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Many local recumbents pass me on the occasional flat sections of the local East TN. rolling country back roads. The few I've passed were a Rans Rocket, a long wheelbase monster and all the local trikes. My Sofrider has slow, puncture resistant tires and I prefer to wear loose, wicking...

Nice bike, Lyle and welcome! I 'hate' to rain on your parade, but it's likely that you've made a big mistake. Your Vendetta is, as you well know, unridable. So, nice guy that I am, I'm willing to take it off your hands, as long as you're ready to absorb a big loss. Hey, I understand. Everyone...

Maybe this'll help out a little: With my arms out front, gripping the distal drops under the brake levers, my arms are both straight out in front of my shoulders and parallel with the ground. This gives me both speed and power. With my hands resting on the bars between the friction shifters...

Walk when you're done climbing. In rainy seasons, shady roads are often very slippery. Damp patches often support moss, mold and other super slick life forms. Then there's perpetually damp silt and or clay that looks like safe, wet tarmac but acts like black ice. Have fun! ...And stay safe.

Cornering is fun on the Cruzbike, since you can power through corners at acute lean angles without worrying about striking either the tarmac or the wheel with your heels. Never corner so fast that you can't change your line. Cruzbikes are faster than I am.

Sorry for your loss, Elliot. But hey, look at all the energy that your twisted-up chain ring soaked up for you! What a good bike. Don't discard your Quest; don't take it apart and for sure don't clean it up. Wait until the cops, the insurance companies and, in general, all the furor...

The jersey I want ... is nonexistent. It's a smart jersey, using active camouflage technology. My idea is that the garment will sense everything sharing the road with it and it will look back at the closest object: The driver of the closest vehicle will see big eyes following their every...

Dang it. I swear, we've never met.

Cool idea, Mr. Slim! My first bike was a single-speed, direct-drive, FWD Moving Front Wheel steel Delta tricycle, with Flintstone brakes and it had a steel step between the rear wheels for extra fun. My second: a big-box store brand steel 10-speed. It had chrome steel rims, chrome steel...

Yes. Stiffen the front triangle by making it as compact as the rear triangle on a diamond frame bike. Shorter tubes are both stiffer and lighter than are longer tubes. Improve aerodynamics by moving the seat down, behind the front triangle and between the wheels. Now, the bike is no longer a...

Here's what it has looked like for a few years, while I had fun hammering up hills, setting personal-best speed records and just generally reveling in the pure fun of my own biking world. This photo was snapped today. The flashing-clad legs are the stiffest, strongest parts of the...

This is what it looked like faired, glassed, faired, reinforced, glassed, faired and faired and, finally, roughly finished and covered with enough primer to protect the resin from the sun. The trailing edge is squared off. Kamm is better when you have no control over angle-of attack. Airfoil...

Here is the best pic of the rough, tacked together and still square wooden chain stay. It was spray-painted black to hide it's immense ugliness while I test-rode it. The ends are aluminum plate epoxied to the wooden legs and the hinge point on top, connecting the chain stay to the bottom...

Billy K's thread about testing the flex of his Quest frame is really interesting... and he wants to see my wooden chainstay... so, Mr. K., this is the best I can do! My bike has a lot of non-stock parts; I built two of the major pieces. The seat was built first and that story is in another...

Your work leaves me in the dust, Billy K. Here's some numberless feedback, for your consideration: For more aerodynamic advantage, I built a taller chain stay which raised the bottom bracket. This also was more comfortable, which was a pleasant surprise. Anyway, the tall wooden chain stay was...

How about that! A fellow gimp! On a Cruzbike, as well. In my case, a car crushed my right leg into the motorcycle I was riding and, after all the recovery, healing and physical therapy were over, my right leg ended up a half inch shorter and the knee lost some range of motion. So, we have...

Road rage is everywhere. Disengage your emotional brain and amp up your reflexes: Most road ragers just rage harmlessly, but a very few will act out physically. Local rage, here in Eastern TN., is expressed via ultra-close passes and, as in TX, rolling coal. I like to think that a person...

Congratulations, Mr. Battleaxe0! I don't know about you guys, but I forget that my bike is a MBB: it just came to me.... When you first set up your first MBB bike, you really do want the pedals a wee bit closer to you than is really optimal. You veteran MBB riders, remember how your leg...

Now you've done it: I'm cranky.

You may have the original Sofrider, the V1. The V1 had grey plastic chain guards mounted to the front chainring. One chain guard was mounted on the inside of the chainring and the other chain guard was mounted on the outside of the chainring. These plastic chain guards were really effective at...