I got my Revive!

[email hidden] (Edward Wong) wrote in news:53dbf589.0309121822.459c24b9 @posting.google.com:

Quoted message said:

I think I might take the Revive on tomorrow's social ride. My club has one every Saturday morning.
Should be fun!

Edward Wong Orlando, FL

Sounds nice. I'm going to show my mother one of these. How much did you pay?

Edward, I've test ridden the 7 speed model (we have five models offered in the Netherlands) and I
will test ride the 21 speed (again) next week. If I buy the 21 speed version, I will have someone
make me a cloth cover for the seat. (My [censored] seats on the plastic.) I spoke with the bike guy re
the seat and the models coming out of the factory now have the ability to adjust the seat so you can
angle it upward. The dealer added a few washers to the front part of the seat to bring it up, but
the factory has come up with a modification..

I agree, it is well engineered. They've thought everything through. The only thing they can improve
is (besides making it a little lighter) to incorporate the generator for the light into the front
hub. It's a beautiful, modern looking bike and they use an old fashioned generator (at least the
model I rode over here did).

I think this will change biking for a lot of people. You sit very relaxed. I never thought of
buying a recumbent until I saw the Gazelle and the Giant. They're hybrids and will attract the
'regular' crowd.

Edward Wong <[email hidden]> wrote:

First my congratulations, Edward, I'm glad you're enjoying your bike. After my short testride I was
quite sure you would like it.

Quoted message said:

Though I haven't installed a cyclometer yet, on this given ride, I know that I put in almost 12
1/2 miles.

On the Dual Drive model I tested, the cyclometer was integrated in the stem. Looks nice and nifty,
but I was not that impressed with it, as it reacted quite slow and indicated speed very optimistic.
I suspect either it was calibrated for a 28 inch wheel or I was in extremely good shape that
morning. ;-)

I also forgot to mention in my former posting that the price of the DD-model has been significantly
reduced, which makes it a really good bargain at about Euro 850. Obviously Giant saw no chance to
sell this bike for more than Euro 1200.

Quoted message said:

I think it's kind of strange to post so much about the Revive on
a.r.b.r. when this is not really a recumbent. One could say that it's a "close relative" to the
recumbent though.

Maybe this bike will work as "door-opener" into recumbency for some people, so I guess it is very
close related to our topic. And at least it's much more adequate to a.r.b.r. than discussions about
war, freedom and American presidents. So don't feel too guilty, Edward. ;-)

For me the most interesting question about this bike is if Giant will sooner or later introduce a
"real" recumbent to the market. They had close connections to Mike Burrows and I don't quite
understand why they passed the chance of exploiting all his knowledge and wisdom about recumbents.

Quoted message said:

I think I might take the Revive on tomorrow's social ride. My club has one every Saturday morning.
Should be fun!

Keep us informed, please.

Kurt

Quoted message said:

Sounds nice. I'm going to show my mother one of these. How much did you pay?

$599.95 plus tax of course;-)

Edward Wong Orlando, FL

Edward,

I have a question which you might be able to answer or to pass on to your local bike store. I may
buy the 21 speed version of the bike you just bought. I also just rec'd a catalogue in the mail from
Hostel Shoppe. I see there that I can buy the Rans mesh seat. I was wondering how involved it would
be to modify the Giant to accept that seat.

If I buy the Giant, I will either replace the seat or have a cloth cover made. One feature of the
recumbent bikes I have always liked was the breathable mesh seats. If the Giant would to offer that
as an option, that bike would be about perfect in my opinion.

Congratulations on your purchase! There's a big bike fair in October in Utrecht (about an hour from
my house) and I may wait until then before I make my purchase.

All the best, Dave

Kurt, MLB, DH, et al:

I took this morning to play around with adjusting the Revive to me and find those "sweet spots" so
to speak. I think I'm just about there;-) Yes it did cross my mind that Giant should have provided
the ability to adjust the tilt of the seat base. I'm happy to hear that the newer models will have
this capability. Giant seems to be listening to the feedback from customers and make the needed
changes accordingly. It shows their commitment to the cycling consumer. Getting back to the seat
base, at first I felt that I was sliding forward on the seat but after moving it further away from
the backrest, this tendency vanished. I now feel "planted" on the seat.

I would like very much to see Giant introduce the Dual Drive Revive here in the US. The price
seems reasonable at 850 Euros. Since the rate of exchange is close to being 1 to 1, that would
make this bike sell for under $900. Also it would make this model easier to sell to buyers who
live in hilly areas. To me, the 8 speed is more than enough. I live in Florida where steep hills
are few and far between.

Edward Wong Orlando, FL

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

Quoted message said:

Edward,

I have a question which you might be able to answer or to pass on to your local bike store. I may
buy the 21 speed version of the bike you just bought. I also just rec'd a catalogue in the mail
from Hostel Shoppe. I see there that I can buy the Rans mesh seat. I was wondering how involved it
would be to modify the Giant to accept that seat.

If I buy the Giant, I will either replace the seat or have a cloth cover made. One feature of the
recumbent bikes I have always liked was the breathable mesh seats. If the Giant would to offer
that as an option, that bike would be about perfect in my opinion.

Congratulations on your purchase! There's a big bike fair in October in Utrecht (about an hour
from my house) and I may wait until then before I make my purchase.

All the best, Dave

Dave,

To be perfectly honest, I have no experience or knowledge on how to perform that modification. I
know that the Revive's saddle (seat base) attaches to the sliding seat mechanism by way of screws
or bolts. Don't really know if this would work with the RANS seat. It sounds like a major
modification if it's possible at all. However if you really believe a bike with a breathable mesh
seat is to your liking maybe it may behoove you to consider buying one that comes with such a seat
style. My Scooterbike for example is equipted with that type of seat (cushion bottom/mesh back).
It's nice and all but I find the Revive's to be very comfortable in spite of the fact that the
backrest is vinyl covered.

The mesh however does have it's advantages. I did find today while riding the Revive in our warm
weather (Florida) is that your back will sweat more where it comes in contact with the backrest. In
fact, when I took off my shirt, it had a sweaty spot outlined like the shape of the backrest. This
is not new to me as I also own a vintage ReBike which ironically is sort of a similiar bike to the
Revive except the riding position is definitely more "recumbent". It has a small vinyl covered
backrest as well and the same thing will happen after a ride of a good duration in warm conditions.

Well it was certainly not my intention to write an essay on the subject;-) I wish you the best of
luck with purchasing your next bicycle. A 21 speed Revive certainly sounds nice. As a side note I
would like to mention that I believe a good upgrade for this bike would be higher pressure
performance oriented tires. The Revive comes stock with medium pressure (50 p.s.i.) tires and the
inner tubes have been filled with "Slime" at the factory. This is a good idea in that it reduces
substancially the possibility of getting flats. Since some of the variants of the Revive come with
internal hub gearing, this is meant so that your average rider won't have to put up with
disassembling half the bike to remove the rear tire;-) Still one needs to learn how to do it though.

My Revive uses a standard drive system with quick releases for wheel removal so I am thinking of
upgrading the tires to something like Tioga Comp Pools or Kenda Kwests HP's for lower rolling
resistence. I don't know yet wether to use fresh inner tubes without the slime as I don't know how
much they slow me down. As another thread implied, "tires do make a difference".

Happy trails, Edward Wong Orlando, FL

Edward, thanks for the long reply. I'm going to take a closer look at the Giant and see what mesh
seats I could use in place of the vinyl support. I will speak with the Giant folks in October at a
large bike fair here in Utrecht and see what they have to say.

Edward,

I did a quick google search and have a ton of info on how to construct a mesh seat. (I love google
... and froogle as well). Just had to pass this on.

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

Quoted message said:

Edward,

I did a quick google search and have a ton of info on how to construct a mesh seat. (I love google
... and froogle as well). Just had to pass this on.

Cool! I would love to read in the future how you built and adapted this type of seat to your new
bike (Revive).

Edward Wong Orlando, FL

Edward, I biked today in a larger city close by and found a recumbent store. They were closed, but I
could see everything very well. I saw material that I think I could easily adapt to the seat of the
Giant. This looks like very open, sponge (plastic) type material. I'm sure you guys know the name of
this stuff, but I could easily take a sheet of that and simply add that over the exist seat. I have
no idea how much this stuff compresses, it looked about 1.5 inches (4 cm) thick.

Hey, Edward, congrats on the new bike!😄 I was just about to E-mail you asking if you got it this
weekend. Please send me a pic for my web page. revive.netfirms.comrevive.netfirms.comOpen ↗

But soon to be.... revivedx.comrevivedx.comOpen ↗

Have fun. Derek

Well I've been off from work for the past three days (Sat, Sun and Mon) which has given plenty of
"playtime" with my new Revive. I figure I've put in about 50-60 miles so far on it. It is now
adjusted to my liking and it now feels very comfortable.

Riding on the local bike trail has had several people express delight when they see me on it. For
example, one of the park custodians who has seen me on more than 5-6 different bikes had never made
a comment about them until yesterday (Sun). He was driving one of those gas powered golf carts on
the trail going it the opposite direction and hollered "I like your new cycle Ed!". Like I said, he
never had made any comments about my other bikes even during times I stopped to talk to him before.
Another thing is that whenever someone makes eye contact with me and compliments me about the
Revive, I stop and talk to them about it. On my recumbents I usually give them a quick
acknowledgement and keep going but this time around, I want to talk some more about it. I carry with
me a half a dozen or so of Bike Works business cards (bikeworks.combikeworks.comOpen ↗) and hand them to
people who seem interested. No I don't work for them nor will I get a commission if in fact they
sell to any referrals but I want to do my part to promote these guys. They're great and am a
customer for life;-)

Now where are my fellow Revive buddies...Reviverider, Derek, John, Clyde and the rest?

Edward Wong Orlando, FL

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

Quoted message said:

Hey, Edward, congrats on the new bike!😄 I was just about to E-mail you asking if you got it this
weekend. Please send me a pic for my web page. revive.netfirms.comrevive.netfirms.comOpen ↗

But soon to be.... revivedx.comrevivedx.comOpen ↗

Have fun. Derek

Hello Derek! Thanks for the congratulation;-) I would like to send several pictures but at the
moment, I don't have a digital camera and I cannot budget one until 2 weeks or so from now. The
Revive took a big chunk from my paycheck but I don't regret it;-) Maybe I can find someone who
owns one and have him/her take several pictures and email them to me and in turn I can send
them your way.

I've probably put at least 70 or more miles this weekend on the Revive. I'm going back to work
tomorrow Tuesday and will be commuting on my Scooterbike. I did take the Scooterbike for a short
spin in front of the house and boy does it feel low and laid back compared to the Revive. Quite a
different riding experience.

And I see that you have obtained a domain name for your website. Hopefully Giant won't give you a
hard time;-) By the way, I was at the bike shop (Bike Works) again today and the owner told me that
Giant is developing accessories for the Revive. Their sales have taken off like a shot for these
bikes. One of the accessories will be a rack bag that will be able to fit under the angled seat
post. It will be shaped sort of like a wedge. I told him to reserve me one as soon as they become
available. And there's more coming.

One of the bike shop mechanics, an older guy in his early sixties but with the youthful disposition
of a 35 year old is thinking of getting one and maybe install a 14 speed Rohlof internal hub. Can
you believe it!? He has a hard time justifying the cost though. I can't blame him at nearly $800
(his cost) for one of these hubs.

Well gotta go. It's almost time for supper.

Happy trails, Edward Wong Orlando, FL

Great Idea about the rack bag. I bought a small bag that clips on though the holes in the rack
shelve. It's a Giant bag also. Just big enough to hold my keys, garage door opener and some small
misc items.

Keep me posted. Derek

Edward, I will probably order my Giant 21 speed (EZB DD) after I visit a bike fair in the middle of
October. I've now gone to three different dealers and have a better idea of what I will receive for
my almost new Batavus Kayenta.

I had the third dealer call Giant here in Holland re the tilting of the nose of the seat and there
are no plans at the moment. Three dealers, two different stories.

I will wind up paying either ? 220 or ? 250 in addition after I trade my Batavus in. I'm also
going to get my hands on that Ventisit material I posted about and have someone make me seat
cushions for my bike.

I'll report back after I have something substansitive to report. There's a bike fair in Utrecht next
month, Bike Motion bikemotionplus.nlframe welkom.htmOpen ↗ and I'll see what if
anything is new re Giant or any other company that makes a 'sitting' bike.

Later, Dave

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

Quoted message said:

Edward, I will probably order my Giant 21 speed (EZB DD) after I visit a bike fair in the middle
of October. I've now gone to three different dealers and have a better idea of what I will receive
for my almost new Batavus Kayenta.

I had the third dealer call Giant here in Holland re the tilting of the nose of the seat and there
are no plans at the moment. Three dealers, two different stories.

Dave,

Thanks for keeping us updated. Enjoy your buying experience as a good portion of the fun of owning a
new bike starts from there;-) As for the seat tilt, if you feel that you're sliding forward on it,
you can have your dealer add a couple of washers on the front end.

I think it's great that you can trade in your bicycle for another even if it's from another shop. I
traded in my Giant Simple Single beach cruiser towards the Revive however they only accept trade ins
on bikes that were bought from them...not from other dealers. Needless to say, when Giant introduces
the 2005 models (mine is a 2004), chances are I will trade in my current Revive for the latest one
and just keep doing that every year in order to always find myself riding a new bike;-)

Happy trails, Edward Wong Orlando, FL

Bob,

Bike Works ( bikeworks.combikeworks.comOpen ↗ ) does have a trade in policy as long as the bike being traded
in was bought through them. They gave me $134 and change for the trade (Giant Simple Single Cruiser)
which I rode for nearly 9 months and paid $189.99 for. That's about 70% of the original purchase
price! Not bad. Of course the trade was a 2003 and we're still in that year so I imagine that if it
were a year older the trade in value would go down substancially.

I think you'll have fun riding that Revive. By the way, which model will you be testing?

Edward Wong Orlando, FL

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

Quoted message said:

Ed, Does the shop have a trade in policy? How much will it cost to trade in each year? BTW: Giant
is dropping off my Revive next Wed. Bob Bryant recumbentcyclistnews.comrecumbentcyclistnews.comOpen ↗

Keep me posted as well. Glad you decided to go with the revive look forward to hearing about how you
like it. derek revivedx.comrevivedx.comOpen ↗