No longer newbie - still struggling

[rdl03]

HeyHealy - will be trying out your theory soon. I went on a long ride (160km) with an experienced (non-Cruzbike) 'bent rider. The first thing he told me was "put clipless pedals on". I hadn't done so yet, thinking I wanted to get more comfortable before clipping in. That of course meant I couldn't pull with my legs. Would be ironic if that was the main reason it's taking me so long to get comfortable.

 

[HeyHealy]

HeyHealy - will be trying out your theory soon. I went on a long ride (160km) with an experienced (non-Cruzbike) 'bent rider. The first thing he told me was "put clipless pedals on". I hadn't done so yet, thinking I wanted to get more comfortable before clipping in. That of course meant I couldn't pull with my legs. Would be ironic if that was the main reason it's taking me so long to get comfortable.

Oh, yeah... clipless pedals will definitely help you to feel more comfortable on a Cruzbike and will help eliminate that twitchiness in the steering. I use Speedplay X-series pedals. Report back on the results!

 

[chicorider]

I'll second that. These bikes are easier to ride and handle while clipped in. I'd go for a double-sided pedal, like Speedplay or Shimano SPD mt. pedals.

 

[Robert Holler]

Lots of practice always - and make it fun and soon you will be no-hands*!

*only for fun and practice - not a realistic ride-on-the-road skill...

 

[Beano]

That's cool riding, especially the no hands bit.

 

[Chriscraft]

I bought an S40 frameset a few years ago, and was very excited to ride a new kind of recumbent. Could not go over 10mph nor climb the smallest hill. So I sold it.

Then I tried a Q45 and was able ride it almost immediately. So I used that bike as a training aid. I really think the wide handlebars helped.

Just ordered a new S40 and once again am excited to ride it. Not sure if my path to master the Cruzbike is conventional, but I think it was a good way to go. I guess I am a slow learner.

Chris

 

[Paul Mez]

I know my left leg is stronger than my right leg and I'm thinking of buying an S40. Will I be able to ride smoothly?

I'm still a newbie on S40 with a strong dominant leg. My experience is -- you'll be fine. Every ride I get just a little bit better. I'm not riding fast which bothers me a bit as I can't really hang with my legacy bike riding friends - but my wife can ride with me now and that's nice. My hill riding is improving as is my mobility, and serenity on the bike in crowds. Everybody says it just takes time....and in this...everybody is right. You got this. Go for it.

 

[Velocivixen]

I’ve had my new to me Q45 for about a month. I can easily ride around my neighborhood on it. I recently figured out to pedal a tiny bit more assertively with my left foot will aim me to my right & vice versa. So now I ride around and specifically aim for shadows on the ground, for instance. So still definitely practicing steering inputs & what they mean. It gets better.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Newbie Q45 rider here and I find it funny that I happily ride one-handed with left hand on the bar, doing anything I like with the free right hand (as suggested by the video ) but the other way round (right hand on bar, left hand free) I wobble like mad. I'm very right-hand dominant so I blame it on my right-hand wanting to do too much.

 

[ratz]

Newbie Q45 rider here and I find it funny that I happily ride one-handed with left hand on the bar, doing anything I like with the free right hand (as suggested by the video ) but the other way round (right hand on bar, left hand free) I wobble like mad. I'm very right-hand dominant so I blame it on my right-hand wanting to do too much.

Practice riding with both hands on the bars and no gripping, keep hands open palms flat fingers out steer by pushing to steer not pulling. Practice coasting at speed spread eagle feet up and off the pedals and steering like this ( when no one is looking) and also practice slow speed figure eights with this steering technique. Two weeks 4 days a week for ten minutes and the problem will be gone. You’ll also be able to grab the water bottle with less wobble

 

[Merczak73]

I'll chime in my 2 cents worth. My experience was horrible at the beginning. Could not start or stop easily. Death grip on the bars and my whole body was tense. It took my over 6 months to get used to riding the S40. I then read up on ratz's riding techiniques (figure 8s, etc) and I slowly got better. I would say that I mostly do not think about starting on the S40 any more. I do think twice about stopping on an uphill. I can start uphill, but it's not pretty at times. Your Cruzbike zen will come. It will take time, grasshopper.

Oh, and it's time to go clipless pedals. I did that almost immediately. Agree with speedplay - love the rotation it affords.

 

[Chriscraft]

I originally built up a S40 model
it proved very hard to learn
then I got a Q45. Very easy to riide