First Ride

[ocd]

Today I took the first ride on my new (to me) Sofrider V2 (silver). (I bought it from Hank on this forum.) The bicycle arrived on Tuesday and I had it assembled on Wednesday. I had to wait until today (Saturday) so I could use my office's mostly empty parking lot; I tried for about two minutes on the streets around my house and quickly decided it was too scary.

No major issues with assembly. Though the headset might not be adjusted properly; I followed the instructions found in other threads in this forum, but I am not sure of how tight it needs to be.

I commute to work most days on a recumbent (Lightning Phantom) so I am familiar with the species. I was having trouble starting until I remembered to shift to a low gear, which I do as a matter of course on my regular bike. Starting is still a bit wobbly, but getting better. I tooled around on the parking lot and then on the empty streets on the back of the semi-industrial zone around my office.

The overall feel is that my arms and legs are not coordinating as well as I would like them to. Particularly when turning: I think I might be pushing at the same time with both legs making turning difficult. I find myself pulling with the arm on the same side as the leg that is pushing (flat pedals, so no pulling with the legs). I suppose one could push with the opposite arm, which is what one would have to do when following the suggestion to keep one's hands open. Is one way better than the other?

I love the suspension; it is great for the pot-hole infested streets around here.

It is going to take some time until I dare to commute to work on the Sofrider. First I need to practice until I feel more secure. Second, I need to install a rack to carry my panier with office stuff; I have seen some pictures with good ideas. Third, I should install fenders; I hate it when the back wheel sprays my back, but that might not be such an issue with the Sofrider's seat solid back.

I think this is going to be fun. Thanks to John and his crew and to all the members of this forum who have helped with their experience.

ocd

 

[John Tolhurst]

Hi ocd, 
The reason we say

Hi ocd,
The reason we say open palms is to exploit the arms abilty to resist. It seem that almost without thinking, the arm can resist a variety of pressures without moving much, so this is he best way to manage at the beginning.

The second reason is that pulling seems to activate muscles more (somehow) and this seems to mask or hide the feedback the bike is giving you.

The key is that its fun.

 

[Andrew 1973]

My longest Cruzbike

My longest Cruzbike experience was on a Sofrider and I found that my tendency was to over-grip the handlbar leading to fatigue and pain the forearms while not lending anything to smooth, fluid control of the bike.

Does the same open-palm approach work across the range of Cruzbikes, as they have different handlebar set-ups?

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi OCD and Andrew,
(At some

Hi OCD and Andrew,

(At some point, OCD, you're going to have to tell me what that stands for because I have enough psychology under my belt that I associate that abbreviation with with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and I'm assuming that's not what it stands for).

I do recommend the open palms technique that John mentions. If either of you haven't, please do look at "Kim's Videos" as they do give a lot of good advice and seeing it can often be easier to absorbe than reading about it.

Andrew, to specifically answer your question (while I only have experience on the Sofrider), The Silvio, the Quest, and the Sofrider have, I believe, largely similar geometry, about the same seat angle (and I believe head tube angle). The Vendetta has a much lower seat angle (but I believe again a similar head tube angle). I'd be fairly confident (well, as confident as anybody should be who's never ridden any of the other Cruzbikes) that this technique of open palms would be useful on any of them. If any of the bikes ride differently, it would be the Vendetta and while it may take longer to get used to because of the seat angle, I'd be surprised if this didn't work for it as well.

For what it's worth, you can read about my starting experiences in this blog entry. The best advice that I have that I don't usually see elsewhere is that if you think that things are suddenly gong badly, take your feet off of the pedals and let your arms take over steering. It takes a while for your body to get into the swing of having your feet involved with steering.

Cheers,
Charles

 

[ocd]

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Charles,


OCD does stand for "obsessive compulsive disorder". It is, likely an exaggeration of, one of my character traits. Luckily, it pays the mortgage.

Thanks for the pointer to Kim's videos.

ocd

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi ocd,

Keep riding, and

Hi ocd,



Keep riding, and keep letting us know how it goes.

Cheers,
Charles

 

[ocd]

Second ride

I was finally able to get to the empty parking lot again this afternoon. (Sandy, work, etc., got in the way.) This time it was much easier. It might have helped that yesterday I rode (no on a Cruzbike) behind a guy with a Silvio for a couple of miles. Seeing how naturally he rode convinced me that it was possible. I don't yet feel ready to commute to work on the Sofrider, but soon. (BTW, I need to install fenders and a rack.)

Thanks for the pointers and the encouragement,

ocd

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi Ocd,
For what it's worth,

Hi Ocd,

For what it's worth, if you can spend some time riding only the Sofrider for a while, I think you may make faster progress.
Cheers, Charles

 

[kling]

Time

Hi OCD,
Welcome to the forum.

I think you will get comfortable soon with passage of time and miles in/ on the saddle...

a fender is still worthwhile as otherwise water sprays onto the back of the head.

regards
Kendrick

 

[ocd]

Rack and fenders

Installed a rack and a rear fender. Discovered that there are no eyelets for fender installation on the front wheel. I need to go to the hardware store to get P-clamps to secure the fender stays.

ocd