HPVelo Grasshopper For Sale [Calgary, AB]

Celine's 2009 HPV Grasshopper

This nice looking bent is for sale in Calgary.  Please note I am not the owner [Celine is] and I am not familiar with this bent.  Please contact Celine at her number below if you are interested or leave a comment on this post and I’ll fwd it to her.

“2009 HP Veloteknic GrassHopper FX for sale
It is brand new. I have only used it few days.
Price: 3,900

Details
GrassHopper fx complete bike above seat steering, SRAM DualDrive, AVID V-brakes
transport cover with carrying strap for GrassHopper fx
airflow seat cushion air permeable fabric, sewn, for BodyLink seat
light system SON-dynohub for disc brake
rear rack 10mm tube, black powdercoating, max. load 25 kgs / 58 lbs
lowrider rack 10mm tube, black powdercoating, max. load 25 kgs / 58 lbs
mudguards SKS Bluemels 20″, black
kickstand HEBIE for mounting at the rear swing arm, black
bar end shifters in combination with SRAM DualDrive / USS, XT rear derailleur, XT cassette
drivetrain SHIMANO XT 27 speed, 60-52-40, 11-34 teeth
short cranks 152 mm, recommended for riders under 5′7″ (175 cm)
suspension fork SPINNER Grind AL aluminium stanchion tubes

Link
http://www.hpvelotechnik.com/produkte/ghp/index_e.html
THANKS

Celine
Contact phone number: 403-993-9982″

Congrats to RANS on a great RAAM!

Photo: RAAM Website

Congrats to Team RANS on performing so well during this year’s RAAM.  It’s fun to see recumbents do so well in a race like this.

Flevobike Greenmachine

Internal drivetrain detail

The geeky engineer in me couldn’t help, but appreciate the cunning internal Rohloff drivetrain utilized in the Flevobike Greenmachine.

Challenge Fujin SL – Sold!…=-)

Price reduced to $3100USD for Fujin SL as shown in photo below less soft bags + free shipping. This offer is valid until Fri 13 Feb when I leave for a month long MTB road trip in UT & AZ. Ideally I’ll take the Fujin with me and ship from the US. If I don’t work out a sale before I go I’ll offer the bent at the original price when I get back and the riding season is closer at hand.

Fujin at the start of a mountainous 300K brevet...

I’m offering my lovely Challenge Fujin SL for sale.  I’m just not riding it as my friends don’t ride bents and I’m feeling social these days so I need to let it go to free up some bikey capital for other projects.

You can figure out the details pretty easily by reading my old blogger Lazy Rando Blog.  In broad strokes I’ll sell it as shown above less soft bags delivered anywhere in the US or Canada for $3100USD.  This bent is dialed in and setup for fast long rides.  All the bags and accessories shown above are included except for the GPS.  This price is l~60% of what a new Fujin SL with similar spec would cost plus free shipping – you’d be at about $5000USD to replicate this bike.  The bent is in excellent condition with all components less than 25% through their service lives.

Perfectly dialed drivetrain runs sweetly...

If I get back into bents a Fujin SL would be my first purchase.

Ultegra triple lets you crush roadies on the flats and climb mountains...

I’m leaving for a month of mountain biking in Utah & AZ next weekend so first person to meet my asking price gets the bike.  I can pack it and ship from along my route in the US so an American purchaser will not have to deal with any cross border hassles.

Sunrise in the mountains on a brevet....

The price is firm and I carefully evaluated current costs as well as the condition of this bent to make sure it was a great deal for you while giving me a reasonable return on what I invested.

Looking refreshed after ripping out a fast century in the mountains...

Project Velaia

A comfy SWB recumbent touring machine....

Daniel Lang has a great website for his wide ranging bike tour.  He started riding a recumbent [an HP Streetmachine for all you bent geeks!...=-)] in the 17,000km 2007 Beijing-Paris Car Free Rally.

A trusty and versatile MTB touring machine...

Of course being an adventurous fellow he didn’t stop there and has been touring all over the world with his current location being Chile.  Not being a slave to a paradigm he has used a recumbent when he felt it was the best tool and also a mountain bike for other parts of his route.

His travelogue is worth a read [note not all his posts are in English, but scroll down and you'll find lots to keep you busy] with lovely photos and he also has a Flickr Photostream if you just want to geek out on images.

Randy the Recumbulator

Lucinda’s Trans-AM Trike Tour

Lucinda & her hot pink Catrike

If you haven’t read Lucinda’s Trans-Am tour journal on Crazyguyonabike you should.  Lucinda’ story demonstrates that you don’t have to be a young super strong cyclist to take on a long bike journey.  All you need is to make sure you have a comfortable/reliable bike [or Catrike in this case] and start out your door with a sense of adventure.

Fully loaded crossing the desert.

What happened to my recumbents?

Challenge Fujin SL in the Canadian Rockies

Chris wrote:

“Can you tell me the real reason you got back to DFs? My reason? almost got killed by a truck on my GRR in August, sorta crushed the left ankle. I am 58 and played competitive handball on a national level, and that may be shot for good now. But I road an old MB2 for the last 3 mos (80s Bridgestone MB modified for commuting), and realized how much more situational awareness I have on a DF. I also have a Volae Exp Pro that has even less sit awareness than the GRR. have an old Kestrel and a nice Merlin Ti and rode them until the snow flew down here (St Paul). But I have enjoyed your writing and noticed that you and Alan Barnard left the Bent culture behind for DFs again. I will likely ride the Volae more (great bike) and did order a CRush, so we’ll see.”

The real reason I moved back to DFs?…hmmm….sure….here are some random thoughts on the subject:

• I agree with your comment on situational awareness.  I’d much rather ride a DF in traffic than a bent.  On the highway cranking out long miles on the bent with mirrors that was not a problem, but in the city [I live downtown] a DF is better for riding in traffic.
• My DFs are more maneuverable than my bents were.  I jump curbs, deal with 180 deg turns on the bike path, go cross country, etc… better on a DF.  Again out on the highway riding 200K the bent is ideal because you are pretty much just going straight and there are few obstacles to overcome.
• There is no bent equivalent to my Bike Friday Tikit, Surly Big Dummy or Surly Pugsley.  I’ve been riding the Tikit a ton this year as it’s so practical for getting around downtown.  The Big Dummy rolls when I’m going to haul something or take a passenger for a ride.  The Pugsley is the new kid in the mix, but it will see lots of snow biking action this winter, beach/desert riding in Baja and general mucking about come spring.  Even with the wide variety of bents I’ve owned none of them filled these niches.  I’m keen on mtn biking in 2009 and that’s also not a bent friendly part of the cycling world.
• The riding position on my bents is indeed very comfortable, but almost too much so. I feel really passive on a bent since the position is so static.  This is one of the reasons I tour on a DF.  If I’m going to be on a bike 8-10hrs a day for days on end it better be fun!  Fun and comfort are related, but not the same thing. I’m probably 10 out 10 comfortable on a bent, but only 7 out of ten on the fun scale.  On my DF I’m 8.5 out of ten comfortable and 10 out of 10 on the fun scale.
• When I first started out in bents I was not particularly comfortable on a DF so it seemed they were the only option if I wanted to ride longer distances on a bicycle.  Over the last few years I’ve resolved most of my DF comfort issues so that I can ride day in and day out distances of 80-150kms which as a bike tourist is all I need.
• Although I am able to climb pretty well on my Fujin SL I’ve never climbed as proficiently on a bent as I have on a DF.  Not only am I faster uphill on a DF I enjoy the process more.  On my Fujin I don’t look forward to climbing even when it’s relatively fast.  When I’m touring on my DFs I actually enjoy climbing mtn passes.
• The bent I like the most [the only one I kept] is my Challenge Fujin SL.  It’s a fast nimble mile eating machine – perfect for fast road rides and brevets.  There was a time when I really enjoyed going out and riding by myself.  I used to take my road bike and hit the highway on a Saturday for a 100km+ ride and just tune out my day to day worries/thoughts.  I did that on my Fujin when I got it – in particular to train for brevets.  I’ve been less and less interested in long solo rides these days.  I still do some, but it isn’t my priority – it’s more of a last resort. I’d much rather go riding with my friends and have some social time than spend 5-6hrs alone on the highway.  Since none of my friends own or have any interest in bents that means I end up riding my Tikit or Big Dummy a lot and my Fujin SL much less.
• Even during the actual brevets I’ve ridden the Fujin SL is a solo machine. When I’m fast DFs are slow and vice versa.  This means a group ride becomes a solo effort.  As I noted above I’m not highly motivated to train alone just so I can then enter an event and ride it alone.  One of the factors that got me interested in randoneering was reading the brevet reports of the SIR website and various PBP reports.  A key element of both sources of information was a strong social component to the events that were reported.  That sounded like a lot of fun, but because of the fact I ride a bent and my local rando club is so small brevets are not particularly social for me.  I’ve actually thought about trying a brevet on a DF [gasp!....=-)] just so I would be on a machine with similar performance to the other riders and hopefully spend more time with the group.
• So am I done with bents entirely?  No.  I think they are fascinating machines with lots of potential.  The feeling of screaming along on a lowracer is awesome and very unique in the bicycle world.  I should note that although I mentioned above I had more fun on a DF my fun factor on a bent increases dramatically if I have someone to ride with that has a similar machine and similar fitness level.  Unfortunately this rarely occurs.  If I had a friend in Calgary with a Fujin SL you’d be seeing lots more bent content on this blog.  I’m intrigued by trikes, but I hesitate to invest in one without a regular trike buddy to ride with.  Even casual social rides on a bent are fun.  We had a local bent group that met once or twice for rides and it was a blast, but it just seems like getting people together to ride is a real challenge.  You can only suggest a  group ride and be met with resounding apathy so many times before you don’t bother anymore.

I want to close this post by saying I’m not pro-DF and anti-bent. I’m a cyclist and I’m going to ride whatever makes me happy.  At the moment DFs make a lot of sense for my lifestyle and personality, but I’m open to spending more time on my Challenge Fujin SL.  I just need to find someone cool that wants to get their lowracer on!…=-)

PS – I should give a shout out to Cornell in Cochrane.  He is a cool bent rider and I’m sure I’ll get out and visit him for a ride once or twice this summer [hopefully TOT2009 - the Canadian Edition!].  The thing is he lives 50kms+ away in another city and rides a trike.  A Fujin SL and a trike are not the ideal bent mix.  Do I get a trike just so I can do a handful of rides with another bent rider???  Hopefully you can see my dilemma.

My Fujin ready to start a 200K brevet