Minimal.bike is here! |
November 17th, 2016 |  |
This time not a recumbent, but certainly an attractive project! | ||
 To keep the mind clear it's necessary to do something outside the daily proceedings. In this particular case it's still about bicycles, but this time you're going in an upright position against the wind. The last two years have been pretty busy with this full carbon project on top of the (not really) daily routine plus the 2-SPOKE plus the Carbon Handbike project. But this minimal.bike project started at the M5 counter in October 2014 during a visit of Aart Roelandt (senior industrial designer offering a wide range of products). I've been asking him for years to come up with a nice idea or product which could be manufactured in carbon. His proposal was: devise, draw, make a lightweight carbon citybike. There are definitely reasonably well, or simply well, handling compact (folding) bikes that are good looking, but each of them have their own characteristics and flaws:
After several sketches, soon a basic shape was determined and subsequently 1:1 AutoCad drawings, cardboard shapes and real wooden 1:1 models were made. It is imperative to actually feel the frame in your hands instead of only seeing it on a screen as a flattened 3-D model, particularly because the frame will be manufactured in expensive steel moulds. Apart from the frame and the front fork I also made several wooden handlebars with air-foil shape, which resulted in two carbon production versions. One with integrated handlebars and thumb notches and the other with cylindrical carbon tube ends which allow assembly of standard shifters and brake levers. One of the main goals was to adjoin all parts as much as possible. So, no carbon frame from the year 2100 with an old fashioned pre-1900 looking (aluminium or steel!) saddle or handlebar stem just because these are available readily. Seen plenty of those. Also no ugly clamps around saddle or handlebar stem (hidden inside the frame instead). Due to the special properties of carbon and especially the super fabric of Toray 800/1000 it was even possible to abandon the standard triangular frame shape and make the absolute most of freedom of form. Finally, a special thanks to Bob Vroegh from Bob Lab for the 3D Solid Works contribution! Further info on the special website: www.minimal.bike | ||
Two golden, one silver and one bronze medal on Rio Paralympics with M5 2-SPOKE wheel! |
September 22nd, 2016 | |
And a new worldrecord on the 500 meter standing start as well for Alyda Norbruis (NL) | ||
) M5 2-SPOKE wheels are used by the worlds fastest professional bicyclists and hand-bikers. Among them the current Olympic and world champion Triathlon 2016 Jetze Plat and many more professional cyclists like world champion and two times Olympic Gold medalist Alyda Norbruis (Rio 2016). Also the TEAM.NL tandem with Vincent ter Schure and Timo Fransen have used the 2-SPOKE in the 20 km time trial with a silver medal as result.Especially the use of the wheel in the tandem proves the strength of the wheel. Video: Alyda Norbruis in Women's Individual Pursuit - C 1-3: qualifying Recent article and video in the newspaper PZC (in Dutch) Website: www.2-spoke.com | ||
New and absolute world hour record: 57.6 km ( 35,978 miles) for Matthias Konig on a custom M5 Carbon High Racer |
September 18th, 2016 | |
Nice detail: 31 year old M5/Thijs front wheel... | ||
) Did you ever managed to reach 58 km/36 mph in a short sprint? Excellent! But in this case, it was one whole hour... However: to reach 57.6 average you need to perform an almost constant 58 km/h to compensate the start. No one before cycled that fast as Matthias this afternoon on the track in Frankfurt. Even the unofficial 20-year-old hour record (56.375 km) from Chris Boardman is improved by as much as 1.225 km. That's almost five whole laps!This was also the last record which was not yet in the hands of a recumbent. We also have to realize that Chris Boardman probably produced more than 130 watts extra compared to Matthias. This makes it even more impressive. The top speed of a person like Chris Boardman on this M5 bike will result then in an astonishing 65 km or 40.4 miles. One w h o l e hour ... | ||
Stunning new wheel! |
September 10th, 2016 | |
) www.2-spoke.com | ||
New world hour record for M5! |
June 28th, 2016 | |
Matthias Konig covers an astonishing 56.15 km in one hour or 34.9 miles on a special M5 bike | ||
) Matthias on the M5 bike during the world hour record ride Image: DropLimitsAfter several test sessions Matthias improved the 2011 one-hour record to a staggering 56,150 kilometres. His successful attempt in Buttgen was performed on the specially build M5 MOEKOKKEN recumbent, an ultra reclined Carbon Low Racer. This bike was build in a rush by Bram in 2011, because by then time was pressing already, Bram being 55 years old. In October 2011 a first attempt was done in Apeldoorn, but it didn't take long to realise that the special position on the bike took more time to adjust than the mere four weeks prior. Last year Matthias Konig contacted M5 with the question if he could borrow the bike for a record attempt, a request which was granted happily. The most amazing aspect of this record is the extremely low energy requirement of this bike, just above 300 Watt! For comparison: twee weeks ago I was present at wheel tests at a velodrome and an Olympic racing cyclist had to generate 360 Watt on a time trial bike just to get to 46 km/h. Matthias is capable to produce 350 to 360 Watt during an hour, provided he's adapted enough. So, there's more to come! | ||
Gold medal for Jetze Plat during EC in Oostende, Belgium |
May 21st, 2016 | |
Italian ex Formula 1 driver Zanardi now defeated for the first time since 2011 | ||
) Image: Tom Skulander It was the ultimate challenge for Jetze: beating Zanardi, highly admired by Jetze and his fellow athletes. Last year Jetze rode minutes behind him and others during time trials. Now Jetze took the lead and was racing alone in front! The speed difference with last year is around 3 to 4 kilometres. On the one hand this is the result of the much lower weight (reduced by 4.5 kg), but especially by the fact that I have minimized the dimensions of the frame, making it as tight as possible, constructing the frame tubes close around him. The enormous aluminium tray on his previous aluminium bike was realy a wind catcher. On the new carbon M5 Handbike there's no tray at all saving surface area and reducing a lot of turbulence. Lastly, some nice gimmicks were added, like special carbon aerocranks. After all, these are a lot longer on a handbike and exposed to the wind. On the stretches with a little tailwind Jetze was able to keep his speed around 56 km per hour. Arm power only! Jetze currently delivers around 290 Watt. That's pretty close to what I have left now in my legs... When riding my world record in 1994, I generated an average of 333 Watt, which has by now, 22 years later, close to my 60th birthday, dropped to approximately 300 Watt. | ||
New M5 Carbon Handbike for Jetze Plat |
May 21st, 2016 | |
One of the three projects released | ||
 Image: Bram MoensBack in 1994 M5 designed and produced Cr-Mo Handbikes (about 60 pieces in total).The full company name in these days was like M5 Recumbents and Handbikes. Because of stupid government regulations production and sales was no longer worthwhile and was stopped for this reason. Truly a bit disappointing since this product did have potential. Last September sports physician Paul Grandjean called me with the question, more a request actually, if I could support Jetze with a really fast and light handcycle (a three-wheeler). For a carbon race handcycle build from scratch you can not just start out of the blue... But nevertheless the first test runs were already made between Christmas and New Year and after several sessions of finetuning his first training sessions and competitions are held, and not without success... Recently Jetze won a 12 km time trial with a lot of sharp turns and an average of more than 41 km/h! Three kilometres faster than his nearest competitor... Tomorrow is an important European Championship qualifying tournament in Ostend with the handcycle in which ex Formula 1 driver Zanardi will participate as well. And he is the man to beat there. Now that Jetze has the same quality of material, he should be able to come close to the current world's fastest. Learn more about super athlete Jetze Plat? www.jetzeplat.nl facebook.com/jetzeplatprohandbiker | ||
Coming up soon! |
May 18th, 2016 | |
Three major M5 projects shown soon. | ||
) Last year and a half we were very busy here at M5 developing new products, but for various reasons it was impossible to show these due to embargo's. Sometimes quite difficult but now they will be revealed soon and in practice immediately one proved very successful. More is shown by tomorrow! | ||
World premiere? |
March 2nd, 2016 | |
Mr. Halbertsma, only 90 years old and the latest M5 Carbon High Racer customer! So customers of 72 years, 90 years! Where are the teenagers?? | ||
 Mr. Halbertsma, 90 years of age and M5 Carbon High Racer rider since last Saturday The first metres on his new Carbon High Racer go astoundingly smooth. One hand on the handle bar, the other to adjust mirror and summer hat... And no, there is no need to provide tips for a smooth start. Just a few short trips to check if stem and seat angle are right and that is it. For getting these right a longer testride through the countryside is next, accompanied by his grandson on another CHR and yours truly on his own lime CHR. It is sunny, cold and there is a tough wind. We let mr. Halbertsma determine the speed and despite the strong headwind we are still doing 18 kmh. (11mph). On our way back we are having tailwind, and are cruising at 30 kmh. (18.65 mph) Most important for mr. Halbertsma is a comfortable and nice ride and indeed: since very low energy input is needed on the Carbon High Racer this requirement is met. His cycling friends (all 80+) have an electrically assisted bicycle by now. However, not an option for mr. Halbertsma, these bikes lack comfort. By choosing the lightweight (9 kg) and smooth running (set of 28 inch wheels) Carbon High Racer he hopes to keep up again, without any electrical assistance. Up till now he used his 17 year old M5 Blue Glide, which is becoming a bit old and heavy by now... For longer, multi-day distances the M5 Carbon High Racer is equipped with the latest 21 litre Carbon Tail Bag. It only adds 550 grams to the bike but helps to reduce energy input even more. The crankset has somewhat smaller rings than usual, to reduce the gear steps. With 42-11 being the biggest and 24-36 the smallest gear the range is huge anyway. We are looking forward hearing about his travel experiences! Dutch language only link..... www.pzc.nl/regio/walcheren/90-jarige-schaft-supersnelle-ligfiets-aan-1.5768754#comments >> | ||
Down under it's still summer... |
February 14th, 2016 | |
) M5 CHR enthusiast Paul Worden (he's only 72) sent us a nice action image from Australia and a nice short movie!or this one. | ||
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