ActionBent SWB/USS review

Hi Bentbiker - do you have weight on the bike? Thanks for the review.

Chris

Did you buy it direct or from Ebay?

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

Quoted message said:

With many people wondering about ActionBents, thought i'd post some comments on this bike, the
Jet Stream 26/20. This is the 2nd generation, with the new Ventilated seat. Upon receiving, i was
amazed as it came in the smallest darn bike box i've ever seen with a recumbent. It was well
packed, and all tubes bubble wrapped. Everything is installed, but you do have to route the
cables, and adjust derailleurs and brakes. The quality of the welds is exceptional, and this one,
painted silver, was very lustrous and nicely done. I have got some scratching adjusting the boom,
but nothing out of the ordinary. The only thing of marginal quality is the crank set, generic
alloy arms, with steel rings. The front derailleur is shimano 105, rear Sram new x-7. Brakes are
Avid V brakes. I figured i'd upgrade the wheels, as they were an unfamiliar Taiwan brand to me,
Jetsep rim, black interior w/machined braking surface, and Star brand hubs. Much to my delight,
these wheels are VERY nice, one of the smoothest hubs i've seen, Velocity quality, and were nice
and true. USS bar is very comfortable, and allows nice angling to accomplish letting your palms
lay comfortable on the bar tops. There is some seat interference when turned sharply, which from
my experience happens with the natural tiller from direct steer USS. As a baseline though, I can
turn from one sidewalk to another at a 90 degree angle at low speed, so it's acceptable to me.
The bike has a 41" wheel base, with approx. 21" seat height and 24" BB, slightly higher than say
a V-rex configuration. It has an approximate 57/43 weight distribution. The ride is very smooth
and predictable. The seat, is EXCELLENT. It mounts with a new pin mechanism and has a quick
release to adjust seat angle from a max. of about 43 degrees to 50 degrees. The comfort is as
good as any hard shell i've ridden, better than my previous favorite Turner hard-shell seat. It
is a vinyl covered, nicely padded with the big vent in the rear, which seams to help improve air
circulation, and the bar up the back, should dissipate any road spray. I easily maintained 18
plus on rides with an equal rider on a v-rex, pretty impressive for a USS bike. The over all
quality, components, fit and finish make this an extremely good value at 665.00. The owner Randy
Schulman is very responsive in replying to mails, and has a nicely done sight for ordering and
information. I have no connection with the company. If any one has a specific question, i'd be
happy to answer it

approx. 29, but the crank is heavy, could shave some weight some there.

Chris Crawford said:

Hi Bentbiker - do you have weight on the bike? Thanks for the review.

Chris

I bought it from Ebay, but talking to Randy, it's no difference, he'll do direct as easily.

Mark Leuck said:

Did you buy it direct or from Ebay?

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

Quoted message said:

With many people wondering about ActionBents, thought i'd post some comments on this bike, the
Jet Stream 26/20. This is the 2nd generation, with the new Ventilated seat. Upon receiving, i was
amazed as it came in the smallest darn bike box i've ever seen with a recumbent. It was well
packed, and all tubes bubble wrapped. Everything is installed, but you do have to route the
cables, and adjust derailleurs and brakes. The quality of the welds is exceptional, and this one,
painted silver, was very lustrous and nicely done. I have got some scratching adjusting the boom,
but nothing out of the ordinary. The only thing of marginal quality is the crank set, generic
alloy arms, with steel rings. The front derailleur is shimano 105, rear Sram new x-7. Brakes are
Avid V brakes. I figured i'd upgrade the wheels, as they were an unfamiliar Taiwan brand to me,
Jetsep rim, black interior w/machined braking surface, and Star brand hubs. Much to my delight,
these wheels are VERY nice, one of the smoothest hubs i've seen, Velocity quality, and were nice
and true. USS bar is very comfortable, and allows nice angling to accomplish letting your palms
lay comfortable on the bar tops. There is some seat interference when turned sharply, which from
my experience happens with the natural tiller from direct steer USS. As a baseline though, I can
turn from one sidewalk to another at a 90 degree angle at low speed, so it's acceptable to me.
The bike has a 41" wheel base, with approx. 21" seat height and 24" BB, slightly higher than say
a V-rex configuration. It has an approximate 57/43 weight distribution. The ride is very smooth
and predictable. The seat, is EXCELLENT. It mounts with a new pin mechanism and has a quick
release to adjust seat angle from a max. of about 43 degrees to 50 degrees. The comfort is as
good as any hard shell i've ridden, better than my previous favorite Turner hard-shell seat. It
is a vinyl covered, nicely padded with the big vent in the rear, which seams to help improve air
circulation, and the bar up the back, should dissipate any road spray. I easily maintained 18
plus on rides with an equal rider on a v-rex, pretty impressive for a USS bike. The over all
quality, components, fit and finish make this an extremely good value at 665.00. The owner Randy
Schulman is very responsive in replying to mails, and has a nicely done sight for ordering and
information. I have no connection with the company. If any one has a specific question, i'd be
happy to answer it

Do you know what rear cassette comes with the bike ? I have one on the way, and the cassette will
probably be the first thing I swap out.

Greg in Florida

Take a look on eBay and you will see the winning bids are about $40 to $50 below the website price.

SRAM cassette, some of the Jet stream accidently came with 9 speeds, but Randy says the factory is
airmailing them to him, and he will forward them out to us.

swamprun said:

Do you know what rear cassette comes with the bike ? I have one on the way, and the cassette will
probably be the first thing I swap out.

Greg in Florida

bentbiker said:

... If any one has a specific question, i'd be happy to answer it

What number is this bike (total recumbents owned)?

Tom Sherman - Near the confluence of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers RANS "Wavewind" and Rocket,
Earth Cycles Sunset and Dragonflyer

trying to shame me Tom? :-) This bike I think is #62 for me :-(

Tom Sherman said:

bentbiker said:

... If any one has a specific question, i'd be happy to answer it

What number is this bike (total recumbents owned)?

Tom Sherman - Near the confluence of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers RANS "Wavewind" and Rocket,
Earth Cycles Sunset and Dragonflyer

Do you have any riding favorites that you wouldn't sell?

I have eight rideable (three of them recumbents) right now and three frames in different degrees
of completion. I have a hard time letting them go whereas you seem to not get as attached to
them as I do.

skip

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

Quoted message said:

trying to shame me Tom? :-) This bike I think is #62 for me :-(

Tom Sherman said:

bentbiker said:

... If any one has a specific question, i'd be happy to answer it

What number is this bike (total recumbents owned)?

I'm really attached to the New style Vision, will be keeping that. And so far impressed with the
actionbent, and plan on hanging on to it. My daughter has a rocket I gave her, that she won't
part with.

skip said:

Do you have any riding favorites that you wouldn't sell?

I have eight rideable (three of them recumbents) right now and three frames in different degrees
of completion. I have a hard time letting them go whereas you seem to not get as attached to them
as I do.

skip

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

Quoted message said:

trying to shame me Tom? :-) This bike I think is #62 for me :-(

Tom Sherman said:

bentbiker wrote:

>... If any one has a specific question, i'd be happy to answer it

What number is this bike (total recumbents owned)?

Quoted message said:

If any one has a specific question, i'd be happy to answer it

Probably not a question you can easily answer, but the web site talks of a maximum x-seam of 46",
but I reckon I'd want about 47-48. Could I get the extra inch or two from the boom without
scarficing too much rigidity you think?

many thanks garryb

to be honest, I think you could, but if I had that long a X seam, i'd be looking for a fixed boom,
moving seat, or maybe a Lightning that has both.

Garry Broad said:

Quoted message said:

If any one has a specific question, i'd be happy to answer it

Probably not a question you can easily answer, but the web site talks of a maximum x-seam of 46",
but I reckon I'd want about 47-48. Could I get the extra inch or two from the boom without
scarficing too much rigidity you think?

many thanks garryb

Garry Broad said:

Probably not a question you can easily answer, but the web site talks of a maximum x-seam of 46",
but I reckon I'd want about 47-48. Could I get the extra inch or two from the boom without
scarficing too much rigidity you think?

A Japanese distributor told me that an extra-long boom is available as an option. I don't know if
that's a good idea though. Besides boom flex, weight distribution would also be affected.

Ken Kobayashi [email hidden] solarwww.mtk.nao.ac.jppersonalOpen ↗

not sure why you think weight distribution would be effected, it's a fixed seat mount point, the
added weight of your legs is pretty insignificant in total volume. I did weight distribution on my
action bent it was 57 rear 43 front, which is darn near perfect.

Ken Kobayashi said:

Garry Broad said:

Probably not a question you can easily answer, but the web site talks of a maximum x-seam of 46",
but I reckon I'd want about 47-48. Could I get the extra inch or two from the boom without
scarficing too much rigidity you think?

A Japanese distributor told me that an extra-long boom is available as an option. I don't know if
that's a good idea though. Besides boom flex, weight distribution would also be affected.

Ken Kobayashi [email hidden] solarwww.mtk.nao.ac.jppersonalOpen ↗

bentbiker said:

not sure why you think weight distribution would be effected, it's a fixed seat mount point, the
added weight of your legs is pretty insignificant in total volume. I did weight distribution on my
action bent it was 57 rear 43 front, which is darn near perfect.

Yes, it adds up to 100%, so it must be right. 😉

Tom Sherman - Near the confluence of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers RANS "Wavewind" and Rocket,
Earth Cycles Sunset and Dragonflyer

bentbiker said:

to be honest, I think you could, but if I had that long a X seam, i'd be looking for a fixed boom,
moving seat, or maybe a Lightning that has both.

Sure. At the end of the day, It's a case of trying one out. I haven't even riden a recumbent yet, so
I'm just looking around at the available options with consideration to price etc. I have begun a
self-build project, but I'm running into problems with using only mapp/air gas, smaller joints are
fine but the bigger BB type fillets are proving difficult!

For the money the ActionBent looks like a really attractive entry option.

Cheers

Garryb

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Garry Broad

BOn Sat said:

to be honest, I think you could, but if I had that long a X seam, i'd be looking for a fixed boom,
moving seat, or maybe a Lightning that has both.

Sure. At the end of the day, It's a case of trying one out. I haven't even riden a recumbent yet, so
I'm just looking around at the available options with consideration to price etc. I have begun a
self-build project, but I'm running into problems with using only mapp/air gas, smaller joints are
fine but the bigger BB type fillets are proving difficult!

For the money the ActionBent looks like a really attractive entry option.

Cheers

Garryb [/B]

Some comments about Mapp:

http://webhome.idirect.com/~outlander/buildersworkshop/index.html

john riley

you can't go wrong with the action bent, if it had a big "brand" name on it, it would sell for 1100
to 1200.00. for half that it's a steal. Components are worth 400.00 and you can't get a set of that
quality for less than 150.00

Garry Broad said:

bentbiker said:

to be honest, I think you could, but if I had that long a X seam, i'd be looking for a fixed boom,
moving seat, or maybe a Lightning that has both.

Sure. At the end of the day, It's a case of trying one out. I haven't even riden a recumbent yet,
so I'm just looking around at the available options with consideration to price etc. I have begun
a self-build project, but I'm running into problems with using only mapp/air gas, smaller joints
are fine but the bigger BB type fillets are proving difficult!

For the money the ActionBent looks like a really attractive entry option.

Cheers

Garryb