agfrag
Member
Hello all. I am now the proud owner of a used Cruzebike Quest 559. I picked it up last Friday, and have been having a ball (and yes a little stress...) riding it every day since. So here is a short (lol) summary of my first week:
Day 1. Got it home, and took it to an extremely large parking lot at a local park, and practiced going forward... then figure 8's, then uphill, then downhill, then took it on a curvy hilly path for about a mile... and didn't hurt myself, the bike, or anyone else. Whew!
Day 2. Went to another local park with milder curves and hills, and managed to ride about 9 miles out and back. Had to stop 3 times due to not approaching hills very well. Noticing that the bike tends to dive right and left every so often, and wobble is a bit much, but I didn't fall!
Day 3. Same park, no more large dives, starting to go fast enough to actually lean nervously into the downhill curves, and only stopped once going uphill! Changed back tire that night to a 1.75 I had and it ...barely... fit. I also took the bottom seat pad apart and removed some strange stuff that a previous owner had put in there (paper towels?!) and washed the mesh covering and added a tiny bit of 1/2 inch foam underneath to take up the stretching that may have occurred. Looks almost like new now!
Day 4. Same park, getting speed up, leaning into curves more, but still braking into downhill corners for safety (I find the rear brake steadies me a bit better than both). Practicing single hand steering, still a little wobbly.
Day 5. Same place, starting to "spin" into the uphills, going faster in the curves (18-19mph-ish), and trying like heck not to wobble, but still wobbling a little bit. Average speed about 11mph. back home, went and bought a cruiser handlebar for $20, mounted it and also added clip pedals.
Day 6. Ditto place, starting to get some smooth lines, leaning in most if not all the curves, no more awkward hill climbs (spin spin!) and average speed 14 mph. No probs with the clips, but they're set way too much toward the toe (mountain biking style).
Day 7 Today! Same place, still a small bit of wobble, but using much less shoulder and arm effort, and realizing it will be a while before I'm hands free, but not worried. My body is just starting to treat this like a diamond bike. I mean, less thinking about falling and wobbling, and thinking more about picking a good line, managing the hills up and down, and in general enjoying the ride.
Tomorrow, I'll be riding a hillier park (the first one I tried) and we'll see how it goes.
Haven't had this much fun since my first ride on a bike! (pic taken prior to bar and clip change).
Day 1. Got it home, and took it to an extremely large parking lot at a local park, and practiced going forward... then figure 8's, then uphill, then downhill, then took it on a curvy hilly path for about a mile... and didn't hurt myself, the bike, or anyone else. Whew!
Day 2. Went to another local park with milder curves and hills, and managed to ride about 9 miles out and back. Had to stop 3 times due to not approaching hills very well. Noticing that the bike tends to dive right and left every so often, and wobble is a bit much, but I didn't fall!
Day 3. Same park, no more large dives, starting to go fast enough to actually lean nervously into the downhill curves, and only stopped once going uphill! Changed back tire that night to a 1.75 I had and it ...barely... fit. I also took the bottom seat pad apart and removed some strange stuff that a previous owner had put in there (paper towels?!) and washed the mesh covering and added a tiny bit of 1/2 inch foam underneath to take up the stretching that may have occurred. Looks almost like new now!
Day 4. Same park, getting speed up, leaning into curves more, but still braking into downhill corners for safety (I find the rear brake steadies me a bit better than both). Practicing single hand steering, still a little wobbly.
Day 5. Same place, starting to "spin" into the uphills, going faster in the curves (18-19mph-ish), and trying like heck not to wobble, but still wobbling a little bit. Average speed about 11mph. back home, went and bought a cruiser handlebar for $20, mounted it and also added clip pedals.
Day 6. Ditto place, starting to get some smooth lines, leaning in most if not all the curves, no more awkward hill climbs (spin spin!) and average speed 14 mph. No probs with the clips, but they're set way too much toward the toe (mountain biking style).
Day 7 Today! Same place, still a small bit of wobble, but using much less shoulder and arm effort, and realizing it will be a while before I'm hands free, but not worried. My body is just starting to treat this like a diamond bike. I mean, less thinking about falling and wobbling, and thinking more about picking a good line, managing the hills up and down, and in general enjoying the ride.
Tomorrow, I'll be riding a hillier park (the first one I tried) and we'll see how it goes.
Haven't had this much fun since my first ride on a bike! (pic taken prior to bar and clip change).
, but I liked them much better. I then put a Bacchetta handlebar on, upside down, and cut about 1/2" (12 mm) off the ends. Much improved. Here's a picture from my modifications thread:
