I won't call it the worst kept secret of trike accessories, but I will say that it's a relief that all of the parties involved have now admitted to what we already knew.  Arkel and Catrike have created rack bags for the Catrike Trail, Expedition, and 700 trikes.

The bags were first "revealed" at the last Catrike factory tour and rally, where attendees walked away wishing they could have bought them on the spot. Then they were shown in Paulo's factory tour video. And now Arkel is spilling the already spilled beans on what are admittedly very cool looking bags.

Here's the word from Arkel:

Yes, it's official! The Catrike bags are ready to go! We've tried to keep this one under the covers as long as we could but it's now time to spill the beans and tell everyone about the new bags for the Trail, Expedition and 700 trikes from Catrike. These bags are made right here in North America from 100% recycled 600 denier polyester fabric with foam and high density polyethelene stiffeners. These new bags will be sold in pairs and fit snuggly on each trike. No rack necessary! The new designs are made to carry from the frame and require no other hardware. MSRP $129.99/pair. You may contact Arkel or Catrike directly for more info.

So there you have it, $130 a pair for bags that fit perfectly in the seat frame nook of Catrike trikes. Below is an image that was distributed with the Arkel e-mail announcement.

Tags: catrike | arkel | frame | bags | beans | announcement

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I've started watching all of the rally footage and figuring out what's useful and what isn't. What is useful is seeing just how closely people were tailing me during the 37 mile ride.

Answer: really close.

Tags: recumbent | rally | video | backoff

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Now would you look at that! There have been rumors of a new Bacchetta recumbent and while some of the details were wrong, it looks as though Bacchetta has gone ahead and revealed news of the upcoming Giro-26ATT (Aluminum Top Touring).

Price is listed at $1,995.

Tags: bacchetta | giro | 26att | recumbent | bike | touring

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If you happened to look up, you probably noticed we have our new group photo posted.  The high res version is not yet available, but you can grab a lower res version for download.

We're happy to say that the smiles didn't leave the faces of our participants for the rest of the weekend. Well, except during a touch of painted arrow confusion that we're chalking up to some bored kids.

A lot of video footage was captured during the rally, which means it's going to be a while before we post any of it. I estimate that I have about 5 hours of raw footage to go through, cut up, put back together, and then soundtrack. It'll be worth the wait.

Tags: rbr | recumbent | rally | 2009 | group | photos

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Before the rally even officially started, we already have photos showing off the all new delta Aergo.  Everyone who has tried both tadpole and delta agrees that the delta version is far superior.

Check out the Rally 2009 gallery to see photos of it or take a look at the video we shot earlier today .  And check back Saturday and Sunday night for more rally photos.

Tags: rally | photos

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If you're on your way to our 2009 rally, you have plenty of reasons to be excited.  Here's what's going on this weekend:

• Two speakers at the pre-ride gathering. One to discuss his trans-US tour, the other to show his homebuilt folder.
• Finally rideable Aergos.  Yes, TWO!  One built around a Catrike with a BionX and the other built on a Hase Kettwiesel. No, we haven't talked about the Kett fitting at all yet. Rally goers will be the first to see it.
• A fully assembled Carbent carbon fiber bike from BentUp Cycles. You'll forgive us if we relegate this one to "ogling only" for the weekend.
• Rides with 60 other recumbent enthusiasts.
• Dinner, music, and conversation Saturday night.

And if you can't make it to the rally, we're going to attempt to go a little media crazy this time around.  If all works well, we'll get those presentations recorded and posted for everybody else to see.  And if you know me at all, you know there will be plenty of photos to chuck into our rally gallery.

Tags: agenda | weather | rbr | rally | recumbent | carbent

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What happens when a webmaster gets bored one day and starts playing with iGoogle? Why, recumbent iGoogle themes, of course!

If you're an iGoogle user, keep an eye out as I'll continue to add new themes from our photo shoots. And as much as the wannabe marketer in me says "Put in an RBR logo watermark!", I'm not gonna do it. You love us already, right?

... Right?

Tags: recumbent | themes | igoogle

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Jerry, an RBR customer, recently shared his Bacchetta touring experience with us and followed the magic formula: attached photos + plug for RBR rally = blog post.  Honestly, you don't even need the plug.  He followed the Southern Tier route from San Diego, CA to St. Augustine, FL.

I arrived home safely about noon on Monday following 3178 miles. I recorded a top speed of 44.4 mph on one of the screamer downhills and my computer says that I averaged 11.27 mph for the trip, although I don't know how accurate that is.

Sixteen cyclists started the tour in San Diego and ten of us finished in St. Augustine.  I was the only recumbent rider. The basic bike performed nicely and held up to the rigors of touring.  The additions (fenders, fairing, racks) were less sturdy but I learned a lot about them and the adjustments that are necessary for the long haul.  One of the changes that I want to make to the basic bike is to change out the front fork for the newer model that has more tire clearance.

I was the only person on the tour that did not suffer from flat tires, broken spokes and bent rims.  The bike was incredibly stable with the underseat panniers, even with the back rack piled high with my sleeping bag and thermarest mattress.  The Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires handled the roadside debris and the rough roads extremely well.  There were times I wished for a little less rolling resistance, but in some of the downpours and rough roads I was glad I had them on.

I have attached a couple of pictures for the web site.  The first one shows me at the Continental Divide and the second shows me on the beach in St. Augustine.  See you at the RBR rally.

Tags: southern tier | tour | bicycle | recumbent | bacchetta | jerry

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Cryptically posted on the Catrike forums under the topic "Watch One Day of Spring at Catrike" was a link to a video giving a tour of the Catrike facilities and hosted by Big Cat HPV owner Paulo Camasmie.

The tour also covers the new chain tensioner and some new Catrike frame bags.

Be sure you're comfy. The video is 34 minutes long.

Tags: catrike | factory | tour | recumbent | tricycle | paulo camasmie | video

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If you run Schwalbe Ultremo R tires on your bikes, you might want to keep an eye out for mysterious bulging.

WARNING: Schwalbe ULTREMO R tyres that exhibit bulging should be removed from use immediately. Free of charge replacements will be supplied.

Regrettably some ULTREMO R racing cycle tyres have been supplied into the market that may suffer failure during use due to a mistake in the manufacturing process, as the effected tyres’ carcass layer have not been sufficiently rubberised. In the few tyres concerned, after only a short time in use, the fault becomes clearly visible shown by a bulge due to the carcass layers becoming disconnected.

More information on this issue can be found at the Schwalbe site.

Tags: schwable | tire | tyre | ultremo | defect | recall | replacement | bulge

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