Hello! I’ve been lurking around for a while, first on BROL when I got turned on to ‘bents by a co-worker about 2 years ago now. I started looking out for used ‘bents, but none had the full suspension and other criteria that I was looking for in my price range. Then in November of 2009, a gently-used Sofrider popped up on Craigslist that appeared to be within reach. After the quickest research I could do in just a couple days on the Cruzbike website (thanks everyone!), I decided to pursue it. To make a long story short, I ended up purchasing the bike in December 2009.
Due to cold weather and delays in getting some key accessories, I didn’t take it out for a ride until a couple of weeks ago, just around the neighborhood. My initial experience was very similar to Trevski’s posts, where I felt like I was providing power and balance, but the bike was deciding the direction of travel. I managed to muster enough control after a couple rides totaling all of 2 miles or so to the point where I could take it out on the nearby trail without injuring myself or too many other people. Or so I thought…
I had been looking forward to my first real ride for months, and hope to commute to work with it occasionally (hopefully, more than occasionally). So with my new computer, spare tube and patch kit, a few tools, and rear fender installed (more on this later) this past Sunday afternoon, I took the bike with a friend for a ride on the trail. The Katy trail is a converted railway bed, with a fine gravel surface, mainly flat except for a few short rises installed along the section we were riding to get over some drainage features. The weather was beautiful, so the trail was quite busy, adding to my worries about diverging abruptly into some poor innocent bystander due to my lack of control. But the first couple miles proved to be uneventful, quickly falling into a comfortable pace of 13 – 14 mph, and managing to stay within a two-foot wide swath on the trail (well, mostly). By the time I got to the 10 mile mark, I was feeling quite pleased with myself, enjoying the ride, and catching myself relaxing my arms slightly after initially tending to pull back on both handles in an unconscious effort to control my path better. The scenery is SO much better when you can view it without craning your neck up, as on an upright!
Back to the ride…about 10 miles into the 27 mile round trip, we came up on one of the little hills on the trail that allows for under-trail drainage, when the urge grabbed me to accelerate so I could "coast" up and over the 5-6 ft tall hill (how cool would that be, I thought). With no one else in sight, I sped up from my 13 mph pace, got it up to 20 mph. That was as fast as I got, 'cause right as I started letting up on the power, the bike zigged to the left, so I tried to zag back to the right. The gravel at the base of the hill was a little looser than the rest of the trail, so the front wheel slid out from under me, and I dumped onto my right hip. I guess the fork was still turned to the right when I went down, because the large chainring dug into the gravel and bent over sideways, and as my right leg came off the mangled right pedal, it too met with the chainring at my calf, a few inches above the ankle (later taking 6 stitches). I have a nice trail rash on my hip and my right forearm too. My leg injury looks a bit like a small shark bite, complete with scratches from the teeth next to the 4 cm long cut; I think I may call my bike "Jaws" now…
My friend was kind enough not to laugh outright, or to point out the foolishness he had just witnessed. It was enough effort for me to restrain my vocabulary as I peeled myself up off the trail. I was thankful there was no oncoming traffic (from either direction) nearby when I went down. :roll:
Anyway, the smaller chainring was undamaged, and after I applied my pliers to the large chainring some, I got the chain path clear of the mangled ring. We finished the ride to Defiance, and successfully rode back home without further incident. On the last leg of the ride home, we ran into a bit of a headwind, and my friend was really working to keep up the pace on his upright, while I really didn’t notice much extra effort required. I had a big grin on my face at that point!
Apart from the damage already described, the Sofrider is relatively unscathed, apart from some scuff marks at the end of the right hand grip, so now I’m on the hunt for a replacement chainring (53T, 130mm BCD), which is proving to be more confusing than I expected. Type A or B (for Shimano), and whether I will have compatibility issues for rings that are for 9 or 10 speed clusters (since mine is an 8 speed cluster). Any guidance on this would be appreciated. The right pedal is serviceable (only slightly bent on its shaft). All this after reading all the plentiful comments on BROL and elsewhere about other folks dumping on loose gravel or sand. Serves me right for getting cocky. I certainly have a new respect for gravel on the trail, as well as that front chainring.
I hinted earlier at only having the rear fender installed. The rear was easy enough to mount, with predrilled and tapped holes already in the rear arm (very nice!) to attach the fender support arms. When I tried to mount the front fender, I could not find a place near the front axle where I was comfortable drilling holes to attach the support arms. The most likely location appears to be the thinned-out areas near the base of the front fork, a little above the axle. Any better recommendations on this?
I get the stitches out next Wednesday, so soon after that I’ll be looking to ride it in to work a few times. My trail dumping has not dampened my enthusiasm for the bike, and I’m looking forward to improving my stability with a more rides.
Due to cold weather and delays in getting some key accessories, I didn’t take it out for a ride until a couple of weeks ago, just around the neighborhood. My initial experience was very similar to Trevski’s posts, where I felt like I was providing power and balance, but the bike was deciding the direction of travel. I managed to muster enough control after a couple rides totaling all of 2 miles or so to the point where I could take it out on the nearby trail without injuring myself or too many other people. Or so I thought…
I had been looking forward to my first real ride for months, and hope to commute to work with it occasionally (hopefully, more than occasionally). So with my new computer, spare tube and patch kit, a few tools, and rear fender installed (more on this later) this past Sunday afternoon, I took the bike with a friend for a ride on the trail. The Katy trail is a converted railway bed, with a fine gravel surface, mainly flat except for a few short rises installed along the section we were riding to get over some drainage features. The weather was beautiful, so the trail was quite busy, adding to my worries about diverging abruptly into some poor innocent bystander due to my lack of control. But the first couple miles proved to be uneventful, quickly falling into a comfortable pace of 13 – 14 mph, and managing to stay within a two-foot wide swath on the trail (well, mostly). By the time I got to the 10 mile mark, I was feeling quite pleased with myself, enjoying the ride, and catching myself relaxing my arms slightly after initially tending to pull back on both handles in an unconscious effort to control my path better. The scenery is SO much better when you can view it without craning your neck up, as on an upright!
Back to the ride…about 10 miles into the 27 mile round trip, we came up on one of the little hills on the trail that allows for under-trail drainage, when the urge grabbed me to accelerate so I could "coast" up and over the 5-6 ft tall hill (how cool would that be, I thought). With no one else in sight, I sped up from my 13 mph pace, got it up to 20 mph. That was as fast as I got, 'cause right as I started letting up on the power, the bike zigged to the left, so I tried to zag back to the right. The gravel at the base of the hill was a little looser than the rest of the trail, so the front wheel slid out from under me, and I dumped onto my right hip. I guess the fork was still turned to the right when I went down, because the large chainring dug into the gravel and bent over sideways, and as my right leg came off the mangled right pedal, it too met with the chainring at my calf, a few inches above the ankle (later taking 6 stitches). I have a nice trail rash on my hip and my right forearm too. My leg injury looks a bit like a small shark bite, complete with scratches from the teeth next to the 4 cm long cut; I think I may call my bike "Jaws" now…
My friend was kind enough not to laugh outright, or to point out the foolishness he had just witnessed. It was enough effort for me to restrain my vocabulary as I peeled myself up off the trail. I was thankful there was no oncoming traffic (from either direction) nearby when I went down. :roll:
Anyway, the smaller chainring was undamaged, and after I applied my pliers to the large chainring some, I got the chain path clear of the mangled ring. We finished the ride to Defiance, and successfully rode back home without further incident. On the last leg of the ride home, we ran into a bit of a headwind, and my friend was really working to keep up the pace on his upright, while I really didn’t notice much extra effort required. I had a big grin on my face at that point!
Apart from the damage already described, the Sofrider is relatively unscathed, apart from some scuff marks at the end of the right hand grip, so now I’m on the hunt for a replacement chainring (53T, 130mm BCD), which is proving to be more confusing than I expected. Type A or B (for Shimano), and whether I will have compatibility issues for rings that are for 9 or 10 speed clusters (since mine is an 8 speed cluster). Any guidance on this would be appreciated. The right pedal is serviceable (only slightly bent on its shaft). All this after reading all the plentiful comments on BROL and elsewhere about other folks dumping on loose gravel or sand. Serves me right for getting cocky. I certainly have a new respect for gravel on the trail, as well as that front chainring.
I hinted earlier at only having the rear fender installed. The rear was easy enough to mount, with predrilled and tapped holes already in the rear arm (very nice!) to attach the fender support arms. When I tried to mount the front fender, I could not find a place near the front axle where I was comfortable drilling holes to attach the support arms. The most likely location appears to be the thinned-out areas near the base of the front fork, a little above the axle. Any better recommendations on this?
I get the stitches out next Wednesday, so soon after that I’ll be looking to ride it in to work a few times. My trail dumping has not dampened my enthusiasm for the bike, and I’m looking forward to improving my stability with a more rides.
