My permanent take on #NokiaSustainabilityChallenge

Well I'll admit it. I want a Nokia 808 Pureview.

Hence i thought I'd share the way i use a sustainable fun toy to keep both the kids and me happy. Not just for the week, this is a long term sustainability tool.

Nope it's not a Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc HappyInator-Inator-Mobob. It's a bike and a trailer.

I present to you my Vitus VEE ONE '11 edition and my trailer. parked up by the school 

Now How does such a contraption save money you ask?

Firstly Bus travel.

A weekly hip hop ticket for use on Arriva the Shires and Centrebus (Grant Palmer it sucks you pulled out of this) costs £16.50 and a day ticket costs £4.20.
For a 48 weeks travel this would cost me £792 in weekly passes and £1008 in day tickets.
The bike cost £250 and the trailer approx £130. this cost in total. If i were to cycle all 48 weeks I save £682 in daily tickets and £412 in weekly tickets.
(this is approximate and probably inaccurate. as I walk and ride in nice weather and use the bike and the local bus services when it's soggy. Sadly I can't use it in heavy rain or icy conditions for risk of accidents. Brakes hate wet or slippy stuff)

Yes I know public transport is more economical than a car as buses carry vast amounts of people on them, but the way Luton and Dunstable traffic goes on a daily standstill they still consume a vast amount of Derv(diesel) on stop starts, especially on school times when they are most busy.
with some of the buses Centrebus and Arriva use there could be a lot of waste emissions belching out, especially in some of the older buses. (remember there's no Low Emission Zone here, We're on a major arterial route A5)

Also time saving is a good reason to ride.
The bike gets the kids to school in about 12 minutes whereas waiting for the bus, it arriving, getting on, getting off and walking to the school can sometimes stretch to about 30 mins, (HINT ARRIVA. A TIMETABLE IS MEANT TO BE KEPT TO NOT IGNORED IN PEAK TIMES THROW A COUPLE MORE BUSES OUT FROM BOTH TOWNS) I'm serious about the 30 mins.

The most important part about riding the bike and trailer for me has to be interaction.
As a whole I find 90% of people see the trailer and smile as the kids are usually happy in the back as they can see everything going on around them. Especially the diggers where' Bovis homes are building. (Tilia park management. your staff are exceedingly friendly when we've talked to them. nice one!)

The girls sing, talk with me, say hello to the cars, buses and trucks all the way to school. meaning we're all happy.

I would show you a week of riding, but the weather has stopped me from using the cameras. (must get a waterproof cam)

Could you replace the car or bus with a bike? Dare you try it? Or have you done the same as me. Let us know below.

Paul

P.S. one more reason why being sustaniable is easy. I run a symbian device. (nokia e6) and love the battery life. For instance I was at Cybher the other month and I charged my phone the evening before the event. Hammering it for tweeting, photos in molome, emails and facebook it lasted 2 days on one charge when many devices ran dry around halfway though the day

My Vitus Vee - 1 revew Part two.

Holyhellsticksonaplate I'm still here!

this is my little way of blogging about the bike and trying to ignore things happening with my nan passing away.recently (operation stop me doing illegally stupid things)

The problem is Operation Stop me doing illegally stupid things has a fail point. My Bike!

THE VITUS VEE ONE IS AN EVIL, TWO FACED MONSTER! *Clarkson voice* Oh yeahhhh baby!

The bike has shown me how the gears were being used poorly on Betsy my old, retired GT, but also how reliant I was on them too. This is my naughty bike and my daughters fun ride to school too.

(photo will be up soon - phone mmc has gone screwy - Meh, don't expect miracles)

The best part of it being Vee's ride to and from school is Naughty Bike Time! The bike has so far kept up with (sticking to the limit of 30mph. I have to respect the law too!) including an irate pair of police officers and anyone else who wants to take my babyVee on!
I get it to school and the sensible hat comes back to play.The kids all know Vee's dad as I ride the bike, even in the rain. (she likes sliding about somewhat)

Once Vee gets on though the attitude is dead set. no higher than 20kph (set to Kilometres to look better... he lies. I changed it's settings by mistake and the broadsheet manual is too confusing) she loves it and the lack of gears make it less clunky, which she hated on the old bike. Also in comparison, Arriva Bus 38/7 from Dunstable to Houghton Regis. Vs the bike on the same route. We arrived to our location in 13-16 mins (video being uploaded soon) the bus should have mirrored us, we beat it by 45 mins.  the GT did struggle, but has beaten the Arriva drivers on the 31 route a fair few times too (just me on the bike at that point, YES NAUGHTY TIME) A bike can beat a bus big time,

Now the bugbears.
Handlebars and grips are an opposing force, the grips hate me, Club Roost and much hairspray to the rescue here methinks, not to mention my DB flanges being rubbed down to snugly fit there new home. I need car scratching bars, too many loons like me on the road. Failing that I may upgrade the front bars to a DMR WingBar like on Betsy, as there lighter than the current bars, and I can get them in Purple. (my bikes have to stand out, not just for the cameras on them)

Drive Actually, the bottom bracket.
It's crap. Comes loose too quickly, I can only assume torque damaged on installation or inaccurately set torque on it's readjustment. service 2 coming up very soon :(

Wheels.
Front rim has had two spokes become dangerously loose within a week or three. that's probably an isolated issue and I've fixed that already
Although the rear was possibly not set up properly as it sounds like it needs adjustment, (at 400Km it's done well so far I'll say) Off to Bedford for that in the next week or two thanks to a recommendation from the father in law. Tim. You rock!

Niggles so far.
Apart from the above all i want to do is slap a 3 speed hub on it in the future.
Fit a rear child trailer for when the two girls both go to school,
My beast best pull like an old Volvo F12 of she's in trouble.

In short I love the bike and once tweaked up and setup properly it'll be awesome!

:Paul