Reactions to Velomobile on Box Hill
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- Опубліковано 13 жов 2024
- This is a compilation of some of the clips I have taken of people's reactions to my Strada Velomobile around Box Hill in Surrey in 2020. I am not quick up the hill so I often have a chance to talk to people. Most people are very positive towards me, but you get the odd one or two that aren't.
The velomobile weighs about 32-33Kg when empty and I usually take tools, camelbak, ventisit seat cushion etc with me. I am also no flyweight so I am not going to set any speed records up the hill. I have a Schlumpf mountain drive with a 60 tooth chainring. When I can no longer keep going in my high ratio I just kick a button and the ratio changes by 2.5 times so I have very low gearing. I can't go fast but I can just keep plodding away until I get to a downhill. The velomobile may be slow up the hill but it is very comfortable. I wouldn't want to go back to my old road bike with its skinny saddle and using my mountain bike up the military road (the shortest route up the hill) was always way too knackering to enjoy.
If you see me on the hill please say hi..... or watch the video and see if you can think of something better to say!!
Nice one with very recognizable comments! I often get from kids that they shout that they want one too. I even had an old guy telling me to slow down haha. But the best one is for me if they just start laughing. Don't we all need a smile on our faces?
I was at the Gravesend Cyclopark racing with the British Human Power Club today and I had had two "I want on of them" comments before I got out of the carpark. Unfortunately not on video ;-) I have also had a "that's silly" in the past.
Very nice compilation. The reactions are indepent on nationality as it seems because I made identical experiences in Germany too. Especially children are very fond of the velomobiles. They shout and wave enthusiastically and some laugh lout when I pass them with my TorPedyellow. And almost every bicyclist asks if it is electric driven.
I also get the electric question quite a lot. I got asked by one of the stewards after doing 65 miles round Goodwood motor racing course recently. I think he was going to tell me not to come back again.
Thanks for uploading. I am glad I found your channel. Fascinating to see the reactions. I am looking forward to getting my own velomobile on the road. I am hoping to use it instead of my conventional bikes for the daily commute.
Subscribed.
Cool. Should be a good alternative for commuting as long as you have somewhere suitable to store it at work. Thanks for subscribing.
Very enjoyable and interesting. I am Dutch and live in NL but usually only children react. Most cloggies look away or pretend not to see anything unusual!
Thanks.
Interesting video! I think velomobiles and recumbents are fantastic, ( I owned a Bachetta Bella for a short period). Unfortunately the infrastructure made it a nightmare to own, not being able to hop up on kerbs, difficulty securing it, constantly worrying about vandalism etc. Nowadays I use the next most comfortable thing to a recumbent seat, a sprung brooks saddle! :)
Safe riding!
The word saddle still puts me off.
Great video and nice ride to..keep it up..
From Malaysia.
Thanks
Cool camera work - I assume it's a 360º camera of some kind, and you track the interactions editing afterwards?
Yes, Garmin Virb 360. I have been creating all the clips with that and usually use that with no problem but unfortunately when I tried to join these clips back together with the Garmin software the audio and video would go out of sync so I ended up using the built-in video editor on my laptop.
It's pretty nice seeing you get pasted by people on road bikes.
My velomobile weighs over 32Kg so it is never going to beat an upright up Box Hill. I have never been overtaken by a road bike on Mill Way on the downhill part of my loop. But that isn't really the point. I have a carbon road bike, which is quicker up Box Hill than my velomobile, and a mountain bike, which I used to ride up the 'military road' straight up the hill, but I choose to use the velomobile because I enjoy it more.
@@surrey-velo2419Yout last sentence dont mind elaborate a bit more if you can pin it down as to what part or parts of the ride make the velomobile more enjoyable? those moments of speed when low to ground is one I can imagine but I would like to hear from you as Ive never ridden one but they look fun and in super cold weather would hav certain advantage also? 👍
@@888jucu The speed is exciting. It is really comfortable. Even though I go slow uphill the low bottom end gearing doesn't make it uncomfortable. It makes a lot of people around you smile, which is really nice. I can cover reasonable distances. I enjoy competing with the British Human Power Club and I think they were a lot more accepting of an overweight 50 something than a lot of other bike clubs would have been.
@@surrey-velo2419 cheers thanks for the insight as I would like to try one when travel opens up again 👍
Not sure these would be a good idea here in the USA. Have a great ride:)
You inspired me to do a video series on my own to the topics of people's reactions to the velomobile. See the first one here if you like:
ua-cam.com/video/S4vudsy9Kt8/v-deo.html
Stay healthy and keep riding savely.
where are you riding?
All of these clips were taken while riding round Box Hill in Surrey, UK. This is the hill that was ridden up 10 times as part of the Olympics 2012 road race.
I think all velonauts get similar reactions, mostly positive, sometimes a bit rude or unappropriate ... it seems you are riding on a very low RPM on most of the clips ... not so good for the knees I'm afraid.
Today I raced in a couple of BHPC races. In the 1st race my average cadence was 79 rpm and max 100. In the 2nd my average cadence was 72 and max 102. I don't think that is too bad. The slow cadence in the videos is because in all of them I am going up a big hill and using my mountain drive. I find the mountain drive very squidgy and not very direct so, although it means I can get up any hills I have tried, I can't pedal fast when I use it. The cadence is low but so is the gearing, and the speed, so not too much pressure on the knees.