bent riders at cyclingforums

Dr. Duk

SO BUY SOMETHING DIFFERENT IF YOU ARE NOT SATISFIED WITH THE EASYRACER DESIGN. THAT IS WHAT MAKES AMERICA GREAT. WITH YOUR ABOVE STATEMENT ABOUT HAND POSITION EVERY LWB BENT WILL HAVE TILLER EFFECT. YOU WOULD HAVE TO RIDE A SWB BENT SITTING ATOP THE FRONT WHEEL WITH THE HANDLEBAR DIRECTLY ABOVE THE FRONT WHEEL. WHAT I AM SAYING IS THAT I HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED ANY TILLER OR TILLER EFFECT ON ANY OF THE TWO EASYRACER PRODUCTS THAT I HAVE AND BOTH BENTS HAVE THE SEATBACK RECLINED IN NEGATIVE SUPINE POSITION. I AGREE WITH THE BLACK & WHITE TV STATEMENT BUT APPARENTLY NEITHER A BETTER DESIGN NOR BENT HAS BEEN BUILT TO TAKE THE PLACE OF THE FANTASTIC EASYRACER!!!!!!!!

PaPa

Apparently.. you didn't see the provided image link which seems to indicate that I'm already a very satisified owner/rider. What made you think otherwise? My comments were in response to the OP's question(s) concerning TE's... of which, like you, have personal experience. One of them WAS... a TiRush (for a ti bike, frame construction was very good I might add).



Actually... what you ment to say was....you've just never EXPERIENCED a "better design"

Dr. Duk

YES, I SAW YOUR LINK AND APPARENTLY YOU HAVE CHANGED THE COMPONENTS OF THE EASYRACER TO SUIT YOUR INDIVIDUALITY. CONGRATULATIONS!!!! FROM YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT WANTING TO CHANGE THE ANTIQUATED DESIGN OF THE EASYRACER ONE WOULD HAVE TO CONCLUDE THAT YOU WHERE NOT A SATISIFIED OWNER/RIDER. YES, I HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED A "better design" BECAUSE THERE ISN'T A BETTER DESIGN OF THE EASYRACER BENT. I DO OWN AND RIDE OTHER BENTS AND THEIR DESIGNS ARE SUITABLE FOR WHAT THEY WHERE INTENDED FOR. BIKE E RX, VISION R-64 SABRE, TREK R-200, BURLEY HEPCAT, RANS SCREAMER TANDEM, EASYRACER TOUR EASY AND MY NEWEST ADDITION THE ROLLS ROYCE OF BENTS THE TI-RUSH.

meb

If it looks like I had a TE question, there must be an attribution or quotation problem somewhere in the thread. I raised no TE questions.

PaPa

Oops!... My error. Sorry meb. I was referring to dbwilkinson's post.

PaPa

Appreciate the compliment...

For a price... I'd be glad to implement the same improvements to your tirush.

Dr. Duk

NO THANKS!!! IF I WANTED A BENT LIKE YOURS I WOULD HAVE PURCHASED A RANS STATUS. I AM VERY SATISFIED WITH MY ANTIQUATED TI RUSH DESIGN THAT I HAVE RECENTLY UPDATED WITH A TAILSOK AND ROTOR CRANKS.

PaPa

And if I wanted a te/grr/tirush.... I'd do like G. Martin did when he conceived and build the original design - employ stripped and/or discarded uprights.

hazahl

Hi, I'm a bent-rider from Oslo, Norway and I regularly check out these forums. I sometimes find answers to my questions and sometimes discover that I'm not alone dealing with a specific problem. I never cared about biking until I got my Kettwiesel TT. Now, a lot of other people care too. My idea is that physical excercise has got to be fun, it doesn't matter how much people/government try to convince you through all these campaings. Now, I am eager to go biking while thinking about life and it's various challenges!

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Hazahl

hazahl

Bent Riders OnLine

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Hazahl

Gramps94804

Methinks you may be exaggerating the complaints a little. When you adjust the seat back rake, you can also adust the handle bars, quite easily actually. The new backs on EZ series from Sun are even easier. I'm thinking about changing my TE to that seat back and adjusting pins. It is obvious to me that the ergonomics had a lot of thought. You'll notice that they follow the scandanavian design of dining chairs with support for the lower back and then rolling slightly backwards and curving upwards to support the upper back. I find my TE seat as comfortable as my scandanavian dining chairs and the adjustment, while a little older technology than the EZ series involves only four screw adjustments. My Opinion Only (MOO).
Gramps

vlaming

My main requirement from cycling is to be able to commute 32 miles to work across semi-rural West Sussex, England, Europe, without using my car or the train, while getting a healthy amount of exercise, fresh air and countryside good feelings, while not being stressed by traffic jams and train cancellations (in fairness, the trains have been better this year after teething problems with new rolling stock).

The closest I have approached this so far is with an upright bike (Trek 1400), 1 hour 45 minutes inward journey (18 mph average, including junctions and traffic lights), then take the train all the way back. At 39 years old, I feel this is not going to get any better.

A high-end bike shop in Portsmouth, after suggesting minor efficiency improvements like tri-bars and carbon wheels, realised that I was happy to employ drastic measures, and suggested a recumbent as a way of shaving off 10 minutes in the hour. And a New Scientist magazine (late 2004) reported around 80mph records for a fully faired recumbent (although they take an hour to set up so not much good for commuting). One of the few fully-faired recumbents on the market is the Lightning F-40. Only one supplier in Europe had one in stock for me to test ride, in southern Germany. Since they cost about 5000 United States dollars, there was no way I was going to mail order one on spec, so I travelled to Germany to check it out.

After falling off a few times, I was happily doing 32 mph on the flat, nil wind. So I ordered one. It's a lot of money, but peanuts compared with moving house or more car depreciation.

As I see it, the issues regarding recumbent v. upright, for this commute ride, are:

1. Aerodynamic efficiency - frontal area: Being recumbent instead of upright clearly reduces frontal area, with some aerodynamic improvement. But without fairing, it is still very turbulent, so only a few mph improvement, once one has developed the different muscles. Nevertheless, recumbents were banned circa 1910-1930 in international cycle races because of their inherent aerodynamic advantage.

2. Aerodynamic efficiency - fairing: Fairings improve efficiency on upright and recumbent bikes, but again they were banned early this century in international cycle races because of their inherent aerodynamic advantage. Note that a rear-only fairing (looks like trailing edge of a wing) on its own provides more advantage than a front-only fairing on its own, and is more handy for luggage. For my purpose, a full fairing was applicable, though more expensive.

3. Weather : For protection against rain and cold, a full fairing does most of the job. This was an unexpected benefit - on an unfaired upright, I have to spend about 15 minutes in the morning looking for and putting on overshoes, Sealskin gloves, etc., and then more time hanging it all up in the office to dry. And just the psychological boost of not having the wind and rain blasting into my face makes it feel easier.

4. Pedalling efficiency: Recumbents lose on steep hills. Very laid back recumbents are worst, since you just slide up the seat. The Lightning F-40 is quite upright, and breaks even up to about 10% grade.

5. Comfort: I wore upright cycling shorts (I think this means something different in the U.S.; I am referring to the black Lycra/Spandex short trouser item that is worn on the outside) and regretted it very quickly. Loose-fitting shorts are better, and this is also a benefit when off the bike, e.g. in train or car, because I don't find cycling shorts comfortable then either.

Saddle - much more comfortable, more of an armchair, you can stop and just sit there and relax. I have to get off an upright to do this.

Handlebars - needed only for control input, so much lighter on fingers and wrists.


If anyone knows of a faster way to do this commute trip by bike, please let me know.

jawnn

I got a new action bent and its taken me quita bit of work to make it rideable......I am writing an article about it for Recumbent Cyclist news magazine.....so I will post more info later....

has any one else messed with one of these bikes?

vlaming

Er, I'm "vlaming" from England, Europe, I've done a 60 mile round trip 50 times in the last year on my Lightning F-40. Please contact me if there is anything you would like to know that I haven't already posted. If you're writing an article then I imagine you need good photos, I have some from the a long straight road by the sea on the south coast of England.