well I really like front wheel drives. As a city dweller in my youth i had a front wheel driver built from garbage which is why i choose a frontwheel drive because it was all short tubing which all standard bike are made of. Once getting use to it , it was great for weaving in a out of traffic because of it's compact design. Mind you it was no where near the quality of a flevo which I have never tried and would probably love to ride. I remember the early images of flevo in the 80's got all exited about recumbent but north americans by and large don't ride bike but would rather use gas guzzlers. Pray for us we have our head up our assess and hope we can get them out. namaste.
You may be right that the are more Flevobikers who are older than you. However I started at ~14 years. I was lucky that my father had built one and let me use it (it was planned to be his bike, but sometimes plans change...)
Ich fahr selber häufiger Flevo und hab deutlich mehr Probleme. Respekt, auch wenn 90 000 km eine Erklärung sind. Wenn ich nur denke wie schwierig anfahren ist :o. Ich versuch es aber jetzt auch mal mit den gezeigten Sachen. Vielen Dank fürs Hochladen.
I'd like to see what this guy can do with a Cruzbike. But the Flevobike seems more maneuverable since it has underseat steering, there's no boom and slider in the way of your legs to make tight turns. The effective head angle appears to be very slack so not sure what exactly's going there. Cruzbikes don't have front suspension, and I don't really see how front suspension could be incorporated into their design. Whereas the Flevobike manages to have front and rear suspension with a front wheel drive pivoting bottom bracket. Not only that, but the front suspension has a somewhat rearward axle path, just like the very trendy high pivot mountain bikes. So the Flevobike is quite good at soaking up obstacles like small curbs. It's unfortunate that this bike was discontinued and that we never got to see it with disc brakes and thru axles.
Don't know what I can do with a Cruzbike. I don't even remember if I have ever ridden one, to be honest. But I think with some exercise I could do some interesting stuff with these bikes, too. I agree that it's a pity these Flevobikes aren't made anymore, but at least the building instructions are publicly available and at least my current 20" Racer has disk brakes just like some of the latest Flevos that were made by Alexander Meier (Edelmeier).
Very nice of you to show the maneuverability with the Flevobike. I learned to ride it in about 2 hours yesterday and today already feel content to go around the town. On the car roads not so much.. :) Do you have any kickstand suggestions for the Flevobike? There are 2 screw holes on the bottom but I haven't found any kickstand that would fit them. Would be a shame to screw two holes next to the rubber for one of the universal kickstands.
Either you have the kickstand at the rear part or on both. Having it at the front part won't keep the bike upright. My experience is that Flevos with the short front part (not as heavy as the long ones) can stand quite well with a standard kickstand mounted under the rear fork in front of the rear wheel, just like you know it from standard bikes (my Flevo has a mounting plate there). Because on normal bikes there is a slope towards the bottom bracket and at the Flevobike the rear fork rises towards the front, the kickstand will not stand as upright as it would in a normal bike and therefore needs to be longer and therefore tends to bend more. So these are only a few challenges and considerations. My Flevos both don't have a kickstand anymore which is bad when you have to help passengers to get into the kids trailer, otherwise it's okay.
Long time ago, but now I have, I am 65 can control the bike nicely, no problems whatsoever anymore. But the diablo is cracked, and yes the steer is now very unstable, but I can still ride on it without problems. I ask myself can I set the hand steer back to the front side for better steering?
Are you talking about a Flevotrike where often the handlebars were mounted at the rear part? Of course you can move them to the front part, but replacing the diabolo is probably helpful for other situations, too. I'm aware of the fact that the original parts are not available anymore, so that requires some creativity, unfortunately.
Mine trike front do flip over all the time, I did read somewhere about adjustments for the flevo, changing povot and such for better stability, I have the steer on the front piece and do feel that this is not good for me, maybe on the back is much better, so I feel more rigit with the seat.
Also ich weiß ja, dass motorisch höher begabte das Rad unter sehr guter Kontrolle haben, aber das was ich hier sehr ist echt beeindruckend. Wie lange fährst du schon und ist das auch für Normalsterbliche erreichbar?
Ich fahr seit etwa 15 Jahren und ca. 90.000km Flevobike. Ich geh davon aus, dass so ein Fahrstil für jeden Normalbegabten erreichbar ist. Ist wohl vor allem eine Gewöhnungsfrage und natürlich muss man auch immer wieder mal Neues probieren. Meine Radbeherrschung hab ich aber abgesehen vom grundsätzlichen Flevofahrenlernen ausschließlich im Straßenverkehr erlangt. Ich geh nicht zum Üben irgendwelcher Tricks auf Parkplätze, es sei denn, es ergibt sich grad mal. Das Video soll Flevonauten animieren, schwierige Situationen fahrend zu probieren, und ihnen gleichzeitig ein paar Tipps geben, wie man's hinbekommen kann.
Im looking at something like this but with the seat being fixed and the stearing done through the hip this can not be good for the rider. I would look at an articulated design under the seat with a steering system to control the lean
Ich glaube, ich hatte letztes Jähr kurz mal das Glück dich persönlich Treffen zu dürfen. Du warst auf einer Tour in den WW über die B8 unterwegs. Auch da hatte mich dein Racertje schon beeindruckt. Sollte sich eine günstige Gelegenheit für mich mal ergeben, werde ich mich sehr gerne auch mal am Flevo versuchen. Ich finde es sehr verlockend.
"Letztes Jahr" war 2010, ja ;-) War damals unterwegs von Köln nach Zittau und der Westerwald stand grad genauso im Weg wie später noch einige andere Gebirge...
FlevoMartin So lange ist das schon her?!? Obwohl... wenn ich so drüber nachdenke... Gott, ich werde alt. ;-) Gibt es beim gebrauchten Flevo irgendwelche Schwachstellen die ich bei einem Kauf besonders untersuchen sollte? Und was wäre aus deiner Sicht ein vernünftiger Preisrahmen?
gayatux Für die ganz alten Exemplare mit Reifengröße 438mm bekommt man nur noch eine Reifensorte und keine Felgen mehr. Umbau ist ohne Metallbaukenntnisse schwierig. Zum Preisrahmen kann ich nichts sagen, kommt halt sehr auf den Zustand an.
+Zap Ching I'm not completely sure but I think with the short front part that could fit. In the worst case the seat can still be mounted a little bit more to the front. I'd recommend trying someone's Flevobike if you can - at least the length.
Ich würde gern mal mit dem Flevo Mr. Bean nachstellen. In einer Folge verschläft er und zieht sich im Auto an. Das könnte man auch auf dem Flevo machen. Wäre bestimmt sehr lustig.
That's just the standard front suspension although I have to admit that many years ago the Ligfietsshop sold somewhat softer rubber springs (they don't have a ring around the block which the standard ones have) and I have one of them on the front. Nevertheless bouncing the front part works just as good with the harder rubber springs.
Oh, that one. Indeed, I still had the damper mounted at that time. Is a Miele damper from a washing machine which was inspired by this one: enhydralutris.de/Fahrrad/enhydra/node73.html It was supposed to keep the front suspension from moving too much when pedaling but lost some oil over the years so that when taking the video it didn't do much anymore. I removed it later on.
The Racer is definitely somewhat faster on good roads and due to the lack of front suspension the drive train feels more direct. You have the choice between more good tyres in 26" or 28". On the other hand the Bike scores with its front suspension which is comfortable on bad roads. And from what I have heard the Flevo Bike is said to have the slightly better climbing abilities as the front wheel is closer to the center of gravity and you're sitting a little bit lower.
I want to build an extremely fuel efficient motorized recumbent bicycle using the type of Flevobike shown here. I would like to discuss this concept with you through email. How can I reach you?
I doubt that the center pivot steering is the best steering for that purpose. For contacting me please find the contact link on my website: die-andersecks.de/
Maybe this picture explains it a bit? 2.bp.blogspot.com/-4abWkRvxT-U/UirHpcPdzgI/AAAAAAAAFWE/A_K8FiCZpzc/s1600/Duo+scharnier+Flevo+Trike.jpg The waisted rubber thing is called "Diabolo rubber" and it is pulled to the side when the bike has to go around a corner.
Excellent!! Very helpful, and gives a good impression for a bike that appears unusual to many traditional bike riders.
Excellent Video
well I really like front wheel drives. As a city dweller in my youth i had a front wheel driver built from garbage which is why i choose a frontwheel drive because it was all short tubing which all standard bike are made of. Once getting use to it , it was great for weaving in a out of traffic because of it's compact design. Mind you it was no where near the quality of a flevo which I have never tried and would probably love to ride. I remember the early images of flevo in the 80's got all exited about recumbent but north americans by and large don't ride bike but would rather use gas guzzlers. Pray for us we have our head up our assess and hope we can get them out. namaste.
I think im one of the youngest flevobike riders at age 18, but its one of my favourite recumbents in the world
You may be right that the are more Flevobikers who are older than you. However I started at ~14 years. I was lucky that my father had built one and let me use it (it was planned to be his bike, but sometimes plans change...)
Ich fahr selber häufiger Flevo und hab deutlich mehr Probleme.
Respekt, auch wenn 90 000 km eine Erklärung sind. Wenn ich nur denke wie schwierig anfahren ist :o. Ich versuch es aber jetzt auch mal mit den gezeigten Sachen. Vielen Dank fürs Hochladen.
I'd like to see what this guy can do with a Cruzbike. But the Flevobike seems more maneuverable since it has underseat steering, there's no boom and slider in the way of your legs to make tight turns. The effective head angle appears to be very slack so not sure what exactly's going there.
Cruzbikes don't have front suspension, and I don't really see how front suspension could be incorporated into their design. Whereas the Flevobike manages to have front and rear suspension with a front wheel drive pivoting bottom bracket. Not only that, but the front suspension has a somewhat rearward axle path, just like the very trendy high pivot mountain bikes. So the Flevobike is quite good at soaking up obstacles like small curbs. It's unfortunate that this bike was discontinued and that we never got to see it with disc brakes and thru axles.
Don't know what I can do with a Cruzbike. I don't even remember if I have ever ridden one, to be honest. But I think with some exercise I could do some interesting stuff with these bikes, too.
I agree that it's a pity these Flevobikes aren't made anymore, but at least the building instructions are publicly available and at least my current 20" Racer has disk brakes just like some of the latest Flevos that were made by Alexander Meier (Edelmeier).
Very nice of you to show the maneuverability with the Flevobike. I learned to ride it in about 2 hours yesterday and today already feel content to go around the town. On the car roads not so much.. :)
Do you have any kickstand suggestions for the Flevobike? There are 2 screw holes on the bottom but I haven't found any kickstand that would fit them. Would be a shame to screw two holes next to the rubber for one of the universal kickstands.
Either you have the kickstand at the rear part or on both. Having it at the front part won't keep the bike upright. My experience is that Flevos with the short front part (not as heavy as the long ones) can stand quite well with a standard kickstand mounted under the rear fork in front of the rear wheel, just like you know it from standard bikes (my Flevo has a mounting plate there). Because on normal bikes there is a slope towards the bottom bracket and at the Flevobike the rear fork rises towards the front, the kickstand will not stand as upright as it would in a normal bike and therefore needs to be longer and therefore tends to bend more.
So these are only a few challenges and considerations. My Flevos both don't have a kickstand anymore which is bad when you have to help passengers to get into the kids trailer, otherwise it's okay.
I use a double legged kickstand, Very stabel and it will even stay upright with panniers on it
this video is gold
Long time ago, but now I have, I am 65 can control the bike nicely, no problems whatsoever anymore. But the diablo is cracked, and yes the steer is now very unstable, but I can still ride on it without problems. I ask myself can I set the hand steer back to the front side for better steering?
Are you talking about a Flevotrike where often the handlebars were mounted at the rear part? Of course you can move them to the front part, but replacing the diabolo is probably helpful for other situations, too. I'm aware of the fact that the original parts are not available anymore, so that requires some creativity, unfortunately.
Mine trike front do flip over all the time, I did read somewhere about adjustments for the flevo, changing povot and such for better stability, I have the steer on the front piece and do feel that this is not good for me, maybe on the back is much better, so I feel more rigit with the seat.
audio kees having the steer on the back-setting it is so much easier to control and I hardly ever flip the front without control
Also ich weiß ja, dass motorisch höher begabte das Rad unter sehr guter Kontrolle haben, aber das was ich hier sehr ist echt beeindruckend. Wie lange fährst du schon und ist das auch für Normalsterbliche erreichbar?
Ich fahr seit etwa 15 Jahren und ca. 90.000km Flevobike. Ich geh davon aus, dass so ein Fahrstil für jeden Normalbegabten erreichbar ist. Ist wohl vor allem eine Gewöhnungsfrage und natürlich muss man auch immer wieder mal Neues probieren. Meine Radbeherrschung hab ich aber abgesehen vom grundsätzlichen Flevofahrenlernen ausschließlich im Straßenverkehr erlangt. Ich geh nicht zum Üben irgendwelcher Tricks auf Parkplätze, es sei denn, es ergibt sich grad mal. Das Video soll Flevonauten animieren, schwierige Situationen fahrend zu probieren, und ihnen gleichzeitig ein paar Tipps geben, wie man's hinbekommen kann.
Im looking at something like this but with the seat being fixed and the stearing done through the hip this can not be good for the rider. I would look at an articulated design under the seat with a steering system to control the lean
Ich glaube, ich hatte letztes Jähr kurz mal das Glück dich persönlich Treffen zu dürfen. Du warst auf einer Tour in den WW über die B8 unterwegs. Auch da hatte mich dein Racertje schon beeindruckt.
Sollte sich eine günstige Gelegenheit für mich mal ergeben, werde ich mich sehr gerne auch mal am Flevo versuchen. Ich finde es sehr verlockend.
"Letztes Jahr" war 2010, ja ;-) War damals unterwegs von Köln nach Zittau und der Westerwald stand grad genauso im Weg wie später noch einige andere Gebirge...
FlevoMartin So lange ist das schon her?!? Obwohl... wenn ich so drüber nachdenke... Gott, ich werde alt. ;-)
Gibt es beim gebrauchten Flevo irgendwelche Schwachstellen die ich bei einem Kauf besonders untersuchen sollte? Und was wäre aus deiner Sicht ein vernünftiger Preisrahmen?
gayatux
Für die ganz alten Exemplare mit Reifengröße 438mm bekommt man nur noch eine Reifensorte und keine Felgen mehr. Umbau ist ohne Metallbaukenntnisse schwierig. Zum Preisrahmen kann ich nichts sagen, kommt halt sehr auf den Zustand an.
Very Impressive handling ! I'm interested in getting one. But i'm short ( 1.65m ) my inseam is 71mm. will i have problem reaching the pedals ?
Tks
+Zap Ching I'm not completely sure but I think with the short front part that could fit. In the worst case the seat can still be mounted a little bit more to the front. I'd recommend trying someone's Flevobike if you can - at least the length.
Thanks.
awesome!
Ich würde gern mal mit dem Flevo Mr. Bean nachstellen.
In einer Folge verschläft er und zieht sich im Auto an.
Das könnte man auch auf dem Flevo machen.
Wäre bestimmt sehr lustig.
Did you customize your front suspension?
That's just the standard front suspension although I have to admit that many years ago the Ligfietsshop sold somewhat softer rubber springs (they don't have a ring around the block which the standard ones have) and I have one of them on the front. Nevertheless bouncing the front part works just as good with the harder rubber springs.
@@FlevoMartin I mean the shock absorber strut, I've never seen these before on a Flevobike.
Oh, that one. Indeed, I still had the damper mounted at that time. Is a Miele damper from a washing machine which was inspired by this one: enhydralutris.de/Fahrrad/enhydra/node73.html
It was supposed to keep the front suspension from moving too much when pedaling but lost some oil over the years so that when taking the video it didn't do much anymore. I removed it later on.
Would you recommend this or a flevo racer for high speed riding? How much difference do the big wheels make?
The Racer is definitely somewhat faster on good roads and due to the lack of front suspension the drive train feels more direct. You have the choice between more good tyres in 26" or 28". On the other hand the Bike scores with its front suspension which is comfortable on bad roads. And from what I have heard the Flevo Bike is said to have the slightly better climbing abilities as the front wheel is closer to the center of gravity and you're sitting a little bit lower.
I want to build an extremely fuel efficient motorized recumbent bicycle using the type of Flevobike shown here. I would like to discuss this concept with you through email. How can I reach you?
I doubt that the center pivot steering is the best steering for that purpose. For contacting me please find the contact link on my website: die-andersecks.de/
Хочу увидеть как рулевой демпфер работает
Maybe this picture explains it a bit? 2.bp.blogspot.com/-4abWkRvxT-U/UirHpcPdzgI/AAAAAAAAFWE/A_K8FiCZpzc/s1600/Duo+scharnier+Flevo+Trike.jpg
The waisted rubber thing is called "Diabolo rubber" and it is pulled to the side when the bike has to go around a corner.
@@FlevoMartin Ссылка не открывается
If peddling is in front, steering should be in back