Recent content by MrSteve

Spoke? Check 'em. Hub? Bearing? Loose cassette? Cracked frame? Cracked fork? Lube the pinch bolts that hold the TFT together? Check the handlebar? Brifters? Check the spokes. Look at the wheel rim. Spoke? Has anyone mentioned the spokes yet?

It's blue, the rear swingarm is narrower and longer than the grey-painted V1, the front suspension is visible, and, finally, the downtube is bent subtly. It's a V2 Sofrider.

V1 Sofrider, shown with longer chainstay, lower seat, and rear-wheel cover. It has triple front rings, a long-cage rear derailleur, a ten-speed 11-34 cassette, a Bontrager rear wheel, and narrow drop handlebars. Other than that... it's all stock. I still use it on the trainer.

The locking long-cage SRAM 10-speed rear derailleur on my Big Yellow Vendetta is sensitive: When the RD hanger is not perfect, shifting is not perfect. When everything is aligned, it shifts like a dream.

Dang. Now I gotta go polish MY big boom. Sorry. "Would I buy an s30?" No. I'd build a super V12 out of bamboo first. The V12 might be faster than my hot-rod Sofrider: It'd for SURE be way cheaper than a brand-new, expensive, and slow s30!

Is your derailleur hanger straight?

Like Doug Burton, I learned to install grips on handlebars with Windex. Isopropyl (rubbing alcohol) alcohol also works well. I use rubber BMX handlebar grips on my Sofrider, which has road-bike drop bars installed. On the Vendetta, which has a bullhorn bar, I grip the hoods of the brifters...

My neck rest, better than YOUR neck rest, has evolved. Since this thread started, the stock alloy seat pan was replaced by a one-piece composite seat pan/neck rest. My tubular neck rest used to strap onto the stock tubular headrest frame. Now it is lashed to my custom seat, a little differently...

You left us guessing: Do you or do you not have a front derailleur? Do you or do you not have two or three big front chainrings? My guess is that you have only one chainring up front and, therefore, have no front derailleur. Installing chainguards on the big ring would help keep your chain on.

No. Reverse-engineer it! You can do it! (Or not.)

No. Thank you. Club riders routinely win impromptu 'races' VS. me, unless they are sticking to their training routine. None of the local recumbent riders are anywhere near as skilled and as fast as any of the local club boys... especially not me. Finally, I'm not a joiner. Have fun.

Upright/diamond frame riders operate in a different performance envelope. With that in mind, On my Cruzbikes I've caught and passed every other recumbent I've ever met on the hills. FWD Cruzbikes, like upright bikes, have the advantage when going uphill. I like to remember the time I (on my '07...

Stock plastic pedals, modified with enough spruce to become custom platform pedals. Straps were added. Straps function just like toe clips but are lighter and have fewer moving parts. Shoes are lightweight flat-soled cycling shoes (they look like old-fashioned sprinter's shoes.), with no cleats...

Good work!

Open-minded world views are easy -and fun- to interact with. This is probably why I often don't.