Raffi can’t be folded with the basket attached, and there may be times when I want to detach his basket to use it off the rack.
It’s not that easy to carry a plastic basket while tooling around a store, library, or whatever. So I added handles. Read more…
What better way to start the weekend? We took Raffi and his Brompton sibling to the farmer’s market.
Raffi’s in back, today. His sibling has a lovely, large, Brompton basket on the front.
. . . or an R32. My Raffi uses a BiKase Dairyman for a rear basket, which fits very nicely.
That gap at the front of the rear rack is important.
You don’t want the back of your legs hitting the basket!
Initially, I just bungied on a lightweight plastic basket, but this is a much better solution. Read more…
It’s never a good idea to go out riding without a few minimal essentials. I like to carry a few basic tools, thin vinyl gloves (for messing with chains, if necessary), and, these days, a mask. I might not wear the mask while riding, and away from others, but if I stop anywhere, I want to make sure I have one on hand.
A conventional saddle bag wasn’t going to work well for Raffi, so I made one. Read more…
Not too hot, not too cold.
By a creek, and under an old stone bridge.
Much to my surprise, the saddle that came with Raffi, my Di Blasi R34 tricycle, wasn’t half bad. But it also wasn’t the most comfortable for me, so I swapped it out.
Even though this is a familiar saddle — it’s a Specialized I’ve used on other cycles — I didn’t expect the comfort level to rise particularly once I’d installed it. I was wrong! Read more…
Raffi, my Di Blasi R34 pedalac tricycle, was ordered intentionally, in early 2020, in a frantic rush to beat the global supply effects of Covid-19. He arrived safely from Italy, we rode three times, and then a debacle ensued.
Folded, Raffi’s not a lot bigger than a Brompton,
though substantially wider. And a LOT heavier.
At which point, Raffi, a charming and amazing creature when folded, too, became a fixture in our house, neatly cubed and tucked away. As a vulnerable person, I wasn’t going to cycle in a pandemic, at least until things settled a bit, and we knew what we were dealing with. Read more…
Raffi was drop-shipped from Italy, where Di Blasi tricycles are made, to me in the USA, arriving in perfect condition in a surprisingly small carton, thanks to his compact fold. The transaction seemed a risky business, but went very well, and it was possible to ride immediately. Out of the box!
Cracked and split.
Above, the raw edge where the clip,
which is meant to hold the battery in place,
has broken off.
However, three rides in, disaster struck. The mounting plate into which the Di Blasi battery slides and clips cracked and broke — making it impossible to use. After three rides. Read more…
Raffi can’t carry a huge amount of weight on his rear deck, but plenty enough for a pick-up stop for veggies and the like.
Equipped with a light but sturdy black basket, Raffi made the jaunt comfortably. Read more…
Raffi’s paperwork warned that cold temperatures are not his battery’s friend, so the first order of the day — Raffi arrived in February — was to make a thermal cover for his battery case.
(DiBlasi’s suggestion to throw a blanket over just didn’t seem practical!) Read more…