We decided to test and evaluate our new Grasshopper-5 bikes on a self-contained trip along the West Coast of Ireland. We first spent a delightful few days at CycleFest in Lancaster, England, and then on to Ireland. During this trip we purposely used all forms of travel - aircraft , bus, taxi, train and ferry. Because of the certainty of rain we decided to use hostels and B&Bs rather than camping. The following picture shows the two bikes just prior to packing them for the trip. Notice the extensions to the BikeE short seats with bar-ends attached - very convenient for throwing on backpacks (shown), plastic supermarket shopping bags, or holding our carry-on luggage in place. We also mounted BikeE seat clamps on the underside of our carry-on luggage.
The following picture shows our arrival in Heathrow airport, London. Notice the two dufflebags containing the bikes, and our two carry-ons.
Notice the rollerblade wheels on the duffelbags. They are attached to either end of the handlebar on a 5/16" threaded rod passing through the handlebar. When the bike is put together (see below) either the left or right rollerblade wheel is replaced with a rear view mirror, depending on the country. The remaining rollerblade wheel is a wonderful conversation piece. When asked I usually give one or more of the following reasons for its purpose:
The following picture shows both bikes fully loaded on a typical day during our trip. We are having lunch on the scenic Atlantic Drive on our way to Achill Island. Nili doesn't normally carry our spare tire on her handlebar. She moved it from behind the seat to get at the plastic bags holding our picnic lunch.
