Learning to ride a Softrider

[Charles.Plager]

I use the stock derailleur

I use the stock derailleur with a 48/38/22 crankset. To prevent the chain from dropping, I use an njump gear stop. Haven't dropped a chain since.

 

[baerly]

I really do appreciate the

I really do appreciate the advice and I'm sure it would be useful to more knowledgeable cyclists. However, I know zip about bike mechanics and I mistakenly thought a $1200 bike from a reputable company would be ready to ride, other than pedals and accessories.

I'll start educating myself and hopefully have it road worthy by the spring.

 

[trplay]

"mistakenly thought a $1200

"mistakenly thought a $1200 bike from a reputable company would be ready"

Oh geez, I see where this is going. Hate it when this happens. Keep in mind you said "I know zip about bike mechanics." My experiences have been the more one learns about shifting mechanics the less problems they have. I've seen perfectly working high end derailleurs get out of wack with one lousy shift by novices. On the other hand I've seen "smooth Joes" run old sun derailleurs for years without a hic-up. I have no idea about your circumstances but if I were you I would not be too quick to blame the bike. You sound frustrated because you aren't exactly zipping along. Give your self a little time, we've all been there.

 

[ratz]

Fickle fronts

I have to concur with Moose's salient point. Front Derailleurs are more fickle than my 4 daughters. There are a lot of kids in our neighborhood that know zip about bike mechanics and I'm frequently fixing their front derailleurs and a host of other things on their mass market bikes. If they work that great; but they are easy to knock out of true.

If the chain is dropping that means it's out of alignment due to the cable clamp position or the set screws; worst case it is bent. Any bike shop should be able to tune it (might take them a minute to figure out how to put the bike in the truing stand; after that it's all the same.). Alternatively there are plenty of you-tube videos on how to do it. Learning to maintain the drive train has to be done on any bike and is worth the investment of time versus paying a shop to do it. Lots of people ride poorly tuned bike; but that doesn't mean you have to be one of them.

The njump charles mentioned is a great add-on for an out-and-about bike; it increases your tolerances so you can run out of tune for longer without having problem and that minimizes shop time and expenses. It doesn't fix the problem it just treat the symptom and it's effective. No bike outside of the kids aisle ships with those; but they sell a lot of them and they get added to a lot of bikes.

 

[Jeremy S]

The new SRAM 22 yaw FD's,

The new SRAM 22 yaw FD's, Rival through Red, all ship with chain spotters. There must be something to it.

 

[ratz]

Yes they do.

Jeremy, that's a good point. The reason is; that YAW is design specifically to allow you to cross chain and ride in Big/Big and Little/Little. When you down shift Big/Big under load you'd very often drop the chain without the spotter. On a traditional derailleur you'd be rubbing on the derailleur cage in Big/Big and that interference would function like the spotter does.

It's less of a problem with a triple because even though the cages are wider shifts from 3 to 1 are rare; and the ring size gaps are smaller. But I suppose if you do a lot of 3 to 1 then a spotter would also be a good idea.

 

[Charles.Plager]

Spotter - the bigger the jump...

I started using them when I went from reasonable triples (48/38/28) to unreasonable ones (48/38/22). That 38/22 jump isn't tiny...

 

[baerly]

I didn't say I was the one

I didn't say I was the one making the adjustments and in fact, I wasn't. I had the bike assembled at a local, and very reputable, bike shop and have had it there an additional time to adjust the front rerailleur. I'm told the problem is inherent in the product.

This same problem has been discussed on other threads on this forum. In addition, cplager indicates on this same thread that he was dropping his chain until he made changes.

If you can see where this is going, perhaps it is because this is a well-documented defect. I'll try to work up some regret for not being upbeat about it so trplay doesn't have to be exasperated.

 

[Jeremy S]

I had some experience with

I had some experience with this. My old Sofrider v2 used to drop or lock up the chain (not something I was used to from the past bikes I had owned), and back then I had basically no knowledge of bike maintenance, so I brought it in to a bike shop for tuning a few times. After the third or so visit it was (mostly) better. I believe the bike shop suggested the components could be the problem, but I think those have been changed since the v2 model. My Silvio FD shifts fine, although I do baby it on upshifts. For the general audience of people not wanting to deal with an FD, the IGH on the Quest seems like a great idea.

 

[Charles.Plager]

Just to be clear, I said this

Just to be clear, I said this happens with my 48/38/22 triple which isn't OEM. There isn't anything inherently wrong with the front derailleur other than it has a much higher capacity than it ought to.

 

[ratz]

LOL Moose is always comes off

LOL Moose is always comes off as exasperated, If you stick around awhile you'll find he is delightfully insightful with a fondness for the counter point / devil's advocate.

I might like the bikes a lot but I'm not exactly known for holding my tongue if I think there is an opportunity to improve the design. With that in mind, I personally would disagree with your bike shop's assertion that it's " a problem inherent in the product" unless the product they are referring too is the front derailleurs made by ABC company. The Cruzbike frame does not make the chain more likely to drop; it does make it more likely the the mechanic had trouble setting it correctly in the first place which can in turn lead to a higher problem rate but the cause is one of experience and not one of design. Your gravel challenges no those would be one of design; if you can master a FWD MBB on gravel then you will have arrived and my hat will be off to you.
In this case I am more than willing to bet dollars to donuts that the bike ship found it hard to setup the derailleur with the bike in a traditional truing stand. These bike mount differently and hang odd in the stand and it does make all the muscle memory tricks useless the first few times. The Derailleur will be higher and pitched at an unfamiliar angle. The first 3-4 times I did a derailleur it was maddening because I couldn't eyeball anything the traditional way. Thus swearing did ensue, not the level Mrs Ratz is known for, but impressive none the less. After a few time it became simple because as I adapted. Recumbents in general will make you more bike aware and skilled because the a lot of shops don't want to work on things that are different.

So the long term advice is either learn the skill if you are so inclined or stick with the same shop and bring donuts. After a few times working on your bike they will getting better at it and you will get better results. Notice Jeremy's shop got it "better" after a couple visits. As for the Spotter Charles is using they are great on any bike that has a large difference in size between any too rings; and that true of all bikes and it's the nature of the beast.

Also be assured we aren't betting you up; the group here has a lot of knowledge we share as much as you like; and we'll point out if we think you are on the right track or chasing lemmings. After that it's up to you to decide if we are actually helpful.

We have about 4000 miles in on Cruzbike's this summer; only dropped chains we see are caused by over shift to the outside of our new Q-rings which I added in fall and still lack the experience to fine tune; always riding, always learning. And for what it's worth it took many miles before I rode as well as you wife did on her first try; that still makes me chuckle.

 

[trplay]

Sorry I am ass-per-rated but

Sorry I am ass-per-rated but you are the one who wrote "I am seeking information from the knowledgeable people on this forum to bolster my determination." and "I very much appreciate all advice." It is not magic the FD will work when the cable tension and components are in alignment. Pay attention to Ratz and cplagers last posts. Also keep in mind the LBS could have it working perfectly but those who dont understand how they work could take them from the shop and knock them of of alignment loading them in the truck. You can stretch that cable on the very first shift. I cringe when I see folks lay a bike in a truck bed, derailleur side down and push it in. I've seen Clydesdales adjust their bikes perfectly on the stands only to find they flex the frame so their cable tension slackens. Learn how the shifters work, make sure the adjustments are right then if it doesn't work blame something else. Just saying Oh and dont fall for those Q-ring gadgets. They're all voo-doo and will cause shifting problems

 

[MrSteve]

The Angle of the Front Derailleur

Just chiming in with a point that has been overlooked.

The Sofrider is the only Cruzbike model that has the front D.R.
bolted directly to the boom/TFT.
When the TFT is adjusted to fit the riders inseam, the angle between the
TFT and the chainstay changes.
This affects the way that the derailleur effects shifts, when the angle gets extreme.
This is uncommon, the way the front D.R. is mounted, something that most bike mechanics will never see...
but it is simple to adjust/accommodate for.

Both the Silvio and the Vendetta have their front D.R. bolted to a stub frame
?dedicated to the front D.R.
When the TFT is adjusted to fit the riders inseam, the angle between the stub frame and the chainstay remains constant.


Originally, the 8-speed Sofrider was equipped with one front chain ring.
No front D.R. was required.
Mine is an original Sofrider, which has been retrofitted with a front triple
and a boom mounted D.R.
My Sofrider is now a 24-speed... and it is far more versatile now than it was originally.
It works fine.

-Steve

 

[ratz]

Good point, This is also true

Good point, This is also true of the Quest version 1 frames; double or triple on the the front. Adding an extra barrel adjust in the line helps make the adjustments easier without a wrench on those older frames.