New A4X and new to Cruzbike and Recumbents - Learning report

[peterwinston]

I've been remiss. Meant to post this for the potential benefit of others.
I'll start with when I got it, when I first rode it and initial impressions. Then later I'll post to the thread my learning journey.
So first: I got my A4X on March 20.
With life's responsibilities, and me being fairly new to bike maintenance and mechanics, it took me about a week to assemble it. Assembly instructions were good - any difficulties were due to my inexperience.
I do have an important tip/note about installation. Tightening the wheel axles before each ride - very important! After a few rides I had a lot of shifting problems and it took me like a week to figure out that my front wheel was subtly loose!
Anyway, I think my first ride was on March 28. Fred flinstoning around - noticing the weight of the front big time. A little coasting. A tiny bit of (somewhat uncessful) attempts to actually pedal. First day was a real eye opener - I'm really learning to ride for the first time here!
I'll continue in additional posts to cover first week experience, different milestones over time and ultimately where I am now.

 

[Robert Holler]

Before long you will be a pro. Don't overthink the inputs. My daughter who does not ride bikes - at all - and tends to overthink everything to the nth degree (lawyer) got it pretty good first run out of the gate.

Definitely wise to always check your though axle. This is something that the folks in MTB's have to do sometimes mid ride when taking a break.

(edited to figure out links... hmmmm)

 

[peterwinston]

Before long you will be a pro. Don't overthink the inputs. My daughter who does not ride bikes - at all - and tends to overthink everything to the nth degree (lawyer) got it pretty good first run out of the gate:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IcwUTUBVD1Sr-kTzrjIodc9vnwgOGcF2/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15fg4ldDLCUkEBS9eehQkVM1ydjLsPBBx/view?usp=sharing

Definitely wise to always check your though axle. This is something that the folks in MTB's have to do sometimes mid ride when taking a break.

Glad your daughter got it quickly. I suspect my journey will appeal to those who perhaps did not!
(BTW, those links are "Access Denied" so not public.)

 

[peterwinston]

OK, continuing my report.

Week 1​

So week 1 was scary in the sense that progress was slow. Some days felt better than others. Certainly by the 3rd time on the bike I could start and pedal. Once I got going though it was hard to keep a decent straight line and turns were all over the place.

Week 2​

I think the second week is where I really picked up speed. That week the high school was off on vacation and there is a parking lot down the street from me so I spent week two generally there.
I practiced just riding around as comfortably as I could. I tried (sometimes successfully) to turn into a lane or hit a line where I meant to. And I did low speed turns and figure 8s with pretty poor control. But every day got a little better.
Adjustments: Oh, I'll also mention that early in week two I realized that the seat on the bottom needed to be indented upward as I kept feeling like I was sliding off. That adjustment helped a lot. I made a couple of other adjustment tweaks as well.
Issue: Toward the end of week 2 I was freaking out a bit as the shifting was all over the place. Skipping gears and such, but not in ways that made sense to me. Long story short, after bring the bike to my work area and attempting twice to adjust the shifting (and checking that the derraileur hanger wasn't bent - the Interwebs kept telling me to check it, but it wasn't bent!) I finally realized that the axle attaching the wheel was a little loose! That behaved sort of like the hanger being bent, but in a weird way. Once I tightened it properly, I was able to dial shifting in again pretty quick. So as mentioned in the first post - check those wheel attachments before every ride!

Week 3​

Week 3 (last week) was where I started finally making real progress. I had "touched" a couple of nearby hills with a little success in week 2. But in week 3 I spent much more time riding the quiet streets in my neighborhood. Taking it easy. Focusing on maintaining lines and proper turns and practicing short hills. By the end of the week hills felt pretty good. Then I realized that one of the toughest hills on my normal rides is just across a substantial road so I should try it. I "sort of" did it the first time, but really struggled and was all over the road, but that felt huge! In week 3 I went back to that hill a couple more times and the last time I did it I maintained a good line and got all the way up without stopping. Even on my diamond frame bike, I'd frequently stop on the hill for a pause. Can I start from a stop on that hill? No .
Another fun milestone in week 3 is I took the bike to the Bronx River greenway (no cars!) and rode it for 3 miles, just to get a feel and practice riding on the ups and downs and a narrowish path.
This week is starting out well. I got a much longer ride on the greenway! I'll report next week on week 4.
I can't believe it's been only 3 weeks! Feels like longer.

If you are a fellow newbie - take heart. It may feel crazy those first few days, but hopefully in 3 short weeks you'll be feeling much more confident.
As for me, I'll know I've truly arrived when I take up my usual routes again - hopefully soon.

 

[peterwinston]

Here's a few random thoughts:
1. On the greenway were some "going under bridge" or over wooden bridge spots where the instructions were to dismount. On my A4x, I just "fred flintstone" walked them. Perfectly safe for all and nice for me!
2. Bumps: Went over a few substantial bumps on purpose - not bad. The suspension is pretty good. That said, I'll be keeping an eye on this. On a diamond frame bike your whole body is basically a shock absorber when you stand on the pedals. Can't do that on a recumbent. But again, I'll have a better idea on this later.
3. When you have to walk it... it is so much nicer to walk a cruzbike somewhere. With the pedals way out front and the weight up front you just guide the cross point of the steering and the boom and it's super easy. No tripping or hitting your ankles or shins on pedals. An unexpected plus.