first S40 ride today

[Kenneth]

I finished the preliminary build of my S40 today and rode it for the first time. My only previous experience with a Cruzbike was a test ride with a S30 a few months ago. I rode around the neighborhood on the S40 for about 20 minutes. My initial impression of the bike after this first ride is that it will live up to my expectations. Hoping to get enough practice in the next couple of days to go on a good long ride Saturday.

cheers,
Kenneth

 

[murmur]

Hey congratulations on your first shakedown miles! Sounds like you're having an easier time than I did with my S30 initially.

 

[ak-tux]

Nice! Any pictures?

 

[Kenneth]

Second ride today I only had time for about 30 minutes around the neighborhood again. I did switch to clipless, i considered that it might be to soon but doing so made me more comfortable in general and immediately improved my handling of the bike.
Tommorrow I'm headed to the local high school parking lot do drills for an extended time before at least a twenty mile ride Saturday.

 

[telephd]

++ on the drills!! Welcome to the tribe

 

[DavidCH]

Yep... those diminishing figures of 8 are great. Welcome!

 

[super slim]

Second ride today I only had time for about 30 minutes around the neighborhood again. I did switch to clipless, i considered that it might be to soon but doing so made me more comfortable in general and immediately improved my handling of the bike.
Tommorrow I'm headed to the local high school parking lot do drills for an extended time before at least a twenty mile ride Saturday.View attachment 6098 View attachment 6099 View attachment 6100

What is the make and model of the handle bars, and does your knee fit up between the bar curve?
Any photo of handle bar area with knee close to the bar?

 

[Kenneth]

What is the make and model of the handle bars, and does your knee fit up between the bar curve?
Any photo of handle bar area with knee close to the bar?

The bars are Nitto Albastache sold by Rivendale Bikes. They were on my Surly Crosscheck that i dismantled to build the S40. I moved them with knee clearance in mind. It's working pretty well, when I'm riding my kness aren't quite in the dead center of the bars, but I'm thinking when i get a new bottom bracket to go from a double to a triple that they will be.

 

[super slim]

The bars are Nitto Albastache sold by Rivendale Bikes. They were on my Surly Crosscheck that i dismantled to build the S40. I moved them with knee clearance in mind. It's working pretty well, when I'm riding my kness aren't quite in the dead center of the bars, but I'm thinking when i get a new bottom bracket to go from a double to a triple that they will be.View attachment 6103 View attachment 6104 View attachment 6105 View attachment 6103 View attachment 6104 View attachment 6105

Thank you for the photos!
Are the bars MTB (22 mm OD) or Road Bike (23.8 mm OD)

 

[Kenneth]

Thank you for the photos!
Are the bars MTB (22 mm OD) or Road Bike (23.8 mm OD)

26 stem amd 23.8 OD.

 

[LarryOz]

Great looking S40 Kenneth. Every kitchen should have one!

 

[Kenneth]

I went for my first real ride this morning,
20 miles of city riding. I've figured out how to start from a dead stop, but a few of the 13 stop lights i got nervous with the incline or the traffic and just jumped off and jogged across crosswalks.
I've been riding DF bikes with a thudbuster for years to spare a bad disc from the harshness of the road, reading what people write about how much more you feel bumps on a recumbent had me a little concerned, but i didn't find it that bad. I'm going to be going to 35's soon from my current 28's so i figure it will be a non issue.
The biggest issue i had is that my smallest front chain ring right now is a 38T and all the hills i climb around here felt quite a bit bigger than on a DF. So i think i need to get moving converting to a triple so i can add the 30t for easier climbing.
All in all it was a good ride and I'm looking forward to even better ones.

 

[super slim]

I went for my first real ride this morning,
20 miles of city riding. I've figured out how to start from a dead stop, but a few of the 13 stop lights i got nervous with the incline or the traffic and just jumped off and jogged across crosswalks.
I've been riding DF bikes with a thudbuster for years to spare a bad disc from the harshness of the road, reading what people write about how much more you feel bumps on a recumbent had me a little concerned, but i didn't find it that bad. I'm going to be going to 35's soon from my current 28's so i figure it will be a non issue.
The biggest issue i had is that my smallest front chain ring right now is a 38T and all the hills i climb around here felt quite a bit bigger than on a DF. So i think i need to get moving converting to a triple so i can add the 30t for easier climbing.
All in all it was a good ride and I'm looking forward to even better ones.

I have a FSA Gossamer triple with 53 / 39 / 25 Qrings that is great, as this engine is old and heavy!!!

 

[Markopolo]

On my DF Sequoia just installed their carbon seat post with the elastomer, that stuff is awesome. Rode a HP suspensioned trike that uses the elastomer on the front wheels, the wheel rate was so good the tires moved up and down like a sewing machine over brick. Anyway, changed to the suspensioned seat post to try and save the lower back, don't know if it works yet but the ride is very much improved.

On the S40 seat I installed the 1" underpad from Hydroturf at the bottom and nothing else, that works good. Using the supplied foam from Cruzbike, although it is open cell it was still pretty hot on the back so right now am testing 11/16" foam up the back with a door mat on top, that seems to breath as well as a mesh seat and is comfortable. The door mat is $10 from walmart.

 

[Kenneth]

On my DF Sequoia just installed their carbon seat post with the elastomer, that stuff is awesome. Rode a HP suspensioned trike that uses the elastomer on the front wheels, the wheel rate was so good the tires moved up and down like a sewing machine over brick. Anyway, changed to the suspensioned seat post to try and save the lower back, don't know if it works yet but the ride is very much improved.

On the S40 seat I installed the 1" underpad from Hydroturf at the bottom and nothing else, that works good. Using the supplied foam from Cruzbike, although it is open cell it was still pretty hot on the back so right now am testing 11/16" foam up the back with a door mat on top, that seems to breath as well as a mesh seat and is comfortable. The door mat is $10 from walmart.

I agree they work well.
I'm using a soft but not overly plush camping sleep pad inside the black mesh that was over their foam. Its cut a bit wider and it's not as compressable,which i prefer.View attachment 6115

 

[Kenneth]

Christmas day commuted to work for the first time on the s40. I'm not as one with the bike as i want to be yet but getting there. The ease at which this bike can be rigged to carry bags without throwing off the balance is fairly amazing, so both packing up and riding to work under load were a breeze.

 

[Lief]

@Kenneth - congrats on the new S40. You’ve been here for a while it seems but newly on a Cruzbike? What caused you to plunge in?

 

[Kenneth]

@Kenneth - congrats on the new S40. You’ve been here for a while it seems but newly on a Cruzbike? What caused you to plunge in?

Hello Lief,
I joined the forum originally in 2012 when I first started looking into cruzbike has an alternative to DF bikes as a bad disc was making it difficult to ride. But in the end I ended up not pulling the trigger and went the route of altering my DF. I raised the steering tube, installed a cane creek short travel Thudbuster and changed to a leather saddle. These changes took me down the road for another 5 years and untold thousands of miles but somewhere in the last few years I grew accustomed to the discomfort that I experienced on rides of over 30 to 40 miles. This September I was riding in the Lifestrong Challenge Century ride here in Austin. Somewhere around that same distance I starting having a really bad day,my back locked up and I was just uncomfortable peroid and I quit about 60 miles in to the ride ( the course passed my house about there or I might have stopped sooner) While at a rest stop where I had to lie down to pop my back into place I saw a recumbent go by.... That day i looked up Cruzbike again and requested a test ride. I had a S40 frame set ordered within a couple of weeks.
I'm still working out the kinks as its a different world, but its getting there. I've been pretty busy with life in general and the switch has kinda thrown off my normal riding schedule but pretty soon I'm going to hit the road for a good long ride and see how it feels.

 

[bladderhead]

working out the kinks

In your back?

 

[Kenneth]

No, I meant in the adjustments to the bike. I keep thinking I've got it dialed in, but then as I ride it will seem a little off. Each adjustment I make seems to bring me closer to how I think the bike should feel and how my power is transfered to it, so I'm hopeful soon it will close to 100% adjusted. For example I just recently extended the boom closer to my chest and that greatly increased the amount my upper body movement contributed to overall speed and power. I thought I had read on the forum that it's better to have your arms more extended so guess I over did it because after making the change to have my arms bent at close to 90% just seemed to bring my arms,shoulder and body in to play in a very natural way.