My Very First Recumbent is a V20

[Frito Bandito]

The 28mm is really comfortable... is your rim wide enough though for it to still be aero? Depends what you want to do with bike... KOMS or training.

Nah, it isn't as aero as a 25mm. I am keep telling myself that I want more endurance and have been piling in the longer rides at a slower pace with next years goal in mind. However, getting passed or even followed too closely really gets under my skin. Another thing is even if the wind blows I just can't help myself. Monday is my next planned longish ride, but the weather predicted for Thursday could be an exciting day. I am definitely gonna be dressed for the occasion just in case. As a matter of fact I might try a mini "Peak" then. A Triathlon trio knocked me off my KOM so it's payback time if the weather holds.

 

[Frito Bandito]

I took off the old bullhorns and put on some new ones, this time with them laid forward instead of sticking up. During the test ride to see if the gears were indexed properly steering with the bars felt weird, and I have to adjust the brake pads very close to the rim due to the reduced travel clearance of the levers, but I think it'll be more aero. When I have rides that have more climbing than usual I will angle the handles up a little bit so I can pull on the bars for a bit more power.

 

[Don1]

Invert them dude!

 

[Frito Bandito]

If this doesn't work for whatever reason then I will but I am going to give these a proper try first. The handle angle is about the same as the other bullhorns, but flipping them over like in the pic got the shifters a little more out of the wind. The other bullhorns were inverted, and worked well. Just trying to get more aero, and clean up the view. I had the brifters on the OEM bars at first, which was okay, but not as aero and kinda blocked too much of the view. The upturned bullhorns with Dura Ace TT bar end shifters and TT brake levers were a bit more aero and cleaned up the view a bit. But now the bars are about as aero as I can get without converting to tiller and/or Di2.

 

[Don1]

If you got a trainer. Video yourself and see if your hands and shoulders are in line, so they only punch one hole. Only way to know for sure. Or if you're vain, check yourself out in a shop window as you ride past but dont blame me if you run up the back of something.

 

[Frito Bandito]

My arms should be pretty straight, but I can always get my elbows out of the wind by holding closer to the stem when no one is nearby.
I won't blame ya though. I see you read the words on my cycling shirt in my profile pic. I have another one being shipped from a bike shop this week. They gave me a discount since no one else bought it after having sat on the rack for 2 years

 

[Don1]

Lol .That's awesome.. need a full pic

 

[DavidCH]

Word of caution. Straight arms causes pulled tendons. Going up hills ... Best just to sit back and spin. I used bull horns for a few years. I had/have the 3m carbon aero.

 

[Don1]

Lol. When I said arms I literally didn't mean dead straight arms......

 

[Frito Bandito]

I do like riding kinda straight armed though. This allows me to use my back muscles to pull on the bars when I need as much power as possible instead of using the biceps and potentially ripping something important. With bent arms I felt my biceps were going to fall off and didn't have anywhere near the power or endurance as my back. Once I am up to speed then I can relax the grip and spin like you suggest Dave. Before I tackle the biggest climb to date (1,100m) I will be putting on a different cassette because an 11/23 on a 52/36 is NOT gonna work on that one haha. I have another cassette that IIRC is a 12/28. That should be ok.
Other than aero benefits, another reason for flipping the bars was that with the right TT lever sticking up and needing to use my thumb to push it down, due to the type of aero brake levers I had and how they clamped on the bar, I had to angle the levers outward a bit which was not a natural movement for my thumb. Pushing the lever down at that awkward of a position felt a bit like pinching something narrow between my thumb and the proximal phalange on my right hand.

 

[Frito Bandito]

Invert them dude!

Well, flipping them to be more aero didn't work. They were more aero, but despite the numerous hand positions available, none of them were comfortable enough for long hours in the saddle. I figured I could just keep a light touch with my elbows tucked for most of the ride but nope. They will be inverted tomorrow.

 

[M.J]

I do like riding kinda straight armed though. This allows me to use my back muscles to pull on the bars when I need as much power as possible instead of using the biceps and potentially ripping something important. With bent arms I felt my biceps were going to fall off and didn't have anywhere near the power or endurance as my back.

I never even thought about the idea of engaging back muscles when you ride straight armed.
My normal position is hands in the drops (stock recent-V20 flared bar) and my power position for hard sprints and climbs is straight arms, gripping the hoods. I find that it really feels more powerful (and segment times back up the feel) as well as helping me breathe better.
I think the idea of using bigger back and shoulder muscles gives a good explanation for this.

 

[Frito Bandito]

I never even thought about the idea of engaging back muscles when you ride straight armed.
My normal position is hands in the drops (stock recent-V20 flared bar) and my power position for hard sprints and climbs is straight arms, gripping the hoods. I find that it really feels more powerful (and segment times back up the feel) as well as helping me breathe better.
I think the idea of using bigger back and shoulder muscles gives a good explanation for this.

I didn't even consider the breathing aspect of it, but since you mentioned it I will see if I can notice it next ride. I was using the hoods to pull on also when I had them installed, but switched to bullhorns pretty soon after. I am not sure how much stress the Brifter clamps were designed for so keep an eye on them just in case when you try using the back muscles. Since the biceps and back work together to pull, it is easy to incorporate a lot of bicep when applying power if the bars are close and your arms are bent. Give it a try to see if you aren't already using them.

With having the initial death grip I was feeling it in the tendons as DavidCH wrote. A combination of losing the death grip and moving the bars forward a little, along with being mindful of using my back muscles while keeping the biceps out of the mix as much as possible really helped in not only putting down more power but also not injuring anything.

 

[M.J]

My left bicep is surgically repaired and a little weaker than my right and when I first started riding the V20 (which was my first MBB), I could really feel it after a long ride.
Set-up and experience have cured that, but it's definitely less tiring in hard efforts to ride with straight arms.
The hoods should be more than strong enough. Have you seen how pro riders yank the bike back and forth on a sprint? I know the direction of force is a little different, but I would still think that whatever we're doing doesn't compare to the heaviest loads that those components on upright bikes see.

 

[Frito Bandito]

Yes, I think so too, and I like my arms out in front. I know at my max effort I am nowhere near that kind of wattage so I wouldn't be ripping off any hoods in the near future if I had them.
Speaking of hoods, and with my last ride on the new bars... I flipped the bullhorns back over to upright, and will give them a proper ride soon even though I already know they will be more comfortable than the last ride.


Don't mind the curtains.

 

[Frito Bandito]

I noticed a bit of creaking during the last ride so I finally removed the Shimano BB RS500 cups and put on Dura Ace 9100 cups, which was surprisingly simple. I saved a few grams but I wouldn't be surprised if the creaking continues since reading the thread "V20 Pivot Bolt and Clamp" about the 2 washers on the sleeve and 1 on bolt boom clamp. I don't remember mine having any washers, but I do remember the sleeve and bolt being very rusty.


Let's see how it feels and sounds tomorrow.

 

[Frito Bandito]

Got the bars inverted


And pics of the shirt

 

[Gary Hudson]

Got the bars inverted
View attachment 11362

And pics of the shirt
View attachment 11363 View attachment 11364

I really like the jersey. It looks like it was inspired by Roy Lichtenstein.

 

[Frito Bandito]

Yes, it does look like that. I kept looking at the XL every time I went into the shop, and 1 day it was gone I thought for sure someone bought it. A few months went by and I finally showed 1 of the salespersons a pic of the large I was wearing and he said they shipped the XL to another store in Shinjuku. I had him ship it back to Ueno and bought it because I know my L isnt going to last forever even though it still look new.

 

[Frito Bandito]

GoPro 7 Timewarp video of a 40km ride up the Arakawa in Tokyo on my V20 today
I just added some of Youtube's free music to it, so it might be ready to go soon. Youtube's music selection isn't so great though so have the mute button ready.