My Vendetta adventure

[Rat Rider]

OK, someone please elucidate my dumb... It appears a strand of housing is looped around the BB, inserted through a hole and held in place by the tension of the fr derailleur. The absence of stops et al., does not appeal to my bike mech alter ego.

So is that the way it is installed?

Usual appologies for not doing a more thorough search - as I am conducting this on my phone, my level of frustration is already fairly high.

 

[ratz]

I use a short piece of jagwire liner. It creeped me out too; but has worked flawlessly for thousands of mile on three bikes.

 

[Jeremy S]

Yes, this is redesigned on the newer models (S30 and V20) but the old design works fine.

 

[trplay]

Yep, my LBS said this would never work and I would have problems with it. Long story short,they were wrong. It's never given me a problem ( although the rear derailleur is not so hot).

 

[hamishbarker]

works fine. main prob i have with the front derailleur is that whenever i loosen the bb clamps to for example adjust boom length, the bb ends up moving laterally a little, so care is required to ensure it gets reclamped in tbe original position. even then a tweak to the barrel adjuster and/or deraill. adjusting screws is usually required. it's a niggle, not a big issue. is the clamped cups design worth the stiffness and perhaps weight advantages? (compared to the disadvantages of triple chainring compatibility issues and the above niggle). i guess it is. every other design decision on the vendetta which John Tolhurst and Cruzbike inc. carefully considered and made produced solutions which work better than any alternatives which i can imagine, so he was probably spot on with the bb clamps also.

 

[jond]

just tension the inner properly and it works great. friction in all the right places

 

[Rat Rider]

Thanks for all the replies. I will set it up and expect the best.

 

[Eric Winn]

I finally drilled a small hole in the webbing on my Vendetta v2 to clean up the routing line a bit more. This hole was added on later models but wasn't on mine.

 

[Rat Rider]

I changed the title instead of starting another thread. The Vendetta TT, (the last one sold I am told) will now be an eclectic mix of SRAM Red brifters, M5 brakes, Dura Ace Cranks, Force Fr Der, and X0 rear derailleur. Of note also are the Reynolds carbon wheels and power tap hub.

Ok, so I have it put together, mostly. The cables are unfinished as I feel certain cutting any one of them would automatically mean I need to adjust the boom. I installed a riser, or there would have been no way of extricating myself after a ride. The boom has only about 2" showing; my fears that it would not be long enough were replaced by the prospect of it being too big. But it seems to be about right. No handlebar tape, just bare. (thus no pics yet)

It is ready to ride. My first flirtations with riding it were the night before last as I had installed the right brifter and took off down the street - at 10pm. It was a similar experience to my Silvio introduction several years ago. (except it was dark) I was finally able to ride it up and down my street, but the first few starts were REALLY ugly.

I have concerns about the seat. It is so damn small. On the positive side, it is light, appears to be made of carbon. I have lined up another seat to take its place should that be the direction I choose, but I would rather ride the bike than work on it.

To be continued...

 

[hamishbarker]

I guess the M5 brakes may have a right angle or 180 degree noodle, which might allow you to fit the rear brake on the upper mount (where clearance for the barrel adjuster of a regular rear brake was very tight on my V1.5. Mounting it up there if you can keeps the lower triangle nice and clean looking.

 

[ratz]

I have concerns about the seat. It is so damn small.

After you acclimate the seat seems to vanish and it feels like you are sitting in the bike; and not on the seat.

The cables are unfinished as I feel certain cutting any one of them would automatically mean I need to adjust the boom.

Everyone seems to move the boom out 5-10mm after they get comfortable with the ride; it's normal to feel the need to ankle and short pedal in the beginning; so not taping or cutting is really good.

but the first few starts were REALLY ugly

You might want to check out the parking lot practice threads, we can track it down if you haven't seen it. The stuff in there seem hyper basic but the drills really do work, silly as they are, even for experience Bent riders.

there would have been not way of extricating myself after a ride.

The CruzMoose slide and glide video made that mount technique seem obvious and common; we probably should have someone make a "Hop and Pop" video about the dismounting trick. I can barely situp on my Vendetta, but I can be on my feet at an intersection is one fluid motion without my torso touching the handle bars. But basically it is unclip feet; bend knees to hip so legs are in the chair site position; roll forward on the bumm and plant the feet while letting the bike continue to roll. You wind up standing over the bike half way up the seat; ready to wait for the traffic light. Assume of course that you can stand over the bike.

 

[1happyreader]

Rat rider,
be kind to yourself, you would not feel comfortable jumping into a formula 1's cockpit and just driving away.

put the bike on a trainer and spend a mindless hour pedaling, reaching for the water bottle,trying hand positions, ect ,without the pressures steering or balance or property damage ! LOL

 

[Rat Rider]

The CruzMoose slide and glide video made that mount technique seem obvious and common; we probably should have someone -- snip--

trplay does make it appear easy in his video. However, I might point out the pad was not on the bike. This would make the sliding in and off much easier. No pad for me - not so much!

It is a work in progress.

 

[ratz]

trplay does make it appear easy in his video. However, I might point out the pad was not on the bike. This would make the sliding in and off much easier. No pad for me - not so much!

It is a work in progress.

This is true; and part of the reason a lot of us like the ventisit pads which are more like slippery sandpaper; until you apply the layer of spandex.

 

[LMT]

My front mech is looped around the BB via the piece of jagwire that came with the bike and tensioned via the barrel tensioner that sits just above the headset.

And I cannot emphasis enough what Ratz says about car park drills. They really do work and had me on the road after about 2-2.5hrs of practise. In a nutshell:-

Find an empty bit of road with a slight downhill drag, flintstone the bike to get it move and coast down said bit of road. Repeat as often as you like till you are comfortable with your feet on the pedals and the fact that when you move the handlebar your feet move too.

Find an empty car park, be sure to wear trainers and have platform pedals on the bike. Practie moving off, stopping, moving off....once you are comfortable with this then ride in a lowish gear and get used to the upper body engagement when pedalling the bike (this becomesmore natural after practise). If you want, do a few sprints and marvel at how the bike just seems to go when you apply some power.

The following day at the same empty car park practise turning the bike. At first just ride around in a left circle and then a right circle, trying to keep the bike within the length of two car parking spaces.

Then move onto figure of eights again trying to keep within the length of two car parking spaces.

Once you feel comfortable take the bike on the road.

 

[hamishbarker]

at least practicing in the dark reduces the chances of beeing seen looking like a newby needing training wheels.

i can confirm that cable cutting = instant need to adjust boom syndrome. I was lucky in that i made them slightly too long on the first cut and was able to avoid needing a new front derailleur cable.

I changed the title instead of starting another thread. The Vendetta TT, (the last one sold I am told) will now be an eclectic mix of SRAM Red brifters, M5 brakes, Dura Ace Cranks, Force Fr Der, and X0 rear derailleur. Of note also are the Reynolds carbon wheels and power tap hub.

Ok, so I have it put together, mostly. The cables are unfinished as I feel certain cutting any one of them would automatically mean I need to adjust the boom. I installed a riser, or there would have been no way of extricating myself after a ride. The boom has only about 2" showing; my fears that it would not be long enough were replaced by the prospect of it being too big. But it seems to be about right. No handlebar tape, just bare. (thus no pics yet)

It is ready to ride. My first flirtations with riding it were the night before last as I had installed the right brifter and took off down the street - at 10pm. It was a similar experience to my Silvio introduction several years ago. (except it was dark) I was finally able to ride it up and down my street, but the first few starts were REALLY ugly.

I have concerns about the seat. It is so damn small. On the positive side, it is light, appears to be made of carbon. I have lined up another seat to take its place should that be the direction I choose, but I would rather ride the bike than work on it.

To be continued...

al

 

[trplay]

After using a variety of pads I've come to the conclusion Pads are for stick bike riders. The Silvio doesn't need one. The only positive thing I can find is they provide a place to provide a bit of personal style.
https://teammooseisloose.wordpress.com/

 

[Rat Rider]

Well, I got the opportunity to take a ride in the daylight today. I only rode for about 30 minutes, as the goal was really just to practice my riding technique. I was able to ride without much drama, except at intersections and other places where people could observe. It seemed each time I tried to start, starring eyes sucked my ability to balance and pedal. It would have been comical, if I wasn't so intimate with the clown in this particular circus. While starting in front of my home, with only God and me to watch, no problem. I plan to take a longer ride tomorrow, maybe 20 miles or so. Hopefully only God will be around to witness the ride.

On a positive note - SRAM Red brifters shift like butta.

 

[hamishbarker]

Well, I got the opportunity to take a ride in the daylight today. I only rode for about 30 min...

On a positive note - SRAM Red brifters shift like butta.

I wonder if the rear derailleur cable run lengths and directions a v being more similar to typical df lengths compared to other recumbents helps this.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

Well, I got the opportunity to take a ride in the daylight today. I only rode for about 30 minutes, as the goal was really just to practice my riding technique. I was able to ride without much drama, except at intersections and other places where people could observe. It seemed each time I tried to start, starring eyes sucked my ability to balance and pedal. It would have been comical, if I wasn't so intimate with the clown in this particular circus. While starting in front of my home, with only God and me to watch, no problem. I plan to take a longer ride tomorrow, maybe 20 miles or so. Hopefully only God will be around to witness the ride.

Very soon the "starts from stops" will come to you with practice of course. In the beginning, I included a stop-go-stop-go, etc, ride. These bikes get as easy as a Tour Easy to start on, straight, true, and easy.