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Viking Tour 2014	June 27th, 2014
Introducing the M5 Racing Team
A short introduction of the M5 Team. All riders take part with their M5 Carbon High Racer which weighs around nine kilograms. Weight is certainly important during the Viking Tour: 13.000 metres of climbing in seven days. More on the Viking Tour on www.vikingtour.no. There's a list of participants, the route and a lot of practical information. Follow the efforts of the M5 Team at www.facebook.com/m5recumbents. The riders Robert Carlier, 39 years, studied mechanical engineering and physiotherapy and now has his own physiotherapy practice. Long distance specialist, currently among the fastest recumbent riders in the Netherlands. Globetrotter, hiked and cycled everywhere on the planet. Fastest Dutchman during Paris-Brest-Paris in 2011. His M5 Carbon High Racer is pretty standard according to Robert. He did shorten the handle bar and mounted bar-ends on it, thus enabling the use of thumb shifters. Wout Ruijter, 35 years, calculated the frame of the M5 Carbon High Racer for series production to obtain the ideal ratio between the use of material (weight) and strength. Tall and fast rider. Bram Moens, 57 years, apart from sports, photography and painting a long career in developing and producing efficient recumbents. Keeper of several world records. Picked up racing again for the first time in nine years last spring. Amongst busy working days Bram manages to cover quite a lot of training kilometres, like Luik-Bastenaken-Luik in Belgium. Daniel Siepman, 46 years, working in several IT-related projects and highly interested in ecological building methods. Participates in the Viking Tour with the M5 Carbon Medium Racer, the already ten years old prototype of the High Racer. To get a few extra training kilometres he wants to go by recumbent from the Netherlands to the starting point of the Viking Tour in Norway. Making kilometres in The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark and then some climbing in the mountains of Norway. Concerning the Viking Tour: he is somewhat nervous about the 13000 metres of ascending, but maybe even more about the steep, unpaved parts of the Viking Tour. Herke Wendt, 40 years, landscaper in daily life. Covering serious distances with his M5 Carbon High Racer: every Sunday morning a trip of about 150 km and during summer also a weekly evening ride. He's fond of his recumbent and would like to make more trips, but being an entrepreneur time is often an issue. To prepare for the Viking Tour he trains a lot in the Teutoburger Wald, because in the flat Emsland there are no mountains. He's considering to cover at least part of the way to Norway by recumbent to get a few extra training kilometres.


Sverigetempot tour started	June 25th, 2014
2100 km's from north to south with two M5 CHR's in the race
Arthur van der Lee (53) and Ssas Scherrenberg (62)on their M5 CHR's are doing another monster tour: the Swerigetempot 2014, 2100 kilometres within 177 hours. This kind of long distance riding is besides a good personal condition only doable on a bike like the ultra-efficient, light and stiff M5 CHR with its large wheels. You can follow his efforts and see his position at www.roadworkx.com/gps.html. More on Sverigetempot 2014 at www.sverigetempot.se/ Let the games begin....

M5 on Cycle Vision	June 24th, 2014
June 28 and 29: races and recumbent testing
M5 will also be at Cycle Vision! Bram Moens and probably some other M5 riders will participate in the three hour race and there will be several M5 recumbents on the try out circuit. Note that Cycle Vision will be in Limburg this year, this may shorten the travelling distance for international visitors. Note: the M5 store in Middelburg will be closed on Saturday More on Cycle Vision here

Put a lid on it!	June 24th, 2014
First products from new Tail Bag moulds
As a test the first samples from the lid template of the newest Tail Bag for the M5 Carbon High Racer and the M5 M-Racer. The small picture shows the classic 3K fabric, while the other has a chequerboard pattern. The last one is strictly speaking not suitable for 3D shapes, but used it anyway.


M5 on Facebook and Twitter	June 3rd, 2014
Follow the latest recumbent news even easier and like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. This way you'll be notified of the experiences of the M5 Team during the Viking Tour in Norway. But also of the latest novelties of other events, new products and other M5 related subjects. Click on the logo's on the left side of the page!

Race weekend	June 3rd, 2014
Bram Moens racing again after a 9 year break
June 1 Bram Moens participated in two races on the cycle track in Peer, Belgium: the one hour race and the 200 metre sprint with flying start. Bram concluded the one hour race with a fourth place. He raced in first position throughout about 70% of the race, which he described as "somewhat foolish" since stayering was allowed during the race. Maybe a podium place had been possible with a somewhat different strategy during the race. Bram was third in the 200 metre sprint.

Preparation Viking Tour Norway	May 19th, 2014
A small update
With two more months before the race, I'm doing training laps of 160 km. Thanks to the tuned M5 CHR these are covered with an average of 40 km/h, while manoeuvring through everyday traffic. In my case, to reach 40 km/h (no wind) only a heart rate of 114 is needed. For comparison: I can maintain a rate of 154 for a full hour and my heart rate in rest is around 32. The bike is now equipped with the lowest available seat support of 30 mm, HED-3 rear wheel, Shimano 16 spoke RS 31 front wheel, Continental 4000 S II tyres, Vredestein latex tubes, Lightning Carbon cranks (53-34) of 185 mm, SRAM X-0 10-speed shifters, M5 Topbag of 17 ltr. on a carbon carrier. Very aerodynamic solution, because it blends fully with head/helmet and part of the upper body.

Foam mold for M5 CHR Tail Bag gradually taking shape	May 18th, 2014
Sometimes there's a setback... First the mould of the first version of the carbon carrier warped in the oven in March. Last April for the first time in thirty years of working with resins a mould failed to separate from its parent form, despite eight hotwax impregnations I did before. Apart from a lot of annoyance this meant a significant delay in the realization of the CHR's Tail Bag. The project is now back on the right track and in a week the first mould parts can be taken from the plug. The luggage fairing (40 cm wide, 50 long and 30 high, volume around 25 litres) fits beautifully to the rider and has a lid on top. Some Velcro is sufficient to keep the Tail Bag attached to the carrier. Rear light (LED) can be integrated. Weight of carbon / kevlar Tail Bag will be around 600 grams. The supporting carbon carrier of about 100 grams is already available.


New: Aero version of Lightning Carbon Cranks (modified by M5)	April 30th, 2014
Leading up to the Viking Tour in Norway at the end of July I need to fine-tune the material to be able to participate more or less in the front of the race, being somewhat older than the average contester... A number of modifications are already taken care of, like the much lighter and, more important, well fitting M5 carbon bicycle shoes. Then there's the altered seat, which now has a more flat radius at the top, resulting in a smaller frontal area and a better aerodynamical position on the bike. Weight reduction from the combination Lightning/M5 cranks, bottom bracket bearings, Speedplay X-1 pedals and the M5 carbon shoes is one full kilogram (lightweight set 1020 gram, standard set at least 2020 gram) The last project which is currently worked on and of which one template is now finished, is the earlier announced luggage/streamline fairing of 35 to 40 litre in volume. It's expected to provide 2 to 3 km gain at 40 km/h. This may sound as little, but to increase speed by 2 km/h requires 16% more power. And that's 7 to 8 more heartbeats per minute extra for most people!


First longer test ride with full carbon/kevlar bike shoes	April 13th, 2014
A nice test: cycling with on my left foot the pretty lightweight Nike bicycle shoe of 390 gram and on my right foot my new carbon "sock" of 147 gram. Apart from the perfect fit and the lower weight there's something else I notice: the reduced distance between my foot to the pedal, due to the lower structure. This will be corrected when the lining of my left shoe is ready too. Initially I presumed that I made a much too lightweight basic structure, thinking "strengthening can always be done later". Now I'm sure: below 100 gram at shoe size 47 is also possible and that's rather spectacular. A fully rigid and fitting shoe with the weight of a bar of chocolate. Up till now I've been busy experimenting with a number of locking systems. Milled and lathed little knobs from aluminium and POM (a black kind of nylon). There seems to be a good looking result now, is lightweight and also functions well, because one demand was and is that you can close the shoe with two fingers. Another advantage is that you need minimal force to close the shoe because of the optimal fit. At the next set of shoes even more attention will go to the ventilation. This will also contribute to keeping the shoes below 100 gram, because more mesh material and less carbon/kevlar will be applied.