Tsunami Recumbents?

Anyone heard of them? They appear to be a Taiwanese bicycle frame firm that
went under, because their stuff is showing up in on the clearance rack.



--
Robert Haston
Satellite Beach, FL

wrote:

You must have dosed off there, Robert ;-) They have been around awhile,
always direct sale on the internet. They even have a discussion area
(needed, because the bikes are a pita to assemble).
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group...nbent/messages

Actionbent has a web page at http://www.actionbent.com/.

In light of the recent disaster in southwest Asia, one wonders if they
will keep using "Tidal Wave" as a model designation.

--
Tom Sherman - Near Rock Island

On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 01:46:28 GMT
"Robert Haston" wrote:

Anyone heard of them? They appear to be a Taiwanese bicycle frame firm
that went under, because their stuff is showing up in on the clearance
rack.


I have one. They are not that bad to assemble and your LBS can do it for
you if you insist.

They are manufactured by China Mascot in Taiwan, and distributed by a
company called Taiwan Bents. Actionbent.com has been the exclusive US
distributor for about a year now, but some other people still have old
stock. Different companies distribute these bikes in other parts of the
world.

CM manufactures frames and frame parts for a number of DF brands, and
are nowhere near going out of business. Chuck says his aren't selling so
well - he bought one shipping container full of them probably about 18
months ago now. If you compare his website with CM's website, it's clear
that he buys a lot of parts from CM.

The components on them are frequently entry-level but for the price you
can certainly afford to upgrade. The design and frame quality are
acceptable, but on par with, say, Cycle Genius. Though they're lighter than
CG bents. The T-1 and T-2 both weigh in in the low 30's.

Most models are SWB but CM has an LWB model that actionbent will
probably begin ordering shortly. Their lead designer says that he has a
tadpole design worked out on paper but has not had time to develop it, as
he has been very busy fulfilling existing customer demands.

:
: The components on them are frequently entry-level but for the price you
: can certainly afford to upgrade. The design and frame quality are
: acceptable, but on par with, say, Cycle Genius. Though they're lighter
than
: CG bents. The T-1 and T-2 both weigh in in the low 30's.

What's wrong with Cycle Genius?

Pat in TX

Pat wrote:
:
: The components on them are frequently entry-level but for the
price you
: can certainly afford to upgrade. The design and frame quality are
: acceptable, but on par with, say, Cycle Genius. Though they're
lighter
than
: CG bents. The T-1 and T-2 both weigh in in the low 30's.

What's wrong with Cycle Genius?

Pat in TX

I think Cycle Genius are ugly and crude looking. Other than that and
the fact many of their bikes are heavy there isn't anything wrong with
them.

Zach

: What's wrong with Cycle Genius?
:
: Pat in TX
:
: I think Cycle Genius are ugly and crude looking. Other than that and
: the fact many of their bikes are heavy there isn't anything wrong with
: them.
:
: Zach

They don't seem to be any heavier than the ones in the hostelshoppe catalog.
As for "ugly", well, that is a subjective thing. They look similar to the
Rans Stratus, the Rans Velocity 2 and Formula, the EZ-1, and even the Tour
Easy. All ugly.

Pat in TX
:

Pat wrote:

: What's wrong with Cycle Genius?
:
: Pat in TX
:
: I think Cycle Genius are ugly and crude looking. Other than that and
: the fact many of their bikes are heavy there isn't anything wrong with
: them.
:
: Zach

They don't seem to be any heavier than the ones in the hostelshoppe catalog.
As for "ugly", well, that is a subjective thing. They look similar to the
Rans Stratus, the Rans Velocity 2 and Formula, the EZ-1, and even the Tour
Easy. All ugly.

Who is "Rans"?

--
Tom Sherman - Near Rock Island

"Tom Sherman" wrote in message
...
Pat wrote:

: What's wrong with Cycle Genius?
:
: Pat in TX
:
: I think Cycle Genius are ugly and crude looking. Other than that and
: the fact many of their bikes are heavy there isn't anything wrong with
: them.
:
: Zach

They don't seem to be any heavier than the ones in the hostelshoppe
catalog.
As for "ugly", well, that is a subjective thing. They look similar to the
Rans Stratus, the Rans Velocity 2 and Formula, the EZ-1, and even the
Tour
Easy. All ugly.

Who is "Rans"?

--
Tom Sherman - Near Rock Island


Rans is the division of RANS that makes the ugly ones. And they aren't as
smart as some other bicycles either.

skip

On Sat, 8 Jan 2005 19:34:01 -0600
"Pat" wrote:


:
: The components on them are frequently entry-level but for the price
you: can certainly afford to upgrade. The design and frame quality are
: acceptable, but on par with, say, Cycle Genius. Though they're lighter
than
: CG bents. The T-1 and T-2 both weigh in in the low 30's.

What's wrong with Cycle Genius?


Nothing at all. In fact, they were the first company known to have
considered importing the tsunami recumbents. Reportedly they decided not to
because the freight costs were too high. The boxes they were shipped in
were too large to go UPS at any price, and at the time the seats were
shipped separately. They paid almost as much for freight all the way to
central texas as they did for the bikes themselves.

Chuck's Bikes is in Los Angeles, which, as a major shipping port, is a
bit cheaper to ship to. His bikes are still in huge boxes but at least the
seats are included. He can get UPS To ship them for about $100 or Greyhound
for about $70.

Actionbent is in seattle, which is also a major shipping port. The
current bikes from China Mascot are packed in boxes that can be shipped by
UPS For $60 or so. Randy literally buys them by the shipping container
full, and pays to have the shipping container picked up at the dock and
dropped off at his house, where he unloads it into his basement.

The china mascot designs and welding are not as polished as, say,
bacchetta or HPVelotechnik, and neither are CG. Nothing wrong with that.

But a Tsunami T-2 is 10 pounds lighter than a Cycle Genius CGX.

Some of the china mascot bikes have quirks that

Actionbent has it's issues. The owner of this distributor frequently
appears to be asleep at the wheel and I'd love to see him show up and argue
his case. Some of the bikes have interesting foibles.

The Jetstream 1 comes with SRAM grip shifters, an SRAM rear derailer,
and a Shimano Tiagra front derailer. For reasons that are debated, the FD
doesn't work so well. People say that they have enormous difficulty
shifting into the big ring. I suspect that since a shimano road FD is going
to have a different pull ratio than an SRAM mountain FD, and since road FDs
are designed for a different chainstay angle than mountain FDs, it's a
double whammy. People solve this issue by installing a $7 SRAM FD.

My Tsunami T-2 came with SRAM Centera grip shifters which are designed
to be Shimano compatible, Shimano Acera-X RD, and Shimano Tourney FD. I had
no shifting problems at all. I've since installed Shimano Ultegra barcons
and a Shimano XT FD, which work beautifully.

Some people who have purchased the suspended version of the Road Runner
from actionbent have reported that the chain they received was about a foot
too short. Some have said that Randy wasn't particularly responsive about
the issue. To be fair, any LBS will probably admit that they sometimes open
a box and find an incomplete bike. Part of the LBS value-add is taking care
of this eventuality.

One of the actionbent models - I forget which one - comes with a carbon
fiber fork that is only just barely big enough. It turns out that there are
only about 3 tires that will clear it, and one of them is a wheelchair tire
in gray rubber. Randy sells replacements, but people have been somewhat
grumpy about this one. Randy says he's talked to CM about the issue and
that they have dismissed his concerns. Randy should grow a pair and get
tough with his supplier.

It is widely suspected that the actionbent hi-racer is just a TidalWave
with a rakeless 700c fork. So far nobody has been able to compare the
frames side by side to confirm or deny. If it is, the head angle may be
somewhat wrong. It remains to be seen how well it handles.

I hear that the AB lowracer is a pretty neat vehicle.

To be frank, these taiwanese recumbents are entry-level in every
category. Even the high end bikes are entry-level high-end. Nothing at all
wrong with that. You're not getting some kind of amazing deal - you're
getting a good, fair deal.

Now if he would just import this one

http://www.recumbent.com.tw/HTM/lowracer.htm

With the exchange rate being what it is in the US all the European brands
are rather expensive

"Eric Jorgensen" wrote in message
news:20050108215316.422503d3@wafer...
On Sat, 8 Jan 2005 19:34:01 -0600

Nothing at all. In fact, they were the first company known to have
considered importing the tsunami recumbents. Reportedly they decided not
to
because the freight costs were too high. The boxes they were shipped in
were too large to go UPS at any price, and at the time the seats were
shipped separately. They paid almost as much for freight all the way to
central texas as they did for the bikes themselves.

Chuck's Bikes is in Los Angeles, which, as a major shipping port, is a
bit cheaper to ship to. His bikes are still in huge boxes but at least the
seats are included. He can get UPS To ship them for about $100 or
Greyhound
for about $70.

Actionbent is in seattle, which is also a major shipping port. The
current bikes from China Mascot are packed in boxes that can be shipped by
UPS For $60 or so. Randy literally buys them by the shipping container
full, and pays to have the shipping container picked up at the dock and
dropped off at his house, where he unloads it into his basement.

The china mascot designs and welding are not as polished as, say,
bacchetta or HPVelotechnik, and neither are CG. Nothing wrong with that.

But a Tsunami T-2 is 10 pounds lighter than a Cycle Genius CGX.

Some of the china mascot bikes have quirks that

Actionbent has it's issues. The owner of this distributor frequently
appears to be asleep at the wheel and I'd love to see him show up and
argue
his case. Some of the bikes have interesting foibles.

The Jetstream 1 comes with SRAM grip shifters, an SRAM rear derailer,
and a Shimano Tiagra front derailer. For reasons that are debated, the FD
doesn't work so well. People say that they have enormous difficulty
shifting into the big ring. I suspect that since a shimano road FD is
going
to have a different pull ratio than an SRAM mountain FD, and since road
FDs
are designed for a different chainstay angle than mountain FDs, it's a
double whammy. People solve this issue by installing a $7 SRAM FD.

My Tsunami T-2 came with SRAM Centera grip shifters which are designed
to be Shimano compatible, Shimano Acera-X RD, and Shimano Tourney FD. I
had
no shifting problems at all. I've since installed Shimano Ultegra barcons
and a Shimano XT FD, which work beautifully.

Some people who have purchased the suspended version of the Road Runner
from actionbent have reported that the chain they received was about a
foot
too short. Some have said that Randy wasn't particularly responsive about
the issue. To be fair, any LBS will probably admit that they sometimes
open
a box and find an incomplete bike. Part of the LBS value-add is taking
care
of this eventuality.

One of the actionbent models - I forget which one - comes with a carbon
fiber fork that is only just barely big enough. It turns out that there
are
only about 3 tires that will clear it, and one of them is a wheelchair
tire
in gray rubber. Randy sells replacements, but people have been somewhat
grumpy about this one. Randy says he's talked to CM about the issue and
that they have dismissed his concerns. Randy should grow a pair and get
tough with his supplier.

It is widely suspected that the actionbent hi-racer is just a TidalWave
with a rakeless 700c fork. So far nobody has been able to compare the
frames side by side to confirm or deny. If it is, the head angle may be
somewhat wrong. It remains to be seen how well it handles.

I hear that the AB lowracer is a pretty neat vehicle.

To be frank, these taiwanese recumbents are entry-level in every
category. Even the high end bikes are entry-level high-end. Nothing at all
wrong with that. You're not getting some kind of amazing deal - you're
getting a good, fair deal.