Hopkins rides an HP Velotechnik on his Pan American Odyssey

Matthew Hopkins with his cool custom blue-green Street Machine Gte. Photo credit: from Matthew's blog

Matthew Hopkins dropped by New York City Recumbent Supply the other day.  He is riding the Pan-American Highway from Alaska to Argentina, a 30,000 mile odyssey, on a custom green HP Velotechnik Street Machine Gte (with Rohloff).  He originally contacted me because he needed a new chain tube.  I didn't have a spare in stock, but invited Matthew for lunch as a consolation and to see if I couldn't help him brainstorm a temporary solution.

Here's Matthew's blog: http://theroadoflittlemiracles.ghost.io

When he arrived, I was wrapping up an appointment with another HP Velotechnik convert (Adam), so we all went to my favorite local source for Caribbean take-out and picked up several containers of ox tail, stewed chicken and jerk chicken.  We had a good time, enjoying the sunshine in my vegetable garden and talked about tents, wasps, water filters, friendly people and the other joys of long distance riding.  And of course we talked about recumbent bikes -- this brand, that brand, different considerations, etc.

Matthew has 20 years experience as a bike mechanic, so he knows bikes.  It turns out he owns three HP Velotechniks: the Street Machine Gte he's riding, a Grasshopper fx, and a Scorpion fx (with Rohloff).  He seems to believe the best option for a machine that will be reliable for 30,000 miles is an HP Velotechnik Street Machine Gte.  And if it were me, I'd make the exact same choice.

Have fun, ride far,
Robert
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Robert Matson
New York City Recumbent Supply
The Innovation Works, Inc.
copyright 2014 Robert Matson