Previous Bicycles before a Cruzbike

[super slim]

There are currently super negative comments from a reader, who is NOT listening to all the helpful comments from current Cruzbike riders with their experiences while learning to ride, and modifications they have done to improve their rides.
They have also listed some of their old DF and recumbent (including Cruzbikes) bikes and stated why they moved away from them! I think this is the ONLY Positive thing to come out of that thread, other than Ratz's Troll!

I was wondering if a table could be created that is easily accessible for new readers, that list the current users avatar, previous DF bike, previous recumbent, previous and current cruzbikes and the reason why they changed?

I will start:- Super Slim
DF bike, GT Avalanche 1.0 MTB, sold as bottom wrist and neck problems,
Recumbent:- HP Velotechnik Scorpion FX Touring folding Trike, sold as too slow heavy, but VERY comfortable.
Cruzbikes:- Softrider V1.0 bought for Ride across Tibet, including Mt Everest base Camp, with added disc brakes, was used to ride 10 km to work each day, now occasional use on dirt roads.
Quest V1.0, bought to train on a mine site while on a 10/4 day roster, then ride to work.
Silvio V1.0, bought for community ride/races, once rear rack fitted, then used for 8 week van supported tours, and ride to work, as the most comfortable and fastest.

 

[Abbott Smith]

Abbott Smith

A handful of DFs growing up. Bought an old steel Portuguese Road Racer with my paper route money. Rode my triathlon on that bike. Stolen in college. Replaced it with a white DF. Can't remember the brand or model. First commuter and the bike that made me think there had to be something better.

Ultimately the finalists were a Softride DF or a recumbent. I bought the Rans V-Rex and rode it for 15+ years until this Spring when I tore a chain idler out of the frame. I was also given a Vision R40 by a former employer. This is my backup and will be my wife's ride.

Which brings me to Cruzbike. Met Robert, Jonathon and Lief at the Seattle Bike show. Fell in love with the Vendetta V20 and the stunning red and black paint job. No offense, but I don't like yellow. Bought a frame and built it out about a month ago. Finished upgrading the gearing last night. My primary reasons for buying her were related to the efficient power transfer. I ride and train with DFs. I wanted a bent that allows me to match their tempo. Found it in the V20.

 

[MrSteve]

Cool idea, Mr. Slim!

My first bike was a single-speed, direct-drive, FWD Moving Front Wheel
steel Delta tricycle, with Flintstone brakes and it had a steel step between the rear wheels for extra fun.

My second: a big-box store brand steel 10-speed.
It had chrome steel rims, chrome steel spokes, down tube friction shifters
and a decent leather copy of a Brooks saddle.
My sister got it after I'd moved away from bikes to a career in motorcycles.

My third is the Sofrider I'm now using on the trainer, with occasional neighbourhood trips.
Best commercial bike I've ever bought.

The latest acquisition:
The one that has had my attention from it's inception in John Tolhurst's skunk works,
the angular, big-tube yellow bike,
the mighty Vendetta.
The V1.5 Vendetta has taken over street duty from my Sofrider, which lives on the trainer.

 

[JOSEPHWEISSERT]

I had ridden bikes all my life, but I got serious about cycling later in life.
1) 1998: Mountain bike with frame and fork suspension.
2) Diamondback aluminum-frame road bike. Learned about speed and group riding.
2003: Joined a road racing team.
3) Titanium frame, assembled myself, Dura Ace components.
4) Planet X carbon frame, assembled myself, Dura Ace components.
I could not stand the seat pain anymore and decided to settle for a slow, butt-ugly, no-climbing, recumbent just to be able to ride in comfort again. Did a lot of research and found out that I did not have to settle.
April 2015: Vendetta (red) frame kit, customized seat, short cranks, elliptical chain rings, 28 mm tires.
Result: no pain issues, very comfortable, much faster. Can blow the doors off strong DF riders. Can ride a hundred miles without my butt knowing about it. Can climb lots of hills without knee pain.
Verdict: I wish I had done this sooner.

EDIT: I forgot my Electra Cruiser single speed, no cables, hub brake. This is an awesome bike to hop on and ride around town. I ride this with my wife, who has one, so she can keep up with me easily. I also have two Nauticraft Escapades. The Escapade is a hybrid of a recumbent bicycle and a boat. It is 12' 2" long and has a bimini top, a windshield, a rudder, a keel, and a propeller. I use my cycling shoes and my X2 pedals for the boat. I take it out on the big lake (or inland sea as it really is). The Cruiser and Escapade make good complements to a Vendetta. Each has its specialty. Cruiser for tooling around town with the wife. Escapade for going up or down river or out on the big lake (Lake Michigan) snorkeling. And the Vendetta for blowing the doors off of DF riders and going long distance in comfort.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

I was never a cyclist until about 3 1/2 years ago when I purchased my first recumbent, the Catrike 700. So I don't have a history of cool bikes like the rest of you. Yes I rode bicycles now and then, but not much.

1966 - First real bike was a Western Flyer, got it on my tenth birthday. Banana seat, rear slick, hi-rise handle bars. I even did my first mode, a high back sissy bar.
1996 - Second real bike was Cannondale CAD2 Volvo F700. MTB (Currently hanging in my garage)
2011 - Catrike 700 Red-first recumbent --- Bachetta Corsa 650-first 2-wheeled recumbent
2012 - Rans Velocity Squared 2 with dual 650c. --- Rans Xstream Team --- Easy Racers Tour Easy --- Catbike Musashi /// This was a busy year!
2013 - Metabike
2014 - Silvio --- Vebndetta
2015 - DONE!!

The Western Flyer served me well - you might say I was a professional bicyclist in the 1966 at the age of 10 when I rode this beauty on my paper route as a Pro paperboy (note: this is not a picture of my bike, but mine was identical to this) The rear tire was a fat slick that carved hookers into any school concrete sidewalk, I left my mark everywhere.

 

[Robert Holler]

Oh my. Not enough time to list all the bikes. I have had the opportunity to ride nearly every recumbent on the market (or no longer on it) at some point. The Cruzbike is the best performance ceiling in my experience. And I don't say that just because I work for Cruzbike - it is the truth. Put the miles in and the dividends are amazing for whatever your performance ability is.

 

[ratz]

Blah I wish I had my old brol signature. Let's see what I can remember and how long I had them.

Huffy something rebuild several times into various forms eventually stolen. (7 years)
Schwin banana seat 5 speed the one with the cool stick shift and ape hangers. (2 years)
Schwin worldsport (this was actually the real deal) (8 years)
Conential 10 speed (free from the furnature store pure junk) (4 years)
Bianchi something something; first real race bike didn't know what it was didn't pay attention in those days. (4 years)
Giant MTB; had an affair with MTB didn't enjoy it. (6 months)
Trek yfoil-66 reg (5 years)
Trek yfoil-77 gold, (5 years)
Canadaloe Tandem (5 years)
Schwinn Paramount (5 years) (Only 580 of these ever made, dumb luck that I had one)
Trek 7.7fx (12 years)
Trek 5500 Carbon wonder bike (this is the one that attempted to kill me) (11 years)
Catrike 700 (3 years)
Cruzbikes galor (on going)

Pictures of the fun ones attached; probably forgetting two or three in there over the years.

 

[jond]

xmas 1973 malvern star dragster could pull great wheelies ended up breaking the frame on pimple jumps. i loved my first bike with its big high rise cissy bar. banana seat for two and 3 speed stick shift.

1978 apollo race bike a mistake heavy and rust prone.

1980s girlfriends girlfriends a few models till present model found.

1990s mountain bikes galore through the decades and 2000 lots of em about 10 or so. still kept a 1993 model with now some 40k on her and the cromoly frame just keeps on going. just sold two to my neighbours. yay. i must be confident that they will not fall apart or they will not ride them very much.

2012 two carbon road bikes still have one left a 2012 giant slo defy.

2013 greenspeed gto trike

2014 catrike 700

2015 vendetta v2

2016 vendetta v20.1 in yellow/silvio s30

 

[battleaxe0]

The main bike I remember from my misplaced childhood - an orange and black banana seat bike that got my first mod. Put a speedo on it. Yes Rick, I was into speedo's back in the day too. It had a shiny gear that you tied to the front wheel which spun a wire that twisted inside the sheath that connected to the speedo. Dad was in the army so we were in Fayetteville, NC where we actually had hills! I seriously doubt the speedo read correctly, but it was fun trying to redline it.
After that was a late 60's - early 70's Huffy.
A no-name BMX style bike.
Various un-named, crappy 10 speeds
2000-ish - Mongoose wal-mart special mountain bike
Then in 2013 I started my weight loss journey - started on the mountain bike riding 30 minutes every other day, then daily, then an hour a day, then I really wanted to go faster...
2012 Raleigh Revenio - ouch
2014 Trek Domane - slightly less ouch
Early 90's Rans Rocket 20/20 - no ouch at all (probably going to sell this "soon")
Greenspeed Magnum - for riding with Mrs. Axe
Cruzbike Silvio S30 - working up to a century and maybe the MS 150

 

[castlerobber]

1970—Sears 20” wheel bike, convertible from boys' to mixte by moving the top tubes. Junked late '70s after my little brother outgrew it.

1974—Sears Free Spirit Ted Williams 24” wheel girls' bike, 3-speed IGH. The only two-wheeler I could ever ride no-hands.

1981—Hand-me-down Sears Free Spirit 27” wheel men's bike, 3-speed IGH. Rode it around campus for a year or two. Junked around 1989.

1990—DiamondBack Traverse mountain bike. My first bike with derailleurs, and the first bike I ever rode more than 5 miles at a stretch. It had Biopace chainrings that gave me knee pain if I rode more than 15 miles. Gave it to my nephew a few years ago--it's probably sitting in my brother's storage shed.

1996—Trek 7900 hybrid, 700C wheels. Top of the line for its day. Used/demo from LBS. Rode it regularly, including 70+ miles in an MS150. Sold it after I bought a road bike.

2005—Trek 2100C WSD road bike, with cyclocross bar-top brakes and S.P.A. seatstay suspension elastomer (recently replaced, Trek had to dig through NOS to find one). Still ride it occasionally.

2006—TerraTrike 3.5 tadpole trike. Found used on eBay. Great fun, but slow. Towed the kids on their Hase Trets with it. Sold June 2014.

2008—TerraTrike Race tadpole trike, another low-mileage eBay bargain. An enjoyable ride, but no faster than the 3.5, even with much tweaking. Sold May 2015.

2014—Hase Kettwiesel (2010) delta trike. Replaced the single 52T chainring/Hase cranks with a Patterson Metropolis two-speed crankset (which required assistance from Sam Patterson himself). Family trike, not mine specifically.

2014—Cruzbike Quest 2.0/3.0, 451 wheels, SRAM DualDrive. Great FWD-MBB learning bike. Will likely put it up for sale soon, though the notion of turning it into a turbo Quest is intriguing.

2015—Cruzbike Silvio 1.5. My main ride these days.

 

[LMT]

Started out on a BMX when I was about 5, then went onto various road bikes and MTB's until my late teens, then had a three to four year break from cycling as I did other things. Then bought a serious road bike, snapped the frame a few years down the line so bought another frame. Then that broke a few years later. At this time I had a single speed which I used as a hack bike, dunno what actually made me look at recumbents but my first bent was a Catrike Expedition. Great trike, was very impressed as I done about 22000 miles over three years in all manner of weathers both riding and commuting. Then fancied something a bit quicker so bought an Optima Low Baron, was going to get a Musashi but the pedigree of the Low Baron persuaded me to buy it instead.

Then once again fell out of love with cycling, sold both trike and bike and did not ride for about two years. Then got the bug again and bought a Metabike Metaphysic, whilst a good buy did not really gel with it and did not get the whole High Racer thing which was all the rage about 12-18 months ago. Looked at a Cruzbike, was amazed at how far the company had come, to me the name Cruzbike conjured images of their conversion kits. Was taken back by the look of the V20 and how it had evolved and was breaking records. Bought one 3 months ago, it's now done numerous rides including a Super Randoneur series and will be taken to Paris for PBP in August. By a fair margin a quicker bike on the flats and certainly uphills, not to mention a very aggressive design.

 

[jond]

Started out on a BMX when I was about 5, then went onto various road bikes and MTB's until my late teens, then had a three to four year break from cycling as I did other things. Then bought a serious road bike, snapped the frame a few years down the line so bought another frame. Then that broke a few years later. At this time I had a single speed which I used as a hack bike, dunno what actually made me look at recumbents but my first bent was a Catrike Expedition. Great trike, was very impressed as I done about 22000 miles over three years in all manner of weathers both riding and commuting. Then fancied something a bit quicker so bought an Optima Low Baron, was going to get a Musashi but the pedigree of the Low Baron persuaded me to buy it instead.

Then once again fell out of love with cycling, sold both trike and bike and did not ride for about two years. Then got the bug again and bought a Metabike Metaphysic, whilst a good buy did not really gel with it and did not get the whole High Racer thing which was all the rage about 12-18 months ago. Looked at a Cruzbike, was amazed at how far the company had come, to me the name Cruzbike conjured images of their conversion kits. Was taken back by the look of the V20 and how it had evolved and was breaking records. Bought one 3 months ago, it's now done numerous rides including a Super Randoneur series and will be taken to Paris for PBP in August. By a fair margin a quicker bike on the flats and certainly uphills, not to mention a very aggressive design.

congratulations on the super rando. best wishes for pbp. it will be luxurious on the v. dont fall asleep.

 

[Lief]

~1980 - 1982 - Schwinn Banana Seat hand-me-down. Great little ride, decorated it with a tail like it was my horse.
~1982 - **** - Mongoose Californian - my pride and joy on my 10th birthday. Still have it, Still ride it.
~1991 - 1992 - Trek POS: stolen
~1992 - 1998 - Trek 7300 Aluminum hardtail MTB - pretty awesome bike: stolen from the entryway bikeracks on a Boeing facility.
~1999 - **** - Diamondback Voyager III MTB - this thing is kinda like a toyota/honda; just keeps going despite my ignorant and delayed efforts at maintenance.

~2002 - 2014 - Lightning Thunderbolt. I bought this with 1/2 the money I got for selling my motorcycle. The other half went for a crib for my oldest daughter. I bought this recumbent because riding ANYTHING longer than 5 miles on my Diamondback MTB was painful...everywhere. I figured there had to be a better way. Shipped to me un-assembled. Didn't ride it a ton for a while then started commuting full time on it in about 2005 - 34 miles round trip, ~5000mi per year. Rode it on the 2007 STP in one day (14hrs ride time) and sometime in that year - the frame developed a crack at the rear-stay weld. This wasn't the last part to fail - just the biggest one. Then the manufacturer accused me of being heavier than I said I was. Then the manufacturer complained about repairing the crack "on the edge" of the 5yr warranty. Then they did it anyway and told me that they wouldn't do it again. In a phrase, the treatment I got from Lightning was abysmal.
Less than a month later it cracked again in the same spot. So I started looking around (got a local welder to bolster the crack - permanent fix) and discovered a cool looking bike called a Silvio that I couldn't afford. But it was the "all road bike componentry" that sucked me in at first.
The MBB thing was a side-note.
Tried a number of ways to acquire one and was about to settle on a Sofrider or a kit and instead just bit the bullet and bought my "forever" bike. At least that's how I justified the expense with the Chief Financial Officer at my house. That put me in contact with a company that felt like a family. They clearly knew what they were doing with their customers.
So I bought, without ever testing or seeing one in person, a...

~2009 - **** - Silvio 1.0: Commute on it almost every day, year round, 10-15% faster than I did on the thunderbolt and rode the STP in 2013 (in the TIM TURNER draft the whole way) in 10 hours ride time.
I had never before felt so well treated by any company for anything I had previously bought and fretted over. From chainring swaps, to a broken leaf spring, to chips on the carbon fiber stays, to shirts for my daughters in the shipment, to questions and requests for advice from ME? about things I like/don't like about the bike...the list is VERY long and represents just how much a part of the Cruzbike family I felt.
Then in 2014 I had the privilege to meet Maria and Jim and Robert in Portland at an OHPV event and before I left that weekend I became the proud trustee of a very special Vendetta 2.0. My best effort to date on this bike would have to be my recent 255 miles in 12:28min across Washington.

[[Preaching to the choir]]
The bikes, the tribe, and the company are all just amazing. I'm sticking around.

 

[jond]

~1980 - 1982 - Schwinn Banana Seat hand-me-down. Great little ride, decorated it with a tail like it was my horse.
~1982 - **** - Mongoose Californian - my pride and joy on my 10th birthday. Still have it, Still ride it.
~1991 - 1992 - Trek POS: stolen
~1992 - 1998 - Trek 7300 Aluminum hardtail MTB - pretty awesome bike: stolen from the entryway bikeracks on a Boeing facility.
~1999 - **** - Diamondback Voyager III MTB - this thing is kinda like a toyota/honda; just keeps going despite my ignorant and delayed efforts at maintenance.

~2002 - 2014 - Lightning Thunderbolt. I bought this with 1/2 the money I got for selling my motorcycle. The other half went for a crib for my oldest daughter. I bought this recumbent because riding ANYTHING longer than 5 miles on my Diamondback MTB was painful...everywhere. I figured there had to be a better way. Shipped to me un-assembled. Didn't ride it a ton for a while then started commuting full time on it in about 2005 - 34 miles round trip, ~5000mi per year. Rode it on the 2007 STP in one day (14hrs ride time) and sometime in that year - the frame developed a crack at the rear-stay weld. This wasn't the last part to fail - just the biggest one. Then the manufacturer accused me of being heavier than I said I was. Then the manufacturer complained about repairing the crack "on the edge" of the 5yr warranty. Then they did it anyway and told me that they wouldn't do it again. In a phrase, the treatment I got from Lightning was abysmal.
Less than a month later it cracked again in the same spot. So I started looking around (got a local welder to bolster the crack - permanent fix) and discovered a cool looking bike called a Silvio that I couldn't afford. But it was the "all road bike componentry" that sucked me in at first.
The MBB thing was a side-note.
Tried a number of ways to acquire one and was about to settle on a Sofrider or a kit and instead just bit the bullet and bought my "forever" bike. At least that's how I justified the expense with the Chief Financial Officer at my house. That put me in contact with a company that felt like a family. They clearly knew what they were doing with their customers.
So I bought, without ever testing or seeing one in person, a...

~2009 - **** - Silvio 1.0: Commute on it almost every day, year round, 10-15% faster than I did on the thunderbolt and rode the STP in 2013 (in the TIM TURNER draft the whole way) in 10 hours ride time.
I had never before felt so well treated by any company for anything I had previously bought and fretted over. From chainring swaps, to a broken leaf spring, to chips on the carbon fiber stays, to shirts for my daughters in the shipment, to questions and requests for advice from ME? about things I like/don't like about the bike...the list is VERY long and represents just how much a part of the Cruzbike family I felt.
Then in 2014 I had the privilege to meet Maria and Jim and Robert in Portland at an OHPV event and before I left that weekend I became the proud trustee of a very special Vendetta 2.0. My best effort to date on this bike would have to be my recent 255 miles in 12:28min across Washington.

[[Preaching to the choir]]
The bikes, the tribe, and the company are all just amazing. I'm sticking around.

well said lief. "forever bike." so true.

 

[Abbott Smith]

~1980 - 1982 - Schwinn Banana Seat hand-me-down. Great little ride, decorated it with a tail like it was my horse.
~1982 - **** - Mongoose Californian - my pride and joy on my 10th birthday. Still have it, Still ride it.
~1991 - 1992 - Trek POS: stolen
~1992 - 1998 - Trek 7300 Aluminum hardtail MTB - pretty awesome bike: stolen from the entryway bikeracks on a Boeing facility.
~1999 - **** - Diamondback Voyager III MTB - this thing is kinda like a toyota/honda; just keeps going despite my ignorant and delayed efforts at maintenance.

~2002 - 2014 - Lightning Thunderbolt. I bought this with 1/2 the money I got for selling my motorcycle. The other half went for a crib for my oldest daughter. I bought this recumbent because riding ANYTHING longer than 5 miles on my Diamondback MTB was painful...everywhere. I figured there had to be a better way. Shipped to me un-assembled. Didn't ride it a ton for a while then started commuting full time on it in about 2005 - 34 miles round trip, ~5000mi per year. Rode it on the 2007 STP in one day (14hrs ride time) and sometime in that year - the frame developed a crack at the rear-stay weld. This wasn't the last part to fail - just the biggest one. Then the manufacturer accused me of being heavier than I said I was. Then the manufacturer complained about repairing the crack "on the edge" of the 5yr warranty. Then they did it anyway and told me that they wouldn't do it again. In a phrase, the treatment I got from Lightning was abysmal.
Less than a month later it cracked again in the same spot. So I started looking around (got a local welder to bolster the crack - permanent fix) and discovered a cool looking bike called a Silvio that I couldn't afford. But it was the "all road bike componentry" that sucked me in at first.
The MBB thing was a side-note.
Tried a number of ways to acquire one and was about to settle on a Sofrider or a kit and instead just bit the bullet and bought my "forever" bike. At least that's how I justified the expense with the Chief Financial Officer at my house. That put me in contact with a company that felt like a family. They clearly knew what they were doing with their customers.
So I bought, without ever testing or seeing one in person, a...

~2009 - **** - Silvio 1.0: Commute on it almost every day, year round, 10-15% faster than I did on the thunderbolt and rode the STP in 2013 (in the TIM TURNER draft the whole way) in 10 hours ride time.
I had never before felt so well treated by any company for anything I had previously bought and fretted over. From chainring swaps, to a broken leaf spring, to chips on the carbon fiber stays, to shirts for my daughters in the shipment, to questions and requests for advice from ME? about things I like/don't like about the bike...the list is VERY long and represents just how much a part of the Cruzbike family I felt.
Then in 2014 I had the privilege to meet Maria and Jim and Robert in Portland at an OHPV event and before I left that weekend I became the proud trustee of a very special Vendetta 2.0. My best effort to date on this bike would have to be my recent 255 miles in 12:28min across Washington.

[[Preaching to the choir]]
The bikes, the tribe, and the company are all just amazing. I'm sticking around.

Lief and his experience with Cruzbike were a major reason that I bought Sigrditha. In a small way it mirrors my own experience. I posted a photo of me test riding Lief's V 2.0 on the Cruzbike Facebook page. The next thing I know Cruzbike has found my JDRF personal ride page and posted a link to it on their Facebook page. Later that day Maria made a donation on my behalf. I was floored. This company is amazing. I'm meeting a recumbent rider in a couple of weeks to let him test ride my bike and try to pay it forward.

 

[ratz]

The bikes, the tribe, and the company are all just amazing. I'm sticking around.

Ok time for Mrs Ratz to design an unofficial CB riding Jersey and on the sleeve or back it's going to say:

Cruzbike:
The Company,
The Tribe,
The Bikes,
you keep.
​

I'll pay for Lief's Jersy the rest you are on your own

Edited: Cause now it's better

 

[Lief]

Ok time for Mrs Ratz to design an unofficial CB riding Jersey and on the sleeve or back it's going to say:

Cruzbike:
The Company,
The Tribe,
The Bikes,
you keep.
​

I'll pay for Lief's Jersy the rest you are on your own

Heck yeah! I'm in.

 

[Lief]

I can see a tribal design on one part.
I still lust after just the Z logo on my chest (Zimmerman!)
Love the idea of a "community sourced" jersey.

 

[super slim]

The text needs to be across the shoulders, so it can be seen by the DF followers!
With CRUZBIKE in LARGER letters across top, and down the left sleeve.

The cut of the collar needs to be changed so its flat.
This cropped photo was taken on a 40C (104C) day just after a hill climb from Merritt to Kamloops, Canada, so the jersey was partially unzipped.

On a V the text would have to be higher as the 21 degree seat angle is a LOT lower than this 45 degree Silvio V1.0.

Could the two only rear (OR front) pockets be wider apart, so it is easier to get the camera out, with its exposed chord (see photo with the chord showing from the right hand side pocket)
I would be very interested as long as CRUZBIKE was prominent, just like the VITE racing tops!

 

[Abbott Smith]

Give me a day or two and I can draw up some mock ups.