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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 |
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#3
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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. |
#4
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: : 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 |
#5
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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 |
#6
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: 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 : |
#7
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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 |
#8
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"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 |
#9
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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. |
#10
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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. |
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