I become a crank

Surgery to repair the latest injury - a broken back - has made riding
any conventional diamond frame bike uncomfortable. Since some of my
spine no longer bends, I need to hyper bend the rest of it to be able to
see ahead. Also the general bendy position is pretty miserable.

I'm not willing to become a full on old crank and get on a 'bent so my
compromise is a Rans CF. The one I chose is called a Dynamik - sort of a
bit of a hybrid and a bit of a CF mountain bike. I'd have preferred it
come with 29" wheels, but I wonder if I'd really notice the difference
between its 26" and the 29's.

I borrowed a friend's to try it and liked the practicality of the entire
thing. Here is my first bicycle since childhood which didn't really
demand a full on 'get up' to enjoy. Street clothes work well as do
normal walking shoes although I suppose bike shoes would be slightly
better due to the stiff sole. In fact, my friend tells me that bicycle
specific pants impede you on this sort of bike.

My friend made the comment about how much fun bicycles are when they are
comfortable instead of torturous exercise devices. I am coming over to
his POV. Too bad Sheldon's no longer around. I'd be curious to hear his
take on this sort of bike.

Any of you guys tried one?

-paul

On Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:36:44 -0600, slide
wrote:

Here is my first bicycle since childhood which didn't really
demand a full on 'get up' to enjoy. Street clothes work well as do
normal walking shoes although

There are many bikes like that in the world. Many, many bikes like
that

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/a...e3_546336a.jpg

http://www.w3.org/2008/02/sb_www2008...ina-mobile.jpg

Ride.

On Nov 1, 2:36*pm, slide wrote:
Here is my first bicycle since childhood which didn't really
demand a full on 'get up' to enjoy. Street clothes work well as do
normal walking shoes although I suppose bike shoes would be slightly
better due to the stiff sole. In fact, my friend tells me that bicycle
specific pants impede you on this sort of bike.

Glad you've found a bike style that still lets you enjoy cycling after
your injury.

But I'm a bit puzzled by the above comment since I've never
experienced any difficulty using any of my bikes while wearing normal
street clothes. The only modification needed is to either tuck my
pants legs into my socks or to use some clips/bands to keep them from
getting caught in the chain. On occasion I've even ridden fairly long
distances wearing regular tennis shoes and using SPD pedals although I
don't really recommend that combination.

peter wrote:
On Nov 1, 2:36 pm, slide wrote:
Here is my first bicycle since childhood which didn't really
demand a full on 'get up' to enjoy. Street clothes work well as do
normal walking shoes although I suppose bike shoes would be slightly
better due to the stiff sole. In fact, my friend tells me that bicycle
specific pants impede you on this sort of bike.

Glad you've found a bike style that still lets you enjoy cycling after
your injury.

But I'm a bit puzzled by the above comment since I've never
experienced any difficulty using any of my bikes while wearing normal
street clothes. The only modification needed is to either tuck my
pants legs into my socks or to use some clips/bands to keep them from
getting caught in the chain. On occasion I've even ridden fairly long
distances wearing regular tennis shoes and using SPD pedals although I
don't really recommend that combination.


No issue if I wish to take a ride of 2 or 3 km down to the store, but
longer rides demand special pants for me to not feel chafed and in some
pain. I didn't enjoy the longer rides with conventional shoes and my
SPD's although I suppose that's an individual thing.

John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
On Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:36:44 -0600, slide
wrote:

Here is my first bicycle since childhood which didn't really
demand a full on 'get up' to enjoy. Street clothes work well as do
normal walking shoes although

There are many bikes like that in the world. Many, many bikes like
that

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/a...e3_546336a.jpg

http://www.w3.org/2008/02/sb_www2008...ina-mobile.jpg

Ride.

The bikes I've found locally which are comfortable in street clothes
(I'm in the USA) are rather unwieldy for longer rides. My daughter has a
Chinese copy of an Electra Townie which is very pleasant to ride up to
about 5 miles and slowly but I used to enjoy 40-50 mile rides on weekend
mornings. I wish to resume that. The Townie sort of bike would make such
riding, especially hills, daunting.

Also my wife is still a rather competitive rider and I'd like a bike I
can ride with her and not ask her to slow for me. I'm expecting the Rans
is such a bike where the Townie isn't.

"slide" wrote:
John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
On Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:36:44 -0600, slide
wrote:

Here is my first bicycle since childhood which didn't really
demand a full on 'get up' to enjoy. Street clothes work well as do
normal walking shoes although

There are many bikes like that in the world. Many, many bikes like
that

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/a...e3_546336a.jpg

http://www.w3.org/2008/02/sb_www2008...ina-mobile.jpg

Ride.

The bikes I've found locally which are comfortable in street clothes
(I'm in the USA) are rather unwieldy for longer rides. My daughter has a
Chinese copy of an Electra Townie which is very pleasant to ride up to
about 5 miles and slowly but I used to enjoy 40-50 mile rides on weekend
mornings. I wish to resume that. The Townie sort of bike would make such
riding, especially hills, daunting.

Also my wife is still a rather competitive rider and I'd like a bike I
can ride with her and not ask her to slow for me. I'm expecting the Rans
is such a bike where the Townie isn't.

What is a "Rans"?

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007
1999 RANS Wave to Tailwind Conversion
2000 RANS Rocket

On Nov 2, 10:34*am, slide wrote:

No issue if I wish to take a ride of 2 or 3 km down to the store, but
longer rides demand special pants for me to not feel chafed and in some
pain. I didn't enjoy the longer rides with conventional shoes and my
SPD's although I suppose that's an individual thing.

I wonder what problems you have with pants.

I'll admit that blue jeans, with their thick fabric and thicker seams,
aren't ideal. Some thick-seamed underwear may be uncomfortable. But I
have very few problems riding in any ordinary pants with thinner
fabric, and in underwear that aren't overly thick. I pin my cuffs
aside with safety pins.

Because I want the ability to use my bikes with conventional shoes, I
don't use clipless pedals. For me, that tradeoff is worth it.

- Frank Krygowski

Tom Sherman wrote:

The bikes I've found locally which are comfortable in street clothes
(I'm in the USA) are rather unwieldy for longer rides. My daughter has
a Chinese copy of an Electra Townie which is very pleasant to ride up
to about 5 miles and slowly but I used to enjoy 40-50 mile rides on
weekend mornings. I wish to resume that. The Townie sort of bike would
make such riding, especially hills, daunting.

Also my wife is still a rather competitive rider and I'd like a bike I
can ride with her and not ask her to slow for me. I'm expecting the
Rans is such a bike where the Townie isn't.

What is a "Rans"?


http://www.ransbikes.com/Dynamik07.htm

Check it out.

Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Nov 2, 10:34 am, slide wrote:
No issue if I wish to take a ride of 2 or 3 km down to the store, but
longer rides demand special pants for me to not feel chafed and in some
pain. I didn't enjoy the longer rides with conventional shoes and my
SPD's although I suppose that's an individual thing.

I wonder what problems you have with pants.


Saddles really, not pants themselves.

"slide" wrote:
Tom Sherman wrote:

The bikes I've found locally which are comfortable in street clothes
(I'm in the USA) are rather unwieldy for longer rides. My daughter
has a Chinese copy of an Electra Townie which is very pleasant to
ride up to about 5 miles and slowly but I used to enjoy 40-50 mile
rides on weekend mornings. I wish to resume that. The Townie sort of
bike would make such riding, especially hills, daunting.

Also my wife is still a rather competitive rider and I'd like a bike
I can ride with her and not ask her to slow for me. I'm expecting the
Rans is such a bike where the Townie isn't.

What is a "Rans"?


I have it on good authority [1] that RANS is always written with all
capital letters [2].

http://www.ransbikes.com/Dynamik07.htm

Check it out.

I might get a RANS CF bike some day to go along with my 1999 RANS Wave
to Tailwind conversion and 2000 RANS Rocket.

[1] John Schlitter, former RANS employee and brother of RANS proprietor
Randy Schlitter.
[2]
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent/msg/d38f4253c556c402?hl=en&dmode=source.

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007
If you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the precipitate.