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Happy Bachetta and P38 owners ?



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 21st 04, 11:03 AM
Paul W
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Default Happy Bachetta and P38 owners ?

The Strada is about $1000 cheaper than the P38 and 1.7 kilos (about a pound)
heavier.

I would expect the twin 650 Strada to roll a bit freer and wonder if fitting
a $1000 wheelset to a Strada would make it a better ride than the P38.
(Better = faster, smoother.)

One review of the Strada mentioned quality control problems.
The P38 is a "system" bike - mature and with excellent choice of
accessories.

Are there any other

Can I get owners of either to engage in an educational battle on the merits
or otherwise of either.

Paul W
The search goes on......




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  #2  
Old November 21st 04, 12:35 PM
John Riley
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The riding positions on these two bikes are _completely_ different. You
have ridden them and don't prefer one over the other?


--
John Riley

  #3  
Old November 21st 04, 01:27 PM
Paul W
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You have ridden them and don't prefer one over the other?

Thanks John.

I'm in Australia and have no opportunity to ride any 2 wheel recumbents.

This means I have to rely on reviews, opinions and any other info I can
dredge up. It's less than ideal, but it worked for my trike, which has been
very succesful (MR Components Swift and Swiftlet.)

Now I've "discovered" the RANS Force 5 XP - but there's a couple for sale
and that's a bad sign...!

I favour the P38, but I'm a little concerned about the 20 inch front wheel.
It should roll fine with a Tioga Comp Pool (we have rough chipseal
surfaces.) I'm an older rider, so a more upright position would be more
suitable. Also the P38 is a "mature" design with good accessories. It's
pricey though.

Paul W



  #4  
Old November 22nd 04, 10:10 PM
john riley
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"Paul W" wrote in message ...

The larger front wheel of the Bachetta will have considerably less rollover
resistance than the 20 inch on the P38 and Australia roads are often lightly
travelled chipseal - which is very rough.


Sorry, I didn't figure out from your address that you were in Aus.

Just to muddy the waters some more, if you are concerned about rough
chipseal, maybe you should consider the Giro 26. Wide tires could be
fitted, if necessary.

This bike is fairly tall, so you should be too ;-)

The P-38 has a fairly tight riding angle, and you can get r-butt.

If you are tall enough, I think the Giro 26 would offer a lot of
flexibility and options.

John Riley
  #5  
Old November 22nd 04, 10:54 PM
doug thomas
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"Paul W" wrote in message
...
correction here....1.7 Kilos is NOT (about a pound) try 1 Kilo = 3.75

pounds


Wrong - 1 kilo is 2.2 pounds

Doug Thomas
Welland, Ontario



  #6  
Old November 22nd 04, 11:14 PM
Skip
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"Paul W" wrote in message
...
correction here....1.7 Kilos is NOT (about a pound) try 1 Kilo = 3.75

pounds

Thanks Harv and Joshua....
repeat with me, I must not confuse the * with the / !

According to Bicycle Science, 1 kilo added weight reduces average speed by
1/3 rd kph.
That will be an approximation depending on terrain and in any case I'm
too
old for racing!

The larger front wheel of the Bachetta will have considerably less
rollover
resistance than the 20 inch on the P38 and Australia roads are often
lightly
travelled chipseal - which is very rough.

Then there's the RANS Force 5 XP which I've just stumbled onto....
Aaarhghhh


I haven't ridden the bikes your are interested in, but as Mr. Riley pointed
out they offer very different in riding positions. They are at different
extremes. As an "older rider" are you sure you want that?

Have you considered a lwb...Tour Easy, Stratus or maybe a V2? Nothing
extreme there. They are comfortable and easy to ride. Seems to me one of
them would be a safer bet if you aren't able to test ride and haven't ever
ridden a two wheel recumbent.

On the other hand you can always sell the bike if you don't like it and get
something else - but that can get a bit expensive and time consuming after a
while.

Disclaimer - I prefer lwb to swb because of the annoying numb toes issue a
few of us unfortunates have with swb high bottom bracket bikes.


  #7  
Old November 23rd 04, 01:15 AM
Mike Causer
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On Sun, 21 Nov 2004 12:01:12 -0500, Joshua Goldberg wrote:

correction here....1.7 Kilos is NOT (about a pound) try 1 Kilo = 3.75 pounds


correction here... 1 kg ~= 2.2046226 lb avoirdupois

If you know how many pounds are in a ton (long ton in the USA) it's easy

1 tonne ~= 1 (long) ton

or
1000kg ~= 2240 lb

Which is close enough for most purposes (actually I can usually remember
to switch the 4 and the 0 :-)



Mike

  #8  
Old November 23rd 04, 02:45 AM
Paul W
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Skip said:
Disclaimer - I prefer lwb to swb because of the annoying numb toes issue a
few of us unfortunates have with swb high bottom bracket bikes.


I didn't have problems with the high BB on my trike unless I had the laces
or straps too tight.
Unless it's very cold, I wear Shimano SPD sandals and for me they're very
comfortable.

I seem to get more power from a high BB and there are some studies that back
this up - and the reduction in front profile is useful too.

My latest trike has a low BB and it's taking a while to get used to - it may
be just muscle accomodation, but I don't feel as relaxed at the moment (1200
kms.)

One comment I'd make about the dual 700c high racers is that they're farther
above the ground which means higher wind speeds and falling off would be
unpleasant compared to (say) the P 38 or any bent that puts the rider close
to the ground.

My first 'bent was a home built LWB Tour Easy kinda clone. It was
comfortable.

Paul W









  #9  
Old November 23rd 04, 04:20 AM
Skip
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"Paul W" wrote in message
...
Skip said:
Disclaimer - I prefer lwb to swb because of the annoying numb toes issue a
few of us unfortunates have with swb high bottom bracket bikes.


I didn't have problems with the high BB on my trike unless I had the laces
or straps too tight.
Unless it's very cold, I wear Shimano SPD sandals and for me they're very
comfortable.

I seem to get more power from a high BB and there are some studies that
back
this up - and the reduction in front profile is useful too.

My latest trike has a low BB and it's taking a while to get used to - it
may
be just muscle accomodation, but I don't feel as relaxed at the moment
(1200
kms.)

One comment I'd make about the dual 700c high racers is that they're
farther
above the ground which means higher wind speeds and falling off would be
unpleasant compared to (say) the P 38 or any bent that puts the rider
close
to the ground.

My first 'bent was a home built LWB Tour Easy kinda clone. It was
comfortable.

Paul W



Sorry, but I interpreted your second post as saying you had never ridden a
two wheel recumbent and my post was based on that assumption.

I agree you can get more power out of a high BB bike. I seem to feel the
extra power when my feet are higher than my hip. However, my main interest
is touring and for me the neither the extra power or the comfort offered by
the high BB bike is sustainable over the course of a long ride. LWB low BB
works best for me.

I've owned a couple of RANS bikes and had no problems whatsoever with them
or the company. Bachetta makes also makes an excellent product and offers
excellent service from what I've read. Company service on the P38 seems to
run hot and cold - if that's a consideration for you I would advise some
research on the matter. I think P38 frames have been beefed up sufficiently
that frame failure isn't a problem these days.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes with whatever you end up getting.



  #10  
Old November 23rd 04, 09:42 PM
Jeff Wills
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"Paul W" wrote in message ...
Skip said:
Disclaimer - I prefer lwb to swb because of the annoying numb toes issue a
few of us unfortunates have with swb high bottom bracket bikes.


I didn't have problems with the high BB on my trike unless I had the laces
or straps too tight.
Unless it's very cold, I wear Shimano SPD sandals and for me they're very
comfortable.


I'll ditto that. I switched from a SWB Lightning to a LWB Tour Easy a
couple years back. I started having numb toes *after* the switch. I
had also switched shoes and was tieing the laces extra-tight. After
breaking in the shoes and loosening the laces a bit, numb toes went
away.

Jeff
 




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