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#41
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Recumbent bikes (was: "Liquid Drive" bike prototype at auction)
Tom Sherman wrote in message ...
Carl Fogel wrote: ... The recumbents that I see in my little backwater in Pueblo, Colorado, must be the equivalent of the inexpensive mountain bikes sold at WalMart. The riders sit higher, their feet are lower, the wheels are larger, and the chain runs seem much more straightforward than that Rube Goldberg contraption in your second--I mean your beloved current bike, the one in your second picture. This bike fits your verbal description. http://www.easyracers.com/gold_rush.htm It is one of the classic recumbent designs, but is hardly "x-Mart" in quality or price (you can get a rather nice road bike for $3000 US). Both my former and current bike are rare and unusual by even recumbent standards - however they provide a good illustration of chain management issues. If you'll pardon a somewhat personal question, do the chains on the more complicated bike give any trouble in terms of staying on? That is, do you need some recumbent-specific chain-watchers to tame the unruly beasts beyond the guide-wheels? The Wishbone (nickel-plated bike) had the worse chain management, as the chain would fall off the idlers at a distressing frequency. This could have been cured by a different idler design that included a "chain dog" which is a pin or plate that forces the chain to stay in the idler groove. Most regular production recumbents have these (this bike was more of a prototype). On the Sunset (red bike) the chain(s) can fall off the jackshaft cogs http://www.ihpva.org/incoming/2002/sunset/Sunset005.jpg although that is a rare occurrence. This is the one weak point in the bike's design as far as I am concerned, and something I plan to have corrected at some point. Thanks for a marvelous answer, You are welcome. Tom Sherman - Planet Earth Dear Tom, I kept an eye out today, but saw only a few common mountain bikes. Stretching a handkerchief over the mouthpiece, I called the local bike shop near where I've seen some of these unidentified recumbents prowling and asked cautiously what sort of recumbents they sell. EZ1 was the instant reply, followed by Cycle Genius and Burley. They can be obtained from Denver in a day and are about $600. http://www.easyracers.com/ez_1_sc.htm This looks much like the creatures that I've noticed. I'll take a closer look at the next one, if I can do so without frightening it, and try for a positive identification. A stuffed specimen would be ideal, but I suppose that there are the usual objections to science. They usually travel in pairs along the river trail, possibly feeding on berries or hiding from predators. Their plumage is somewhat drab, but in the evening I've seen a few around my neighborhood with blinking red lights in back. Their flight may be described as somewhat slow and wobbly, but cheerful, much like my basset hound. Possibly these are immature specimens and improve with age? Carl Fogel |
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#42
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Recumbent bikes (was: "Liquid Drive" bike prototype at auction)
They usually travel in pairs along the river trail, possibly feeding on berries or hiding from predators. Their plumage is somewhat drab, but in the evening I've seen a few around my neighborhood with blinking red lights in back. Their flight may be described as somewhat slow and wobbly, but cheerful, much like my basset hound. Possibly these are immature specimens and improve with age? Carl Fogel Some exceedingly rare specimens have evolved to optimize speed, to the extent that their speed far exceeds that of the common diamond frame bicycle. They are delicate and nervous creatures, and require specialized care and feeding, but some have been reliably clocked at well over 80 miles per hour. No, that's not a typo. That's over 80 mph, level ground, pedal power, no energy storage device, and no tailwind. See: http://www.wisil.recumbents.com/wisi...02/results.htm -- Ted Bennett Portland OR |
#43
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Odd bikes
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#44
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Recumbent bikes (was: "Liquid Drive" bike prototype at auction)
Tom Sherman wrote in message ...
I occasionally see recumbents wobbling along on my local bicycle path, but have never inspected a dead one's anatomy--possibly there is a secret recumbent graveyard. I don't know where you you ride but I have never seen a recumbent wobble along anywhere and I have ridden bents since 1995. Of course there may be the first time recumbent rider getting used to a new and different bike. I am not so fast but some of the guys I have ridden with will break your balls on a long, hard ride. My bike uses 2 3/4 regular chains, shifts perfectly (XT drive train) and is trouble-free. Also my butt doesn't hurt and my prostate troubles got better. That numb feeling you may ocassionally experience has been known to become permenent. Enjoy your ride. Richard |
#45
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Odd bikes
John Foltz wrote: wrote: Why are tandems more popular in some places while not in others? I can't say for sure, but there are about 50 tandems in my club.... It would be helpful if the number of conventional road bikes in the club was stated. Tom Sherman - Planet Earth |
#46
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Recumbent bikes (was: "Liquid Drive" bike prototype at auction)
I have often wondered how unfaired recumbents compare with standard road
bikes on 30-60 mile rides in mixed terrain (say averaging 100 feet of climbing per mile) on brisk, but not competitive, rides. I have almost never seen them here in the Berkeley/Oakland hills. If I had more of an idea of that I might like to try one. -- Steve Juniper "Those who are willing to sacrifice a little freedom for greater security deserve neither." - - Benjamin Franklin "Richard" wrote in message om... Tom Sherman wrote in message ... I occasionally see recumbents wobbling along on my local bicycle path, but have never inspected a dead one's anatomy--possibly there is a secret recumbent graveyard. I don't know where you you ride but I have never seen a recumbent wobble along anywhere and I have ridden bents since 1995. Of course there may be the first time recumbent rider getting used to a new and different bike. I am not so fast but some of the guys I have ridden with will break your balls on a long, hard ride. My bike uses 2 3/4 regular chains, shifts perfectly (XT drive train) and is trouble-free. Also my butt doesn't hurt and my prostate troubles got better. That numb feeling you may ocassionally experience has been known to become permenent. Enjoy your ride. Richard |
#47
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Recumbent bikes
Richard wrote:
Tom Sherman wrote in message ... I occasionally see recumbents wobbling along on my local bicycle path, but have never inspected a dead one's anatomy--possibly there is a secret recumbent graveyard. I don't know where you you ride but I have never seen a recumbent wobble along anywhere and I have ridden bents since 1995. Of course there may be the first time recumbent rider getting used to a new and different bike. I am not so fast but some of the guys I have ridden with will break your balls on a long, hard ride. I went for a ride with a local cycling group on a local loop with a varied route, ie. getting off the road at points. We kept having to wait for the groups recumbent rider to catch up as he rode the longer road route because it was impossible for him to lift his bike over fences and ride on some bumpy offroad track. I imagine he only did it to increase his mileage. That numb feeling you may ocassionally experience has been known to become permenent. Enjoy your ride. It certainly can make you feel numb listening to a recumbent rider explain why his choice of bike is better than anyone else's. It did seem to ease during the pleasant conversation that was had whilst waiting for him to catch up though, should have thanked him for the breaks. |
#48
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Recumbent bikes (was: "Liquid Drive" bike prototype at auction)
Richard wrote: Tom Sherman wrote in message ... I occasionally see recumbents wobbling along on my local bicycle path, but have never inspected a dead one's anatomy--possibly there is a secret recumbent graveyard. I certainly did not write the above text. Please be more careful with your attributions when quoting. Tom Sherman - Planet Earth |
#49
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Recumbent bikes (was: "Liquid Drive" bike prototype at auction)
"Steve Juniper" wrote in message news:Vdcyb.163026$Dw6.646283@attbi_s02...
I have often wondered how unfaired recumbents compare with standard road bikes on 30-60 mile rides in mixed terrain (say averaging 100 feet of climbing per mile) on brisk, but not competitive, rides. I have almost never seen them here in the Berkeley/Oakland hills. If I had more of an idea of that I might like to try one. -- Steve Juniper I often ride my recumbents in the Berkeley/Oakland hills on Grizzly Peak Cyclists club rides. The majority of the production unfaired recumbents will be overall slower than a road bike ridden by the same rider in these conditions due to their heavy weight and not having a significant enough aerodynamic advantage to make up for time lost on the climbs when on the flats (the descents are usually too twisty to exploit much of an aero advantage there). However there are a small number of very lightweight and aerodynamic unfaired recumbents which do great in these conditions. I have one called a Bacchetta Aero which has a titanium frame and large diameter wheels front and rear combined with a laid back carbon fibre shell seat, high bottom bracket and very aerodynamic arm position. On this bike I'm overall faster than I would be on a road bike even on rides with 100 feet of elevation gain. I have no trouble keeping up on the climbs on the GPC "M" paced rides and I just coast the descents and let them catch up to me at the bottom, then take it easy on the flats when I'm riding with them. When I'm riding solo my average speeds are generally higher than riding with the club because I'm going faster on the level ground parts. Zach Kaplan |
#50
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Recumbent bikes (was: "Liquid Drive" bike prototype at auction)
Tom Sherman wrote in message ...
Richard wrote: Tom Sherman wrote in message ... I occasionally see recumbents wobbling along on my local bicycle path, but have never inspected a dead one's anatomy--possibly there is a secret recumbent graveyard. I certainly did not write the above text. Please be more careful with your attributions when quoting. Tom Sherman - Planet Earth Dear Tom and Richard, Yes, I wrote "wobbling," not you. (In an unrelated thread, I managed to lead up to the question, "Is buzz wobble?" and am quite bitter that no one admired my euphony.) To be fair, while Richard should be forced to ride a diamond frame around the block as penance for confusing the two of us, I had a hard time unravelling the tangled skein of my artless blather and your excellent replies. I knew that I had written "wobbling" somewhere, but had trouble tracking it down--our habit of snipping irrelevant portions of the previous post can get us into trouble when dealing with posts as irrelevant as mine. I was also prepared to pounce on Richard and loftily inform him that I had revealed my whereabouts as Pueblo, Colorado, but it took me so long to find where the hell I'd mentioned it that I haven't the heart to do so. Due to the variety of ways in which news servers delete old posts and in which newsreaders present threads, we just have expect confusion, missed attributions, hard-to-follow irony, and mistaken identities. Excuse me for a moment . . . I will not confuse Benjamin Lewis with Benjamin Weiner. I will not confuse Benjamin Lewis with Benjamin Weiner. I will not confuse Benjamin Lewis with Benjamin Weiner. I will not confuse Benjamin Lewis . . . Where was I? Oh, yes, some of us even manage to confuse people without any excuse at all. (Twice.) So you can see why I argue for mercy in these matters. Carl Fogel |
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