Manalive
Member
Hi all,
This morning, Mum had a working (if rather old) mountain bike: this afternoon, I have a Cruzbike!
Last autumn, I got my first recumbent - a second-hand `Linear' long-wheelbase frameset, which I equipped with a range of good-quality components. It's fantastic fun, but I wanted something lower, shorter (more wieldy to park!) and more aerodynamic. The plan: get a Cruzbike kit, firstly adapt Mum's old mountain bike to `test out' FWD, then take the kit off that and fit it onto a custom-made semi-lowracer frame, with 20" front wheel and a 700c hardtail. The first adaptation was done in one day: the rest will have to wait and be a winter project! The Linear, for those who've not seen one, is a beautiful piece of cohesive design, clearly the result of someone starting with a blank sheet of paper and an open mind. My current Cruzbike conversion, although the kit is extremely well thought out and implemented, can't hope to compete in purity of design, so the next iteration will have a lot to live up to.
Comments on adapting the bike: it's a low-end bike, so the wheel spacings are not ideal! The front was 91mm, the rear 126mm. That meant the original rear axle wouldn't fit on the front, so I used Cruzbike's shiny new axle on the front with the original back wheel and some extra spacers, while the original front wheel went at the back on the original back axle with Cruzbike's shiny new spacers! I'd not dismantled a `cheap' bike before, so I was in for a slight surprise as to how some of it was built, and the corners cut in design... The front derailleur was bottom-pull, so I just abandoned it. It's only a `test mule', and if I want to change the front cog, I can stop and do it by hand! Being quill-stem, I needed an adaptor, and was amazed how easy it was to get such a peculiar part in the local bike shops - although the `cap' of the adaptor was too wide, and needed filing down to fit inside Cruzbike's steerer tube extension. The Cruzbike dropouts don't sit very well against the non-suspension fork, but it seems secure enough. The supplied Jubilee clips, besides being the weaker (albeit lighter) type with holes rather than pressings, were enormous for a steel-framed bike: I used the dropout clips on the saddle, and some smaller clips still on the dropouts.
Comparisons: the two bikes are about as far apart in design and specification as is possible for two recumbent bicycles! To my surprise, the Cruzbike seat is only an inch or two higher than the Linear's. The Linear felt very stable at speed from the word go, but low-speed manoeuvring took serious practice: the Cruzbike was doing figure-of-eight turns tighter than an upright bike within two minutes, but the pedal-steering interaction made it feel less secure at speed, especially at first. The Linear, with its lightly loaded front wheel, is uneasy on anything other than tarmac and flatly undriveable on gravel, whereas the Cruzbike took gravel better than my uprights (although the Cruzbike's tyres have slightly chunky tread). The Linear is lighter, and has higher-quality components, but even so, I could feel the aerodynamic advantage on the Cruzbike! The Linear is designed to fold up in various places so it can fit in a car boot: this is fairly successful, but makes it chronically creaky, whereas the Cruzbike has an extremely reassuring rigidity. I've found the Linear great at hills, and I think that at the moment, the Cruzbike is trailing there largely because of its weight, low-end components and my lack of practice. Most surprising was the return to the Linear after a while on the Cruzbike: it just didn't feel recumbent any more! It was like cycling standing up... In conclusion, this feels like it has bucketloads of potential.
God bless,
Alex
This morning, Mum had a working (if rather old) mountain bike: this afternoon, I have a Cruzbike!
Last autumn, I got my first recumbent - a second-hand `Linear' long-wheelbase frameset, which I equipped with a range of good-quality components. It's fantastic fun, but I wanted something lower, shorter (more wieldy to park!) and more aerodynamic. The plan: get a Cruzbike kit, firstly adapt Mum's old mountain bike to `test out' FWD, then take the kit off that and fit it onto a custom-made semi-lowracer frame, with 20" front wheel and a 700c hardtail. The first adaptation was done in one day: the rest will have to wait and be a winter project! The Linear, for those who've not seen one, is a beautiful piece of cohesive design, clearly the result of someone starting with a blank sheet of paper and an open mind. My current Cruzbike conversion, although the kit is extremely well thought out and implemented, can't hope to compete in purity of design, so the next iteration will have a lot to live up to.
Comments on adapting the bike: it's a low-end bike, so the wheel spacings are not ideal! The front was 91mm, the rear 126mm. That meant the original rear axle wouldn't fit on the front, so I used Cruzbike's shiny new axle on the front with the original back wheel and some extra spacers, while the original front wheel went at the back on the original back axle with Cruzbike's shiny new spacers! I'd not dismantled a `cheap' bike before, so I was in for a slight surprise as to how some of it was built, and the corners cut in design... The front derailleur was bottom-pull, so I just abandoned it. It's only a `test mule', and if I want to change the front cog, I can stop and do it by hand! Being quill-stem, I needed an adaptor, and was amazed how easy it was to get such a peculiar part in the local bike shops - although the `cap' of the adaptor was too wide, and needed filing down to fit inside Cruzbike's steerer tube extension. The Cruzbike dropouts don't sit very well against the non-suspension fork, but it seems secure enough. The supplied Jubilee clips, besides being the weaker (albeit lighter) type with holes rather than pressings, were enormous for a steel-framed bike: I used the dropout clips on the saddle, and some smaller clips still on the dropouts.
Comparisons: the two bikes are about as far apart in design and specification as is possible for two recumbent bicycles! To my surprise, the Cruzbike seat is only an inch or two higher than the Linear's. The Linear felt very stable at speed from the word go, but low-speed manoeuvring took serious practice: the Cruzbike was doing figure-of-eight turns tighter than an upright bike within two minutes, but the pedal-steering interaction made it feel less secure at speed, especially at first. The Linear, with its lightly loaded front wheel, is uneasy on anything other than tarmac and flatly undriveable on gravel, whereas the Cruzbike took gravel better than my uprights (although the Cruzbike's tyres have slightly chunky tread). The Linear is lighter, and has higher-quality components, but even so, I could feel the aerodynamic advantage on the Cruzbike! The Linear is designed to fold up in various places so it can fit in a car boot: this is fairly successful, but makes it chronically creaky, whereas the Cruzbike has an extremely reassuring rigidity. I've found the Linear great at hills, and I think that at the moment, the Cruzbike is trailing there largely because of its weight, low-end components and my lack of practice. Most surprising was the return to the Linear after a while on the Cruzbike: it just didn't feel recumbent any more! It was like cycling standing up... In conclusion, this feels like it has bucketloads of potential.
God bless,
Alex
