My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me

Okay, so I've been putting through my HP Velo SMGTe through all kinds
of conditions around town for almost a year now. After all the
potholes, rain, mud, grit, heat and cold I finally managed to really
**** it up Sunday. A chainring got bent slightly, and eventually the
chain itself broke and messed up some drivetrain components in the
process!

I only wonder how folks manage to take this model 'bent on them Third
World tours if I'm having issues with it from simply riding around
town! From the beginning the rear air shock suddenly stopped working.
In another two weeks I managed to shred the top teflon tube somehow.
Then the front disc brake rotor became permanently warped. Then the
back ones. Did I mention the rear mudguard cracking in two? Sunday,
about the whole drivetrain came undone: broken chain, a bent chainring,
the idler spring clamp kaputt. Interestingly, the Thracian wheelset
has held up just fine, AFAIK.

Good God, but this is starting to be like dealing with your PC: "now
what???" comes to mind more and more. And this seems to me
recumbency's fatal flaw preventing it from wider adoptation: it's too
****ing complicated! And I can't believe how many of the nuts and
bolts on my SMGTe do not seem to be off-the-shelf stuff you can get at
a hardware store. Also, there should be a re-assembly instruction
sheet for owners included with the bikes, since not all LBSes know or
care about servicing 'bents.

Recumbents are fun when they work, but mine is finally going to make a
grease-monkey out of me! The HP Velo SMGTe is still the most
comfortable 'bent around, but it requires a lot of attention, not like
my other bikes which I just ride and take to the shop maybe once or
twice a year. So far, I think I've spent $250 getting my 'bent
serviced and refitted in one way or another. JFC!!

I've now almost completely disassembled my 'bent, so as to clean out
all the grit and grime and reinstall the chain, etc. Damn, this is
going to be some education in bike mechanics! I'm really learning the
hard way...on my own. I'm kind of looking forward to it, out of
curiosity. Just wish I had the space to lay things down properly and
leave them around.

Get a real bike and more people can fix it!!!


Prisoner at War wrote:
Okay, so I've been putting through my HP Velo SMGTe through all kinds
of conditions around town for almost a year now. After all the
potholes, rain, mud, grit, heat and cold I finally managed to really
**** it up Sunday. A chainring got bent slightly, and eventually the
chain itself broke and messed up some drivetrain components in the
process!

I only wonder how folks manage to take this model 'bent on them Third
World tours if I'm having issues with it from simply riding around
town! From the beginning the rear air shock suddenly stopped working.
In another two weeks I managed to shred the top teflon tube somehow.
Then the front disc brake rotor became permanently warped. Then the
back ones. Did I mention the rear mudguard cracking in two? Sunday,
about the whole drivetrain came undone: broken chain, a bent chainring,
the idler spring clamp kaputt. Interestingly, the Thracian wheelset
has held up just fine, AFAIK.

Good God, but this is starting to be like dealing with your PC: "now
what???" comes to mind more and more. And this seems to me
recumbency's fatal flaw preventing it from wider adoptation: it's too
****ing complicated! And I can't believe how many of the nuts and
bolts on my SMGTe do not seem to be off-the-shelf stuff you can get at
a hardware store. Also, there should be a re-assembly instruction
sheet for owners included with the bikes, since not all LBSes know or
care about servicing 'bents.

Recumbents are fun when they work, but mine is finally going to make a
grease-monkey out of me! The HP Velo SMGTe is still the most
comfortable 'bent around, but it requires a lot of attention, not like
my other bikes which I just ride and take to the shop maybe once or
twice a year. So far, I think I've spent $250 getting my 'bent
serviced and refitted in one way or another. JFC!!

I've now almost completely disassembled my 'bent, so as to clean out
all the grit and grime and reinstall the chain, etc. Damn, this is
going to be some education in bike mechanics! I'm really learning the
hard way...on my own. I'm kind of looking forward to it, out of
curiosity. Just wish I had the space to lay things down properly and
leave them around.

"Prisoner at War" wrote in message
ps.com...

Okay, so I've been putting through my HP Velo SMGTe through all kinds
of conditions around town for almost a year now. After all the
potholes, rain, mud, grit, heat and cold I finally managed to really
**** it up Sunday. A chainring got bent slightly, and eventually the
chain itself broke and messed up some drivetrain components in the
process!

I only wonder how folks manage to take this model 'bent on them Third
World tours if I'm having issues with it from simply riding around
town! From the beginning the rear air shock suddenly stopped working.
In another two weeks I managed to shred the top teflon tube somehow.
Then the front disc brake rotor became permanently warped. Then the
back ones. Did I mention the rear mudguard cracking in two? Sunday,
about the whole drivetrain came undone: broken chain, a bent chainring,
the idler spring clamp kaputt. Interestingly, the Thracian wheelset
has held up just fine, AFAIK.

Good God, but this is starting to be like dealing with your PC: "now
what???" comes to mind more and more. And this seems to me
recumbency's fatal flaw preventing it from wider adoptation: it's too
****ing complicated! And I can't believe how many of the nuts and
bolts on my SMGTe do not seem to be off-the-shelf stuff you can get at
a hardware store. Also, there should be a re-assembly instruction
sheet for owners included with the bikes, since not all LBSes know or
care about servicing 'bents.

Recumbents are fun when they work, but mine is finally going to make a
grease-monkey out of me! The HP Velo SMGTe is still the most
comfortable 'bent around, but it requires a lot of attention, not like
my other bikes which I just ride and take to the shop maybe once or
twice a year. So far, I think I've spent $250 getting my 'bent
serviced and refitted in one way or another. JFC!!

I've now almost completely disassembled my 'bent, so as to clean out
all the grit and grime and reinstall the chain, etc. Damn, this is
going to be some education in bike mechanics! I'm really learning the
hard way...on my own. I'm kind of looking forward to it, out of
curiosity. Just wish I had the space to lay things down properly and
leave them around.

You are just learning what all of us recumbent cyclists have had to learn
the hard way. Yes, the damn things are great when they work like they
should, but they are subject to many vicissitudes.

I would never take a recumbent bike to a shop for any kind of repair. You
have to repair them yourselves. Otherwise, you will go broke.

I will never recommend a high priced recumbent to anyone because I know from
bitter experience that they are not any better than the cheap ones. Unless
you are into speed, you do not need a state of the art recumbent. Get a
cheap one and then be prepared to fix whatever. You will be far happier that
way and not regret your loss of thousands of dollars.

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

wrote in message
ups.com...
Get a real bike and more people can fix it!!!

Big Jim has a good point here, but he does not realize how much we recumbent
cyclist insist on comfort, something that you can never get on an upright.

When I ride an upright and it starts to cause me pain I get so freaking mad
I could kill myself for being so stupid as to think an upright could ever be
comfortable for more than half an hour. Screw all uprights all the way to
hell and back! The g.d. things are nothing but torture racks. One thing is
for sure, they were never designed for the human anatomy.

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota




Prisoner at War wrote:
Okay, so I've been putting through my HP Velo SMGTe through all kinds
of conditions around town for almost a year now. After all the
potholes, rain, mud, grit, heat and cold I finally managed to really
**** it up Sunday. A chainring got bent slightly, and eventually the
chain itself broke and messed up some drivetrain components in the
process!

I only wonder how folks manage to take this model 'bent on them Third
World tours if I'm having issues with it from simply riding around
town! From the beginning the rear air shock suddenly stopped working.
In another two weeks I managed to shred the top teflon tube somehow.
Then the front disc brake rotor became permanently warped. Then the
back ones. Did I mention the rear mudguard cracking in two? Sunday,
about the whole drivetrain came undone: broken chain, a bent chainring,
the idler spring clamp kaputt. Interestingly, the Thracian wheelset
has held up just fine, AFAIK.

Good God, but this is starting to be like dealing with your PC: "now
what???" comes to mind more and more. And this seems to me
recumbency's fatal flaw preventing it from wider adoptation: it's too
****ing complicated! And I can't believe how many of the nuts and
bolts on my SMGTe do not seem to be off-the-shelf stuff you can get at
a hardware store. Also, there should be a re-assembly instruction
sheet for owners included with the bikes, since not all LBSes know or
care about servicing 'bents.

Recumbents are fun when they work, but mine is finally going to make a
grease-monkey out of me! The HP Velo SMGTe is still the most
comfortable 'bent around, but it requires a lot of attention, not like
my other bikes which I just ride and take to the shop maybe once or
twice a year. So far, I think I've spent $250 getting my 'bent
serviced and refitted in one way or another. JFC!!

I've now almost completely disassembled my 'bent, so as to clean out
all the grit and grime and reinstall the chain, etc. Damn, this is
going to be some education in bike mechanics! I'm really learning the
hard way...on my own. I'm kind of looking forward to it, out of
curiosity. Just wish I had the space to lay things down properly and
leave them around.

Edward Dolan wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
Get a real bike and more people can fix it!!!

Big Jim has a good point here, but he does not realize how much we recumbent
cyclist insist on comfort, something that you can never get on an upright.

When I ride an upright and it starts to cause me pain I get so freaking mad
I could kill myself for being so stupid as to think an upright could ever be
comfortable for more than half an hour. Screw all uprights all the way to
hell and back! The g.d. things are nothing but torture racks. One thing is
for sure, they were never designed for the human anatomy.

Have you tried Rivendell's style of fitting? Maybe some reading
material will help:

http://www.rivbike.com/how_to_pick_y...pick_your_bike

http://www.rivbike.com/how_to_pick_y...g_a_frame_size

http://www.rivbike.com/how_to_pick_y...iding_position

http://www.rivbike.com/assorted_read...et-up_mistakes

Good Luck with all that!

"bfd" wrote in message
oups.com...

Edward Dolan wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
Get a real bike and more people can fix it!!!

Big Jim has a good point here, but he does not realize how much we
recumbent
cyclists insist on comfort, something that you can never get on an
upright.

When I ride an upright and it starts to cause me pain I get so freaking
mad
I could kill myself for being so stupid as to think an upright could ever
be
comfortable for more than half an hour. Screw all uprights all the way to
hell and back! The g.d. things are nothing but torture racks. One thing
is
for sure, they were never designed for the human anatomy.

Have you tried Rivendell's style of fitting? Maybe some reading
material will help:

http://www.rivbike.com/how_to_pick_y...pick_your_bike

http://www.rivbike.com/how_to_pick_y...g_a_frame_size

http://www.rivbike.com/how_to_pick_y...iding_position

http://www.rivbike.com/assorted_read...et-up_mistakes

Good Luck with all that!

All of the above is water over the dam as far as I am concerned. I have been
there and done it - many, many times.

I have been around bikes for the past 35 years and consider myself an expert
on the subject of comfort. If you are young and physically fit you can more
or less be comfortable on an upright for several hours at best, but even
then you cannot be comfortable on them all day every day for weeks at a
time.

A recumbent is the ONLY way to go if you want TOTAL comfort. You give up
some speed, especially on hills, but the comfort is more than worth it. This
is actually a subject not even worth talking about as anyone who knows
recumbents can tell you.

Those of you presently on uprights who think you can live with them will
find out that as you age that you in fact cannot. At that point, you will
either give up cycling - or you will graduate to recumbents.

Good Luck with all that - indeed!

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

"Edward Dolan" wrote in message
news:zq6dnWrqwqzKMQzYnZ2dnUVZ_syunZ2d@prairiewave. com...

"bfd" wrote in message
oups.com...

Edward Dolan wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
Get a real bike and more people can fix it!!!

Big Jim has a good point here, but he does not realize how much we
recumbent
cyclists insist on comfort, something that you can never get on an
upright.

When I ride an upright and it starts to cause me pain I get so freaking
mad
I could kill myself for being so stupid as to think an upright could
ever be
comfortable for more than half an hour. Screw all uprights all the way
to
hell and back! The g.d. things are nothing but torture racks. One thing
is
for sure, they were never designed for the human anatomy.

Have you tried Rivendell's style of fitting? Maybe some reading
material will help:

http://www.rivbike.com/how_to_pick_y...pick_your_bike

http://www.rivbike.com/how_to_pick_y...g_a_frame_size

http://www.rivbike.com/how_to_pick_y...iding_position

http://www.rivbike.com/assorted_read...et-up_mistakes

Good Luck with all that!

All of the above is water over the dam as far as I am concerned. I have
been there and done it - many, many times.

I have been around bikes for the past 35 years and consider myself an
expert on the subject of comfort. If you are young and physically fit you
can more or less be comfortable on an upright for several hours at best,
but even then you cannot be comfortable on them all day every day for
weeks at a time.

A recumbent is the ONLY way to go if you want TOTAL comfort. You give up
some speed, especially on hills, but the comfort is more than worth it.
This is actually a subject not even worth talking about as anyone who
knows recumbents can tell you.

Those of you presently on uprights who think you can live with them will
find out that as you age that you in fact cannot. At that point, you will
either give up cycling - or you will graduate to recumbents.

Good Luck with all that - indeed!

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota




I've been around bikes for the past 40 years, around this world for 56, and
in fact can live with upright bicycles.
Kerry

"KERRY MONTGOMERY" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Edward Dolan" wrote in message
news:zq6dnWrqwqzKMQzYnZ2dnUVZ_syunZ2d@prairiewave. com...

"bfd" wrote in message
oups.com...

Edward Dolan wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
Get a real bike and more people can fix it!!!

Big Jim has a good point here, but he does not realize how much we
recumbent
cyclists insist on comfort, something that you can never get on an
upright.

When I ride an upright and it starts to cause me pain I get so freaking
mad
I could kill myself for being so stupid as to think an upright could
ever be
comfortable for more than half an hour. Screw all uprights all the way
to
hell and back! The g.d. things are nothing but torture racks. One
thing is
for sure, they were never designed for the human anatomy.

Have you tried Rivendell's style of fitting? Maybe some reading
material will help:
[...]
Good Luck with all that!

All of the above is water over the dam as far as I am concerned. I have
been there and done it - many, many times.

I have been around bikes for the past 35 years and consider myself an
expert on the subject of comfort. If you are young and physically fit you
can more or less be comfortable on an upright for several hours at best,
but even then you cannot be comfortable on them all day every day for
weeks at a time.

A recumbent is the ONLY way to go if you want TOTAL comfort. You give up
some speed, especially on hills, but the comfort is more than worth it.
This is actually a subject not even worth talking about as anyone who
knows recumbents can tell you.

Those of you presently on uprights who think you can live with them will
find out that as you age that you in fact cannot. At that point, you will
either give up cycling - or you will graduate to recumbents.

Good Luck with all that - indeed!

I've been around bikes for the past 40 years, around this world for 56,
and in fact can live with upright bicycles.
Kerry

Yeah, but you are probably an iron man, a species of humans that I have
never had any truck with. Most of us are not iron men. We lose our physical
fitness and strength as we age - and so will you too eventually. I can
assure you that by age 70 you will worship at the altar of Ed Dolan the
Great. You will wonder how I could have been so wise and how you could have
been so ignorant.

The fact is that recumbents are mostly for older folks. I remember when I
thought I could ride uprights forever, but reality intruded. Recumbents mean
that you can continue to ride bikes longer than you ever thought possible
and thereby insure continued fitness and perhaps a longer life.

But I must admit I now see the Grim Reaper around every corner. In the end
of course, nothing can save you, not even cycling!

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

In article ,
"Edward Dolan" wrote:

I have been around bikes for the past 35 years and consider myself an
expert on the subject of comfort. If you are young and physically fit
you can more or less be comfortable on an upright for several hours
at best, but even then you cannot be comfortable on them all day
every day for weeks at a time.

A recumbent is the ONLY way to go if you want TOTAL comfort. You give
up some speed, especially on hills, but the comfort is more than
worth it. This is actually a subject not even worth talking about as
anyone who knows recumbents can tell you.

Those of you presently on uprights who think you can live with them
will find out that as you age that you in fact cannot. At that point,
you will either give up cycling - or you will graduate to recumbents.

Oh bull**** as usual, Edward. I find my uprights comfortable enough to
ride up to 400 km in 24 hours. How much more comfortable do I need my
bike to be? I'm 47. I know people in their 50s and 60s and even 70s
who do this kind of riding on uprights quite comfortably.

Once again you are overgeneralizing. What is true for you may not be
true for others. If recumbents keep you riding I think that's great and
more power to you. If I develop some kind of health problem which
results in a choice between not riding and getting a recumbent, I'll get
a recumbent. A few friends of mine ride recumbents because they just
like 'em. Two friends of mine with cervical disk problems have gone
this route quite happily because they don't aggravate their proximal
and/or distal pain. I have a cervical disk problem of my own and who
knows? I might be on a recumbent one of these days too. It's great
that there are options!

As far as the comfort question goes, for some reason most people I see
on recumbents around here are middle aged guys who are 50-75 pounds
overweight. I think I have spotted the problem with normal bikes being
uncomfortable for them. I hear a lot of complaints about "recumbent
butt" to make it clear that recumbents are no panacea.

"Tim McNamara" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Edward Dolan" wrote:

I have been around bikes for the past 35 years and consider myself an
expert on the subject of comfort. If you are young and physically fit
you can more or less be comfortable on an upright for several hours
at best, but even then you cannot be comfortable on them all day
every day for weeks at a time.

A recumbent is the ONLY way to go if you want TOTAL comfort. You give
up some speed, especially on hills, but the comfort is more than
worth it. This is actually a subject not even worth talking about as
anyone who knows recumbents can tell you.

Those of you presently on uprights who think you can live with them
will find out that as you age that you in fact cannot. At that point,
you will either give up cycling - or you will graduate to recumbents.

Oh bull**** as usual, Edward. I find my uprights comfortable enough to
ride up to 400 km in 24 hours. How much more comfortable do I need my
bike to be? I'm 47. I know people in their 50s and 60s and even 70s
who do this kind of riding on uprights quite comfortably.

But you do not get TOTAL comfort on an upright like you do on a recumbent. I
am insulted when discomfort kicks in on a bike, but maybe you do not mind
being insulted by discomfort. This is all a function of one's intelligence
of course.

I do not know of anyone in their 70's who can ride an upright with any
degree of comfort. Hey, live long enough and even you may get to be wise
like me.

Once again you are overgeneralizing. What is true for you may not be
true for others. If recumbents keep you riding I think that's great and
more power to you. If I develop some kind of health problem which
results in a choice between not riding and getting a recumbent, I'll get
a recumbent. A few friends of mine ride recumbents because they just
like 'em. Two friends of mine with cervical disk problems have gone
this route quite happily because they don't aggravate their proximal
and/or distal pain. I have a cervical disk problem of my own and who
knows? I might be on a recumbent one of these days too. It's great
that there are options!

It has nothing to do with health problems. It has everything to do with
getting old and feeble. You will be more comfortable on a recumbent and you
can leave speed to the teenagers where it belongs. The most pathetic sight
in the world is a middle age slob attempting to keep up with teenagers,
whether on a bike or in other department of life.

As far as the comfort question goes, for some reason most people I see
on recumbents around here are middle aged guys who are 50-75 pounds
overweight. I think I have spotted the problem with normal bikes being
uncomfortable for them. I hear a lot of complaints about "recumbent
butt" to make it clear that recumbents are no panacea.

Yes, almost all Americans over a certain age are overweight. What else is
new?

Recumbent butt only kicks in for those too stupid to solve the problem. All
that is required in most cases is just more foam padding and a sufficient
lean back. It is the main reason why you do not want the BB to be too low.

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

PS. Are you any relation to Jim McNamara, an adversary of mine on ARBR from
Chicago that I have been feuding with for years?