An S40 update 350 miles in

[benphyr]

What is a fork spacer?
I wish there was a Cruzbike approved way of decoupling the bar reach and height adjustments.

Hi Jack,
What I meant by fork spacer is the rings they put on the top of the fork either above or below the stem clamp so that you can adjust the bars up or down by small amounts. It is just one or several rings of aluminum or carbon fibre that go between the head bearings and the stem to raise it up 4 or 8mm or so and can be removed and placed above the stem if the fork extends higher than the stem for the cap and bolt to pull against to adjust the head bearings with the star nut. I hope I am making sense. If not let me know and I'll try to get a picture of some that I have on my bike buried in the garage.

decoupling the bar reach and height adjustments: I think the T50, QX100, Quest, Sofrider, Conversion Kit models could be considered to do this? Front triangle and seat position (leg length) and the stem length (bar reach) and fork stem extender (bar height) are all adjusted separately on these entry/older model bikes but there are many reports of significant stiffness ramifications though.

 

[BikeGary]

The fork spacer trick isn't going to work on a cruzbike. The steer'er tube passes over the top of the fork tube. So the height of the steer'er tube is fixed to that of the top of the fork tube. You can use a fork tube extender, there will be a gap between the top and the bottom, but that's it.

 

[Merczak73]

This is a great thread! Learning so much. I just joined the CruzBike family last year. I have been riding the 2019 S40. Velocio had mentioned he is vertically challenged and switched out his stock chain stay for a shorter chain stay.

Hey Vel! How tall are you, if you don't mind me asking? =) I am 5'6" and have the chain stay cranked as close to vertical as it will go. I seem to be tolerating it well, but wonder if I need the shorter stays? See my sig pic. Thoughts, one and all?

 

[velocio]

@velocio street legal and famous world wide steyr pinzgauer 710m that is a mid 70's gas model
Austrian made by same company that makes the G wagon. arguably the greatest 4wd ever made. air cooled in line 4 gas, locking front rear and middle diff. metric one ton capacity. portal axles so great ground clearance on small tires. a little under 6 foot wide and and under 7 feet tall, great trail truck. l learned about them as a teenager in the 70's and dreamed of owning one. i started collecting them in the 1990's when the 25 year rule let you bring them into the states. many different models and configs. 4x4 and 6x6. also related is the halflinger which was a metric halfton a true predecessor to all of these side by sides around now. much more practical than the full size unimogs.

here is a picture of that old truck (we used to call it barney) on top of wise mountain in colorado. just a little over 12,000 feet elevation.

3bs, hopefully the Steyr Pinzgauer 710m will be coming to the Michigan Cruzbike weekend, I'd like to buy it a beer!

Apparently men are just larger versions of boys. I have absolutely no use for such a vehicle, but golly (language cleaned up for web consumption) is it cool and I'm asking Santa for one next Christmas! I used to be a "car guy" and still have a Triumph Spitfire with 12K original miles on it stored in MI, if you might be interested in a trade.

-Jack

 

[velocio]

What I meant by fork spacer is the rings they put on the top of the fork either above or below the stem clamp so that you can adjust the bars up or down by small amounts.

Got'cha Benphyr, thanks for the clarification. I guess that should have been obvious, sorry for the confusion.

The fork spacer trick isn't going to work on a cruzbike.

As younger folks like to post on web forums like this, "+1". With any luck there's a photo of the headset area of my partially disassembled S40 attached in my reply. In my case I could move maybe, with luck, at most, 5mm of spacers from below the slider clamp to above it, to lower my handlebars. It'd be helpful if the dimension I marked "f" (for fulcrum, continuing the teeter-tooter analogy) in the photo was larger, so more spacers would fit on the steerer tube above the slider clamp. Even a small increase in adjustability in this area that doesn't require whacking off a chuck of fork steerer tube would be hugely helpful!

This is a great thread! Learning so much. I just joined the CruzBike family last year. I have been riding the 2019 S40. Velocio had mentioned he is vertically challenged and switched out his stock chain stay for a shorter chain stay.

Hey Vel! How tall are you, if you don't mind me asking? =) I am 5'6" and have the chain stay cranked as close to vertical as it will go. I seem to be tolerating it well, but wonder if I need the shorter stays? See my sig pic. Thoughts, one and all?

Although Velocio wrote about switching out his stock chainstay for a shorter one, he most certainly never mentioned being "vertically challenged". I have it on good authority that Velocio is "dimensionally optimized". Sheesshhh ....

Merczak73, I'm also 5'6" (+.5", actually) with a 29" inseam. When I wrote to Cruzbike HQ stating my height and asking about the short chainstay, Robert Holler replied and was encouraging about making the change. He was right. I'm pretty new to Cruzbike myself and not qualified to comment on your bike fit, but I'd certainly encourage you to discuss with the Cruzbike folks. At a minimum I'd say you shouldn't tolerate merely "tolerating" your fit with the standard length chainstay. Glorious (near) perfection is the achievable goal! It's tough to tell from your profile photo, but I'd guess that your legs are longer than mine, as it appears your chainstay is less vertical than mine was with the standard chainstay installed. The main complaint I had with the standard chainstay was the height of the BB over the seatpan, which resulted in more bend between my spine and legs than was comfortable. I refused to tolerate it!

-Jack
Raleigh, NC

 

[3bs]

@velocio i sold barney a few years ago. last i heard it was in penn. right now i only have two pinzgauers, both 712 flatbeds. they are actually 712amb's but i like them better as pickups.

yes, i am still a kid. just older. and collecting stuff. i still have a few cars and trucks and motorcycles, but i have tried to move back to bikes and trikes. cheaper and take up less space and still a means of locomotion.

i was just talking to someone about spitfires. love those little cars. never owned one prefer the pre saftey bumper cars. of course Lucas the god of darkness rides with every British car.

for you in n. carolina, besides pinzies on ebay and bring a trailer, there are a few dealers. there is a great guy in Arkansas that sells and services pinzies and there is a guy who used to do them in georgia, and one in cali, and a couple guys in colorado. if you really want one i can put out some feelers. its a pretty small community of owners. less than two thousand trucks in the americas.

 

[chicorider]

I am 5'5", with about 5 years of CB riding on a V20, S30, and S40. I have the short chainstay on all of them, and it made an immediate improvement on bike fit, putting my feet more in line with my torso than my head. I also use the bent slider on the V20 and S30. Both are good changes for us short-folk. Click on my avatar photo for a better look.

 

[Merczak73]

Great! Thanks all for your quick replies! I have emailed Robert to see what might be done for me. I certainly have gotten to like riding the S40. In the beginning, it really was not fun at all. I am still learning basic handling skills and still go to the parking lot and do crazy 8s and all that. However, as time has gone by, I have gotten better at starting and stopping. I still have the occasional embarrassment. Heh, oops. The S40 certainly is faster than my tradition bike by about 1-2 MPH. I am not working as hard on group rides to stay with the pack (except for uphills). Hopefully the shorter stay will improve my fit and performance even more!

 

[velocio]

I am 5'5", with about 5 years of CB riding on a V20, S30, and S40. I have the short chainstay on all of them, and it made an immediate improvement on bike fit, putting my feet more in line with my torso than my head. I also use the bent slider on the V20 and S30. Both are good changes for us short-folk. Click on my avatar photo for a better look.

Craig,

Is there a fit reason you use the curved slider on the V20 and S30, but not the S40? Is it related to the more upright seating position on the S40?

As someone who's considering investing in a curved slider thanks much for your post on this!

-Jack

 

[chicorider]

Hi Jack,

The more upright seat on the S40 does make the curved slider less necessary, but the S40 also has a longer steerer tube than the V20 and S30, which puts the bars up higher. Some people don't like to cut their steerer tubes down, partly to maintain resale value, and partly out of a fear of messing up ("you can't uncut it once you do it"). I've cut a lot of steerer tubes over the years, and decided to do so for my S40 rather than pay extra and wait a week for a curved slider (I was excited and wanted to start building). I did have the benefit of two dialed in CBs to help me make that choice and to measure it out beforehand. In the end, for me, the straight slider with the boom clamp all the way down against the top headset cup put the bars in the perfect spot. But had I decided not to cut the steerer tube, the bars would be too high and I would have ordered the curved slider, which looks like it would have put the bars in just about the same place.

 

[paco1961]

As I said:


@bladderhead I'd say at this point that I'm 90% of the way there in terms of fit. I think there's likely a Thor seat and some tweaking with the headrest but the basic fit (crank length, bars, etc) are there I think. Of course I've changed everything but the paint ;-) I'm an inveterate tweaker so it's entirely within the realm of the possible there are more changes large and small to come,

As to the crank length, I've done two rides now with the longer cranks and am glad of the change. Subjectively I feel like I've got a bit more power and am not doing as much hamster like spinning in lower gears. The one thing I was a bit worried about with the longer cranks was whether or not I'd be able to pedal as smoothly on steep climbs. I set a new record (for me) today with a 14% climb into a 25 MPH headwind and although the engine (me) was about to blow a gasket I was able to make it up the climb without stopping with only a small amount of wheel slip.

@xtalbike Thank you so much for your post! Although I'm happy with the S40 thus far, I've been idly thinking whether I'd keep it and, if so, whether that would be in lieu of or in addition to something else, that "something else" being a V20. Based on your experience, I'd say there's most definitely a V20 in my future. Given my other plans for the year it'll likely wait until the end of the summer but it'll happen for sure. I really appreciate your insight as an S40 & V20 owner, thanks for sharing it.

Always in addition to. Never in place of!

I’ve been very happy w my switch 2 years ago from high end DF to the S40. I am about 2mph faster on the CB. But with that said, after my first Bike Sebring last month I am now in the process of buying a V! Like I said, always in addition to!

 

[3bs]

N+1 ! N+1!

 

[HeyMikey]

To the V20 people...

If you went with the curved slider, what was the reasons for doing so, and did it turn out the way you thought it would? I'm considering the curved to drop the handles down just a little bit to give me a (possible) more comfortable hand position.

 

[3bs]

Drop the bars. yes.

 

[HeyMikey]

i found an old shot of the flame job on the 928 and my one of my 710's ... you get the idea the kind of stuff i used to do in cars and trucks. much cheaper now to do build bikes.

Is that a Moog? Never mind, found the other post of yours.

 

[chicorider]

The curved slider has a lot to do with the rider's height and the length of the chainstay. At 5'5" I use the short chianstay, and by the time I adjusted it to where I wanted it for my x-seam, the handlebar was too high for my liking. It even obstructed my view. Using the medium chainstay would bring the handlebar down, but then my feet would be too high. Cutting the fork steerer tube all the way down and installing the curved slider did the trick, putting the handlebar right where I wanted it.

I have also seen pictures of tall riders using the curved slider as well, but turning it upward to raise the hands. Such riders often use the long chainstay, which tends to lower the bars. An upturned slider reverses that at least some.

 

[3bs]

Pinz not mog. Love mogs, but not very practical for daily use or 4 wheeling in wooded areas where i Am. Would love to have a very old 401, or even a 406 Tug. 416 doka also really cool.

 

[HeyMikey]

Pinz not mog. Love mogs, but not very practical for daily use or 4 wheeling in wooded areas where i Am. Would love to have a very old 401, or even a 406 Tug. 416 doka also really cool.

Unimog was the word I was looking for. How could I go through life all these years (60) and not know about Volkswagon building this machine? Wow!

 

[HeyMikey]

The curved slider has a lot to do with the rider's height and the length of the chainstay. At 5'5" I use the short chianstay, and by the time I adjusted it to where I wanted it for my x-seam, the handlebar was too high for my liking. It even obstructed my view. Using the medium chainstay would bring the handlebar down, but then my feet would be too high. Cutting the fork steerer tube all the way down and installing the curved slider did the trick, putting the handlebar right where I wanted it.

I have also seen pictures of tall riders using the curved slider as well, but turning it upward to raise the hands. Such riders often use the long chainstay, which tends to lower the bars. An upturned slider reverses that at least some.

New V20 owner and feel that I'm getting very close to having it dialed in, but still feel that the bars are still a little high. I'm 6ft with slightly shorter arms. Not sure what chainstay is stock, haven't changed it. My feet feel good where there at.

 

[Bill Wightman]

If you went with the curved slider, what was the reasons for doing so, and did it turn out the way you thought it would?

I tinker a lot on the bike...My objective for getting the curved slider was to bring the hands down closer in vertical alignment with the shoulders. I wanted to hide them within the frontal area of the shoulders eventually. I did not achieve that until I bought a cheap (but seemingly durable) 46 cm carbon fiber bullhorn bar as shown and used the shifter grips for hand positioning below the bar. The leg fit is tight and requires un-clipping in slow maneuvers. To raise the frontal area of the feet upward into the chest frontal area I went with a long chainstay. I am 6'2" with long legs and normal arms. This bullhorn bar setup puts my arms slightly bent, level with airflow, and on the front of the shifter covers. I don't push on the shifter covers, my hands wrap around the front. This position may generate too much arm extension for most. I like the upper body rigidity and my hands have grown strong enough to withstand a constant tension from the shoulders. I have low to average leg/lung power and this configuration (with a few other mods) is very slippery in all conditions (...except mountains), but especially fast in strong headwinds.