New Sofrider

[Trevski]

Hi guys,
Just a quicky to introduce myself - Trevor, from Rockingham, West Oz.
After a couple of months haunting these pages as a guest, I'm finally taking the plunge.
I need a robust, comfortable, easily repairable, go anywhere RECUMBENT bike, so I have decided 16 speed Sofrider ticks the most boxes. Quest 559 won't take mudguards, Sigma is probably too long, and I think Sylvio is too 'road' for my skill and the way I ride, and my wife would kill me. Plus, the new Sofrider colour and rims look cool, so I'm going to turn a few heads.
The consensus of opinion seems to be that a test ride isn't necessary, and will possibly be counter-productive. I'm happy to accept that - there are too many folks here who seem to love their bike. Even that guy Diego seems to hate that he loves his. The advice I've seen several times is to get the bike, and learn to ride it, and you won't be sorry.
Hopefully, I can start not being sorry this weekend!!

Trevor

 

[Alex Apostolou]

Good on you Trev. Why not come down to Burswood on a Sunday morning at 7.00 am and join us to a ride to Fremantle, or meet us in Fremantle around 8.30 - 9.00 at the cafe opposite the train station?

Cheers,
Alex

 

[Trevski]

Hi folks, back to report on progress so far.

First, Hi Alex, and thanks for the invite - but it seems that first, I need to learn how to ride all over again...which is a good thing. My son saw me get on for the first time, fall off for the first time, and then manage a few turns of the pedals. It inspired him to do the same. I took his trainer wheels off about 4 months ago, and he's refused to even try since. After watching the old man go 'splat' and then succeed, he did the same and is now riding too .

OK, so let’s start.
Thursday - Picked up the beastie from Mr T on Thursday afternoon. Put it all together and naturally had the old knee interference thing happen. Moved the seat forward some and extended the TFT a bit, and it was rideable. SHOW TIME!! Took it into my back yard, jumped on and thought to myself....this isn't going to be as easy as I had supposed. So. Deep breath. 1st gear. Foot on pedal. Relax the shoulders and hands, and push. I then discovered that my hibiscus bush isn't any where near as pretty, from the inside look out . After persevering for 30 minutes, I managed to progress to the stage where I could take off without having to push off with foot on the ground.

Friday - Got home from work and nothing would do but a ride. I have a large park over the road from my place, with nice soft grass for crashing onto. I ever so carefully wheeled the bike over there and jumped on. It was an unusual sensation - I supplied the power and balance, while the machine determined the direction. After about 5 minutes, I managed to do a large turn to the left that was my own idea. Great, I was in control, time for a lap of the duckpond. The path is about 5 feet wide, and on the second lap I managed to stay on it for about 80% of the time. Went home to celebrate, and later discovered that falling off doesn't hurt as much when you've had a couple.

Saturday - Had another fiddle with the seat and TFT, so I now have a position without any leg - handlebar contact. Went for a ride just over 7 km, all bike path, and managed to stay on the path and not run into anyone!! The first km I was just thinking "Relaxed shoulders, piano fingers." I was concerned about losing stuff from my pockets, so after checking it was all there and rearranging everything, I realised that riding this thing one handed isn't that hard after all!! Got caught in the wrong gear on a hill and stalled, and so discovered hill starts aren't really that scary either. After half an hour back home, I couldn't resist the temptation any longer, and went for a longer ride - just over 10 km. Was somewhat naughty, in that about 1 km was on road, but I was happy by then with my ability to stay left, and it is a quiet road.

Sunday - Went for a 10 km ride this morning, this one with some hills. All good, but I am in the equivalent of two gears lower going up hills than I would be on Death Rattles (my old Kmart bike). This must be where building those recumbent muscles needs some work. On the other hand I felt I was flying going down hills - so much so that I managed to crest a couple of hills that I normally have to pedal up. Once again, I couldn't resist temptation and went for another 10 km ride this afternoon. Discovered that while a mirror would be nice, it's not necessary, as I can now turn and look over my shoulder while riding. I get a few wobbles doing so, but that's just practice.

So, there we go. After 3 days of ownership and about 40km I'm happy to take the new bike on my morning ride tomorrow - I'll just have to get up earlier. I have much to learn with regards to low speed confined space manoeuvring, but I've found if I sit up straight and relax the legs, my DF instincts are relevant. I try to avoid doing that, though, as I need to develop Cruzbike instincts. Also, I jumped on Death Rattles today to go to the beach, and it felt WEIRD. All up high, and catching the wind. Strange even. I know I don't want to ride 20 km on it ever again. I can definitely feel that I'm using different muscles, but they're all in my hips.

I’ll wait till Friday, then submit my one week report.

Cheers all,
Trev

 

[Trevski]

Hi folks,

I've had the bike 10 days now, and I'm really happy with it. I haven't broken my top speed record yet (51.6 kph on my DF Death Rattles, thanks to a hill and a howling sea breeze), but my best average speed for my 21k morning ride was 26.6 kmh on Death Rattles, and 29.5 kmh on Sofrider!! I can now keep up with a few of the Spandex brigade!! I reclined the seat further today, by turning around the seat bracket, so tomorrow we'll see if that makes any difference.

Here's how I have it set up.

Problems & stuff I’ve still to learn?

Well, the obvious one is – how to ride this bike well. I had the countersteer thing working OK on Death Rattles. I find myself taking corners around 5 kmh faster on Sofrider than on Death Rattles, and that’s after slowing into my comfort zone. But when I go into a corner too hot, it’s brake and feet down. I'm not yet confident enough to give that inside bar end a little push.

Bike chicanes still defeat me. At the 9k mark of my ride, there’s an uphill chicane at the beach. Naturally, the concrete’s covered in sand. I can’t yet shift my weight, legs, arms, etc quickly enough to negotiate it. I don't have the low speed manoeuvrability I had on Death Rattles. I could easily perform a U turn in a 10 foot space on the DF. I've spent ages trying on the new bike.

I'd like to tilt the front of the seat pan up. If I put it in the forward most position on it's bracket, the angle is good, but I can't get the whole assembly far enough forward for my legs to clear the handlebars. As it is, my weight is on the back half of the pan, not the whole area. Has anyone made some sort of wedge to tilt the seat?

So that's it - 181 km covered so far, and couldn't be happier. Even though I know my skills are lacking, the speed is satisfying, and the comfort exceptional. And the grins on other people’s faces as I ride past probably match my own.

Cheers,
Trevor

 

[Jasae]

Please keep posting your progress. I am considering buying a Softrider for the Biking Across Kansas in June. It is 475 miles and I'm trying to decide if the investment is worth it. Unlike popular opinion, Kansas is quite hilly so I need a bike that will climb fairly well.

Thanks,
Ed

 

[Trevski]

Hi Ed,
Thanks for the encouragement to write- not that I need too much
Not sure of your definition of hills - where I live it's sand dunes on the coast with a bike path through them - moderately steep but very short. The real hills in Perth are about 20km east from me, called the Darling Range. I do intend to chuck the bike in the ute and do some exploring, but it's still less than 2 weeks on the bike, so I haven't developed my recumbent legs. I'm faster than on Death Rattles, but don't have the stamina. I ride the bike most easily at a cadence around 90-95, but I can't keep it up. It's increasing, from 83 average last week to 88 average today, but is still a work in progress.
Having said that, 13 days ago I could barely keep the thing upright. Now I'm quite happy to ride through a 4 foot gap at 35 kph - just under 22 mph - so the gross control aspect comes fairly quickly. I can spot a leaf on the ground and hit it...about 10% of the time. More work required.
And today - SUCCESS!! I made it through the bike chicane!! And then was in the wrong gear to continue up the path.... :roll:
You didn't mention whether you'd ridden a recumbent before. I was a virgin, and as such knew I'd have trouble. I am so glad I heeded the advice I read several times in these pages, namely that if you really think you want the bike, to trust the experience of those that have gone before and just buy the bike, and then learn how to ride it. I've never ridden anything else, but it's so much better than my old...thing, that I definitely do not regret my choice. I think the real decision is about which model ticks the most boxes for you. For my style of riding and touring ambitions, Sofrider is it.
That ride you're contemplating sounds fairly serious - I reckon you need to call in the more knowledgeable members of this forum to help decide the most suitable vehicle. I can definitely say these bikes can climb hills, but you need miles under your wheels to develop the strength and stamina if the hills are serious.

Cheers,
Trev

 

[bikeaholic]

I notice you have fenders on. What kind are they and did you have to modify them to attach them?

Thanks
beka

 

[Mark B]

Jasae wrote: Please keep posting your progress. I am considering buying a Softrider for the Biking Across Kansas in June. It is 475 miles and I'm trying to decide if the investment is worth it. Unlike popular opinion, Kansas is quite hilly so I need a bike that will climb fairly well.

Thanks,
Ed

Hi Ed,

The Sofrider will be fine on the dissected plains of Kansas. The motor, on the other hand... :lol: :lol:

Seriously, if you are going to even think about doing this, you need to go ahead and pull the trigger so you can get some time in the saddle and miles on the tires. This is not a bike you will master in a week and be comfortable enough on to do a cross-state multi-day ride like BAK. Not in my opinion, anyway. I'd say (worst case scenario) you would need close to a month of regular riding/training on the Sofrider to be ready and this is assuming you are already bike fit enough to consider such a ride. If you are one of the lucky ones that take to the FWD MBB like a duck to water, I think you'd still want two weeks, just to get to know the bike.

Good luck in whatever you decide! We'll be looking for a ride report!

Mark

 

[Trevski]

Hi Bikeaholic - that sounds like combining my two favourite pasttimes!! The fenders both bolted straight on.

The front fender is a BBB unit - http://www.bbbparts.com/fenders_bfd21f.php
The rear is Zefal Z wing - http://www.zefal.com/zefal/produit.php?key=245001

The only prob I had fitting them was that the rear fender clamps to the seatpost, so I had to move my rear light. It's now mounted on my pump, which is carried in elastic straps on my Topeak micro wedge bag.
For me, the rear fender is a must. The local town council always has the reticulation running when I ride in the morning - brown lawns, very well watered roads. Every wet patch - instant hair wash, after 5 minutes - wet back. I'd shop around, though. You want something that will mount low as possible on the seat post, but still give good tyre clearance. Mine's mounted as high as it can go, but it still scrapes on occasion.

And thanks for coming to my rescue, Mark. I've read several times most people need 621.118 miles (1000 km !!) before it all comes together - and at about 280 km I agree whole heartedly. Then it's 2 or 3 months to gain the recumbent fitness. Fortunately, these requirements are a bit like someone telling you to eat a block of chocolate every day - Oh, what a shame, if I must... :lol:

Cheers,
Trev

 

[Trevski]

Hi Folks,
I hadn't intended to post another update until 500km, but I'm jumping the gun at 445km for two reasons.

First, and most exciting for me, last Saturday I decided I'd like to do a longer ride - so I filled the water bottles, packed an apple and a couple of slices of bread, and chucked the bike in the ute. I drove to the Baldivis Shopping Centre (not on Bikely, search for Settlers Av, in Baldivis, West Oz using Whereis). From there, I rode down to the roundabout at Myalup Drive, then onto the bike path. Turned right at the T, and headed south along the Kwinana Freeway bike path. Pinjarra Road is approx 31km away - that's where I'm going. The first 10 k's, I was worried. Not about me, but about the bike. There was an alarmingly loud creak and click coming from somewhere in the front triangle area. I considered turning back, but everything felt smooth. I grabbed the joint in the TFT and squeezed hard, thinking I may have left it too loose. The creak seemed to lessen, so I stopped and tightened it as far as I could. Didn't make any difference. It all still felt smooth and solid, so I decided to persevere. I had decided to stop every 10km to drink 200ml, and halfway between the first and second drink stops, I realised the creak was gone. . So, I sat back and enjoyed the rest of the ride down - said hello to several cows, horses and ducks in various paddocks and dams. I arrived at Pinjarra Road after 1 hour and 15 minutes, average speed 25.5 kmh - went right to the end and slapped the traffic light pole, because it doesn't count if you don't. Hung around, had a munch, rang my wife, and headed for home. The trip home was great. The sea breeze had come in, and for some stretches of several kilometres, I was able to CRUIZE at over 40 kmh!! And that was taking it easy, because I'm a beginner and had a long way still to go . I may have become a little excited with the speed, though, because I must admit the last 10km were slow - I'd run out of steam. I was there for fun, not work, so I just took it as easy as I felt like. I finished the ride in a total riding time of 2 hours 14 minutes, distance covered 62.7km, average speed 27.4 kmh. The worst bit of the whole ride? When I jumped in the ute to go home, I felt like I was falling forward out of the seat :shock: !! I was literally bracing myself up with my arms! What a brilliant ride - I can't wait to do it again. But next time, I'll leave about 11, so I get to Pinjarra Road around 12:15....mmmmm - lunchtime!! The Ravenswood Hotel is only 2.5km away

Oh. Yeah. The second reason for posting early. Today, finally, I managed to negotiate the bicycle chicane at the end of the Port Kennedy bike path, and keep riding. No, really, it was actually very exciting. I missed the concrete bollard, went left, didn't hit my arm on the pole, went right, kept my balance, and didn't accidentally change gear, overcorrect, lose traction or otherwise have a brain fart causing me to fall off. WOOHOO!!

So, that's it. Almost 3 weeks of Sofridering, and absolutely loving it.

Cheers,
Trevor

PS And I think I found the cause of the aforementioned creak. I think the water on the road I ride through in the morning caused come dryness in the front triangle pivots. I gave them a squirt of wet chain lube, gave them all a twist to make sure they're all tight, and the sound hasn't come back.

 

[stevewobbe]

Congrats on becoming a coverboy on the home page - nice pic....

 

[Trevski]

My 10 minutes!! :lol: :lol:

 

[KenM]

Congratulations! I got my blue Sofrider in early January so I'm possibly just a little ahead of you and am having a ball.

As for hill climbing, my commute home is on a bike path which passes through a very hilly section that the guide book describes as "Challenging". I only started riding a conventional bike last Easter after a gap of about 30 years from when I last rode with any frequency. This January I swapped to the Sofrider. When I first hit the big hills on the Sofrider I seemed to struggle more than on my conventional bike but after a few weeks I regard the effort as about the same. On the very steepest parts I can force a little slippage in traction if I use really uneven pressure but with a little pedalling technique there's no problem, even sitting right back in the seat. On gravel surfaces I've occasionally had to resort to sitting forward to maintain traction, but not often. In extreme circumstances a rear wheel drive will naturally get you further than a front wheel drive, but that would be true mountain bike territory.

My longest ride in a day so far has been about 130km in some really strong winds, starting at noon. I think the lower centre of gravity really helped in very bad crosswinds. At the end of the day there were none of the aches and pains in my backside, neck/shoulders or wrists/hands that were standard on my conventional bike; just a pleasant sense of work completed by my legs and, to a lesser extent, arms.

I'm noticing every time I ride that it seems more natural. I've got more improvement to go and am still not quite as good through the chicanes as the conventional bike but I'm sure that will come in time. I've discovered that it helps to release my cleats for tight manoeuvres, generally at walking pace or less, as I twist my feet on the pedals a bit. Sometimes I still wobble a bit taking off, especially up-hill or accelerating hard, but other times its really slick; again, simply more practice!

In summary, I've found it a great bike that makes a lot of sense!
-Ken

 

[Trevski]

Hi Ken,
Have to agree regards the perceived effort of climbing hills, at first. I think it's just that we're using the muscles in ways they're not used to, while becoming familiar with the bike. For me, becoming comfortable with sitting forward and really getting the whole body hanging off that front triangle did the trick - to me, it makes the whole structure feel rigid like a conventional bike. I've never experienced wheel slip on a solid surface, but then I'm not the strongest bloke around, either. I've noticed a sort of rip-rip-rip noise from the tyre while going uphill, but no sensation of loss of traction.
If you're using cleats, you're braver than I. I've never used them, and I don't feel I'll be game to try until around the 1000km mark...I've tried my SPD shoes with the normal pedals, to see if the firmer sole made any improvement to power transfer. What I found instead was that my feet kept coming off the pedals because I couldn't feel where the pedals were....besides which, I purchased my shoes online, and find that they're too small. I'm size 9, which equates to European 43, but after 45 minutes my feet were numb .
As you say, great bike; but in my case - the rider's still got a way to go....what a shame, I'll just have to practice a bit more tomorrow :lol:

Cheers,
Trevor

 

[Doug Burton]

Hey guys,

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the new Sofrider.

One thing your legs may be adapting to is the shorter crank length of the Sofrider vs. most conventional bikes. Our shorter cranks (160mm on the Sofrider, 155mm on the Quest) shift the balance between crank torque and pedal cadence to reduce knee loading, and this can take a little time to adapt to, with good results for your knees. You'll notice this first on hills, and then as your riding style adapts to a slightly higher cadence and less pedal pressure, you'll start to find hill climbing is superior (as I think you're finding out based on what you observed.)

Your body writes new "subroutines" to optimize your use of the entire bike as a system. Particularly early on, you'll notice that after a night's sleep and returning to the bike, your style has adapted further, even though you weren't riding at the time. Darned if I know why it works this way - maybe our brains use sleep time to organize what our bodies learn during exercise. But we've heard it over and over from new Cruzbike owners.

These ride writeups by new owners are very helpful to the "new" new owners. Thanks for bringing them here.

Best,

Doug

 

[Mark B]

Doug Burton wrote: Your body writes new "subroutines" to optimize your use of the entire bike as a system. Particularly early on, you'll notice that after a night's sleep and returning to the bike, your style has adapted further, even though you weren't riding at the time. Darned if I know why it works this way - maybe our brains use sleep time to organize what our bodies learn during exercise. But we've heard it over and over from new Cruzbike owners.

That's as good a way of putting it as I've heard.

Mark

 

[Trevski]

Ha Ha Ha!! Doug, that's funny!! My subroutines need a little debugging......
For all those non-professionals who've written program code of any sort.....
You know how you have a concept, and you know it will work, and it's pretty simple, so you just sit down and start typing...and when you get to about 50 lines of code you wonder how it became so big (because as you go, you add additional lines to make it more "mature", and to deal with exceptions etc. to try to make it idiot-proof), and then when you run it, it all falls in a big heap, and you have to spend four times the time you spent writing it to debug it? I reckon, at this point, I'm at the equivalent point of when you press "run" for the very first time!!
Today, I was run off the bike path by an old bloke walking his dog. I came up behind them, called 'Bike Passing' (because I feel bells are a bit rude), then proceeded to run off the bike path even though they had moved completely off the path . Nothing to do but apologise for not having my 'learner' plates displayed. Sometimes I can pick my path within an inch...sometimes not.

 

[Trevski]

Hello fellow newbies,
Posting again because of a new development. In previous posts I've mentioned that my Shimano MTB shoes hurt, and that I didn't think I'd be ready to go clipless until 1000k's. Well, 715 k's is pretty close

A bit of background. When I was researching pedals and shoes, I came across the advice a few times that one should purchase one's shoes a size smaller, as one won't spend much time walking in them. I thought to myself, "Sod that!!!!", as I hate wearing tight shoes. Being size 9 in the Land of Oz, I consulted several 'shoe' websites and from the information therein came to the conclusion that I'm a size 43Euro. Having purchased my shoes online for several years with very satisfactory results, that's the size MTB shoe I ordered. They were too small .

So...

Wednesday evening - Decided that I've had shoes that were initially too small before, and I just had to wear them in. Put the MTB's on about 7:00pm, and spent loads of time walking around. They became quite comfy after about half an hour. Decided to bite the bullet, and put the clipless pedals on the bike about 8:30. Spent the next hour practicing getting in and out of them. Told the missus to expect a few oozy bits over the next week.

Thursday morning - 5:30am, quite dark, this is good. No one can see my bumbling efforts trying to get clipped in. Got to the end of my road and discovered that getting my left foot out was way easier than my right. This meant I'd do the big outward thrust with both legs, the left would unclip and the right would send me shooting off toward the island in the middle of the road . Lucky, no cars. Having turned onto the bike path on Safety Bay Road, I discovered a new way to clip in. I'd assumed that, as one must twist ankles out to clip out, one must twist ankles in to clip in. In my haste to accelerate while not clipped in, I heard a "CLICK" from my left foot and it was clipped - I could ride with one leg only. So the new clip-in method became press-hard-at-the-bottom-of-the-pedal-stroke. I'm not sure if this is good practice, but it works. I gave myself heaps of time to unclip before each intersection - I needed it to allow for the differential forces of left to right release. Thursday evening, I spent a bit of time easing and balancing the clip pressure of the pedals.

Friday morning - the lower clip pressure makes it a lot easier to clip in. Just get the clip positioned properly and give a good push on the pedals at the bottom of the stroke. I can see this would be easy on a DF - you'd just position your toes and give a 'jump' with the legs. Clipped. It's not so easy for a newbie to recumbents, who's an even newer newbie to clipless. I probably spend around a 30 or more seconds each time, faffing around trying to get clipped in. I can see and feel that it's an advantage - I can maintain a higher RPM, I can go faster at lower RPM, I can forget about worrying where my feet are and concentrate on form. I can ride a much 'tighter' line - an 18 inch wide path is a challenge now, not a dream. But even though I'm riding at a higher speed, my average has dropped due to the time spent cautiously unclipping, then trying to clip in.

And, those bl@#$y shoes still hurt . They're fine walking around - 10 minutes after my feet are elevated on the bike, I loose the outside three toes on each foot. After twenty minutes, I've lost the ball of my left foot .

Conclusion? I like clipless - sorta. Ignoring the shoe problem, at the moment I prefer the normal pedals in an urban environment. The couple of times I have to concentrate on reading the road so my feet aren't shaken off the pedals outweigh uncertainties and time lost during clipping in/out.

But, these last two days, I've been able to try to spin. Even without conscious effort to spin, I know my body is trying to do it - because for the last two days I've had a burn in the front of my thighs that was never there before, no matter how hard I pushed. Only one-in-twenty of us would still be riding a Cruzbike if we were the type of people who abandoned something different that we could see had potential, because it was too hard on day 2. I will persevere with clipless - but, damn, I NEED NEW SHOES!!!!!!!!!

 

[Gromit]

Trevski wrote: And, those bl@#$y shoes still hurt . They're fine walking around - 10 minutes after my feet are elevated on the bike, I loose the outside three toes on each foot. After twenty minutes, I've lost the ball of my left foot .

Trevski
Try moving the cleats on your shoes as far back in the slots towards the heel as they'll go.
I usually find that eases the numb toes problem.
I had the benefit of being able to experiment easily, years back when I had a Trice Micro recumbent trike.

 

[KenM]

Hi Trevor,
I've just posted on a similar topic over on the Silvio thread. See http://www.cruzbike.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2372

In summary, I'm using platforms around town and clipless for touring while trying to get "combo" pedals that default to platform but can be flipped for longer rides (rather than the other way round.)

I have fallen while getting out of clipless pedals on loose gravel: watch for that!
Cheers,
-Ken

 

[Trevski]

Thanks Gromit, I'll give it a try. If I can make these shoes work....but I don't hold out too much hope. I reckon they're just too small.

Hi Ken, yeah, I replied to your post before I came here. For me, at my current skill level, I feel urban = platform. I'm able to concentrate on form while clipless, but waste too much time getting in and out.

Rode to Mandurah today - 71km round trip, and I changed back to platform before I left home. I'm glad I did, because from Madora Bay south, there was a lot of bike-path to road to bike-path action, stopping for cars, tight manoeuvring etc. I'd be interested in the opinion of the experienced riders regards this clipless in an urban environment issue.

I'll post the Safety Bay to Mandurah ride on Bikely. It's great, 50% beachfront, and quiet road/bike path all the way, except for a couple of k's each way where it's necessary to ride down the Mandurah Road. The route will be slightly shorter, as I took a couple of side trips, and dropped in to see my Mum. Great day, I'm annoyed that it's over!!

Cheers,
Trev

Edit: ride's mapped now!! http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/394513