My Very First Recumbent is a V20

[Frito Bandito]

I set a 100km PB the other day with an average speed of 38kph. Interestingly, it wasn't with my fast wheels. It was mostly sidewinds for the upriver and downriver parts of the ride. Almost all of my recent rides have been Zone 2 rides, and I gotta say that not hammering it up or down the river hasn't been easy. But I decided to give Zone 2 training a try because of new goals, especially with my new Streamliner project that is slowly coming along.

Today I was finally able to get a 25mm Conti GP 5000 TL on my UCI banned Mavic CXR 60C drive wheel as well. It broke two heavy duty tire levers, but it should give me an extra 4-5 watts over the previous tire I had on it. Not sure if I will Monokote the CXRs though. The Summer winds are almost here so all of those KOMs going up the river are up for grabs again.

 

[DavidCH]

Sorry about the tyre levers. The good thing is ... it will have difficulty in coming off so you will have traction with a puncture. I did that with my last tyre... I'm thinking of trying a gp5000 30mm next. The psi tubeless shouldn't be so high so it might hold the pressure better and might be easier to get on the wheel

 

[Frito Bandito]

Sorry about the tyre levers. The good thing is ... it will have difficulty in coming off so you will have traction with a puncture. I did that with my last tyre... I'm thinking of trying a gp5000 30mm next. The psi tubeless shouldn't be so high so it might hold the pressure better and might be easier to get on the wheel

That is 1 fear I have is the tire coming off after a puncture, especially on the front in a turn. I'm not a huge fan of Schwalbe One or Pro One, but I do have tubed 30mm Pro Ones on my commuter and I gotta give them 2 thumbs up. I am sure I would like the GP5000 in 30mm even better. My drive wheel kept leaking air, and I found that the leak was somewhere near the stem. Not wanting to remove and then reinstall the tire I decided to swap the old core with a new one, tighten down the stem nut a little more and pumped it up to 60psi. I waited and found that it held, then I pumped it up to 80. It was still holding so I pumped it up to 90 and left the air hose connected for an hour. It was still holding so I disconnected it and in the morning it was still holding. Interestingly, I found a 3-pack of metal tire levers at a DIY store for $5.00. Heavy, but durable and takes up less space in my Moose pack.

 

[Frito Bandito]

Got my tailbox painted and installed, but needs a little bit more tweaking before I am satisfied. I am not sure if I'll mount my Shimano 105 cranks with the power meter back on to see what CdA MyWindSock spits out for this new tailbox because I am pretty sure it is about as good as it is going to get.

This started out as a fiberglass Yamaha TZR50 motorcycle seat.


I took a Dremel tool and hacksaw to, sanded and painted, stuck red reflective tape on the rear, and installed.


Gave it a test ride yesterday, and it rattled a little so I'll fix that, and then it should be good to go. I am not sure of the exact volume but it is at least 25L, and I wouldn't be surprised if it is more.

 

[cpml123]

That's amazing looking!

 

[Mathew Fy]

Dual exhaust pipes!

 

[Frito Bandito]

Thanks cpml. I was going for the 2-stroke look lol.

 

[vosadrian]

Looks great!