plenty of those. Also no ugly clamps around saddle or handlebar stem (hidden inside the frame instead). Due to the special properties of carbon and especially the super fabric of Toray 800/1000 it was even possible to abandon the standard triangular frame shape and make the absolute most of freedom of form. Finally, a special thanks to Bob Vroegh from Bob Lab for the 3D Solid Works contribution! Further info on the special website: www.minimal.bike | ||
Two golden, one silver and one bronze medal on Rio Paralympics with M5 2-SPOKE wheel! |
September 22nd, 2016 | |
And a new worldrecord on the 500 meter standing start as well for Alyda Norbruis (NL) | ||
) M5 2-SPOKE wheels are used by the worlds fastest professional bicyclists and hand-bikers. Among them the current Olympic and world champion Triathlon 2016 Jetze Plat and many more professional cyclists like world champion and two times Olympic Gold medalist Alyda Norbruis (Rio 2016). Also the TEAM.NL tandem with Vincent ter Schure and Timo Fransen have used the 2-SPOKE in the 20 km time trial with a silver medal as result.Especially the use of the wheel in the tandem proves the strength of the wheel. Video: Alyda Norbruis in Women's Individual Pursuit - C 1-3: qualifying Recent article and video in the newspaper PZC (in Dutch) Website: www.2-spoke.com | ||
New and absolute world hour record: 57.6 km ( 35,978 miles) for Matthias Konig on a custom M5 Carbon High Racer |
September 18th, 2016 | |
Nice detail: 31 year old M5/Thijs front wheel... | ||
) Did you ever managed to reach 58 km/36 mph in a short sprint? Excellent! But in this case, it was one whole hour... However: to reach 57.6 average you need to perform an almost constant 58 km/h to compensate the start. No one before cycled that fast as Matthias this afternoon on the track in Frankfurt. Even the unofficial 20-year-old hour record (56.375 km) from Chris Boardman is improved by as much as 1.225 km. That's almost five whole laps!This was also the last record which was not yet in the hands of a recumbent. We also have to realize that Chris Boardman probably produced more than 130 watts extra compared to Matthias. This makes it even more impressive. The top speed of a person like Chris Boardman on this M5 bike will result then in an astonishing 65 km or 40.4 miles. One w h o l e hour ... | ||
Stunning new wheel! |
September 10th, 2016 | |
) www.2-spoke.com | ||
New world hour record for M5! |
June 28th, 2016 | |
Matthias Konig covers an astonishing 56.15 km in one hour or 34.9 miles on a special M5 bike | ||
) Matthias on the M5 bike during the world hour record ride Image: DropLimitsAfter several test sessions Matthias improved the 2011 one-hour record to a staggering 56,150 kilometres. His successful attempt in Buttgen was performed on the specially build M5 MOEKOKKEN recumbent, an ultra reclined Carbon Low Racer. This bike was build in a rush by Bram in 2011, because by then time was pressing already, Bram being 55 years old. In October 2011 a first attempt was done in Apeldoorn, but it didn't take long to realise that the special position on the bike took more time to adjust than the mere four weeks prior. Last year Matthias Konig contacted M5 with the question if he could borrow the bike for a record attempt, a request which was granted happily. The most amazing aspect of this record is the extremely low energy requirement of this bike, just above 300 Watt! For comparison: twee weeks ago I was present at wheel tests at a velodrome and an Olympic racing cyclist had to generate 360 Watt on a time trial bike just to get to 46 km/h. Matthias is capable to produce 350 to 360 Watt during an hour, provided he's adapted enough. So, there's more to come! | ||
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