John Tolhurst brings his Vendetta to White Oak…

J

jalexartis

Well-Known Member
Today, I got to see and photograph John Tolhurst's latest Cruzbike creation, the Vendetta. Not only to see it, but to see it ridden by the record setting, Maria Parker. How exciting is that!!! Maria rode a lap of the course she rode in White Oak, North Carolina. I was there for that ride and provided some coverage.

My article today, has photographs and video [to be added later] of portions of Maria, ride. I hope you are liking what you see. As a refresher, here is a photograph of the prototype, as it was photographed last September. I wrote about it here.

img_5784800600_thumb.jpg


Now, today...

crw_1537-crw_.jpg


So, will there be another record setting attempt this fall--YES! Of course, it will be on the Vendetta. John is leaving his single prototype for Maria to train on and prepare for a record reset. I hope to be in position to cover it as well. Thanks to the Cruzbike crew for the opportunity.

Thanks!

Jim
 
J

jalexartis

Well-Known Member
From BROL's Neil Cooper:
Quote: Great pic's and info there Jim. I'm lucky enough to live in the same city as John T and have seen the bike a few times recently on our regular Sunday HPV club rides. Beautiful machine, and FAST.
Click to expand...
I saw how FAST Maria rode it today. It is quite a machine!



I have posted 11 additional photographs--that should make 19 total.

Good that you know first-hand how it looks and how it rides. Have you ridden it? I got to sit on it. I did not venture to ride it today--maybe later. --jim
 
J

jalexartis

Well-Known Member
Well, I have a video up.

I had to use YouTube because of a file transfer problem between iPhone & my PC for .MOV files. Once resolved the movie will be of much higher quality. I'll have a second video later--probably tomorrow, unless I resolve the file transfer problem soon.

Thanks!

Jim

P.S. Video one in now up in HD. There is also a link to the YouTube SD vid [27 views so far].
 
Doug Burton

Doug Burton

Zen MBB Master
Thanks for the reporting, Jim. I don't think anyone covers subjects with the combination of thoroughness and immediacy that you put together.

This is a great week for me, John is coming up to Richmond to spend a couple of days with me in the shop, and then we go to Lumberton for more testing and general recumbent celebration.

I've been collaborating with John since March of 2005, but we've never shaken hands in all that time. Now we'll finally get to cause trouble together in the same hemisphere!

We've gone from a steel conversion kit to the most advanced production MBB recumbent on the planet in 5 years, with 7 products in the lineup.

I've learned more about recumbents in the 5 years we've been Skyping designs and components than just about anything I've studied in a similar amount of time.

I am a lucky fellow, I think!

Best to all in our commmunity.

Doug
 
Bruce B

Bruce B

Well-Known Member
To all of the Team,
I have watched that video and have looked at all the pictures both on this board and on cyclingexperiences(dot)com. That bike is impressive! Great work!

Everyone be sure to view the video full screen.

Bruce B
 
J

jalexartis

Well-Known Member
Thanks Doug!

I appreciate your comments. It is my pleasure to have met and conversed with John today. It was exciting to be there as the new Vendetta was put through its paces by Maria. I trust I will see you in the fall as maria rides for another record. If things go well, maybe I can add something to my coverage of such an event. It will be fast at only 100 miles.

I know your time with John will be special. Now to figure out how to get one of the first 20 Vendettas.

Take care and the best!

Jim
 
J

jalexartis

Well-Known Member
Bruce B wrote: To all of the Team,
I have watched that video and have looked at all the pictures both on this board and on cyclingexperiences(dot)com. That bike is impressive! Great work!

Everyone be sure to view the video full screen.

Bruce B
Click to expand...
Bruce, Thanks for my part. --jim
 
JonB

JonB

Zen MBB Master
how does one adjust the distance between the seat and the pedals? There does not seem to be

Quote: Impact Absorption
Collapsible Front Tube

The telescoping front tube of the Cruzbike can collapse in a collision and may reduce the severity of the impact on the rider. In addition, the steering tube may bend to absorb impact
Click to expand...
http://www.cruzbike.com/content/safe-cycling-promoting-passive-safety
 
Gromit

Gromit

Guru
JonB wrote: How does one adjust the distance between the seat and the pedals?
Click to expand...
It appears to me that you make this adjustment in the same way as on the Silvio using the TFT. You then adjust the handlebar reach to suit the rider's arm length.
 
trapdoor2

trapdoor2

Zen MBB Master
Jim, thanks so much for covering all this cool stuff!

The Vendetta certainly looks great. I'm not enamored of the new handlebars though. It seems that Maria is spending a lot of time with her arms really outstretched (I'm sure it is comforable for her). I personally dislike that sort of riding position...but must bow to those who have ridden it! :D

As we discussed before, a headrest has been added. I compared pix of my Baron to that of the Vendetta and our seat angles are very similar. The headrest is a welcome addition on the Baron and I assume so on the Vendetta.

I was a little surprised to see Maria breaking position to make the turns. I suppose it is easier to clear traffic when sitting more upright...certainly nice to be able to haul oneself up to do that.

Wanted: a nice clear picture of Maria (or someone) sitting static on the bike, clipped in and in riding position...viewed from the side, please. Really just to see the hand/arm position on the bars. They just look uncomfortable!

Otherwise, the bike looks like it is going to be a winner. I like what I see in the TFT/headset solution and in the rear triangle, etc. Sure wish I could see it in person!!!

===Marc
 
J

jalexartis

Well-Known Member
Hi Marc, Thanks for your comments. I do not think I can get those pictures for you now. Dr. Parker may. We live about 30 miles apart. I'm not expecting to see the bike again until Maria's record attempt. OTOH, I'd love to have it for a weekend. [shhh] As to comfort, I think I rode my RANS Stratus XP in a similar fashion, including braking [and climbing] when I wanted. I did get to sit on the Vendetta. I did not feel uncomfortable. Sitting and riding are quite different. I imagine you would find a position that works for you. Test riding is good. I hope this is sufficiently responsive for you at this time.
 
Manalive

Manalive

Member
Nice design. Thoughts that occur:
  • I briefly wondered why not just hinge the front tube above the derailleur mount. But on second glance, that would seriously compromise stiffness. In other words, your solution looks a good one! But am I the only one who looks at the bike and sees an elephant?
  • This is a spectacularly subjective point, but I'm really not a fan of that colour scheme!
  • How is it to use brake levers 'upside-down'? I always imagined it would be a little odd, giving maximum leverage to the strongest fingers, so they do all the work, while the smaller fingers do nothing?
  • What's the logic behind putting the front caliper behind the fork, rather than ahead? Would it otherwise be too close to the legs? Otherwise, it looks like a hangover from the conversions! Unless there's a large performance/safety/comfort advantage, it seems better to keep as much as possible as close as possible to 'conventional' bike design, from a selling-it-to-the-unconverted point of view.
Would love to have a go, when one appears in the UK...

Alex[/]
 
Gromit

Gromit

Guru
trapdoor2 wrote: The Vendetta certainly looks great. I'm not enamored of the new handlebars though. It seems that Maria is spending a lot of time with her arms really outstretched (I'm sure it is comfortable for her). I personally dislike that sort of riding position...but must bow to those who have ridden it! :D
<SNIP>
Wanted: a nice clear picture of Maria (or someone) sitting static on the bike, clipped in and in riding position...viewed from the side, please. Really just to see the hand/arm position on the bars. They just look uncomfortable!
===Marc
Click to expand...
Maybe one of Doug's Silvio experimental handlebar setups would work well on the Vendetta? ;) :)
 
J

jeebus

Member
Hi, I just noticed there was more info on the vendetta.

I love the neck rest. Is that part of the bike or an add-on? On the silvio the position is upright enough there's no need for something like that, but I can imagine the vendetta being a different story.

Is the riding position slightly more open than the silvio? I'm just eyeballing in comparison to this video of Maria's silvio ride
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9GPDJctkXs
It's hard to find perfect shots to compare, but I'm trying to guestimate it based on where her knees are vs her hands. It looks a couple inches more open to me.

I had another question about the old silvio video. Most of the shots show Maria holding the handle bar, but I noticed at 3:25 for example she's resting her hands on top of the bars. Do you know if that was for comfort or aerodynamics or just variety? I've done that a couple times when riding into a miserable headwind thinking the narrower stance might be more aerodynamic, but I feel less in control when I do it (and my arms are also too high then).

The vendetta videos reminded me of that because Maria's hands seemed a bit high with the new bars. How many options / adjustments might there be for bar positioning?

Anyway it's a really beautiful bike. I actually didn't realize how extensively you were sleeking everything up. Even little things like the front chainstay look more narrow. I had always kind of wanted that for 1. aerodynamics and 2. so I don't hit my ankle on it with my fairly toe-out riding stance.

Mark
 
John Tolhurst

John Tolhurst

Zen MBB Master
Hi Mark,

The riding position is only a few degrees more open than Silvio. I have kept it similar because its such a nice power gernerating position on Silvio and I needed to retain that. The whole body is rotated back on Vendetta, and then the arms are intended to rotate down again, so appear differently versus the knees and also a little more straight is what I hoped for.

The bars are intended to follow the arms until they must turn across to the stem, for aero reasons.

Sometimes wile riding you point your arms higher than horizontal, to keep them well positioned to stabilise the upper body, so there will I think be some aclimatising time needed on the switch.

Having more than one hand position is important on a long ride, just for variety as you say. The bar top position extends the arms a litle more which is nice and seems to be aero as well. Feeling less control is true in that there is less leverage, but will practice away because the leverage is adequate for sustained riding. The stem position adjusts in out and also up down in 3/8 inch increments over 1.5 inches. And the bars can rotate in the clamp. I will also provide three bar sizes.
 
Lief

Lief

Guru Schmuru
oh hell!
I'm away from the Cruzbike site for a coupla days and all hell breaks loose!

The Vendetta looks mouth-wateringly awesome.
Honestly, the orig picture just looked like a squished Silvio, which I naturally LOVE anyway, but this, THIS?! is a thing of beauty.

Love the gold color, love the design details (brake behind the stem), Nokon(?) cables, oversized TFT, the crazy front derailer hanger, the tail-fin hanging off the seat, all of it! so cool.
Can't wait to see what Maria does with this.

Incidentally, there is a company in Seattle making some wicked carbon wheels that you may be able to contact or partner with for the record attempt? Depends on how much you like the ones you have now and probably how much press these guys need/want but these MadFiber wheels are really nice.
http://www.madfiber.com/road-wheels-article?tcc=1

Anyway, awesome job John! No doubt.
 
MrSteve

MrSteve

Zen MBB Master
Beautiful bike!

-Nice looking rear triangle & 'suspension'.
-Sneaky-smart front derailleur mount.
All that and I'm suffering from an acute case of,
"wheel envy"!

And the videos?
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Great job!

All right, back to riding my customised Sofrider in this
100 degree F. heat: the 20mph apparent wind makes these Summer rides
bearable.
And back to dreaming about the Vendetta....

Keep it up,

sincerely,

Steve
 
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