I thought I would jot down some impressions more or less as I encountered them as I learnt ( and still learning) how to ride the Vendetta.
The seat angle is reclined . The first time I sat in the seat , in the lounge room , it felt like I was going to lose my balance even in the stationary position. Even though its only about 15deg more reclined than my usual recumbent it felt like the first time I had ever sat on a recumbent. Scary reclined. Intuitively without realising why , you just want to sit up more. For the moment I've padded the shoulders to compensate for this but eventually , just like my first ever recumbent , you acclimitise and the more reclined position starts not only to feel more comfortable but necessary to extract the most out of the bike. In other words you eventually want to lie down more.
I spent quite a few hours , in the lounge room again , tryng various handlebar , boom , seat to pedal and brifter positions. And different handlebar widths . I first fitted a 44cm wide salsa widchipper ,thought it was too narrow , bought a wider 46cm bar and eventually went on to ride some long brevets with the 44 and found it to be very comfortable, not narrow at all.
In the end , the lounge room trials were not that useful, for it was only when I started riding the V that i discovered bit by bit the ideal position for all the variables.
Once on the V out of the lounge, I had to force my brain to forget nearly EVERYTHING about cycling I had learnt consciously or subconciously . When riding the MBB format and in particular the V . which has been designed with high performance in mind , I think of it as starting with a clean slate. Nothing or almost nothing that I've memorised riding diamond frames or other recumbents ,Silvio included , applies to the V.
I decided I would transform myself into a 6 year old and learn everything from scratch. This made the transition to the V . much easier.
So for example , simple things , like getting in and out of the seat is different , clipping in is different . I don't immeadiately clip into a pedal left or right when about to roll. Just light pressure , in a low gear unclipped , then once on an established roll clip in with one , then the other. But I don't do it with any urgency. There is plenty of grip between my MTB shoes and eggbeaters to ride no clip for some time if needs be.
I would strongly recommend avoiding the open road to ride alongside cars , until you feel confident on the bike. This is in line with thinking that for my first rides I'm going to pretend I'm a six year old just off my training wheels .I'm lucky that in my neighbourhood we have a dedicated ,asphalted , smooth , slightly hilly bicycle track. No pedestrians, joggers, dogs etc to get in your way. During the week hardly anybody uses it. Weekends the local cycling clubs use it as a training/racing track. Its slightly wider than a normal car lane. In other words safe and ideal conditions for learning how to ride a bike.
After learning Kim Tolhursts advice on how to get going on a cruzbike its inevitable that you will notice the pedal steer. And to begin with it will feel not just strange but it'll raise your heart rate as some anxiety builds up. But so it was way back when on the first bike . I remember clenched teeth of fear as my father hanging on to my handlebars helped me to learn how to ride that first bike.
On the V . You need some space each side of the bike as you're riding , if on a bicycle track ride in the middle of the lane if possible so if the pedal steer takes you off course there is plenty of room and time for correction. And ride slow, my suggested starting speeds would be about 10 km/ hr.
This is fast enough to keep balance easily but not so fast that a fall , should it happen, will result in serious injury to bike or person.
To reduce pedal steer , eventually to a point where I'm no longer concscious of it , some things help. I'm not conscious of it when I'm doing 35 km/hr, in the big chainring not spinning but not mashing hard either , on flat ground. I don't notice it when riding up hill on a 5% gradient on the 30 chainring and 32 cog at the back doing around 8 km/ hr. In other words there are many cadence , gearing , speed , mash/spinning combinations where pedal steer is not an issue.
Where I notice pedal steer most is when I tense up for what ever reason. Or if I push hard at a standing start, or pedalling to maintain speed above 55 to 60 km / hr going down a hill. Or if I change gears hastily before the gears have properly engaged. Or if I mash hard in an inappropriate gear.
Another thing that helps is getting the position of the boom beyond the pivot point just right . This will be different for everybody because we have different leg lengths. But if its too long pedal steer will be more noticeable. I found it was worth bringing the whole of the top boom back a hole or two further back on the pivot point to begin with. This makes the cockpit space a little smaller so YMMV.
Every minute spent on the bike riding or modifying the settings is a minute which will yield rewards. There is absolutely no substitute for time spent on the bike and my recommendation is that if you are new to the format and recumbents in general about 50 hrs is a ball figure of time spent on the bike before I would share the road with other traffic.
Its roughly the bare minimum amount of time a pilot has to spend flying before he gains his basic flying licence.
I scratch my head a little when I read of others difficult experiences with Cruzbikes and when I read further its a description of how the V was taken virtually out of the showroom onto the regular, training, steep mountain climb done with ease on their usual recumbent. That sort of hasty approach to the V will never work. The V is a thoroughbred and like any thoroughbred, it commands respect, you and the bike have to develop an understanding.
Going down hills takes more practice . Again I pretend I'm a complete novice and even now I restrict myself by applying the brakes when I reach 60km/hr.
Unless the road surface is smooth and relatively straight , in daylight . Top recorded speed in these circumstances has reached just over 70km/hr . At these speeds concentration,relaxed body are important as is keeping still in the saddle.
Even after 100 hrs or so on the bike I'm pretty sure I've yet to find the best setup. I think of this as an opportunity. If the V. performs this well now what will it be like when its optimised ?
The seat angle is reclined . The first time I sat in the seat , in the lounge room , it felt like I was going to lose my balance even in the stationary position. Even though its only about 15deg more reclined than my usual recumbent it felt like the first time I had ever sat on a recumbent. Scary reclined. Intuitively without realising why , you just want to sit up more. For the moment I've padded the shoulders to compensate for this but eventually , just like my first ever recumbent , you acclimitise and the more reclined position starts not only to feel more comfortable but necessary to extract the most out of the bike. In other words you eventually want to lie down more.
I spent quite a few hours , in the lounge room again , tryng various handlebar , boom , seat to pedal and brifter positions. And different handlebar widths . I first fitted a 44cm wide salsa widchipper ,thought it was too narrow , bought a wider 46cm bar and eventually went on to ride some long brevets with the 44 and found it to be very comfortable, not narrow at all.
In the end , the lounge room trials were not that useful, for it was only when I started riding the V that i discovered bit by bit the ideal position for all the variables.
Once on the V out of the lounge, I had to force my brain to forget nearly EVERYTHING about cycling I had learnt consciously or subconciously . When riding the MBB format and in particular the V . which has been designed with high performance in mind , I think of it as starting with a clean slate. Nothing or almost nothing that I've memorised riding diamond frames or other recumbents ,Silvio included , applies to the V.
I decided I would transform myself into a 6 year old and learn everything from scratch. This made the transition to the V . much easier.
So for example , simple things , like getting in and out of the seat is different , clipping in is different . I don't immeadiately clip into a pedal left or right when about to roll. Just light pressure , in a low gear unclipped , then once on an established roll clip in with one , then the other. But I don't do it with any urgency. There is plenty of grip between my MTB shoes and eggbeaters to ride no clip for some time if needs be.
I would strongly recommend avoiding the open road to ride alongside cars , until you feel confident on the bike. This is in line with thinking that for my first rides I'm going to pretend I'm a six year old just off my training wheels .I'm lucky that in my neighbourhood we have a dedicated ,asphalted , smooth , slightly hilly bicycle track. No pedestrians, joggers, dogs etc to get in your way. During the week hardly anybody uses it. Weekends the local cycling clubs use it as a training/racing track. Its slightly wider than a normal car lane. In other words safe and ideal conditions for learning how to ride a bike.
After learning Kim Tolhursts advice on how to get going on a cruzbike its inevitable that you will notice the pedal steer. And to begin with it will feel not just strange but it'll raise your heart rate as some anxiety builds up. But so it was way back when on the first bike . I remember clenched teeth of fear as my father hanging on to my handlebars helped me to learn how to ride that first bike.
On the V . You need some space each side of the bike as you're riding , if on a bicycle track ride in the middle of the lane if possible so if the pedal steer takes you off course there is plenty of room and time for correction. And ride slow, my suggested starting speeds would be about 10 km/ hr.
This is fast enough to keep balance easily but not so fast that a fall , should it happen, will result in serious injury to bike or person.
To reduce pedal steer , eventually to a point where I'm no longer concscious of it , some things help. I'm not conscious of it when I'm doing 35 km/hr, in the big chainring not spinning but not mashing hard either , on flat ground. I don't notice it when riding up hill on a 5% gradient on the 30 chainring and 32 cog at the back doing around 8 km/ hr. In other words there are many cadence , gearing , speed , mash/spinning combinations where pedal steer is not an issue.
Where I notice pedal steer most is when I tense up for what ever reason. Or if I push hard at a standing start, or pedalling to maintain speed above 55 to 60 km / hr going down a hill. Or if I change gears hastily before the gears have properly engaged. Or if I mash hard in an inappropriate gear.
Another thing that helps is getting the position of the boom beyond the pivot point just right . This will be different for everybody because we have different leg lengths. But if its too long pedal steer will be more noticeable. I found it was worth bringing the whole of the top boom back a hole or two further back on the pivot point to begin with. This makes the cockpit space a little smaller so YMMV.
Every minute spent on the bike riding or modifying the settings is a minute which will yield rewards. There is absolutely no substitute for time spent on the bike and my recommendation is that if you are new to the format and recumbents in general about 50 hrs is a ball figure of time spent on the bike before I would share the road with other traffic.
Its roughly the bare minimum amount of time a pilot has to spend flying before he gains his basic flying licence.
I scratch my head a little when I read of others difficult experiences with Cruzbikes and when I read further its a description of how the V was taken virtually out of the showroom onto the regular, training, steep mountain climb done with ease on their usual recumbent. That sort of hasty approach to the V will never work. The V is a thoroughbred and like any thoroughbred, it commands respect, you and the bike have to develop an understanding.
Going down hills takes more practice . Again I pretend I'm a complete novice and even now I restrict myself by applying the brakes when I reach 60km/hr.
Unless the road surface is smooth and relatively straight , in daylight . Top recorded speed in these circumstances has reached just over 70km/hr . At these speeds concentration,relaxed body are important as is keeping still in the saddle.
Even after 100 hrs or so on the bike I'm pretty sure I've yet to find the best setup. I think of this as an opportunity. If the V. performs this well now what will it be like when its optimised ?
