The RECUMBENT.news team—Granden and I—set out together with Matt Galat to visit the production hall of the Czech company Katanga. For Granden—new RECUMBENT.news editor—and me, this was actually our first joint editorial trip, and it truly proved to be worth it.

Katanga is a Czech company owned by Stephane Boving, a French native who purchased the rights to manufacture the WAW velomobile in 2011 and began producing it in the Czech Republic. Over time, he added several other projects. In Brno, the team was assembling chassis for the Velove Armadillo cargo quad, and today they also assemble the Pony4 quad and the practical electric four-wheel velomobile Quadvelo. The most exciting project currently underway at Katanga is without doubt the fast electric four-wheeled velomobile Velion which is planned to get a certification for speeds up to 45 km/h. You may have already seen at events such as the SPEZI show in Germany, and it was also the main reason for our visit.

Because big projects require big spaces and the building in Brno had become too small for Katanga, Stephane moved with his wife Irena, their two dogs, and part of the company to the countryside. That is where we followed him as well. The part of Katanga where the WAW velomobile is now produced and where work on the Velion continues is located in the village of Vratěnín, right on the Austrian border. The entire site also includes Camp Velo, which, as the name suggests, is a campsite aimed primarily at cyclists, but it also has space for caravans and offers accommodation in beautifully renovated former border guard barracks.

The entire visit was excellently captured by Matt Galat in his vlog, and Premium Members can also find a narrated photo gallery below the video.

   

 


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