Big Bob Bent Authority
I think I can wave my usual $50 fee for this one.
The cobra has a few strikes against it.
First off, they haven't submitted one to me for testing, and they don't
advertise in my newsletter. I would have trouble trusting such an
outfit. Besides, they are not American, and in fact I think they speak
French in the bike's homeland, so if you want to support terrorism and
[censored] on American freedoms, that's your choice, hippy.
The Cobra also suffers from the misguided notion that the bottom bracket
should be higher than the seat. As you know, any time you life the
bottom bracket too high, you invariably end up with numb feet.
The laid-back seat poses problems for visibility, as the shaggy beard
worn by most regular recumbent riders will flap into your eyes and nose,
blocking your vision and nausiating you with the smell of two-day-old
granola flakes. When I tried the seat, parts of me hung over the edges,
creating a painful grinding sensation during riding. And something
smelled like cooked bacon.
As we all know, heel strike and chain/wheel interferance are problems
that simply can NEVER be overcome. I can't tell you the number of times
I've seen recumbent riders, even experienced riders, fall over in the
Dairy Queen parking lot because they clipped their heel on their front
tire. This doesn't happen with a proper LWB design. Moreover,
chain-tire problems make it tough to turn a U on the bike path, which
would put the recumbent rider in the dangerous position of having to
use the actual roadway.
Also, I'm not sure the Cobra's unproven carbon frame can support the
weight of the usual recumbent rider, which I estimate to be about
280 pounds.
I've tried to convince Albert to come out with a more consumer-friendly
LWB or CLWB design, something that would get your feet down below your
ass, where they belong. I've also sent him one of my old EZ fastback
seats, so he can learn how to make something that will fit a real man's
ass, not a little hard shell for those emaciated Eurofag, pixie-butts.
As for the so-called NoComm. At least Poland is no longer commie. Also,
the Poles have stepped up to the task in Eyerack, and are shouldering
their fair share of the burden for making the world free.
But that is the only advantage of that Kamil bike. I don't know if I'd
trust my money with a guy named Kamil, though, kind of sounds commie to
me, or terrorist... But I've seen a picture of him and he has short
hair, so maybe he's OK. Otherwise, it looks like his bike suffers the
same flaws as the Cobra bike.
As the recumbent industry's most respected bike critic, I confidently
predict that bikes like these will suffer the
fate of all fads, and soon cease to exist.
This is the last I shall say, for free. If you would like more of my
expert opinion, please send me your credit card number.
______________________________
Bryan Ball
Good response Bob, Just like the Cobra, I also have a few strikes
against me but that want stop me from giving my 2 cents. After all I've
got Bigha expertise and I know what I'm talking about here.
The bike will not succeed. It has no dual big wheels and it is too low.
The typical recumbent rider at my site is usually a excessively
overweight baby boomer and they only like to sit straight up in the air
when riding at 9 mph. The bike was designed for all out speed and who
the hell in America wants to go fast. We like it slow and easy and most
of our US bike designs are a great example of that.
I agree about the seat being way too low. The only bikes that belong
on the road are the ones that place a rider at a similar seat height
to a Schwinn Cruiser. This way guys like me can look in the auto
window of the driver and maybe get some laughs when I see someone
picking their nose.
I sort of agree with you about the heel strike problem but I'm not sure.
That time when we both were at Burger King eating crapy greasy food I'll
have to admit that I also tipped over in the parking lot after lunch.
But that might have been from the big fart explosion in my cycling
shorts instead of heel strike.
You have a good point about the average weight of most riders in the US
Bob. Someday soon I'll weigh as much as you because I have to sit at my
computer all day and monitor what people say. The US recumbent builders
know that they have to build bikes for big guys so they can be lazy and
forget about carbon or aerodynamics. We'll leave that to the Euro
builders instead.
If both Kamil and Albert would give me a few bikes for free I might do a
write-up for them. Those Europeans need to realize to succeed in the US
market they have to give a lot of bikes to us Americans for free. And
they also need to kiss our butts with lots of praise for superior bike
design even though most of us in the US are no where near as fast as
those Euro boys.
Bob, did you read my Bigha review? Now that is a real bike. Too bad all
the US builders don't build them like that.
Bryan Ball
_____________________________
Big Bob Bent Authority
I thought you fell over in the Burger King lot because you greased your
rear wheel with that juicy emission of yours. It looked like a textbook
poo-slide.
I would like to try a BigHa, but Acres says he won't send one to me
unless I send some guy in Vegas, where he has a gambling company, some
'protection' money. Protection from what, I'm not sure. I think it has
something to do with not revealing patent information.
As for your stellar review of the bigha, I'm not sure we'd agree, BB.
That $3000 is a lot of money. Consider that, for the $2000 less , you
could outfit a Sun EZ with a GPS, computer, a honda tabletop generator,
a microwave, and a small fridge full of pizza rolls. And it would still
weigh less than the BigHa. And, it would attract more chicks.
Nice welds only count for so much, Bryan.
In fact, I suspect that you said all those nice things because they sent
you that bike. When have you ever said a bad thing about any bike?
Never. And jeez, then the advertisements show up on your site. Guess you
know how not to [censored] where you feed.
Everyone knows you ripped me off, Ball. I was doing just fine with RCN,
even thought the website was just a teaser to get people to subscribe to
my church newsletter. Now you've screwed me! Who's going to pay for my
cow if they get your milk for free?
Look at me! I'm wearing a cardboard belt! (Size 58)
At least I have the integrity to badmouth bikes that don't conform to
the classic 'bent design. LWB or nothing, baby.
You can bite me...