1st time Forum member - new S40 build - 1st time rider - terrified !!!!

[CruzRider]

Welcome. I came to Cruzbike under the same circumstances. The anxiety is natural, but will go away soon. This is the fun part of learning something new!

Where are you located?

Happy riding.

 

[Hipwr1]

Update - still very wobbly, but am now able to get on the pedals and pedal around the block. Will begin focusing on starting from a stop and becoming more balanced. Took a lot of ‘trial-n-error’ adjustments to get my feet/leg distance vs the bar set correctly. I have stay on flat ground and will concentrate on repetitive short rides for the time being. The weather is changing in northern Illinois, so I may be putting my S40 on my H3 trainer - which will at least allow me to get used to the position and pedaling and the climbing on FulGaz
Thanx to everyone for the positive encouragement and support.
So far - loving my “CARB” - crazy ass road bike !!!!!!

 

[Hipwr1]

Welcome. I came to Cruzbike under the same circumstances. The anxiety is natural, but will go away soon. This is the fun part of learning something new!

Where are you located?

Happy riding.

Sycamore Illinois

 

[Greg S]

Update - still very wobbly, but am now able to get on the pedals and pedal around the block. Will begin focusing on starting from a stop and becoming more balanced. Took a lot of ‘trial-n-error’ adjustments to get my feet/leg distance vs the bar set correctly. I have stay on flat ground and will concentrate on repetitive short rides for the time being. The weather is changing in northern Illinois, so I may be putting my S40 on my H3 trainer - which will at least allow me to get used to the position and pedaling and the climbing on FulGaz
Thanx to everyone for the positive encouragement and support.
So far - loving my “CARB” - crazy ass road bike !!!!!!

Good job getting going! Practice! Practice! Practice!

And also, one thing that really helped me in getting the last little bit of the fit dialed in was to have my wife film me as I rode past. I then took screenshots from the video of various aspects (profile, head position on pad, leg extension, arm position, etc) and used that to guide the final tweaks that got the fit dialed in.

 

[CruzRider]

Sycamore Illinois

I am in Indianapolis. I too had the S40 on the trainer for the first few months, due to the weather. It was helpful to get used to the posture. Felt more natural when spring rolled around and I was riding on the streets.

I often travel to West Chicago/St. Charles for work. I have an electric T50, which is very helpful for learning to ride.

When spring rolls around, happy to bring my T50 over to you and ease you into the Cruzbike. Hopefully, you will be a pro before then, but if not, keep this offer in your back pocket.

 

[Hipwr1]

I am in Indianapolis. I too had the S40 on the trainer for the first few months, due to the weather. It was helpful to get used to the posture. Felt more natural when spring rolled around and I was riding on the streets.

I often travel to West Chicago/St. Charles for work. I have an electric T50, which is very helpful for learning to ride.

When spring rolls around, happy to bring my T50 over to you and ease you into the Cruzbike. Hopefully, you will be a pro before then, but if not, keep this offer in your back pocket.

Thank you for the offer - will consider

 

[Hipwr1]

Depending on how the OP gets on with learning to ride the S40 this could be excellent advice. The brain takes a while to process new stimuli and if you've only ever ridden a conventional bike there's a lot going on with switching to any recumbent and a Cruzbike in particular. Short sessions with some time in between to think about and internalize each session is definitely the way to go if you've never ridden a recumbent.

I mentioned previously that my first outing on the S40 was 8 hours in a high school parking lot which was true. What I neglected to say was at the time I'd ridden just under 3k miles on another recumbent (a Bacchetta) so was comfortable with the reclined position and the only learning I needed to do was S40 (MBB) specific.

As I've posted elsewhere, I'm relatively new to a V20c after several years without a recumbent. It's definitely been more of a learning experience and I've taken the advice given here when I started: a number of short sessions, one per day, with some "think time" to ponder what I did well, what I did poorly and what to work on next.

Hang in there and keep us apprised as to your progress!

I am finding your advice very helpful - short, daily mount/dismount - ride - work on starting from a stop - balance - then think about it and see if improvement was gained from the last time
Thank you

 

[Greg S]

One additional tip.

Although Robert emphasizes it in one of the videos, it's extremely important that you not haul away on the bars when getting underway. Unfortunately, that feels like the most natural thing to do - pulling on the bar to counter-balance the force you're putting on the pedal you use to start with. However, it's really difficult to get exactly the right amount of force and what you'll usually end up doing is steering yourself sideways as you apply too much or too little.

If e.g., you start with your right foot pushing on the pedal all you need is a very slight pressure against (pushing, not pulling) the left handlebar. If you feel like you need more force to push off harder, push back against the seat - don't pull against the bars.

Hope this helps.

 

[Hipwr1]

One additional tip.

Although Robert emphasizes it in one of the videos, it's extremely important that you not haul away on the bars when getting underway. Unfortunately, that feels like the most natural thing to do - pulling on the bar to counter-balance the force you're putting on the pedal you use to start with. However, it's really difficult to get exactly the right amount of force and what you'll usually end up doing is steering yourself sideways as you apply too much or too little.

If e.g., you start with your right foot pushing on the pedal all you need is a very slight pressure against (pushing, not pulling) the left handlebar. If you feel like you need more force to push off harder, push back against the seat - don't pull against the bars.

Hope this helps.

Thanx for that tip

 

[Hipwr1]

So I have been riding the "CARB" (crazy ass road bike) for about 10 days - just a few blocks each day and increasing the saddle time. Trying to master starting from a dead stop - not doing great, but it is coming
Next issue - sharp, tight turns - that is freaking terrifying!!!
Any suggestions???

 

[Greg S]

So I have been riding the "CARB" (crazy ass road bike) for about 10 days - just a few blocks each day and increasing the saddle time. Trying to master starting from a dead stop - not doing great, but it is coming
Next issue - sharp, tight turns - that is freaking terrifying!!!
Any suggestions???

Best suggestion: take it slow.

Find a big parking lot, make BIG figure 8's. This will have you turning in both direction which obviously is what you'll need to do on the road.

Get comfortable with that.

Then make each loop of the figure 8 smaller, then smaller.

Then "square off" the top of the 8. Instead of making it a circle (which btw is excellent for getting comfortable with u-turns), at the top of the 8 make it a left or right turn.

So your routine will be: start, angle to the right, 90 degree left, another 90 degree left (which will have you headed back to where you started), angle to the left, 90 degree right, 90 degree right, etc.

Start with something less than 90 degrees, whatever you're comfortable with, then tighten it up.

You'll get there.

 

[Boreen bimbler]

Just had a proper look at the bike. Very nice and fast looking. Mine is built up more for comfort with 38mm tyres.
I hope your getting happy and more relaxed riding it. TBH I just did 10 min in a car park then went for a short ride. I did do a bit of maneuvering practice in the car park again a couple of times but got used to it by riding. We have a lot of roads with grass up the middle around here and having only 18" of width made the hills hard at first but it soon came together. I think I only managed to make it up the hill to my house about 3 out of the first 10 attempts but it's no bother now. The more relaxed you get the easier it becomes.

 

[Hipwr1]

Best suggestion: take it slow.

Find a big parking lot, make BIG figure 8's. This will have you turning in both direction which obviously is what you'll need to do on the road.

Get comfortable with that.

Then make each loop of the figure 8 smaller, then smaller.

Then "square off" the top of the 8. Instead of making it a circle (which btw is excellent for getting comfortable with u-turns), at the top of the 8 make it a left or right turn.

So your routine will be: start, angle to the right, 90 degree left, another 90 degree left (which will have you headed back to where you started), angle to the left, 90 degree right, 90 degree right, etc.

Start with something less than 90 degrees, whatever you're comfortable with, then tighten it up.

You'll get there.

Thank you - I like your approach with repetition and working to a tighter turn

 

[Hipwr1]

Just had a proper look at the bike. Very nice and fast looking. Mine is built up more for comfort with 38mm tyres.
I hope your getting happy and more relaxed riding it. TBH I just did 10 min in a car park then went for a short ride. I did do a bit of maneuvering practice in the car park again a couple of times but got used to it by riding. We have a lot of roads with grass up the middle around here and having only 18" of width made the hills hard at first but it soon came together. I think I only managed to make it up the hill to my house about 3 out of the first 10 attempts but it's no bother now. The more relaxed you get the easier it becomes.

I am discovering that relaxed posture and arms seem to be the key - it is just hard to get used to

 

[chicorider]

So I have been riding the "CARB" (crazy ass road bike) for about 10 days - just a few blocks each day and increasing the saddle time. Trying to master starting from a dead stop - not doing great, but it is coming
Next issue - sharp, tight turns - that is freaking terrifying!!!
Any suggestions???

As others have suggested, so much of what you are working through gets better and easier with practice, reps, time, and a kind of stubborn faith that it will indeed get better. For tight turns, such as flipping a U, or maneuvering through tight bollards, I unclip a foot (usually my left, which is the foot that I put down for stops) and sit up. For more open spaces, like a U-turn on a two lane road, I can do this with a fair amount of speed (momentum is your friend). For tighter, slower situations, in addition to unclipping my left foot and sitting up, I will shift into a gear that is easy enough that I can turn the crank with my still-clipped-in foot to keep me moving forward. As with most things Cruzbike, I had to think all this through in real time at first. Now it just...happens. You got this.

 

[Madhouse]

Time in the saddle will make constant, incremental improvements. I'm not the most coordinated, so don't let my slow learning curve be a source of additional anxiety - rather, encouragement that there is light at the end of the tunnel. It took me 1000 miles before I admitted to being comfortable on the bike. The next 1000 miles were pure joy!

Beautiful build BTW! Well Done!

 

[Boreen bimbler]

It was 1000 miles before I was truly comfortable too.

 

[Hipwr1]

Time in the saddle will make constant, incremental improvements. I'm not the most coordinated, so don't let my slow learning curve be a source of additional anxiety - rather, encouragement that there is light at the end of the tunnel. It took me 1000 miles before I admitted to being comfortable on the bike. The next 1000 miles were pure joy!

Beautiful build BTW! Well Done!

Thank you - I am looking forward to getting more "dialed in"

 

[Drstimpy]

The bike really likes it when you relax. Loosen the death grip and make sure you are relaxed enough to flap your arms a bit. This came quickly for me because my track motorcycles behave the same way and run wide when you are tense on the bars…but I still had to talk to myself for the first few hours. I was also very surprised as I moved forward in my learning that you can give a larger angular input on the bars than you’d expect at low speed and the bike just turns. Enjoy the learning, the curve is steep!

 

[Hipwr1]

The bike really likes it when you relax. Loosen the death grip and make sure you are relaxed enough to flap your arms a bit. This came quickly for me because my track motorcycles behave the same way and run wide when you are tense on the bars…but I still had to talk to myself for the first few hours. I was also very surprised as I moved forward in my learning that you can give a larger angular input on the bars than you’d expect at low speed and the bike just turns. Enjoy the learning, the curve is steep!

Thank you for that - I have the S40 on my H3 trainer for the winter and I am already working on the ‘relaxing’ of my arms - knowing that it is one of the keys to successful transition over to this riding. Thanx again