AVOID DERRI-AIR

Unless you ride around steep hills or heavy traffic, get a recumbent. They are far more comfortable,
the more laid back, the better.

I cruised at around 18-20 MPH on my upright. I bought a relatively slinky 'bent, and upped that to
20-22. I bought a really slinky 'bent (M5 shockproof) and upped that to 21-23 or so. If I put some
fairings on it, I could get over 25 MPH.

"Bubba" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

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DERRI-AIR IS A SILLY AND EXPENSIVE IDEA.

Short version: Their bike seats are clumsy and uncomfortable, AND the manufacturer does not honor
its posted merchandise return policy.

Longer version: We were looking for a possible answer to the "sore-butt" problem enjoyed by those
of us to don't ride frequently enough to develop strategic calluses. An outfit calling itself
"Derri-Air, LLC. Of White4fish, MT" looked like a possible solution. We ordered something called
"The Limo". The thing was HUGE! It didn't

just

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dominate the bike - - it almost overwhelmed the garage. Just getting a

leg

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over the monster required a step ladder. We sent it back and after a few phone calls got Derri-Air
to send their next size down. It was significantly smaller but equally awkward. Regardless of how
much or how little we inflated it, it felt like sitting on a large, dead armadillo.

In December last year we sent it back to Derri-Air with a letter of explanation and waited for a
refund. (And waited, and waited, and waited

.

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. . . ) Then we tried phone calls - - about once a month. Each phone conversation would get an
assurance that "the check would go out in the morning", however, it's pretty clear that REFUNDS
are not part of

Derri-Air'

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s business plan. This company is something to be avoided.

R. H. Lippert

Houston, TX

Robert Haston said:

I cruised at around 18-20 MPH on my upright. I bought a relatively slinky 'bent, and upped that to
20-22. I bought a really slinky 'bent (M5 shockproof) and upped that to 21-23 or so. If I put some
fairings on it, I could get over 25 MPH.

You know, I've always heard that. I cruise around 20-22 on my wedgie bike, but around 18 on the
bent. I've never been able to get any kind of speed advantage out of the bent.

I think part of it is the quality of the bikes - the wedgie is a carbon fiber Trek frame with
ultra-light wheels and the bent is a Vision R44 with relatively heavy wheels and large tires. But
even so, one would think that on a flat, the bent would be faster. Not so for me. The R44 is pretty
laid back, compared to some others.

So why does everyone get a speed advantage out of a bent except me?

-Dondo

'Cause you believe what you're told.

"Captain Dondo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Robert Haston said:

I cruised at around 18-20 MPH on my upright. I bought a relatively slinky 'bent, and upped that
to 20-22. I bought a really slinky 'bent (M5 shockproof) and upped that to 21-23 or so. If I put
some fairings on it, I could get over 25 MPH.

You know, I've always heard that. I cruise around 20-22 on my wedgie bike, but around 18 on the
bent. I've never been able to get any kind of speed advantage out of the bent.

I think part of it is the quality of the bikes - the wedgie is a carbon fiber Trek frame with
ultra-light wheels and the bent is a Vision R44 with relatively heavy wheels and large tires. But
even so, one would think that on a flat, the bent would be faster. Not so for me. The R44 is
pretty laid back, compared to some others.

So why does everyone get a speed advantage out of a bent except me?

-Dondo

"Captain Dondo" <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

But even so, one would think that on a flat, the bent would be faster. Not so for me. The R44 is
pretty laid back, compared to some others. So why does everyone get a speed advantage out of a
bent except me?

Depends on the design of your recumbent. Most of them don't use your leg muscles as efficiently as
an upright bike.

Ken said:

Depends on the design of your recumbent. Most of them don't use your leg muscles as efficiently as
an upright bike.

That's possibly true - you can't use your weight or upper body at all. I've found that riding a bent
makes you a better wedgie rider, since you learn to relax your upper body and increase leg strength
tremendously. (Try riding a bent with a tense upper body. You'll be all over the road.)

-Dondo

"Captain Dondo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Ken said:

Depends on the design of your recumbent. Most of them don't use your leg muscles as efficiently
as an upright bike.

That's possibly true - you can't use your weight or upper body at all. I've found that riding a
bent makes you a better wedgie rider, since you learn to relax your upper body and increase leg
strength tremendously. (Try riding a bent with a tense upper body. You'll be all over the road.)

-Dondo

Ken's somewhat correct- I've never thought that I can use my glutes as effectively on my
recumbents as on I can on my uprights. (Heck, you're sitting on your glutes!) The quads do get a
workout, though.

There's a heck of a lot of variety in recumbent design- and the Vision R44 isn't considered to be a
"performance" design by 'bent aficionados. The current fashion in "fast" bents is equal size large
wheels, like the Vision Sabers: visionbikes.comBikesR64.htmlOpen ↗ .

'Bent riders aren't immune to wretched excess, though. One of my friends rides an M5 Carbon
lowracer: m5-ligfietsen.comcarbonracer2.htmOpen ↗ Yummy...

Jeff

Captain Dondo <[email hidden]> wrote:
: You know, I've always heard that. I cruise around 20-22 on my wedgie bike, but around 18 on the
: bent. I've never been able to get any kind of speed advantage out of the bent.

: I think part of it is the quality of the bikes - the wedgie is a carbon fiber Trek frame with
: ultra-light wheels and the bent is a Vision R44 with relatively heavy wheels and large tires. But
: even so, one would think

Yeah I'm faster on my Nishiki hybrid than the Vision R-40 I'm using. Neither design is extreme in
performance... :-)

The upright has some better parts (like clipless pedals you know), I haven't ridden the bent for
very long and I haven't pushed it too much yet...

I'll have to get on a more performance-oriented bent, let's see what happens, maybe I'll be almost
as fast as I'd be on a road bike. With some years of bent training and some fairings, who knows
where I'll go. Hopefully I'll at least have lots of fun along the way :-)

--
Risto Varanka | helsinki.fi~rvarankaOpen ↗ varis at no spam please iki fi

Jeff Wills said:

There's a heck of a lot of variety in recumbent design- and the Vision R44 isn't considered to be
a "performance" design by 'bent aficionados. The current fashion in "fast" bents is equal size
large wheels, like the Vision Sabers: visionbikes.comBikesR64.htmlOpen ↗ .

'Bent riders aren't immune to wretched excess, though. One of my friends rides an M5 Carbon
lowracer: m5-ligfietsen.comcarbonracer2.htmOpen ↗ Yummy...

Definitely an "ooh, aah" bike :-)

I bought the bent after a neck injury that prevented me from riding the wedgie, and it's done a
great job. It's also introduced two kids to riding - I've found that putting a child seat on rigid
R44 is waaaay cool for the kids. It puts their head on level with yours, and brings them closer to
you, so they have lots more fun. Speed was not a consideration. Now that I'm all better, I find I
ride the bent only as a commuter and child carrier. For my uses, the lower center of gravity and
more upright position of the R44 works well. The two equal size wheels just don't do it for me.

Honestly, I wouldn't ride the M5. I might drool all over it, but it just doesn't seem practical....

-Dondo

"Captain Dondo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Definitely an "ooh, aah" bike :-)

<snippedy>

Quoted message said:

Honestly, I wouldn't ride the M5. I might drool all over it, but it just doesn't seem
practical....

-Dondo

Well, it ain't *practical*... my friend usually brings it to time trials and beats up on the other
'bents (including most of the faired Easy Racers). However, here in the Portland/Vancouver area,
time trials are run in all conditions- I've seen his M5 covered in road goo. He treats it to a nice
bath when he gets home.

Jeff

Jeff Wills said:

There's a heck of a lot of variety in recumbent design- and the Vision R44 isn't considered to be
a "performance" design by 'bent aficionados. The current fashion in "fast" bents is equal size
large wheels, like the Vision Sabers: visionbikes.comBikesR64.htmlOpen ↗ .

Don't think so. the M5 is more like it. the fastest bent available might be that one:
home.t-online.deRazz Fazz.htmlOpen ↗

Martin

Anybody else get mismarked Tamer products?

Bought a Tamer shim sizer seatpost that was "28.6 mm" on the box but what I got was a 31.4mm. Wasted
three trips to get it. What unbelievably poor quality control at Tamer Company!

Later I decided to simply glue two cushy rubber pads to the sit-bones area on my saddle. That was
good enough!

Imagine, a "Poor Richard's Suspension" from just pieces of rubber! It looks weird, but it works
wonderfully.

[email hidden] (Jayne Findhorn) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Anybody else get mismarked Tamer products?

Bought a Tamer shim sizer seatpost that was "28.6 mm" on the box but what I got was a 31.4mm.
Wasted three trips to get it. What unbelievably poor quality control at Tamer Company!

Later I decided to simply glue two cushy rubber pads to the sit-bones area on my saddle. That was
good enough!

Imagine, a "Poor Richard's Suspension" from just pieces of rubber! It looks weird, but it works
wonderfully.

Do you have any photos of this. I think it could help me too.