8. May 1999. Tomi Engel

Taking what was tested, and ready for production, and combining it with old and proven technology was all Flevobike could do to make a product out of the Greenmachine in the short run.

They named this spin-off: Amigo

The Machines best Friend

A major change was made to the transmission and gearing system which got replaced by a regular external chain drive. This allowed to use common Shimano or Sachs components.

They had to change the rear fork, to enable mounting those "traditional" hubs, but left the mono fork in the front with its futuristic design and the drum brake. For some reason they also switched to a 26'' rear wheel which might have been due to the seat position or just because of plain convenience.

Later modifications included the option to get a regular front fork in order to use different brakes and hubs.

The current standard version rates at a slightly higher price then planned for the Greenmachine, but includes a Sachs 3x7 hub, the Sachs hydraulic disk brake at the front and a new seat which was similar to the one found on the Basic (see 7).

The new seat is a regular mesh-thing which is less rider size dependent but on the other side offers less back support.

Some Basics

While we are talking about it we propably should introduce the Basic as a new, but traditional, recumbent which replaced the Greenmachine in the Flevobike-Batavus deal (in the Batavus world it is called Relaxx and is cheaper because of cheaper components. Another incarnation of this design was named Darwin<<???>> and brought to the German market by Herculus, a "subsiddary" of the Batavus-Imperium).

No suspension, no internal drive, no alloy frame, no breath taking new concepts but it is in mass production, it is cheap, it is suitable for small people and it is available.

For someone taller then 170 cm the Amigo still has its benefits ... besides looking cooler. Your feet are not running into any conflict with the front wheel when you make a tight turn while pedaling, and the suspension system is really comfortable and simple (no oil, springs or other nasty mechanics ... just plain rubber blocks).

So I decided to get me an Amigo and try to build my private little Greenmachine, which I call GreenAmigo...