Split Easy Burro

"Arne" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:Nwkhc.5999$uF3.3159@lakeread04...

Quoted message said:

Well, my split easy burro search produced no results....
can you tell me

who

Quoted message said:

makes it so I can take a look...

--
. Arne, USA (member of the human tribe) . "Perry Butler"
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm going to be selling my medium GRR and keep my FRR
when my Split Easy Burro arrives in about 2 weeks.
Terry's medium/small Fold Rush is for

sale

Quoted message said:

now that her Split Easy Burro has arrived.

My wife Terry was born in Austria and immigrated to the US
when she was 8. All of her relatives live in either Germany
or the Czech Republic. She quit her job to go back to school
and has this summer off. I teach in a small K-12 school and
will have my first summer off in years (I'm either taking
more classes or working as computer coordinator). We decided
this summer we will spend 4 weeks biking in Austria and the
Czech Republic and 2 weeks traveling by car to see her other
relatives. We were going to take our Fold Rush's but they
will not fit in the relatives car and they want to strap
them to the top of the car. No Way!

In February I talked to Gardner Martin and asked if he
would build a S & S coupled Tour Easy for Terry. We also
wanted a 26" rear wheel to lower the gear inches. After a
couple of conversations Gartner agreed to make the bike for
Terry. He had to change the diameter of the long angled
downtube to be large enough to accept a S & S coupler.
After a little over 2 months we received Terry's bike last
week. Since Gardner hasn't given the bike a name we decided
to call it a "Split Easy."

Gabe at Easy Racers told me that many people have asked
Gardner to make an S & S coupled Tour Easy and he has
always refused to do so. He couldn't figure out why all of
a sudden he decided to make one for Terry. In February I
told Gardner Terry wanted an extremely low geared bike
because shewill be hauling 50+ pounds of gear around
Europe. I think an S & S coupled bike traveling around
Europe and hauling this gear intrigued Gardner. She wanted
a 26" tire instead of the 700 since this helps gear the
bike down. I have since ordered a 13-34 rear cassette from
Sheldon Brown for better gears to haul our loads. In
addition, our bikes will have 155mm cranks with 20-33-45
chainrings for the trip. The 26" tire, with the 34 cassette
and the 20 front chainring will give the bike a 15.3 gear
inch low gear. At 3.5 mph Terry will be spinning at 80
rpm's. The bike will now be a "Burro" for her gear.

I was originally going to S & S couple a RANS Rocket I
purchased used last fall for the trip, but when I rode the
bike the seat dug into my rear end and was exceedingly
uncomfortable. I called and e-mailed RANS in December and
January and they convinced me that the problem was just me.
I decided to order a S & S coupled V-Rex. We have previously
owned two Tailwinds, a Vivo, and two V-Rex's and the seats
were great. In March the seat problem exploded in RANS face.
I found out they lied to me about the problem and are still
selling poorly manufactured seats. Work great for some but
not for others. My dealer offered to let me out of the S & S
coupled V-Rex, and because I cannot trust RANS to provide a
seat that works for me, I canceled the V-Rex.

After canceling the V-Rex, Gardner was gracious enough to
make an S & S coupled Tour Easy for me also, and I
appreciate that. I don't know if Gardner will ever make
another S & S coupled Tour Easy. I have a feeling more will
be made if they work out for Terry & myself. We have
purchased an S & S suitcase for our wheels and when my Tour
Easy arrives we will be shopping for luggage that will carry
the frames and still meet the 62" airline requirement. We
will be traveling with 4 large airline legal 62" suitcases
plus two Arkel RT 60 recumbent panniers as carry-on luggage.
In addition, these bikes should easily fit in the trunks of
Terry's cousin's cars.

It will be interesting to see if our "Split Easy Burro's"
work the way we envision them.

Enjoy,

Perry B