New Silvio.1

[Ted]

Hi Y'all,

Ordered my new Silvio (have been riding a Bacchetta Corsa for the last 3 years) yesterday. Jim Parker called me this morning to confirm a few details. Went to my LBS this afternoon. He just sells road and mountain bikes. He'd never heard of Cruzbike. When I showed him pictures of the Silvio, he was impressed; said he liked the looks of it more than any other recumbent he has seen ... might convert him ...

Anyway, he said he'd build it up for me some afternoon when it arrives; he's willing to let me help him in whatever way I can, mainly just so I can see how everything fits together as well as how to make adjustments and fine tuning. Too, it will help if problems develop while out on a ride.

IF everything goes right, I'm hoping to have 3-4 weeks to learn how to ride the Silvio before June 2. That weekend is the 24 Hours In The Canyon ride out in Amarillo, TX. I'm registered to ride the 12 hour event. I'd love to be riding the Silvio ... if not competitively, at least at a leisurely pace. Surely that's possibly, if I put it the "saddle time" nearly everyday??

So, that leaves about two weeks to read through all these forums to glean as much information as I can ... from riding to maintenance to accessories to whatever other information I can gather ... and there's a lot!

Kind Regards,

Ted

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi Ted,
Congratulations!  I

Hi Ted,

Congratulations! I highly recommend starting with "Kim's Videos". Watching these and thinking about it before even getting your bike will help prepare.

3-4 weeks of preparation on a Cruzbike before a 12 hour event is certainly a big goal (but possible for many). Take it easy at first just getting used to the bike without "stressing" about it. I can easily see somebody getting worried that they want to ride this bike for a big event and that making them stressed and not being relaxed when learning how to ride a Cruzbike is going to make it go more slowly. In my case, I did fourty miles in the first four days and was well on my way pretty quickly.

Good luck and have fun!

Charles

 

[Kim Tolhurst]

Well done

Hi Ted,

A few weeks ago I put a Vendetta together, and with the front triangle on and crank and peddles handle bars and seat squabs (and no hanger in place.) I sat the bike on the floor, carpet so as not to scratch, and I could not help but slip into the seat. With this I happened to adjust the boom to leg and arm length and tighten the bolts.

Now here is the rub, when I took it to my LBS for cabling, (after putting derailiers and wheels on) everything was already in place including the brifters and the cabling went to best suit me. ( I had no pre thought that this would happen)

So at the same point in your build sit in the frame and do the personal adjustments. This will mean when the cabling is run it will be very close to your actual needs with having nice curves in the cabling as the LBS will know.

enjoy your build, its fun.
cheers,

Kim.

www.cruzbiking.com.au First Ride (instruction)

 

[Ted]

Assembly/Buildup

My Silvio has shipped !

I'm now considering assembling it myself, instead of my LBS. I'm a complete novice at this but do have a Park Tool Bike stand and the "Park Tool Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair" 2nd Edition.

To those of you that assembled it yourself, what was your experience? How easy/difficult was it? Did you run into any unique problems, other than those mentioned on this forum? Would you do it again?

Thanks for any info.

Ted

 

[fthills]

Hi Ted ,
Good decision to

Hi Ted ,

Good decision to build it yourself . If nothing else you learn a lot about how a bike works.

The bike stand is a great idea. And i recommend a good set of allen keys. Allen keys are
Used universally on bikes so its worthwile finding a good set. Take your time . Don't force any fittings,
And don't hesitate to ask for help from this forum. Doug Burton helped with pictures during my build if the instructions
don't give you the answer you're looking for. Its a ways off but once you've built the front triangle it might be useful to find some way of
stopping it turning as you fit components , cables etc.
During some of my build I lay the bike on a table to work on it.keep us posted.

 

[Ted]

Slack/movement in headset

Okay, I've got the frame together. It went fairly smoothly, I think ... However, there is some slack/movement, fore and aft, in the headset - don't have any of that in my mountain bike or other recumbent.

Is it normal to have slack/movement in the headset? I've tighten the headset cap bolt as tight as I dare.

I checked the subject titles in all the previous Silvio posts but didn't see anything directly related to this, unless the topic was buried in one of the forums.

Any thoughts or ideas about this are truly appreciated.

Ted

 

[Ted]

To clarify

To clarify, when I stand the frame up on end, on the rear stays, I've got movement/slack when I grasp the top of the handlebar and front fork ...

 

[mickjordan]

Re HEADSET

This happened with my Silvio 1.5. Basically the fork tube is a bit too long (~ 2mm for mine) for the standard set of spacers. It's hard t get small spacers (< 5mm) at the LBS. I ended up buying a 25mm and a 3mm from Chris King (who make great headsets) to replace the ones that came with the bike.

Mick

 

[Ted]

So it's a spacer problem?

So it's possibly a spacer problem?

Mine came with spacers of 20mm, 10mm, & 5mm. All three are in so maybe another 5mm will tighen it up ... if I my LBS has one or some of different lengths.

Thanks Mick.

Ted

 

[Ted]

What diameter are spacers?

The headset spacers apparently come in several different diameters ... what diameter are these on the Silvio?

 

[mickjordan]

Spacers

They are 1 1/8" size. You should check that this really is the problem. You can tell by looking at the spacers and the pivot clamp and headset cap. If there is *any* gap, then the cap cannot tighten everything down properly, which is why you get play in the headset.
I got my spacers here http://chrisking.com/parts/spacers

Mick

 

[Ted]

No visible gap but ...

There is no visible gap but all three spacers turn freely ...

 

[fthills]

Hi Ted.
Is the starnut,

Hi Ted.

Is the starnut, inside the steerer tube , the nut that the cap bolt drives into situated far enough into the tube to give you enough purchase. If the starnut is close to the opening of the steerer , it may be that the bolt is reaching the end of its travel before it has had the opportunity to put pressure on the spacers. But the starnut cant be driven so far into the steerer that the bolt then cant reach it when you begin the tightening. I usually have my spacers so that the steering stem is about 2 mm higher than the steering tube. .the cap then puts pressure on the spacers as you tighten the bolt till there is no play. The whole is held firm though by the stem bolts not the steering cap bolt.

If you need pictures I 'll be happy to post them.

 

[fthills]

I forgot to add that my

I forgot to add that my preference is tighten the cap bolt until the spacers become difficult to turn betwen thumb and index.

 

[mickjordan]

CAP TIGHTENING

fthills describes the setup better than I did. On my build I had about 2mm of the steering tube showing above the pivot clamp after I had snugged it all down, hence the need for an extra spacer. So obviously the cap screw has no effect in that situation. Once you have got the spacers right, Doug Burton suggested tightening the cap until you feel a resistance to the fork turning and then backing off slightly. As fthills said, the pivot clamp bolts hold everything else in place.

 

[Ted]

Holy crap ...!

Holy crap! I twisted the bolt off trying to remove it to put in another spacer ... looks like the LBS is gonna get his $$$ after all :-( ... I don't have the tools to do all this ...

 

[Ted]

Any tips or suggestions ...

Any tips or suggestions to give my LBS when I take this thing in tomorrow so he can fix/repair my mistake and finish building up this Silvio?

 

[mickjordan]

Re: HOLY CRAP

Did you break the headset cap bolt? I find it hard to imagine how that happened, unless you were tightening rather than loosening it.

I don't think there is anything too odd about the Cruzbike that a decent LBS mechanic couldn't figure out. They might get a bit frustrated. I had the following additional problems:

1. Had to remove all the paint on the inside of the fork/rear dropouts in order to get the wheels in.

2. I managed to pull out the plastic guide tube for the rear brake and had all kinds of trouble getting the cable through the frame. I ended up (suggested by John Tolhurst) using a vacuum to pull a piece of cotton through and then using that to reinsert the plastic guide tube.

3. I had problems with the length of the bolts on both the front and rear brakes. The standard Shimano bolts were too short for the Cruzbike frame.

Mick

 

[Ted]

RE:RE: Holy Crap

Yes Mick, I broke the headset cap bolt - about 11mm from its top or right at 5mm below its shoulder. I THOUGHT I was loosening it, CCw, but apprently not.

A big THANK YOU! to you and FTHILLS, for your input and information.

 

[fthills]

Hey Ted, you may not feel

Hey Ted, you may not feel like persisting but you've done no serious harm. Can you remove the bolt from the starnut with a pair of pliers ? If not , its a bit tricky because the starnut may have to be removed . Bike shops have a special tool to this. Otherwise. You can pick at it with whatever you have to hand. If its just a question of replacing the bolt any self respecting hardware store will have one with an allen key head. They are typically 6 mm bolts.

If you handover to the lbs ask them to cut the cabling for the derailleurs and brakes a bit longer than ideal until youv've decided on a comfortable seating and handlebar position.
Once youve decided on the cockpit layout then the cabling can be trimmed so its all schmik.

Handlebar tape is not that expensive but you don't necessarily need to put it on until you've decided on the handlebar layout. I usually use cable ties or electricians tape to secure handlebar cables until the brifters feel in in the right position.