John Riley said:[email hidden] wrote: [...]
Quoted message said:I'd love to buy something like a HP Velotechnik or a Cannondale, but these are way out of my
price range. I figure if the Revive isn't the bike for me, then I'll have to try homebuilding a
recumbent - even though I have no welding tools and no training in welding!
[...]
The Rans Fusion might be in the same price range as the Revive, and it does have a large seat. Also
consider the EZ-1 bikes from Easy Racers/J&B. I think I recently saw used on on the net somewhere
for $350.
I went to Toronto today to check out the only bike shop (that I know of, anyway) in my part of
Ontario that sells recumbent bikes and trikes.
They had an Easy Racers EZ-1 Super Cruzer available for test-ride as well as the trike version of
the same bike. There was also a HP Velotechnik, an Optima Hopper as well as a Ligfietsen M5 City
Mate folding recumbent.
Surprisingly, the Velotechnik was a mixed bag. It handled well, but the high angle of the crank left
me feeling kind of scrunched up, even with the seat set back a little bit, and the seat felt
reclined too far back for my taste.
The M5 was nicer still, but my legs felt a bit hyper-extended, such that the bottoms of my feet were
hurting slightly with each crank of the pedals.
The best of the bunch, for my purposes anyway, was the EZ-1. The gel seat seemed to do as well
damping bumps as the suspension on the Velotechnik did. The EZ-1 was definitely superior to the
Giant Revive in terms of comfort and ease of use. Where I had to fiddle quite a bit with the Revive
to get sort-of- comfortable, I found I took to the EZ-1 fairly quickly and naturally. Interestingly,
I found myself riding faster on the EZ-1 than with any of the other bikes.
When comparing the Revive and the EZ-1, I have to say that I concur with someone else who posted to
this newsgroup saying that the Revive seems to offer the worst attributes of both conventional
diamond-frame bikes and recumbents. On the other hand, the Revive is one cool looking bike while the
EZ-1 is $200.00 cheaper.
There was one thing I found disconcerting about all of the recumbents, particularly the EZ-1 - the
relatively long wheelbase and small tires conspire to make the handling a bit twitchy and handling
tight turns a bit ponderous. Maybe I'm just not used to the way recumbents handle and so notice the
handling characteristics more.
Finally, the EZ-1 trike was interesting. It was initially hard getting started with it - it seemed
like it wouldn't go where I pointed it, and wobbled a bit. I finally figured the handling out and
was on my way. The trike is slower than its two-wheeled counterpart, and the wobbling does become
noticeable if you try to go fast.
Now if f I can just sell my LandGear 21-speed diamond frame bike for a half-decent price. I bought
it new in the summer of 2000 and rode it twice. My middle-aged body and knees just can't hack the
demands a DF imposes anymore!
Steve
