Front, dual or no suspension donor bike?

[puppypilgrim]

I am planning my Cruzbike conversion kit (currently on a Brodie Force with Xtracycle).

My question is this:

a) How necessary is dual suspension on a Cruzbike? I will be riding mainly paved roads and some light off road trail. No true mountain biking of any kind). Take a look at this 16" small diamond frame (DF) Brodie. Would this make a suitable hardtail Cruzbike?

b) If I could only get one suspension, is the front suspension more important or rear suspension?

c) If I want a road focused kit, is there a kit for 700c wheels?

d) Is there a front wind fairing available for the Cruzbike. If I make a road focused version (either 700c or 26 X 1.5 slicks or narrower) I will certainly get a front fairing.

e) Will I have to buy bottom bracket and crank removal tools to do this conversion?

Thanks for all your help! if anyone is in Vancouver, Canada I would love to see your setup.

Victor in Vancouver, Canada

 

[Mark B]

Victor,

That looks like it could make an awesome conversion. It looks like the seat height might be borderline high... It could be the angle of the picture. If you were going to have any suspension, front would probably be better. With that longer wheelbase, though, you might get away without it. I'd build it and ride it first and if you have problems with wheel skipping over bumps, you might want to throw a suspension fork on it.

You will need a bottom bracket tool and probably a crank removal tool.

Mark

 

[defjack]

I think its ok. My Cannondale is a hard tail. I had a 20 in Downtube folder with no suspension and the ride was ok even with 20 in wheels. Jack

 

[Doug Burton]

Hi Victor,

What a great reason to build an Extracycle Cruzbike.

I have to echo everything that Mark and Jack said.

At the Yahoo group, there are some extracycle pictures in the photo album, if you've not already seen them.

"a) How necessary is dual suspension on a Cruzbike? I will be riding mainly paved roads and some light off road trail. No true mountain biking of any kind). Take a look at this 16" small diamond frame (DF) Brodie. Would this make a suitable hardtail Cruzbike?"

I've built a 700c non-suspended kit bike that I find comfortable and satisfactory for long rides. That looks like a great donor bike. You'll want your seat height about 3 inches shorter than your inseam - measure the top tube height about half-way down it's length and add 1.0 inches, and you'll get a fair estimation of seat pan height

"b) If I could only get one suspension, is the front suspension more important or rear suspension?"

Front suspension is as easy as swapping out the fork and takes the brunt of the impact in most situations. The long-travel rear suspension on the Sofrider makes it basically a go anywhere recumbent because of the huge rear travel. An extracycle for street use might actually work better overall without rear suspension.

"c) If I want a road focused kit, is there a kit for 700c wheels?"

There's no need for a 700c kit per se. Just use a 700c fork and the standard kit will accomodate your 700c wheels. That's how mine is built.

"d) Is there a front wind fairing available for the Cruzbike. If I make a road focused version (either 700c or 26 X 1.5 slicks or narrower) I will certainly get a front fairing."

Several commercially-available fairings fit. On consideration is that if the wind catches the fairing, it will directly affect your steering input because the fairing ends up being connected to the front fork. Peder has had very good luck with an HP Velotechnik Streamer on his Sofrider in Norway.

"e) Will I have to buy bottom bracket and crank removal tools to do this conversion?"

yes - and the tools you buy will need to match the BB and crank you use. If you buy an Isis drive BB and crank, they require a different tool set than the square-taper BB that your bike probably currently uses. Just let us know which parts you decide to use and we can point you to some links for the tools.

Good luck and all the best!