New, nervous and CANT WAIT!

[Tami]

I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve! My Vendetta gets here in 3 days! (According to FedEx) I have been wanting one for quite a while, was just too afraid to pull the trigger! Thanks to Jonathan at Rose City Recumbents for putting me in touch with Mark at Backcountry Recumbent Cycles who had one on consignment! I feel like I have read almost every post on here, so thank you all for sharing, you are a wealth of info!

I have been a bent rider for 7 years on Bacchetta bikes. I switched to bents after a knee issue, which has now been replaced, as has a hip. I have a feeling this will take a bit longer to learn than my previous bents. Giro, Ti-Aero and now a CA2. My 1st bent (Giro) I bought used. Picked it up on a Sunday, and on Thurs a friend and I did RTFL. Thank goodness it was flat! Love my CA2, but 650c tires are getting harder to find and I like the idea of FWD. So N+1 = Vendetta! I am a 56 yr old Gma who likes to go fast. And yes i am a bit competitive and I don’t give up easily!

I am nervous/excited to start with the drills I have been reading about! I am already planning to use the zip ties on the front....just in case I have a flat! I have ordered the dual bottle cage mount for the neck rest so I can use either my BUC bag or a brain bag Have spent hours reading about different neck rest options and adjustments.

1 last comment....maybe this is a girl thing....I have named my new bike Bagheera. (Think Jungle Book) In the pic’s and videos I have seen of the Black Vendettas, they remind me of a black panther. Sleek, smooth, fast and powerful.

That’s it in a nutshell! I am sure i will have lots of questions, promise to use the search function and if I cant find the answer you will be hearing from me! Will keep you updated on my progress. Will also post pic’s as soon as it gets here! Tami

 

[Mathew Fy]

RTFL

Today I learned of a new ride to add to my list.
https://www.ridethefault.com/

 

[ChaleJake]

Super. Enjoy your new ride.

 

[Don1]

I wonder if you are the meme I read about....."he said I ride like a girl, so I dropped him"

Enjoy

 

[LarryOz]

Welcome to the tribe Tami - I am sure you will be recruited ... haha... youll see what I mean in little while

 

[DavidCH]

Tami is a cool name too.

Dare I say it ... a cool cat that's ready to scalp.

Yep welcome to the tribe. That bike I am always tinkering with trying to save more watts on my 8th year of having her.

It's more than a bike but a way of life.

Profound Pro-found

 

[Tami]

Thanks all for the welcome! Should’ve spelled out Ride the Fault Line! It’s a great little ride, and they do a fantastic ride! LOVE that meme!! Not sure how many riders I drop....but i do enjoy trying! Guessing LarryOz you are meaning Zwift!? I love Zwift and looked at the racing league. Still have my CA2 on the trainer for a while, but if the times work...I am in....assuming there is a D team? Only downfall of zwift, sometimes hard to do a recovery ride, “just gonna pass 1 more rider”..... Lately trying to stay in the fat burning zone with my HR for 75% of my rides (Keto and Primal Endurance) And DavidCH- i am a tinkerer as well, although sometimes my tinkering gets a little above my mechanical abilities! I do like to learn though, and love the feeling of accomplishment when i can do/fix something by myself!

 

[trplay]

The Zwift Cruzbike Racing Team is always thrilled to have walk-ons join our group. Tami, you are welcome to join us. We have a lot to offer those that come and stay awhile. Many people mistake us for a group of video gamers hidden inside a dark pain cave with no connections to outdoor riding. The truth is we are an active group of recumbent riders with a lot of experience. We have RAAM winners, PBP anciens, Bike builders, riders with over 20 years of recumbent experience, Riders who for 15 years straight logged between 7K and 15 thousand miles a year. Heck, between Rat and Russell by themselves, they have owned over 50 plus different recumbents. Our group gets together every week to laugh, ride, and share the things we have learned. Amongst all of our members, I suspect we have ridden in every significant recumbent race/ride/route in the US. Our Zwift group is not for everyone although, this statement certainly doesn't apply to a recumbent rider We have places for riders of every speed and gender. We race every Tuesday and Thursday night with other occasional get-togethers. The door is open, and the lights are on.

 

[Frito Bandito]

Welcome Tami. This is a great place and it is always nice to have new people join. If you have some questions that your search doesn't answer feel free to ask. Someone is bound to either know where it is, or since we all love talking about our bikes and giving advice you'll get a handful of answers quick fast and in a hurry. BROL has a lot of information about recumbents in general, but here is where I got most of my answers about CB related stuff.
Enjoy the ride and if I may speak for everyone, we are looking forward to seeing some pics of your new beauty and reading about your experiences here.

 

[Tami]

Cant wait to share some pics! I am on BROL some.....I have noticed however some over there are a bit "jaded" on the CB's! Everybody's entitled to their opinion!!

 

[Frito Bandito]

There are a few on there who say that the MBB didn't work for them, but recently trikes seem to be the topic of the month there. So when I go there I just click "New Posts", see if there is anything new that is useful to me or I can answer then get about my business.

Anyhoo, what do you have planned for your new bike? Wheels, groupset, bars, tires, bags, hydration...etc.

 

[chicorider]

All I know is that I'm glad I didn't listen to the nay-sayers, most of whom seem to start their remarks with, "I've never ridden a Cruzbike, but it seems to me..." or, "I bought one and rode it for 50 miles, and decided..."

 

[Frito Bandito]

Same here. There are always a few who don't like any product. I never even bother to focus on such a low % other than to see if something is blatantly obvious that it isn't going to work for me. I have a double switch back on my usual ride. The 1st is a sharp climbing left, with about 10 meters before a sharp right in gravel, followed by a nasty hole between a narrow gate. It's terrible on a DF, but brutal on any recumbent. I make the 1st left as wide as possible and only at the apex do I have to pause pedaling for a second before powering up the short ascent. Once I reach the grave for the next switchback it is just better to sit up and push myself through the 3 meters of gravel and around the edge of the hole. Even when pedaling through slow turns I have not experienced any pain or discomfort the small % complained about. Wheel slip on wet inclines? Yeah, I can see that happening. But I am not a billy goat and my V20 doesn't have knobbies on it. If I am going to be doing any climbing on it, especially on wet asphalt then I will drop my 28mm wide tire pressure to 60-70ish and I will likely be alright.

 

[Tami]

Thanks for the welcome! I am definitely interested in the Tues and maybe Thurs depending on the time? Thurs is reserved for gkids til 630ish CST. I am assuming there is a discord channel?
Oh Frito....so many plans and it’s not even here yet! Haha! Yes wheels, but that may have to wait til I sell my CA2! And maybe go to a disc break, but not sure I really need that? Gearing, right now I have a granny of 30 upfront (triple) and 36 in the rear. Even though I live in Ks, we are in the middle of the Flint Hills! My new bike has 50/34 and 11-34, I need to see how I do on the hills with the Vendetta before I decide. For longer rides I am planning on using either a Brain bag or I also have a BUC bag that i use now. Since this has a std seat I have already ordered the dbl water bottle mount and will mount the bag there. I also like the tube set up for hydration from the back or a bottle on the underneath side of the boom. There are also 2 water bottle mounts under my seat I could use. Neck rest...TBD when the bike gets here! But I like the partially filled tube idea! Tires.....I have never run tubeless, but wont rule them out! Using Conti 4000 now, they are ok but 571 tire options are so limited.
Well...listen to me going on and on about my bike that’s not even here yet! Ha! C’mon Wed!

 

[trplay]

Thursdays sound close based on what 6:30ish is. The race start time on Thursday is 6:35 ct. It is 6:15ct on Tuesdays. Those times can vary a few minutes based on the team you are on. We race in the Americas East Division on Tuesdays and zone 13 Thursdays so if those times don't fit we can point you to other teams to join in the other zones. Tuesday is the Zwift Racing League while the Thursday race is the WTRL TTT. Both are great team racing formats. Yes, we have a Cruzbike Discord server with several team channels. You also have to register in Zwift power dot com and the WTRL sites in order to receive the team race passes needed to get into the events. Below are the time zones the teams' race in. Again we ride in the Americas East on Tuesday and zone 13 on Thursday.

Tuesday : ZRL Americas E.

Thursday: Zone 13 WTRL TTT

 

[Frito Bandito]

Upgrading is going to be fun. All things being considered I think it will climb about as equally well as your other recumbents. Don't do like I did. I have a set of Campagnolo Zondas, (climbing) a set of Sciroccos (durability), a set of Bullet 50s (speed), and an 80mm Bullet (more speed) for the rear of my V20, all rim brake. That is just under $3000 worth of wheels. For that price I could have gotten a much faster set of disc brake wheels that I still could have gotten up any incline I'll ever encounter. If I were in your situation with hills then I would lean towards disc brakes, and 2-way fit on something very aero. A couple of hundred grams in weight difference isn't going to make much of a difference and they will still be almost as aero as anything coming out for the foreseeable future. Disc brakes perform better in all situations, rotors can be replaced preserving the rim from brake wear which means you can use them for much longer. Sometimes tried-and-true is great but why not take advantage of tech if possible. At some point I'll have a disc brake full disc on the rear, and either an 80mm or a spoke on front. The Xentis Mark3 being on my wish list.

 

[DavidCH]

Those new roval wheels with dt swiss 370 hubs (with 16 engagements) for just over 1100 looks so so tempting

 

[Tami]

C’mon...somebody buy my CA2!! Been drooling over wheels this morning! I am already signed up on zwift power, will get WTRL done later today...but probably not in time for tonight? Maybe.....

 

[trplay]

@Tami You have a PM in conversations.

 

[Tami]

It's TODAY!!!! I just got a notification from FedEx...it will be delivered today instead of tomorrow!! Going now to watch the assembly video again!