Elevated Seat ??

[stargate69]

After SIX months of anxiety, I finally got my new Silvio on the road, with me on it that is. And horror of whores !! I can't begin to function on it practically lying down !! I know, I'm a WUSS. My first time on a recumbent, let alone front wheel drive. So, I noticed R Youngblood has made an adjustable seat gizmoe for his Silvio, but my frame is 'newer' an different. Long story short, can anyone out there help me 'change my seat angle' ?? Or, am I on my own?? Thanx for the responses ..... B C

 

[MrSteve]

Congratulations!

One way to sit more upright is make a foam wedge to decrease the angle of your seat back.
I've worked with closed cell high density foam, carving them into custom-fitted seats for my kayaks.
You can find blocks of this foam in R.E.I. and other paddles ports stores. It is expensive.

For my home made recumbent seats, I've padded them with cut-to-fit pieces of closed-cell foam camping mat.
You'll find this in the camping section or even in a yoga mat.

You might want to find a way to ride the more upright Cruzbike Quest or a nice used Cruzbike Sofrider.
Or, horror of horrors, learn to ride your new bike in short, easy steps and take it slow.

 

[castlerobber]

On your own? Around here? Fear not.

If you search the forums for "foam wedge", you'll find several threads about how to make one. Here are a few:

http://cruzbike.com/forum/threads/adjusting-to-different-seat-angles.8464/
http://cruzbike.com/forum/threads/silvio-s30-build-and-first-rides.8251/#post-108251
http://cruzbike.com/forum/threads/silvio-seat-insert.7558/#post-27481

Someone even built a really nice quick-change gizmo for their Vendetta for switching between more and less reclined on the fly, but they've since sold the bike and left the forums. I don't think the photos survived the forum conversion earlier this year, but here's the thread: http://cruzbike.com/forum/threads/the-seat-of-the-problem-on-my-new-v20.8182/

If you haven't already, find Ratz' "how to ride a Cruzbike" learning checklist (also in the forums, multiple times). Very helpful.

And horror of whores !!

Darn you, autocorrect!

 

[ratz]

I should probably make this it's own thread or some home more prominent but until then here it is. ....

Basically If you brought the bike with you and ask me to teach you this is want I would make you do. .... You'd leave having ridden a nasty challenging 7 mile trail route.... Unless you are in that minority that just get it; this is assured to work, but you have to do every step in order even if you believe you have already mastered one of them.



Here's the script we use when people come to ride the Quests and see if it's for them. We've refined this over a bunch of people this summer; we are at 20 riders as of August; Some family, some friends, and a good number of former strangers.

If doing this on a Silvio or a Vendetta either sit up for all of these steps or put something behind you back to raise the angle to at least 40 degrees. It's easier to train your hands and feet if you aren't also training your balance. We keep all the quests set at 43 degrees and people learn pretty easy; especially bent riders. The laying back will come easier as a secondary skill. For example going from Silvio 27 degree to Vendetta 20 degrees took me only two full rides; but it was darn shaking for me at first; the lower you go the more balance you have to adjust to; so just take that out of the equation; riding sitting up is a great skill that you will want for intersection and going up step hills, so use it for your learning.

So......

1) Find a parking lot with about a 1-2% pitch. Go to the high end.

2) Do 5 coast down with your feet up in the air spread eagle. Yeah it sounds stupid; but get them as high as you can. This will help you learn the glide and slide mounting trick. Do at least 5, not 1, not 2, at least 5.

3) Do 2 coast downs with you feet just resting on the pedals Do not pedal; your ego will want to, don't do it.

4) Do 3 coast down with you feet just resting on the pedals and steer just a touch using only your foot pressure (this is harder than it sounds; but you need to learn what it feels like) Again resist the urge to pedal the best students wait. You are trying to teach the brain the subtle things.

5) Start doing runs with pedaling 5 or 6 minimum. Straight lines; down and back up the incline. Avoid turning; stop the bike; turn it 180 and go the other direction.

6) Start doing shallow turns; when you turn "DROP" your outside shoulder; it should feel like a reverse shrug; just relax you shoulder muscle so the shoulder drops. This is the same thing you do on racing motorcycles and snowmobiles you have to lean OUT ever so slightly on the turn; this is the opposite of what you do on a road bike. This is the #1 thing DF riders do wrong; they want to lean in to the turn; and coast; at which point they start to fall into the ground. Took watching several struggle to figure that out. This was a hard learned lesson that Bill paid for with his ankle injury. Those that came later owe him one for that.

7) After you can do the shoulder drop; do some pedaling figure-8's. Start big and work smaller; go Both directions; one side will be way easier that the other; that is you dominate side. Make note if it's easier to go left or right. Pedal through the turns if you feel tipping. This is the first bike you've had that you can pedal through any turn. You may have to slam a foot down on your weak direction the first few times.

8 ) Now consider your #7 results. If you turn left and it feels like you will fall into the ground then your right foot is dominate; if you feel like when you turn right you will fall into the ground then you left foot is dominate. If you feel like you are going to fall doing both you are a freak and need to continue practicing #7. Using your dominate foot Practice your up hill starts using this technique

Up da hill starts don't ya know (that's Minnesotan for "Staring on an Incline")

Practice pedaling with on foot clipped in and the other one waving in the air for balance. I find that useful for starting and for slowing down at intersections; Especially if I forget to downshift and need to at the last second.

For hills over 2-3% grade...

1) foot on the ground
2) other foot clipped in. (use dominant foot...see #8 above)
3) Both brakes LOCKED so you don't roll backwards
4) Sitting up pulling on bars (at least half way)
5) Full Pressure on dominant foot against brake
6) Release both brakes; push dominant foot; PULL hand on dominant side to oppose the foot.
7) lean just a little to the to the non dominant side
8) Before dominant foot bottoms out Have other foot off ground
9) As soon as empty pedal is viable; lift other foot to pedal height push pedal and pull handbar with non dominant side hand to counter the foot.

It took some practice but I can "burn out" the front tire with that technique on level ground and most incline starts are doable. Sometime I do rock back and forth on the brakes as I get the nerve to go if it's really steep; but so far it works.

That was a lot harder to write than it is todo....

Practice on flat ground.

After you can do the hill starts you are ready for riding out of the parking lot.

 

[ReklinedRider]

FWIW, +1 on the Iron Butterfly sign!

 

[ReklinedRider]

And also, do ratz' steps exactly. EXACTLY. Even after I had been riding Cruzbikes for nearly a year, learning on my own by trial and error, I went back and did his steps and came out a better rider. Wish I had had them to start with. I still do figure 8's pretty often, always concentrating on that slight drop of the outside shoulder on turns.
Follow the ratz routine and you'll be riding your Silvio pdq.

 

[stargate69]

Hey !! THANK YOU, THANK YOU !!! .....to EVERYONE for your thoughts and concern bout this here 'newbie an his dilemma' ..... so far ....

 

[ratz]

Star gate and iron butterfly on the first post. Newbie maybe; but clearly you'll fit in; so we gotta get you pedaling straight.

 

[jond]

ratz your tips should be a sticky. it is invaluable information. your patience and good will should be bottled.

 

[tiltmaniac]

Agreed.

 

[1happyreader]

What ???? nobody likes the new videos on the cruzbike site ??

look at the bottom of the page just below the faq's

 

[castlerobber]

What ???? nobody likes the new videos on the cruzbike site ??

look at the bottom of the page just below the faq's

Those instructions do look familiar! Check it out, y'all.

 

[ratz]

Those instructions do look familiar! Check it out, y'all.

Well what do you know. Very nice.

 

[Tuloose]

Stargate,
I feel your pain and I have been there myself.
I too, modified my seat back with yoga mat foam.
As I became more familiar with the bike I gradually took out all the foam from the seat.
I still keep a wedge of foam in the head rest but I may eventually get rid of that too.
It takes time to feel comfortable on the Silvio.
Think of what it would feel like if you were on a Vendetta and yet Maria rode one cross country.

Remember:
Perseverance furthers.
Practice makes perfect.
Patience is rewarded.

Soon you will be dropping all your riding buddies as you tap into the power of CRUZBIKE.

 

[Ivan_Liew]

Stargate, keep trying and don't give up on that seat angle so quickly. It's a steep learning curve for most. Even practicing daily you may not be able to ride it reliably in a straight line in the first week. Put your effort and energy into practicing the Silvia as is, rather than spending time/energy figuring out how to modify the seat. Eventually when you ride the Silvia you will want to take out all those add-ones as they will just be making you slower and more inefficient!

 

[Martinius Berg]

Well Thank you all for this fantastic information. I found many YouTube footages in learning "how to " ride a Silvio FWD . I like very much to watch footages of the way other people go through the same learning curve as i did by studying what dilemmas they meet in the different stages of the learning proses ! I wonder if the Silvio high racer in general is a bit more difficult to learn "how to ride" compared to other FWD recumbents because of the way it is constructed ? But maybe i am wrong here ? Personally i am very interested in frame ergonomics and aesthetics , technical solutions and bicycle riding performance ! The Silvio is in my opinion in every way a good quality made and cool looking FWD recumbent

Martinius.

 

[Ivan_Liew]

Silvio 2 is my first bent too. I remember 2 years ago when I first got her, I searched all the learning videos too - wondering if it was foolhardy of me to go for this performance bike as my first bent!

While some can ride Silvio on the first try, anecdotal evidence lends me to think that it is slightly more difficult at first than a typical RWD bent due to the MBB. I rode a Bachetta on a cycle path on first day after 20 min practice, but it took me closer to a week to ride Silvio on a path with others. After that it is smooth sailing! I descended a small winding hill last night on my way home - felt like a luge!