This edition of the TravellingTwo podcast features an interview with Shane Little, who’s heading off to cycle the length of Africa.
Shane’s become a good friend over the past couple of years, and we’re going to miss having him around in the Netherlands. Good luck Shane, and come back safely!
The podcast is below. You can scroll down to see the video version of the interview. Pick your favourite way to enjoy listening to the details of Shane’s big adventure.
In this latest edition of the TravellingTwo podcast, we interview Amaya Williams. She’s been cycling the world with her husband Eric since 2006.
We also talk a little bit about our next big adventure – and it’s not directly related to bike touring, but don’t worry… we’re still planning plenty more touring fun in the future.
In addition to the podcast, you’ll find a video at the bottom of this post. It combines photos of Eric & Amaya’s journey, with the interview. Let us know if you like this, and we’ll try to do this with more future podcasts.
We spent last week testing the Gekko fx, the “nimble foldable touring trike”, if you believe the manufacturer’s hype.
Why a trike? Because we could rent one for a reasonable price from Maia Ligfietspunt (curiosity is a pretty good reason) and because the idea of having a bike that doubles as a chair in the evening when camping really appealed to us!
Why the Gekko fx? We could have rented any number of other trikes (an IceTrike, for example, or a Kettwiesel) but since we live in a top-floor apartment and we often take trains with our bikes, a trike that folds quickly and can be stored compactly is obviously appealing. Apparently, you can fold the Gekko fx in just 10 seconds (more on that later).
Unfortunately, the Gekko fx didn’t live up to our expectations. If you don’t want to read any further, the short answer is that we won’t be buying one. You can skip ahead to our complaints, or keep reading to find out first what we DID like.
The Good:
1. Very comfortable - We instantly felt at ease in the seat and the positioning was natural. A quick release on the back of the seat makes adjusting the angle quick and painless.
2. No charge on the train (in the Netherlands) - Instead of the usual €6 bike fee, our trike was treated as a normal folding bike, even though it’s twice the folded size of a Brompton.
3. Amazing cornering - This trike handles beautifully. You can accelerate into corners with an ease and speed that we never feel on our normal touring bikes. Fun!
4. Surprisingly visible - Almost the first thing people do when they find out you’re riding a trike is warn you to be careful of cars but we found the Gekko fx was so different that every car driver was looking straight at us. We always easily made eye contact at intersections, and we didn’t feel vulnerable, despite being much lower to the ground than on a normal bike.
5. Adaptable to diversions and construction – We deliberately didn’t avoid things like construction areas and barriers while testing the trike but we were always able to work our way around obstacles without much trouble. We never had to get off the trike, just to go around something.
As you already know, however, not everything about our Gekko fx test was good. Here are the things we were less thrilled with.
The Mediocre:
1. It’s not THAT easy to fold - After some practice, Andrew could fold the Gekko fx in about 30 seconds. However, this required quite a bit of arm strength. Friedel’s time was longer and less elegant (maybe she would have improved with more practice). If you’re a reasonably strong guy, you’ll manage this just fine. If you can’t lift and flip 16kg of bicycle, you’ll struggle a bit more.
2. Awkward going up and down stairs - We hoped that a folded trike would be almost as portable as a folding bicycle but we found the Gekko fx awkward to lug up a set of stairs. Mostly, we did it together, so that neither one of us would throw our back out. It may fold, but it’s no Brompton. Our normal touring bikes weigh about the same as the trike (16kg) but we can carry our touring bikes up the stairs without any problems.
3. Only Small Bags Please – For the price (about €2,300), we ideally wanted this trike to be set up for at least light touring. That is to say that we wanted to put 2 large Ortlieb bags on the rack but even our small Ortlieb panniers were a tight squeeze on the derailleur side of the trike. To really tour with the Gekko fx, we’d have to fit a higher rack or buy special bags designed for recumbents, and that’s an extra expense on top of an already high retail price that we’re not sure we want to pay.
And finally….
The Bad:
1. Difficult to Roll – When the trike is folded, there are some small wheels that theoretically allow you to roll it a short distance, such as along a train platform. We didn’t find this easy at all. The trike nipped at our heels and was unstable even going over a small bump in the surface. Going from one end of a platform to another is not an experience we want to repeat, and if there’s no lift, you’re going to have to lug it up and down stairs (see our point above).
2. It fell apart! – This was the real clincher for us. Maybe we should put it higher up in the review, but in the tradition of saving the best (or the worst) for last, here’s our story of disaster. While riding down a small side street, the wheel began wobbling erratically and we lost all control of the trike. Mercifully, we were going slowly and no cars were around at the time. When we managed to stop, we spotted the problem immediately.
The strut that connects the steering controls to the wheel is held together with a simple bolt, and that little bolt came loose. When it did, we lost control. Thank goodness we weren’t going down a hill or turning into traffic at the time! When we returned the trike, we found out that this had happened before and despite the owner’s best attempt to secure that bolt, it kept on coming loose.
Our personal opinion is that this is probably a design flaw – or at least a ‘feature’ of the design that would keep us from buying this particular trike. We prefer our steering to be put together more solidly, and not reliant on a single bolt. We know all too easily how those bolts can come loose, but on standard touring bikes the damage is normally limited to mudguards and luggage racks – not crucial operating parts.
So, Gekko fx, we’re sorry to say you’re not the trike for us. We’d still like to try more trikes but we’re looking for something more robust.
Too often, as a society, we are quick to dismiss things as ‘impossible’ or ‘foolhardy’ – especially when they go against the conventional wisdom of what is ‘smart’ or ‘sensible’ to do.
Start planning a big bike expedition, and you can run up against this attitude quite a lot. So, when we got an email recently from Henry & Jamie, telling us about their recent bicycle tour across mountainous Kyrgyzstan in February – an adventure easily thrown into the ‘foolhardy’ category – we were intrigued.
“Hopefully the video captures what was at times nothing short of savage, thanks to the Medusa landscape (totally jaw-dropping but with the ability to take your life in an instant…only these beauties turn you to ice not stone), arctic conditions and vodka. I hope it also captures how two happy-go-lucky vagabikers armed with little more than scraggly ‘windbreaker’ beards, a plentiful supply of fetching pink socks, local good-luck hats and an albeit questionable sense of humour succeed in achieving what many deemed impossible.”
Watch. Enjoy. And be sure to read Henry & Jamie’s written impressions of the journey, below the video.
“When we set off from London nearly 16 months ago, we had not really planned on tackling the heavy snowfall, -35C temperatures, blizzards, altitude sickness and 9,000m+ of winding passes that a mid-winter excursion in Krygyzstan so attractively offers, but upon entering Central Asia it became starlingly clear that it was our unavoidable destiny to attempt this (dare I say it) ‘epic’ challenge. There was an understandable absence of support from the cycle touring community (we couldn’t find anyone who had done this before at this time of year, most riders are opting for the warmer southern route through UAE and India), and this helped to induce both dread, fear, but paralleled excitement as the mountains approached.”
“It must be said though that the unbelievably kind hospitality of the Kyrgyz people (who appeared to feel deep pity for us, taking us into their homes on 6 of the nights) and the mystical appearance of an ‘Into the Wild’ style Magic Bus near the top of the desolate third and final pass, made the crossing significantly more bearable. I guess we’ll never know who lives in that bus but if you happen to have found our flyer (we left one inside for you), located an internet connection, speak English, and are therefore possibly reading this…Thank You. Sorry for the dribble patch on the pillow.”
“Aside from being well prepared in terms of kit, having the right attitude when undertaking something like this is extremely important, whether you’re travelling solo or with others. As crazy as it sounds, Jamie and I always tried to laugh in the face of adversity (which reared its ugly head at nearly every corner), and so this made handling the ridiculous situations much easier.”
“What else have we learned from this rather testing adventure? The answer could be an exhaustive one: the importance of listening to warnings but taking them with a healthy pinch of salt; that snow makes a refreshing alternative to toilet paper; that urine acts as a cost effective alternative to de-icer; always packing a plentiful supply of fetching pink socks no matter what the challenge; that getting paralytically drunk on the second morning of a week long physical challenge may be ruddy good fun but not generally considered a good idea….and everything between. However, it could simply be summarised by the immortal words of Jamie King (Nike’s biggest alternative unofficial spokesperson) coined in his infamous Serbian TV Top Gear appearance: Just do it.”
Alvaro Neil is one amazing bike tourist. He started cycling in 2004 and is still going strong.
With over 85,000km under his wheels already, Alvaro plans to bike tour for at least another few years. His bike tour will eventually include over 100 countries and more than 100,000km.
There’s another special aspect to Alvaro’s trip as well: he is a professional clown and he performs free shows in communities along the way.
That’s why Alvaro is better known as the Biciclown. We recently talked to him via Skype, and we’ve created a video with some of his pictures for you to listen to. This interview will also be featured in an upcoming podcast.
This edition of the TravellingTwo podcast features an interview with Shane Little, who’s heading off to cycle the length of Africa.
In this latest edition of the TravellingTwo podcast, we interview Amaya Williams. She’s been cycling the world with her husband Eric since 2006.
Too often, as a society, we are quick to dismiss things as ‘impossible’ or ‘foolhardy’ – especially when they go against the conventional wisdom of what is ‘smart’ or ‘sensible’ to do.
Alvaro Neil is one amazing bike tourist. He started cycling in 2004 and is still going strong.
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