CruzBike?

(PeteCresswell) said:

Never heard of it.

Does anybody actually have one of these things?
http://www.cruzbike.com/

Not me.

Quoted message said:

Been flirting with the idea of a 'bent for a number of years -

Oh, the HORROR!!! 😉

Quoted message said:

just for path riding but, being a statistical outlier
body-dimension-wise, have shied away from the cost of a custom.

My opinion is that recumbents are best on the open road, or ridden in a
"vehicular cycling" mode. Path generally have too many features that
need to be maneuvered at low speed with tight turns, which is not a
forte of recumbent bicycles (trikes are a different matter).

Describe more specifically how you differ from the norm, and perhaps
suggestions for suitable bicycles could be made. Recumbent fit concerns
are rather different than those of uprights.

Quoted message said:

Cruz' attraction is that the drive system seems to lend itself to
fairly extreme leg length adjustments - yet fit on the average
trunk-mount bike rack.

I would hesitate to buy without a chance to ride one first. Moving
bottom bracket bicycle can be rather odd in the handling department.
Note that the number of dealers is sparse, so finding a test ride may
not be practical.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"Localized intense suction such as tornadoes is created when temperature
differences are high enough between meeting air masses, and can impart
excessive energy onto a cyclist." - Randy Schlitter

On Nov 26, 8:11 pm, Tom Sherman <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

(PeteCresswell) said:

Never heard of it.

Quoted message said:

Does anybody actually have one of these things?
http://www.cruzbike.com/

Not me.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Been flirting with the idea of a 'bent for a number of years -

Quoted message said:

Oh, the HORROR!!! 😉

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

just for path riding but, being a statistical outlier

body-dimension-wise, have shied away from the cost of a custom.

Quoted message said:

My opinion is that recumbents are best on the open road, or ridden in a
"vehicular cycling" mode. Path generally have too many features that
need to be maneuvered at low speed with tight turns, which is not a
forte of recumbent bicycles (trikes are a different matter).

Describe more specifically how you differ from the norm, and perhaps
suggestions for suitable bicycles could be made. Recumbent fit concerns
are rather different than those of uprights.

Quoted message said:

Cruz' attraction is that the drive system seems to lend itself to
fairly extreme leg length adjustments - yet fit on the average
trunk-mount bike rack.

Quoted message said:

I would hesitate to buy without a chance to ride one first. Moving
bottom bracket bicycle can be rather odd in the handling department.
Note that the number of dealers is sparse, so finding a test ride may
not be practical.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"Localized intense suction such as tornadoes is created when temperature
differences are high enough between meeting air masses, and can impart
excessive energy onto a cyclist." - Randy Schlitter

Labeling all recumbents as not suitable for bike paths is a massive
generalization. My short-wheelbase Rans Rocket is very agile at low
speeds and tight turns. My long-wheelbase Sun EZ-Sport is almost as
good.

(PeteCresswell) said:

Never heard of it.

Does anybody actually have one of these things?http://www.cruzbike.com/

Been flirting with the idea of a 'bent for a number of years -
just for path riding but, being a statistical outlier
body-dimension-wise, have shied away from the cost of a custom.

Cruz' attraction is that the drive system seems to lend itself to
fairly extreme leg length adjustments - yet fit on the average
trunk-mount bike rack.
--
PeteCresswell

Another person on http://www.bikejournal.com bought one. There was a
bit of a learning curve due to having to hold the handlebars against
the pedalling, but otherwise similar to Short wheel recumbents. A
couple of miles and he felt comfortable in most situations, a couple
of hundred miles before he was ready for high effort pedalling.
During this time, he ended up walking some hills due to the excessive
wobble.

PeteCresswell said:

Does anybody actually have one of these things?http://www.cruzbike.com/

I helped a 13-year-old kid build something like that in a community
bike shop a few years ago. It was quite ridable (for him, I didn't
try it myself since it was li'l-scooter sized). It looked like quite
a bit of work was required at the handlebars to keep the front wheel
from turning with each pedal stroke.

The best application for the Cruzbike IMO is as an electric assist
bike. The rear wheel can easily be set up with a front hub motor, and
having motor power to provide surges of speed and acceleration would
make the whole arms-fighting-legs aspect of the thing more tolerable.
At least one of the frequent contributors to the Yahoo power-assist
and e-motor-assist groups uses a Cruzbike.

Chalo

(PeteCresswell) said:

Never heard of it.

Does anybody actually have one of these things?
http://www.cruzbike.com/

I don't have one either, never have.
Home-builders have been making bikes (and trikes) like this forever.
Cruzbike started out selling a conversion kit for Y-frame MTB's, and has
progressed to selling whole bikes.

I'm not particularly interested in the design, but I do like how they
integrated full suspension into the Silvio. If I could have gotten a
road/touring bike with full suspension back in '97 or '98, I might have
never gotten around to trying recumbents at all.

Quoted message said:

Been flirting with the idea of a 'bent for a number of years -
just for path riding but, being a statistical outlier
body-dimension-wise, have shied away from the cost of a custom.

One problem people tend to have with SWB's of all types is the
relatively high seating position, that makes "remaining stationary but
sitting on the bike" difficult. Recumbents aren't like upright bikes,
where you can scoot forward off the saddle and straddle the top tube
while standing.

Quoted message said:

Cruz' attraction is that the drive system seems to lend itself to
fairly extreme leg length adjustments - yet fit on the average
trunk-mount bike rack.

Will an extreme range really be important? Are two people of different
heights going to regularly use it? A shorter person probably won't like
it for the ground-reach problem, as noted.

As for transportation problems, it's part of the deal.

Recumbent dealers are fewer, prices are higher and transportation is
more of a hassle--but the actual riding is wonderful. What's more
important in a recreational bicycle--the accessibility, price and ease
of transportation? Or the actual seat time?
~

Joe Bernard said:

On Nov 26, 8:11 pm, Tom Sherman <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

(PeteCresswell) said:

Never heard of it.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Does anybody actually have one of these things?
http://www.cruzbike.com/

Quoted message said:

Not me.

Quoted message said:

> Been flirting with the idea of a 'bent for a number of years -

Quoted message said:

Oh, the HORROR!!! 😉

Quoted message said:

> just for path riding but, being a statistical outlier
body-dimension-wise, have shied away from the cost of a custom.

Quoted message said:

My opinion is that recumbents are best on the open road, or ridden in a
"vehicular cycling" mode. Path generally have too many features that
need to be maneuvered at low speed with tight turns, which is not a
forte of recumbent bicycles (trikes are a different matter).

Quoted message said:

Describe more specifically how you differ from the norm, and perhaps
suggestions for suitable bicycles could be made. Recumbent fit concerns
are rather different than those of uprights.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Cruz' attraction is that the drive system seems to lend itself to
fairly extreme leg length adjustments - yet fit on the average
trunk-mount bike rack.

Quoted message said:

I would hesitate to buy without a chance to ride one first. Moving
bottom bracket bicycle can be rather odd in the handling department.
Note that the number of dealers is sparse, so finding a test ride may
not be practical.

Quoted message said:

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"Localized intense suction such as tornadoes is created when temperature
differences are high enough between meeting air masses, and can impart
excessive energy onto a cyclist." - Randy Schlitter

Labeling all recumbents as not suitable for bike paths is a massive
generalization. My short-wheelbase Rans Rocket is very agile at low
speeds and tight turns. My long-wheelbase Sun EZ-Sport is almost as
good.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

From looking at that cruzbike.com page, it dawned on me that
recumbents must require more of a leap of faith handling-wise. Looks
like there's no way to redistribute your weight, and I don't see much
of a way to plant a foot to prevent a crash.

/s

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=267062

Joe Bernard said:

On Nov 26, 8:11 pm, Tom Sherman <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

(PeteCresswell) said:

...
> Been flirting with the idea of a 'bent for a number of years -

Oh, the HORROR!!! 😉

Quoted message said:

> just for path riding...

My opinion is that recumbents are best on the open road, or ridden in a
"vehicular cycling" mode. Path generally have too many features that
need to be maneuvered at low speed with tight turns, which is not a
forte of recumbent bicycles (trikes are a different matter).

...

Labeling all recumbents as not suitable for bike paths is a massive
generalization. My short-wheelbase Rans Rocket is very agile at low
speeds and tight turns. My long-wheelbase Sun EZ-Sport is almost as
good.

1. I did not label all recumbents as unsuitable for riding on paths.
Rather, I was contending the real strength of recumbents is being ridden
on the open road. Using a recumbent only on paths (as the original
poster suggested doing) would be a significant under utilization of the
bicycle.

2. What is a "Rans Rocket"? Is it similar to the 2000 [1] RANS Rocket I
have?

3. While most paths can be negotiated on a recumbent without
dismounting, it is much easier to deal with the really poorly designed
sections on an upright bicycle, particularly an ATB. Of course, the
recumbent is vastly superior to the ATB in comfort and speed.

[1] By serial number, the frame is a 1999, but it came with the 2000
seat, so I assume it was one of the leftover 1999 frames built up in 2000.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"Localized intense suction such as tornadoes is created when temperature
differences are high enough between meeting air masses, and can impart
excessive energy onto a cyclist." - Randy Schlitter

Scott Gordo said:

Joe Bernard said:

On Nov 26, 8:11 pm, Tom Sherman <[email hidden]>
wrote:

What up with Google - they need to fix their web interface to meet
commonly accepted Usenet standards? The elimination of blank lines, the
insertion of extra blank lines and ignoring the signature separator are
all unacceptable.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

(PeteCresswell) wrote:
> Never heard of it.
> Does anybody actually have one of these things?
> http://www.cruzbike.com/
Not me.
>> Been flirting with the idea of a 'bent for a number of years -
Oh, the HORROR!!! 😉
>> just for path riding but, being a statistical outlier
> body-dimension-wise, have shied away from the cost of a custom.
My opinion is that recumbents are best on the open road, or ridden in a
"vehicular cycling" mode. Path generally have too many features that
need to be maneuvered at low speed with tight turns, which is not a
forte of recumbent bicycles (trikes are a different matter).
Describe more specifically how you differ from the norm, and perhaps
suggestions for suitable bicycles could be made. Recumbent fit concerns
are rather different than those of uprights.
> Cruz' attraction is that the drive system seems to lend itself to
> fairly extreme leg length adjustments - yet fit on the average
> trunk-mount bike rack.
I would hesitate to buy without a chance to ride one first. Moving
bottom bracket bicycle can be rather odd in the handling department.
Note that the number of dealers is sparse, so finding a test ride may
not be practical.

Quoted message said:

Labeling all recumbents as not suitable for bike paths is a massive
generalization. My short-wheelbase Rans Rocket is very agile at low
speeds and tight turns. My long-wheelbase Sun EZ-Sport is almost as
good.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

From looking at that cruzbike.com page, it dawned on me that
recumbents must require more of a leap of faith handling-wise. Looks
like there's no way to redistribute your weight, and I don't see much
of a way to plant a foot to prevent a crash.

The CruzBike does look to have the weight distribution too far forward.

You can not do the same type of maneuvers on a recumbent as on a
upright, but this is really only of concern in technical off-road riding
or certain types of non-vehicular cycling. For many types of riding,
these limitations are unimportant.

You do not want to plant your foot while riding a recumbent. On the
other hand, if you are going slow enough that you could attempt a foot
plant, a fall from a recumbent will not really hurt anything. Falling
over on a recumbent is much less hurtful than doing the same on an upright.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"Localized intense suction such as tornadoes is created when temperature
differences are high enough between meeting air masses, and can impart
excessive energy onto a cyclist." - Randy Schlitter

Doug Cimper said:

...
One problem people tend to have with SWB's of all types is the
relatively high seating position, that makes "remaining stationary but
sitting on the bike" difficult. Recumbents aren't like upright bikes,
where you can scoot forward off the saddle and straddle the top tube
while standing....

I have a couple of short wheelbase (SWB) recumbents [1], and high seat
height is not a problem. As a matter of fact, I can hold myself up with
a hand on the ground. 🙂

[1] Like this one
<http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2016/1939602865_538c57728e.jpg?v=0>.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"Localized intense suction such as tornadoes is created when temperature
differences are high enough between meeting air masses, and can impart
excessive energy onto a cyclist." - Randy Schlitter

Per Tom Sherman:

Quoted message said:

You can not do the same type of maneuvers on a recumbent as on a
upright, but this is really only of concern in technical off-road riding
or certain types of non-vehicular cycling.

After I fired off the post, I realized that with the front wheel
drive there might be difficulty negotiating something like a curb
by raising the front wheel.
--
PeteCresswell

Per DougC:

Quoted message said:

Will an extreme range really be important? Are two people of different
heights going to regularly use it? A shorter person probably won't like
it for the ground-reach problem, as noted.

Not in the context of multiple users.

I was just hoping that an off-the-shelf version might fit me or
be easily modified to by lengthening the tube that supports the
cranks.
--
PeteCresswell

Per jur:

Quoted message said:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=267062

Sounds to me like the guy's a happy camper so far, but doesn't
have that many miles on it.

The bit about pedaling force having tb offset by pressure on the
handlebars went right over my head in the previous posts - but
after reading the forum thread it finally dawned on me.
--
PeteCresswell

(PeteCresswell) said:

Per Tom Sherman:

Quoted message said:

You can not do the same type of maneuvers on a recumbent as on a
upright, but this is really only of concern in technical off-road riding
or certain types of non-vehicular cycling.

After I fired off the post, I realized that with the front wheel
drive there might be difficulty negotiating something like a curb
by raising the front wheel.

Raising the front wheel is very difficult to impossible on a recumbent.
As I wrote, recumbents are best when used for "vehicular cycling". For
some, that trade-off is negligible compared to the advantages in comfort
and aerodynamic drag, for others it is not. As always, YMMV.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"Localized intense suction such as tornadoes is created when temperature
differences are high enough between meeting air masses, and can impart
excessive energy onto a cyclist." - Randy Schlitter

Scott Gordo said:

From looking at that cruzbike.com page, it dawned on me that
recumbents must require more of a leap of faith handling-wise. Looks
like there's no way to redistribute your weight, and I don't see much
of a way to plant a foot to prevent a crash.

/s

DING DING DING DING DING!!!
We have a winner!

Yes, on an upright bicycle, you balance by moving your body, or even
pull up to pop a wheelie or bunny hop a curb.
Yes, on a recumbent, you cannot move very much. You must learn to
steer the front wheel toward the balance point, where the line between
the tire contact patches is underneath the center of mass, and altered
by a deliberate turn. For practice, I will hold a pipe or chain link
fence, and attempt to balance with as little push / pull effort as
possible. When approaching a red light or busy stop sign, I can ride
real slow, close to a track stand.
It is difficult for first time riders to get used to this, but you get
used to it after a few miles.

Quoted message said:

Doug Cimper said:

...
One problem people tend to have with SWB's of all types is the relatively
high seating position, that makes "remaining stationary but sitting on
the bike" difficult.

I have a "high-racer" style SWB (Volae) and wouldn't call remaining
stationary while seated difficult at all. Normally one foot down, one foot
clipped in works quite easily and comfortably. For extended stops,
I can put both feet down and I can "sit up" in the seat.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Recumbents aren't like upright bikes, where you can scoot forward off the
saddle and straddle the top tube while standing....

*Straddling the top tube* isn't "remaining stationary but sitting on the
bike", of course. %^)

"Tom Sherman" wrote

Quoted message said:

I have a couple of short wheelbase (SWB) recumbents [1], and high seat
height is not a problem. As a matter of fact, I can hold myself up with a
hand on the ground. 🙂

I note the Wikipedia recumbent page incorrectly (at least as a blanket
statement) asserts that recumbents are more difficult to start from
a stop:

Starting and Stopping
Because the body position does not allow the rider to push
the recumbent bike forward using his feet against the ground,
the bikes can only be propelled forward using the pedals.
This makes starting out slow and excellent balance is required. ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recumbent_bicycle

This of course completely ignores low-racers and trikes. %^)

And it doesn't match my experience with starting and stopping any
of my recumbents. It is particularly easy on my BikeE to "Flintstone"
the bike with one or two feet on the ground. Low bottom bracket
recumbents are quite easy to start and do not require more "execellent
balance" than an upright.

For higher bottom bracket recumbents, while they might require
some rider "acclimatization," they do not universally require starting
slow or with particular balance skills. Starting from a stop uphill in
too low a gear may arguably present somewhat more challange than
for an upright, perhaps...

Jon

Jon Meinecke said:

Quoted message said:

...

And it doesn't match my experience with starting and stopping any
of my recumbents. It is particularly easy on my BikeE to "Flintstone"
the bike with one or two feet on the ground....

I much prefer the term "draising" (after Karl Drais [1]) for this
maneuver, which was coined by Bob Bryant in RCN [2].

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Drais>.
[2] <http://www.recumbentcyclistnews.com/>.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"Localized intense suction such as tornadoes is created when temperature
differences are high enough between meeting air masses, and can impart
excessive energy onto a cyclist." - Randy Schlitter

Joe Bernard said:

...
Aaaah I see. OK, settle it. Rans or RANS?

Randy Schlitter says "RANS" is correct. End of argument.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"Localized intense suction such as tornadoes is created when temperature
differences are high enough between meeting air masses, and can impart
excessive energy onto a cyclist." - Randy Schlitter

On Nov 29, 4:23 pm, Tom Sherman <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Joe Bernard said:

...
Aaaah I see. OK, settle it. Rans or RANS?

Randy Schlitter says "RANS" is correct. End of argument.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"Localized intense suction such as tornadoes is created when temperature
differences are high enough between meeting air masses, and can impart
excessive energy onto a cyclist." - Randy Schlitter

What does he know? Oh, right. I knew it, too, and can't believe I
typed it wrong the first time. Don't tell my Rocket.