It was getting to be time for a few days of pedaling around Norfolk, England with an old friend. This would involve quiet lanes and cycle ways, medieval churches to look around and beers in the evening. I decided to make a few modifications to my Quest before setting out.
My style of riding doesn't feature much pulling hard on the handlebars and I can't say that movement of the stem has been a problem. Nevertheless I wondered if the handlebars might feel a little more solid if the stem post was held at the top rather than the bottom. So I moved the adjustable upper tube to the top of the stem and clamped it over a shim to fill the difference in diameters. I added a clamp to the base of the stem post where the upper tube had held it before. I think it feels just a little stiffer.
I don't have clip-in cycle shoes and also don't want them. However keeping your feet pressed against the standard pedals when you are pushing forwards against them (not down on them as on a standard bike) takes a bit of physical and mental energy. And its not good to lose a foot if you bounce over something at speed.
I took off the pedal reflectors (which are held at the wrong angle to be visible on Cruzbikes) and drilled two holes in the plastic where each of the two reflectors had been. I fashioned a loop of wire and fed the open ends through the two holes on one side of the pedal, pushed them under the spindle and then bent them back through the front holes. This secured the wire in position. The end of the wire loop was turned up at the back to support the heel of my shoe. This is turned up the minimum amount so as to support the shoe but also to allow it to be pulled off the pedal by reflex reaction in an emergency.
During the holiday the front end of the bike started to slide out on a tight sandy corner and I managed to slap my foot down without thinking. I originally made the loop with 2.5mm diameter wire but it was too easy to bend the loop out of shape by misplacing a foot on starting and so I have rebuilt them using 4mm diameter wire which stays in shape. Since then I have also managed to reflexively slap my foot down - so I don't think that the back of the new loop is holding my shoe too securely .
Now, once going, I don't have to think about my feet as they float in the right position.
A side benefit of fitting the loops is that the pedals now hang at the right angle for the foot.
I have experimented before with attaching bungees to the handlebar ends to make the steering self-centring and like the feeling. For this trip I attached the bungees to small loops of shoelace knotted through holes drilled in the sides of the seatback at around top of hip height.
I could keep both ends of the bungees hooked through the laces if I did not want them connected to the bars. Along the quiet cycleways and lanes of Norfolk I could even attach them to the bars while cycling along - giving me a very immediate comparison of the effects. The steering becomes more damped but forgiving, most noticeably when coasting or pedaling hands-free. It is like engaging a partial autopilot. Of course the bungees are not pretty and fitting a torsion spring to the forks would be better engineering.
Hands-free coasting or gentle pedaling with the wire shoe loops fitted and bungees engaged allows the bike to partially disappear and one is left dreamily rolling through the landscape.
Speed is not the only way of approaching cycling nirvana.
My style of riding doesn't feature much pulling hard on the handlebars and I can't say that movement of the stem has been a problem. Nevertheless I wondered if the handlebars might feel a little more solid if the stem post was held at the top rather than the bottom. So I moved the adjustable upper tube to the top of the stem and clamped it over a shim to fill the difference in diameters. I added a clamp to the base of the stem post where the upper tube had held it before. I think it feels just a little stiffer.
I don't have clip-in cycle shoes and also don't want them. However keeping your feet pressed against the standard pedals when you are pushing forwards against them (not down on them as on a standard bike) takes a bit of physical and mental energy. And its not good to lose a foot if you bounce over something at speed.
I took off the pedal reflectors (which are held at the wrong angle to be visible on Cruzbikes) and drilled two holes in the plastic where each of the two reflectors had been. I fashioned a loop of wire and fed the open ends through the two holes on one side of the pedal, pushed them under the spindle and then bent them back through the front holes. This secured the wire in position. The end of the wire loop was turned up at the back to support the heel of my shoe. This is turned up the minimum amount so as to support the shoe but also to allow it to be pulled off the pedal by reflex reaction in an emergency.
During the holiday the front end of the bike started to slide out on a tight sandy corner and I managed to slap my foot down without thinking. I originally made the loop with 2.5mm diameter wire but it was too easy to bend the loop out of shape by misplacing a foot on starting and so I have rebuilt them using 4mm diameter wire which stays in shape. Since then I have also managed to reflexively slap my foot down - so I don't think that the back of the new loop is holding my shoe too securely .
Now, once going, I don't have to think about my feet as they float in the right position.
A side benefit of fitting the loops is that the pedals now hang at the right angle for the foot.
I have experimented before with attaching bungees to the handlebar ends to make the steering self-centring and like the feeling. For this trip I attached the bungees to small loops of shoelace knotted through holes drilled in the sides of the seatback at around top of hip height.
I could keep both ends of the bungees hooked through the laces if I did not want them connected to the bars. Along the quiet cycleways and lanes of Norfolk I could even attach them to the bars while cycling along - giving me a very immediate comparison of the effects. The steering becomes more damped but forgiving, most noticeably when coasting or pedaling hands-free. It is like engaging a partial autopilot. Of course the bungees are not pretty and fitting a torsion spring to the forks would be better engineering.
Hands-free coasting or gentle pedaling with the wire shoe loops fitted and bungees engaged allows the bike to partially disappear and one is left dreamily rolling through the landscape.
Speed is not the only way of approaching cycling nirvana.
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