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Old July 29th 05, 07:13 PM
Edward Dolan
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"Jeff Grippe" wrote in message
...

"Edward Dolan" wrote in message
...

The old Visions were the most comfortable recumbents ever made. I had
mine set up LWB and really laid the seat back. Riding around on my Vision
is as comfortable as sitting here at home in my easy chair. That Vision
seat was a miracle (however, I did have to layer in a higher quality of
foam for the seat base).


I'll grant you that the Vision seat was very comfortable BUT as long as
we're on the topic of crashes. I've had two and both were on a Vision. The
first one was my fault (I rode smack into a railroad tie that I didn't
see). The second I blame on the Vision Seat.

The seat on my Vision was attached using velcro. It is the one element of
the bike that I wasn't thrilled with. Because I tip the scales at about
250 I was always worried that velcro was not really strong enough to do
the job of supporting me. The dealer told me that he had sold them to
bigger people than me and that I shouldn't worry. I guess the bigger
people that bought them didn't ride them very much.

One day, as I was riding at a pretty good clip, the velcro came undone and
I went down hard. Fortunately I was near a county park so I was able to
get myself patched up at a first aid stand but I never felt safe on that
bike again. Vision replaced the seat with a heavier duty model that used
much less velcro but I sold the bike without ever riding it again.


Jeff, your experience with the Vision seat I find very interesting. It is
why this newsgroup exists, to bring different views together for comparison.

I weigh 150 pounds and I have ridden my Vision on every tour I have ever
done. I ride it hard and I ride it fast. I have never had the slightest
problem with the velcro. I did wear through the seat fabric though and had
to have it patched by the local upholstery shop.

I remember something I read once what Gardner Martin, the designer of the
Tour Easy, said about how to design recumbents. He said he designs them for
250 pound guys like you because they constitute a large share of the market
for recumbents. I think that is true. I do see very many heavy folks on
recumbents. This makes a lot of sense because it is very hard for big and
heavy guys to ever get any comfort on an upright.

I think your problem with the velcro on your Vison seat could have been
repaired by a leather shop with needle and thread. But I agree, once you
suffer a bad crash on a bike, the bloom is off and one gets discouraged.

Ed Dolan - Minnesota




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