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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. |
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#2
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My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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. |
#3
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My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
"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 |
#4
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My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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. |
#5
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My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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! |
#6
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My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
"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 |
#7
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My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
"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 |
#8
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My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
"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 |
#9
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My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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'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. It sounds like you have the repair of your bent well under way and just needed to vent a little frustration. I have never had as much trouble with any of my bents but maybe do not ride the way you do. In the long run you are better off doing these repairs yourself so that you will understand why it's important not to **** it up in the first place. |
#10
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My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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. |
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