Touring | Circe Cycles

Josie Dew and family cycling with a Shimano STEPS assisted Helios Triplet.

admin — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 14:22:24 +0000

Inspirational touring cyclist and author, Josie Dew, has been using a Circe Helios for transporting her family, but with a growing family and having to regularly propel an increasingly heavy load, she’s upgraded the family transport to a Shimano STEPS assisted Circe Helios Triplet. It’s used every day for the school run and general transportation duties, but Josie still has a passion for cycle touring and also uses the Triplet for family holidays.

If you’d like to read a bit about her trips or even just see how she packs everything for such an adventure, she writes entertainingly in her website blog. She has also written a number of inspiring books about touring by bicycle.

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Travelling with, and transporting, a tandem bike

admin — Fri, 06 May 2016 13:33:44 +0000

There are many wonderful things about tandem riding, but a big considerations is how to transport, or travel with, the extra length, size and weight that is essential to the design of a tandem.

An essential element of our design brief for the Helios was a compact tandem that, amongst other things, would be easy to transport both locally and for travelling to far away places. By using 20″ wheels and making changes to the classic tandem stoker geometry, we were able to design a tandem compact enough to go into even quite small cars without the need to be folded.

Although we had originally designed the Helios with the potential to incorporate a fold, it soon became clear that, in the real world, it was compact enough for most transportation needs without folding, and that to significantly reduce the volume, particularly for travelling by air, a separable rather than a folding tandem was the superior option. Having experience of several different folding and separable tandems, we decided that a way of stabilizing what is essentially a long and heavy bike, particularly when assembling, was essential and why we used a mixed compression tube and couplings system. Key to folding and re-assembling the tandem is the compression drainpipe, which holds the two separated ends of the tandem together, and stable, while the coupling tube and other components are removed or installed.

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Reach Fair Ride 2nd of May

admin — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 14:19:14 +0000

Quick reminder about the Reach Fair on Monday 2nd of May. It’s a great fun day for all the family.

http://www.reach-village.co.uk/reach_fair.html

We’ll be joining the Cambridge Cycling Campaign ride with the new STEPS electric assist Helios tandem and Helios Triplet and hope to see some of you there.

https://www.camcycle.org.uk/blog/2016/04/14/reach-fair-ride/

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New Circe Dealers

admin — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 10:57:51 +0000

We are very pleased to welcome two new international dealers, Clever Cycles in Portland, Oregon, and Green Basikal in Singapore – see contact details in our ‘How to Buy’ section. Both are passionate about, and specialise in, bike based transportation solutions. Commuting, riding with the family, shopping, hauling cargo or touring, by using their bikes everyday, they are able to give friendly, informed advice about the best products and solutions for your needs.

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Circe tandems as Cargo Bike

admin — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 17:02:41 +0000

A stand-out, and unique, feature of Circe tandems is the speed with which they can be converted into a Cargo bike. Both the Helios and Morpheus use the same Cargo Rack which can be combined with the Cargo Extension to form a large, flat platform rack for every day transportation needs.

Whether for the family shop,

a trip to the allotment,

or the school run, with plenty of space left for luggage and shopping,

either bike can quickly be converted from person carrier to cargo carrier.

The post

Circe tandems as Cargo Bike

first appeared on Circe Cycles.

Transporting a tandem bicycle on an airplane

admin — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 15:23:55 +0000

We don’t recommend flying with any bike in a soft bag, but frequent flyer, Aidan Prior, who regularly uses soft bags for transporting his bikes, has found an interesting way of flying with his Helios in a surfboard bag.

By removing the front wheel, seat posts and pedals, his Helios fits into the Komunity Project surfboard bag and weighs around 20kg all up (Aidan’s Helios is a hub gear geared heavy duty bike, so a bit less for some models). There is also the issue of maximum lengths, but BA, with whom Aidan is flying, and various others have a limit of 190cm which is almost exactly at the limit.

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Methods for transporting a tandem by car

admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 16:13:16 +0000

Transporting a tandem bicycle by car is always difficult and, even though the compact size and light weight of the Helios make it very easy to fit inside most cars, some families need the inside of the car for passengers and other luggage, making roof carriage the only option.

The Thule Pro ride 591 and 598 roof rack is a popular option with Helios users. Using the Circe Thule stand-off the Helios can be easily fitted to the rack.

Another option is to use a tandem bike rack. Helios owner Dirk Sinjan comments :- ‘We put it on the roof today and it seems to fit well. Did put it on with the front of the bike facing backward to avoid the rack interfering with the boot lid. Think it works best for MPVs or estate cars as you need a minimum of 1m between the roof bars, but may work on other cars as well.
If you are interested, the rack can be found on Amazon or with various other online retailers (Raleigh Avenir Tandem Rack AVR820)’

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Flying with the Helios separable tandem

admin — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 11:25:03 +0000

Richard and Anne Lewis regularly travel with their tandem and were strong advocates of our designing a separable version of the Helios. This article is about how they fold their separable Aurora tandem into two suitcases for flying.

There are various one and two case, or bag, solutions that people use for transporting the Helios, but, as there are likely to be two people travelling with a tandem, a two case solution works well, keeping the weight of the individual cases down and allowing smaller cases or bags to be used.

The photos show how it is done, but Richard has added some useful notes :-

1. Rear triangle, separable parts and front wheel in one case.

2. Front triangle, seat posts and saddles, and Rohloff rear wheel into the second.

3. Advisable to remove both chains.

4. Use padded wheel bags.

5. Rear mudguards can stay in place. Front removed and put in wheel bag.

6. One front brake (the Lewis’s have two) removed to go with the rear triangle.

7. Forks removed. This is dependent on the size of the cases used and is not necessary with the single case pack using our Traveller case.

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Peterborough to Paris on a Circe Helios tandem

admin — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 14:55:18 +0000

To cycle 430 miles from Peterborough to Paris is an impressive ride by any standards, even more so when suffering from the devastating neurological illness, Parkinson’s disease. Marjorie Abbott has been a sufferer for 12 years, but is passionate about the importance of regular exercise in controlling or delaying the development of symptoms. To meet her and go cycling with her is testimony to that belief!

As a result of her illness, Marj cannot ride a solo bike, so she and her husband, Clif, ride a tandem bicycle where he is responsible for the steering and balance. She, and they, are an inspiration, not just to other Parkinson’s sufferers for whom they regularly do events to raise money, but to us all.

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Tandem touring with a trailer

admin — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 14:34:37 +0000

On a long tour, particularly when camping, some couples find the luggage capacity of a tandem restrictive. After all, a conventional tandem, can only accommodate the same number of bags as a single bike. A good solution is a trailer and the Circe Atlas trailer was designed with such usage in mind. Not only is it an excellent lightweight trailer, but it folds into a remarkably small and manageable package.

This is especially useful in combination with a compact tandem like the Helios, particularly in separable form, when different transportation systems might be used, both to get to a starting point, but also to travel to different locations on the trip.

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Tandem bicycle touring with the family

admin — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 17:14:43 +0000

I think the photo says it all. Family of four, two Helios tandems, full camping load and beautiful, spectacular Iceland. These are the Gordons, the same family that made a little trip a couple of years ago on the Helios……………..China to Glasgow self-supported!

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Get off the beaten path with the Morpheus.

admin — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 16:23:56 +0000

By combining its comfortable and sociable seating with exceptional load carrying capacity, the Morpheus is the ideal tandem for a long distance leisurely tour. The conventional rear rack can take panniers and a rack pack and the dedicated underseat racking system can take another pair of large panniers. A bar bag or small saddle bag can be attached to the seat frame, but what differentiates the Morpheus from conventional tandem designs is the ability to stow significant luggage behind the recumbent seat.

The post
Get off the beaten path with the Morpheus.
first appeared on Circe Cycles.

Optional luggage positions on a Helios tandem

admin — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 15:22:13 +0000

The Helios takes traditional front and rear racks and panniers, but it can also be fitted with a variety of other bags. On this occasion, the panniers have been left at the campsite, but a 27 litre Brompton T bag and a couple of bar bags provide plenty of luggage for a weekend away.

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The bike trailer that fits into a shoulder bag.

admin — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 12:54:55 +0000

Cycling author and journalist, Richard Peace of Excellent Books, recently reviewed the Atlas trailer. He particularly liked the easy tool-less fold, large load platform and smooth towing experience with a variety of different wheel sizes.

The post The bike trailer that fits into a shoulder bag. first appeared on Circe Cycles.

How to transport your Helios tandem in a car

admin — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 13:21:19 +0000

The Helios is compact by design and with the front wheel, captain seat post and handlebar removed and the stoker seat lowered the Helios will fit into a space 1800 x 600 x 200 mm. So remarkably compact that the Helios has been fitted into a 3 door Nissan Micra, with the rear seats down! Most common is to put it diagonally across the back, or, down the middle between the seats. Of course, if you are looking to get the Helios in a Smart car then you might want to add the Separable kit.

Picture shows a Helios in the back of a Honda Jazz.
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