by Nigel Kellett on Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:28 pm
I visited Mayhem last Tuesday, and got speaking to David; I hope I got his name right - he was wearing the Panama at last year's picnic, and, I presumed, must be Mayhem's boss.
Anyway, it would seem that examples of the A-bike plus were to be arriving the next day, last Wednesday. Keith had already mentioned that availability might not be until late July/early August, so there must be various procedures etc. to carry out/comply with.
Having noticed the change of emphasis on the 3 points for the A-bike mark II, which then became the plus, it would appear that at least the layshaft & rear down tube would be beefed up, but that the overall appearance and structure would essentially be the same, without massive redesign, and that these improved parts may be able to upgrade the original model. They had considered redesigning the saddle, but are now going to supply a padded cover (perhaps gel?) to, hopefully, satisfy those who found the saddle uncomfortable, which, admittedly, neither I nor David had found to be a problem really.
I can't help but think that they have basically taken the correct route, keeping to the original design brief, just addressing problem areas. He also showed me the 8" fake that I had previously noticed on the internet, and made comment about here in a previous thread I started. Boy, was it heavy, ... relatively!
He asked me what I thought of the price for the plus, which I said I had noticed before the site had gone down - I was philosophical. Also, the pump will be included in the price of, I believe, £199 (perhaps 99p more?); it is an essential bit of kit really, as opposed to an option. I assume the bag will be included too, I hope.
That is all that I can think of at the moment, except that I had intended to ask about the new bag, but forgot. According to the spiel, though, the plus would have an improved sports carry bag; the original was prone to weak material & seam splitting, which I just sewed up, so stronger would be better & more useful. "Sports carry bag" could imply that it would be more like that available in Japan, if I remember correctly, which may be more of a horizontal design, perhaps without the half-rucksack option, but I am just theorizing.
So, for now, it is just a case of waiting & seeing when the site is up & running again. Sorry for the delay, but I was waiting for this site's repair.
I visited Mayhem last Tuesday, and got speaking to David; I hope I got his name right - he was wearing the Panama at last year's picnic, and, I presumed, must be Mayhem's boss.
Anyway, it would seem that examples of the A-bike plus were to be arriving the next day, last Wednesday. Keith had already mentioned that availability [i]might[/i] not be until late July/early August, so there must be various procedures etc. to carry out/comply with.
Having noticed the change of emphasis on the 3 points for the A-bike mark II, which then became the plus, it would appear that at least the layshaft & rear down tube would be beefed up, but that the overall appearance and structure would essentially be the same, without massive redesign, and that these improved parts [i]may[/i] be able to upgrade the original model. They had considered redesigning the saddle, but are now going to supply a padded cover (perhaps gel?) to, hopefully, satisfy those who found the saddle uncomfortable, which, admittedly, neither I nor David had found to be a problem really.
I can't help but think that they have basically taken the correct route, keeping to the original design brief, just addressing problem areas. He also showed me the 8" fake that I had previously noticed on the internet, and made comment about here in a previous thread I started. Boy, was it heavy, ... relatively!
He asked me what I thought of the price for the plus, which I said I had noticed before the site had gone down - I was philosophical. Also, the pump will be included in the price of, I believe, £199 (perhaps 99p more?); it is an essential bit of kit really, as opposed to an option. I assume the bag will be included too, I hope.
That is all that I can think of at the moment, except that I had intended to ask about the new bag, but forgot. According to the spiel, though, the plus would have an improved sports carry bag; the original was prone to weak material & seam splitting, which I just sewed up, so stronger would be better & more useful. "Sports carry bag" could imply that it would be more like that available in Japan, if I remember correctly, which may be more of a horizontal design, perhaps without the half-rucksack option, but I am just theorizing.
So, for now, it is just a case of waiting & seeing when the site is up & running again. Sorry for the delay, but I was waiting for [i]this[/i] site's repair.
