not even started yet

[bladderhead]

Ordered the kit and it came really quickly. All the way from Oz. I am in London, by the way. At the same time I ordered the donor from Ebay. Still not come. All the way from Nottingham!

I got a Grasshopper 10 years ago and it is my only bike. Its only weakness is lack of speed. When I got it I was not in the habit of cycling a long way, so I didn't mind that. 2 years ago my employers moved their premises, and as the bike is my usual way to get there the slowness is getting annoying. More than once have I been overtaken by a weight weenie tri-athlete. I try to keep up, and almost manage it, until I get so out of breath I think I am dying, and the last thing I see as I pass out is his bum receding in the distance. Ten years ago, I was given to understand that recumbents are really fast, and that they break speed records, and they were banned from official races because they kept winning. My Grasshopper doesn't seem to know all that. Also, the journey to work is really hilly. My Grasshopper knows that.

So I was looking on the internet about recumbents that are as fast as they are supposed to be and found Cruzbike. Rigid triangle and short chain make sense from an engineering point of view. And, apparently Maria goes up the side of a cliff like a rat up a drainpipe. What's not to like?

This is an experiment to see if I can do this MBB lark, so the donor is only 50 quid. If I like it I would probably replace it with a Silvio or Vendetta.

Gonna be hard to learn, not only for the obvious reason. I made myself heel-clips for the Grasshopper, and ride with my insteps rather than the balls of my feet. I also have Rohloff which I love.

Feeling really guilty now. The Grasshopper is giving me a really hurt look.

So now I am waiting eagerly for the donor to arrive.

 

[Ian Smith]

take your time

Take your time learning how to ride this bike. It will take you a while to unlearn all of your common riding technique and develop the Cruzbike riding technique. The conversion is unlikely to go any faster. The Silvio and Vendetta will.

 

[bladderhead]

I think I should have paid

I think I should have paid more for a donor. I screwed the crank-puller into the chain-side crank. I screwed in the middle bit. The crank-puller came out of the crank with some metal shavings. Anyway, the bottom bracket axle is wobbling around in the shell.

Then I started thinking it had the wrong type of handlebar stem. That problem was solved when I noticed the stem was wobbling around in the tube.

I dread to look at the derailleur. At least the frame has not broken in two yet.

It is now in the hands of the LBS, who say they will probably destroy the bottom bracket.

Should have paid more for the donor in the first place.

 

[Ian Smith]

Donor bike

So far mine has cost me: 1x conversion kit, new BB $18.50, front deraileur $30ish, cables $20, rear rack $40. I still need to change out one of the cones in the drive wheel due to a defect, invest in a layback seatpost to the seat away from the bars and to shorten the steerer extension slightly. I have managed to make some shims from an old seat post and front fork from a donor bike to make the steerer extension fit the quills. Not bad for a non suspended hard waste pickup and a half baked, crackpot engineer.

The right donor bike does make the job easier, especially if it has A-head steering and V-brakes already.

Re the crank removal from the BB, some tools have a removable mushroom head that slips inside a slip ring 'bearing'. You often need to remove this mushroom so that you don't ream out a new shaped hole in the process, thus making your crank sloppy. If you're changing the BB, just be sure you've got the right profile as the square ISO and JIS types are very similar. If it's Shimano then it's JIS.

A word of warning, expect lots of smiles and laughs when you're riding. You'll also get lots of smiles and laughs from riders and pedestrians. Expect to run out of gears at some stage compared with riding prone.

 

[bladderhead]

Why does "nearly there" seem

Why does "nearly there" seem like an elastic concept?

At least the seat and the brakes were no trouble.

The drop-outs and the drive wheel were complicated. The bike now has bits of wood as spacers. Somewhere on the site is a conversion kit with a partly wooden frame built onto it. Well, I have a partly wooden bike too.

The handlebars went on. For which, inevitably, I had to buy a quill adapter.

Got a new bottom bracket and a new chainring. Forgot to get the bolts. Now the Grasshopper's chainring is off, just to get the bolts from there.

Now the previously rear derailleur doesn't seem to fit the new dropouts. I had a look on the internet and there are loads of different ones. Someone is selling gear-hangers, and there are 57 varieties of those, too.

Is it me, or is it the universe?

 

[bladderhead]

Done it!  Wow, OMFG

Done it! Wow, OMFG etc.

Gears work. Sort of. All six of them.

Went down the street, scooting. Steering seems sort-of stiff, but when I am not riding it the forks turn freely.

I even got a foot on the pedal. Turned the cranks half a turn. Progress!

Gonna have another go now. Wonder when I'll fall off?

 

[John Tolhurst]

training ... you are not alone

Now for the training

 

[bladderhead]

Having legs moving sideways


Having legs moving sideways feels really weird

 

[John Tolhurst]

Yes, its logical that they

Yes, its logical that they would move sideways, but does feel strange the first few times!

 

[bladderhead]

I can go quite a long way. 

I can go quite a long way. In a straight line. Get out of the way.

With the handlebar stem pointed forward, my knees hit the bars, so I turned the stem backwards. This freed my knees and made the handling a bit easier.

However, I broke my elbow a long time ago, and I am not comfortable with my arm bent so much.

I could try riding one-handed.

New bars, maybe.

 

[bladderhead]

The nearly straight

The nearly straight mountain-bike bars have been replaced by old-fashioned bent ones, and the stem is pointing

forwards. More comfortable and better handling.

 

[bladderhead]

Handling is getting better. 


Handling is getting better. Rode it to the LBS and they were really impressed. I even used it to go shopping. Anyway, the front wheel (which used to be the back) was slightly bent when I got it, and I thought it was getting worse. Starting to catch the brakes. So I decided to attempt to true it myself. Bad idea. I bent it really badly. I decided to put it flat on two garden chairs and stand on it. I broke the wheel and nearly broke me. New wheel, and let the LBS build it, I think

 

[bladderhead]

Riding it again.  It likes to

Riding it again. It likes to go where it likes to go. It got attracted to a wall. I wanted to go into a main road, and the bike decided to go straight out into the middle. After that, I decided to fix the brakes.

Its own boss, more cat than dog.

 

[bladderhead]

The steering seems to get

The steering seems to get heavier the faster I go. Scary going downhill. Maybe because I have mountain-bike wheels.

 

[John Tolhurst]

Perhaps low pressure in the

Perhaps low pressure in the tires.

 

[bladderhead]

I keep trying to ride with my

I keep trying to ride with my fingers spread, but they keep curling round the bars. Hand-ache.

 

[John Tolhurst]

Ride gently. Let your body

Ride gently. Let your body taste it, take time away, have another taste. This is normal stuff for learning. Hand ache means you are trying too hard. We havn't see a picture so we can't check your general ergonomics.

 

[currystomper]

Enjoy the journey!

Hi

I'm enjoying your journey with the conversion, sounds a bit like how I did it, get bike basically working, spending as little as possible and upgrade over time; my donor bike wasn't even a complete bike!

sounds like some street tires may be the next thing - they transformed my bike!

Have fun!!

 

[bladderhead]

I put more air in.  This made

I put more air in. This made it a bit less weird at speed.

If I want to get harder tyres I will have to get rid of these mtb wheels and get road ones.

I have been doing figure 8s in the street. I know I should have started with this. I just got on and rode off, wobbling and meandering dangerously. Now I start doing figure 8s.

I always had a habit of doing things arse about face. So a bike with its front wheel at the back and vice-versa is appropriate for me.

 

[bladderhead]

I have home made heel-clips

I have home made heel-clips on the Grasshopper and I transferred them to the conversion and this helped the handling. Almost able to ride no-hands.

Now I keep having to transfer these pedals from the Grasshopper to the conversion and back again. AndrewBaloga was right. I am getting new ones from HostelShoppe.