Michael Fasher
Member
Cruzbike is missing a trick in comparison to its European counterpart the Dutch company M5 in that it doesn't make large capacity aerodynamic tailboxes that can directly fit to standard bikes with the original seats. M5 make an 88 litre tailbox that can fit to the Shockproof and now a 57 litre bag that can fit to both it and the Carbon high racer. These tailboxes can be used for commuting and touring. Thor make a 35 litre tailbox that can be fitted to a Thor seat that has bee fitted to Vedettas and German company Proceda Gmbh make large capacity tailboxes but they fit to their seats. This is too much hassle, I think a Cruzbike made or licenced series of tail boxes that directly fit to its bikes with no modification would open up a significant capability to Cruzbikes range.
Why I like these tailboxes is that they not only have a large capacity but they actually reduce drag coefficient on the bikes. So you actually go faster with the tailboxes than without. Cruzbike promote the S40 and the Q45 and T50 as commuter options with pannier racks. This is a good option as I am a big fan of pannier racks over backpacks for commuting. I currently commute on a Giant Quick-E ebike with a pannier rack bag and used to use an Ortlieb messenger bag with a Diamond frame bike, the pannier bag being far more comfortable.
On a upright bike one of the advantages of a pannier rack is that you can get into the drops or use clip on aerobars so the drag can be offset by your body position, this is important with ebikes because you are cruising at higher speed.But this is not the case with recumbents, pannier bags increase drag. Why I think there is an opportunity is that a commuter configuration with say a V20C or other recumbent with a lower drag than the original bike can compete with not just other upright recumbents but also ebikes. According to M5 an upright bike will do 32 kilometres per hour at 250 Watts and 35 kilometres per hour in the drops, 37 km/h for a time trial bike and the Carbon High Racer will do 43 km/h and 48 km/h with a tailbox. I have seen videos of a Carbon High Racer cruising at around 40 km/h without a tailbox .
If you think about the potential advantage a recumbent starts with a lower drag coefficient to an upright but as soon as you fit any storage capacity to an upright its drag coefficient goes up but the suety of aerodynamic tailboxes is that not only does a recumbent start with a lower drag coefficient but you add between 57 and 88 litres of storage and the drag coefficient goes down so the difference if even greater I commute on an ebike and that is about the speed I cruise at my ebike is limited to 45 km/h or 28 miles per hour and I cruise at around 40 km/h in good weather . This means that if that same Carbon High Racer had a tailbox at the same power output it would do around 43-44 kilometres per hour. The M5 Shockproof with an 88 litre tailbox only requires 175 Watts to sit at 40 km/h. That means that a recumbent fitted with an aerodynamic tailbox is going to be faster than any non assisted bike. On my ebike I am pretty much faster than any other bike out there.
This would be true of a Vendetta as well. Now a Vendetta is not cheap but neither are a lot of ebikes, especially fast pedelecs with a 28 mile per hour limiter. A Scott E-Silence is around the same price as a Vendetta.
The huge advantage of a recumbent over an upright ebike is that you have essentially unlimited range that can be also used in touring and don't have to deal with the issue of electronics or batteries which have to be replaced and are really expensive. I just feel that the current configurations that Cruzbike have compete well with non assisted bikes but getting them faster will enable them to compete more with ebikes
Why I like these tailboxes is that they not only have a large capacity but they actually reduce drag coefficient on the bikes. So you actually go faster with the tailboxes than without. Cruzbike promote the S40 and the Q45 and T50 as commuter options with pannier racks. This is a good option as I am a big fan of pannier racks over backpacks for commuting. I currently commute on a Giant Quick-E ebike with a pannier rack bag and used to use an Ortlieb messenger bag with a Diamond frame bike, the pannier bag being far more comfortable.
On a upright bike one of the advantages of a pannier rack is that you can get into the drops or use clip on aerobars so the drag can be offset by your body position, this is important with ebikes because you are cruising at higher speed.But this is not the case with recumbents, pannier bags increase drag. Why I think there is an opportunity is that a commuter configuration with say a V20C or other recumbent with a lower drag than the original bike can compete with not just other upright recumbents but also ebikes. According to M5 an upright bike will do 32 kilometres per hour at 250 Watts and 35 kilometres per hour in the drops, 37 km/h for a time trial bike and the Carbon High Racer will do 43 km/h and 48 km/h with a tailbox. I have seen videos of a Carbon High Racer cruising at around 40 km/h without a tailbox .
If you think about the potential advantage a recumbent starts with a lower drag coefficient to an upright but as soon as you fit any storage capacity to an upright its drag coefficient goes up but the suety of aerodynamic tailboxes is that not only does a recumbent start with a lower drag coefficient but you add between 57 and 88 litres of storage and the drag coefficient goes down so the difference if even greater I commute on an ebike and that is about the speed I cruise at my ebike is limited to 45 km/h or 28 miles per hour and I cruise at around 40 km/h in good weather . This means that if that same Carbon High Racer had a tailbox at the same power output it would do around 43-44 kilometres per hour. The M5 Shockproof with an 88 litre tailbox only requires 175 Watts to sit at 40 km/h. That means that a recumbent fitted with an aerodynamic tailbox is going to be faster than any non assisted bike. On my ebike I am pretty much faster than any other bike out there.
This would be true of a Vendetta as well. Now a Vendetta is not cheap but neither are a lot of ebikes, especially fast pedelecs with a 28 mile per hour limiter. A Scott E-Silence is around the same price as a Vendetta.
The huge advantage of a recumbent over an upright ebike is that you have essentially unlimited range that can be also used in touring and don't have to deal with the issue of electronics or batteries which have to be replaced and are really expensive. I just feel that the current configurations that Cruzbike have compete well with non assisted bikes but getting them faster will enable them to compete more with ebikes
Last edited:
Yet, it has a flat top, where you could theoretically stap a pizza to it. 
