wrote:
Age 50...... daily aches and pains

What's everyone think abt crank forward bikes like
these RANS models? Could you tour on one.... off road?

see link

http://www.ransbikes.com/Dynamik07.htm

I have a Fusion.
Random points.....

It's easy to ride, feels and balances pretty much like an upright bike,
I use it as the "guest bike" because people can just get on it and go,
unlike recumbents. Also it still looks mostly like a normal bike; I've
noticed a lot of people who tried them seem reluctant to be seen riding
any of my recumbents, but weren't too worried about the Fusion.

Overall in riding comfort, it is "between" uprights and recumbents. The
seat is a lot better than a bicycle saddle (I ride it without padded
shorts) but is not as good as a recumbent seat and only allows one
riding position, which can get on you after an hour or so. The seating
can be very upright, depending on how you position the handlebars. There
is no hand pressure or neck strain to speak of.

I can't pedal mine standing up, and can only really stand on the pedals
for brief periods. You also cannot scoot backwards off the seat at all,
because the way the bike is designed--the BDC of the cranks is your max
leg extension.

I find the Fusion good for casual riding, but not for going very fast.
You only have one riding position, and so you can feel that your chest
catches a lot of air. If I was going to buy another one I would
definitely try the Dynamik, which leans you forward a bit more. The
Fusion has quite a bit of wheel flop, and riding it no-handed is pretty
difficult unless you're rolling pretty fast.

The wheelbase is longer than a normal bicycle, but somebody somewhere
mentioned that if you flip the front wheel/handlebars around backwards,
it will fit into a standard bicycle rack (on the front of an urban bus).

I am 6'2", and the (2006, steel-frame) Fusion was just barely big enough
for me. I have the seatpost over its maximum by about 2cm. RANS has a
larger-size frame in the works, and IIRC it's the "steeper" head-tube
angle. I also made my own rear rack, because the seat would have
overhung the rack if I had used the kit that RANS was selling.

Speaking of the seatpost, it kept sliding down.
Many people have had this problem, and (as of some months ago, I haven't
checked lately) I did not see that RANS had offered a good solution for
it. I found that a MTB seatpost clamp can be placed and tightened around
the (1-3/8" diameter) seatpost, butting against the top of the frame's
seatpost tube, and this clamp can be tightened separately--PERMANENTLY
preventing this slipping. My solution is not that elegant but WORKS, I
weigh 275 lbs and the seat doesn't slip down at all now.

By the by, RANS has their own website/forum just for these bikes (if you
were unaware):
http://www.crankforward.com/

------------

I would warn you:
If you have a bad back at all, it is very important to test ride before
buying /anything/. Even if that test-riding involves some traveling, it
is a good idea. A bike that feels perfectly comfortable to someone with
no back problems can easily bend you just the wrong way, and you can't
tell by looking at the pictures.

Good luck.
~