What Travel Wheels Are There?

By Amelia

I sit here today waiting for the UPS man to show up ... because the new SpinOlution Bee is slated to arrive today or tomorrow, and I can hardly wait!

The topic of travel wheels comes up a fair bit in the spinning community. We like to go to spin-ins, so a semi-portable wheel helps there. I was pleasantly surprised how portable my Majacraft Alpaca wheel was -- it folds over and in doing so, presents a handle for picking it up! Sure, it's about 16 pounds, but that's actually close to the Lendrum's weight; the soft wood used in its construction is more of an issue, as each trip leaves its own memento (= dent!) in my wheel. Click on the photo to see a note on where the handle pops up.

That didn't stop me from loving my Pocket Wheel, though. And as my years as a spinner progress, I love trying out the "new things" to see how they stack up, and if they are better than what I have already.

Here is the list of travel wheels I've compiled -- if you know of another, I'd love to hear of it! Links are generally to the makers' websites, where available.

These are the "really small" ones:

• Pocket Wheel (Doug Dodd/Jon McCoy) (To see Doug's original website (note, he no longer makes the wheel, so please use the new website for inquiries!), try google's cached version)
  
• Hitchhiker (Merlin Tree)
  
• Louet Hatbox (not being made, show up second hand sometimes)
  
• SpinAway Holiday Wheel (just announced/released at Rhinebeck 2008 - search ravelry's forums for SpinAway, Holiday, or Mary Oates for more details)
  
• The Bee by SpinOlution (coming March 2009 - mine'll be here soon!!)
  
• rumors of Schacht’s travel-wheel-to-be (... release date unknown ...)

And then there are other not-quite-as-small wheels but they fold or are relatively small and are considered travel wheels. What do you think? how do they stack up to the list above?

• Lendrum Folding Wheel
  
• Ashford Joy (see Joy ST/DT)
  
• Kromski Sonata
  
• Louet Victoria (maybe this should be in the list above?)
  
• Journey Wheel
  
• Majacraft Little Gem
  
• Babe’s Pinkie Wheel (lightweight, non-folding)
  
• Louet S-45 (non-folding, small)
  
• Wee Robin
  
• Van Eaton Fold N' Tote (no longer being made, maker retired)
  
• Ettrick Wind Wheel (page down to see this model)

Then there are the 'borderline' wheels, like my Majacraft, the Jensen Tina II, the Louet S-10 and cousins, the Ashford Traveller (thanks Minerva!), the Fidelis and cousins (thanks Anon!), the Schacht Ladybug -- all of which are well under 20 pounds and fit in a car seat pretty nicely. One thing to consider in picking a travel wheel, is how you intend to travel. I generally travel with a wheel by car. For suitcase travel, I stick with my spindles -- more room for fiber that way :) I've tried quite a few of these; to be more clear, I currently own a Pocket Wheel and a Journey Wheel, and have in the past owned a Lendrum, a Little Gem, and a Louet S-45. I've also borrowed a Hitchhiker and a Joy from friends, and gotten to treadle on a Hatbox, a Sonata and a Victoria at spin-ins. With so many choices, why am I excited about the Bee? First off, the Mach 1, SpinOlution's flagship wheel, has super-easy treadling, and I expect the same of the Bee, or close too it. Second, the Bee has seven ratios from 5:1 to 35:1 ... all on the wheel as it comes out of the box! That is amazing on a travel wheel. I believe the S-45 has the highest out-of-the-box ratio of my list above, at 20:1. I have high hopes of the combination -- easy treadling and high ratios -- that could supplant my Majacraft Alpaca wheel in the "workhorse" category, as its accelerated head gives me about 32:1, but with a fairly effort-full treadle. I have fiber and plying jobs at the ready ... stay tuned for more news of the Bee as soon as it buzzes on in! ~~ For related posts on specific wheels, see the topic Wheels, or see: What is a Pocket Wheel? (comparison with Hitchhiker) Would you recommend an Ashford Joy? Spin-off, on their new on-line community, have a copy of their very useful article (did I mention it was useful?) on currently manufactured spinning wheels, downloadable (click on "Download", not the Adobe PDF icon...) from here. You do have to make an account to get to that page, but that's free, and you needn't be a subscriber. ~~ posted 9 March 2009 at http://askthebellwether.blogspot.com/. Last updated March 10, 2010: links updated for Pocket Wheel and SpinAway.