and a big thing

Some of you may know that I have an addiction problem.

No, no, not to drugs, alcohol, nicotine, or anything that is harmful to my body; my addiction is just harmful to the bank account. I am a wheel junkie. I adore spinning wheels, all kinds.

The latest case in point....

a new Lendrum upright (from Shuttleworks, of course).

The feature that I like the most is the lean so that you can see how your bobbin is filling as you spin.
Because of my TMJ problems, I lean back when spinning so that my neck and head are supported by my body. I like that I don't have to stop and lean forward to see if the yarn guide needs to be moved.

When I first started spinning, I was attracted to pretty wheels. I have to admit that I dismissed the Lendrum based on its plain Jane looks. Now I see my wheels mainly as tools and their aesthetics are secondary considerations. The Lendrum may be low-tech in many ways but it is solid maple and seems very sturdy.

It does fold although it's not the lightest portable wheel out there by a long shot. At this point in my life, portability isn't too important. I don't have plans to fly anywhere with my wheels and I don't have to take public transit to spinning classes.

Notice the knob at the base of the wheel.
You unscrew this knob and a hinge allows the wheel to fold down flat.
Just move the knob up to the next hole to secure it to the base and it's ready to travel or to be stored (I see that Bentley's headless skunk wanted to be included in the photos).

The Lendrum has Scotch tension and the flyer is removed and/or changed in the same way, unscrewing the knob under it.
You have some choice about how high to place the flyer (also tightening or loosening the drive band) before tightening the knob.

Changing bobbins is very easy. The back of the flyer folds down so that you only need to remove the tension band before you slide the bobbin out.

For a 19" wooden drive wheel, it's very easy to treadle and has nice momentum. I've been spinning on it for the last couple of days but I'm not yet sure how my knees feel about treadling this wheel. I've been having a fibro flare this week and I'm one big hurt all over (and starting to get whiny about the pain and poor sleep - it sucks!) so it's tough to know if the wheel is causing any more pain than my body would be experiencing anyway.

I chose to get the regular DT wheel and the fast flyer rather than the complete package which also includes the plying flyer and bobbin. I ply on the Roberta espinner and can't imagine needing the plying attachment. I did order the fast flyer separately. It uses the same bobbins as the regular flyer so was a very reasonable add-on.

The wheel comes with a tensioned lazy kate.
It's not very heavy so I'm thinking that I may buy some rubber feet to make it more stable.

All in all, the Lendrum is a sturdy, cleverly-designed wheel at a great price. It feels like a full-sized wheel and has some portability features. I like that it's made in Canada too.