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Ben Parke

How can I help you?

Hi! My name is Ben Parke and I am a velomobile ambassador from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Let me know how I can help you discover a fantastic alternative to a car that’s much faster and more comfortable than a bicycle! Let’s schedule a chat and maybe even a test drive!

 

Email: [email protected]

 

Useful links:    Velomobile World YouTube Channel    Ben YouTube Channel    Blog    Technical Support    Create account

About me & my bicycle

I’ve been a professional trumpet player and private music lesson instructor for over 25 years. I have students who have won major concert competitions and gone on to study at some of the top music schools in the US.

 

Since moving to Minnesota for graduate school, I’ve been taking advantage of the extensive bike trails in the Minneapolis area. I started cycle touring for a couple weeks each year in Germany and Austria in 2015, drawn by the incredible scenery, excellent long-distance cycle route networks and amazing bakeries.

 

In addition to cycling, I enjoy using my rare bits of free time to build things like furniture and a velomobile.

 

I also have a YouTube channel about my various bikes, including a series on the one I built, and my cycle tours. Visit my YouTube Channel >>>

 

ABOUT MY BICYCLE/VELOMOBILE

 

You probably arrived at this page after seeing me ride past in a vehicle from the pictures below. You might be wondering what in the world that was and what sort of person rides something like that.

 

It’s a bicycle, well, technically a recumbent trike. The technical term is velomobile. The red and white one is fully pedal powered. The wooden one, which I built, originally was fully pedal powered, but now has e-assist just like e-assist bicycles, and is used for commuting.

 

Why would someone ride in a velomobile? Great question. I like to be active. Riding in car in traffic is too much sitting still for me, and I find heavy traffic pretty stressful. I also don’t have a lot of free time in my busy work day to exercise. I’ve found cycling to be a great way to combine my desire to exercise, reduce the stress from traffic since I use residential streets and bike paths, and still get to my destination in a reasonable amount of time. Using a velomobile makes the travel time even shorter compared to my recumbent bike. On my regular recumbent bike, I average maybe 12-15 mph depending on the route. In the velomobile I can average 18-20 mph despite being anything but a fast rider. With my e-assist velomobile, I can cut the travel time down even more. I’ve also got protection from rain, snow, cold, and sun plus room for groceries. I’m even building a trailer so I can haul larger items when needed. Originally I built the wooden velomobile so I could extend my riding into the winter. I didn’t plan to ride it year-round, but it’s so much fun going fast, that I rarely use my bike anymore!

Bülk MK1 Velomobile

After Eggert Bülk and Jens Buckbesch started the Milan project in 2005 (which is still running successfully today), they started a new velomobile project in 2021, the Bülk-MK1. It implements a new space utilization and aerodynamic concept. The findings from various wind tunnel tests were also taken into account. Jens documented every step of the Bülk-MK1 project, then he sent us very detailed info to create a page where you can discover the philosophy of the Bülk-MK1.

WHAT IS A VELOMOBILE

A velomobile is a human-powered vehicle related to the bicycle, for everyday use, with a body/shell that provides comfort, weather protection and luggage space. Due to the aerodynamically shaped bodywork, you can achieve a decent speed with little effort (30-50 km/h on flat road). Velomobiles are very suitable as commuter vehicles, for shopping or holidays, also are a good way to clear your mind while taking a tour or a road trip with your friends.

Why you will love one

● Fun to drive with little effort on long distances

Environmental friendly transport

● Very suitable for commuting, shopping, holiday travels

Comfortable to drive

You are independent, needs only your force to work

Good for training and sport, good for your health

HOW TO ORDER YOURS

If you live in USA or Canada, please create an account, so you can order your velomobile. After you create your account on our website, you can access the configurator to create the velomobile after your needs, you will see also the final price and other details, if you follow the steps. Do you need help? Please contact me!

People. Experiences. Reviews.

Werner Klomp, one of our clients, took some time to share with us his experience over the years with a few models of velomobiles.

I just want to write something positive as a customer of VelomobileWorld.com; In one year, I drove about 16.000 till 20.000 km with a velomobile made by VelomobileWorld.com in Romania, and that’s already over 10 years with a lot of fun and almost no problems.

The velomobiles are getting better and better, lighter and lighter, faster and faster. Therefore I thank the Romanian producers and off course the designer Daniel Fenn and also the distributor Ymte with whom I have also good connections. If there is a problem, what normally is small, the help from all three of them is very fast. I never had a problem that big in the last 8 years that I couldn’t drive on to the destination I want.

The first Velomobile was a Strada, which I drove in two years about 50.000 km and the only problem was the broken suspension on the back. This part made from aluminum was on the post after two days at my place to repair it. Strada was a little bit big for me, that is when Daniel came to Velomobiel.nl and started to work there. At that time he designed the DF, which is like a smaller Strada, with the complete team from Velomobiel.nl. The DF velomobile came and I drove it with a lot of fun and speed, over 50.000 km in two years. By driving so many kilometers you’ll always find something to make better. All those experiences I offered to the team to make it even better than already was. The time goes on, people want to do their business to work, not always together, so Ymte started Intercitybike and Daniel is working for himself in southern Germany.

Daniel designed a new model called Alpha 7, which is a bit bigger than DF but a bit smaller than  DF XL. This velomobile is about 21 kg, which is 3 kg lighter than the normal DF, so as you can see, it is still getting better and better. This Velomobile is made in Romania of course, and at a really good quality. Also if the new velomobiles have some problems, they always fix them very fast and the customers are getting help. The Alpha is now also produced with tank steering, which is made from carbon fiber and very light.

At this moment I have an Alpha with tank steering at home and a DF that was specially made for me with special parts and special carbon fiber to make it lighter for me. This one made me happy and I drove 500 km already, with a lot of hill meters in it the last 5 days. The speed between Alpha and my special DF is almost the same, but for me the DF fits very well to my body, so I am very lucky to have this part built for me in Romania.

So I want to thank the whole team in Romania for their work, the good parts and the deliver … thanks a lot guys.

Velomobiles on world roads

We have happy clients that are delighted about the velomobile experience, in over 20 countries around the world.

Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, England, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain

China, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia

USA, Canada, Brazil

Australia & New Zealand

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