I am Ellie,

I like beer.

My bike

Contrary to the previous entries under my name (thanks Steffen), I have more dimensions than an appreciation for beer.  Like my bike for instance.

I like my bike.  I spent a long time trying to find my perfect bike.  It’s been hard to find a dedicated touring bike that fits like a glove when you’re a bit of a shrimp like me.  I found my perfect bike with the Vivente bikes.  These bikes are developed in Australia (funnily made in Taiwan - like most bikes) and are really set up for touring - they’re not speedy or light bikes, but are real work horses, which suits me just fine.  I got myself quite a bargain through my search, and scored a Rolhoff hub (I have “The Gibb” model).  I was a little sceptical of the Rolhoff hub, but it is starting to really grow on me.  The middle gear was a little crunchy, but after a 1000kms has become quite smooth and the gears are a breeze to change (you can change whilst stationary!). The range of gears are similar to a touring derailleur setup - nice low gears for riding uphill with weight and high gears for zooming downhill.  I love too the light setup on this bike. I have a dynamo hub on the front wheel which generates power for front and back lights.  This has been great - especially riding through tunnels or being caught out after dark, as they are always ready. 

Steffen has started calling the bike “the Halfinger” after a breed of small but strong horse developed for for working in forestry in the Alps. It’s starting to grow on me.