Q45 Build photos

[2whluge]

I looked at every rack I could find on Google. None would work. The Old Man Mountain Divide rack is centered over the rear axle, which in my setup would interfere with the back of the seat. The back of the seat is only a couple of inches forward of the rear axle:

View attachment 17302

Almost half of the rack would interfere with the back of the seat. There may be other racks that you could come up with a way to implement, but I doubt they would be any easier than the Cruzbike rack.

By the way, if you order the under seat rack from Cruzbike, make sure you select the Q45 option on the order page. It defaults to an older S40 rack. I made this mistake and now I have to ship my rack back and swap it for the Q45 rack.

I'm curious as to what you plan to do about the seat. I'm not sure how well the stock seat would work when lowering the back this far. You would have to come up with a head rest design. I put a lot of effort (and money) into my Thor Carrier seat to make it comfortable, and in the end, that worked out well. It's super comfortable. But it's another project getting it on the bike and adding extra cushioning in the right places.

I tried for hours/days to get my Old Man Mountain to work. My wife finally insisted I get the rack made for the bike so I’d quit complaining.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

I thought it was just me with the air shock. I bought mine second hand and I think the first owner was a lot lighter than I. I have the spring shock. A few more grams won’t hurt me.

It's not just you. I bought an air shock that was recommended here, and at full pressure, when I sit on the seat it goes half way down the range. I bought another shock, this time with a 250 psi max pressure. I put it at max and the same thing happened. I had to go back to the very heavy stock shock and set the preload to very stiff. My Q45 is modified so the seat back will be at a very low angle. This has the disadvantage of cutting my possible shock range in half as the back of the set post will hit the back tire.. So I need a very stiff shock. At t full pressure, I would have expected the air shocks to have 10%-15% sag, not 50%.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

I tried for hours/days to get my Old Man Mountain to work. My wife finally insisted I get the rack made for the bike so I’d quit complaining.

Good advice I'm pretty happy with my setup so far.

 

[Robert Holler]

It's not just you. I bought an air shock that was recommended here, and at full pressure, when I sit on the seat it goes half way down the range. I bought another shock, this time with a 250 psi max pressure. I put it at max and the same thing happened. I had to go back to the very heavy stock shock and set the preload to very stiff. My Q45 is modified so the seat back will be at a very low angle. This has the disadvantage of cutting my possible shock range in half as the back of the set post will hit the back tire.. So I need a very stiff shock. At t full pressure, I would have expected the air shocks to have 10%-15% sag, not 50%.

Hmmm... I am a bit shocked (lol) that you would have so much sag with that psi - that said the replacements will be internal dampened (like the original versions we used to put on the Q's but a better quality version) and 1000lb - not a 1200lb like the stock external coil shock. The much older Q series shocks were 750lb ones I think - and those were never quite enough. They were also much shorter like 150mm I think. So hopefully the new 1000lb version will work for you. The minute I have the 1000lb ones here Ill give them a test to be sure.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

Thanks @Robert Holler . Looking forward to trying one out. The squawking is continuous and quite annoying.

 

[Roberto]

…On top of that, because I rotated the seat post 180 deg to lower the seat back, I have much less gap between the seat post and the back tire. When I compress the shock, it only compresses about half it's range before hitting the tire. I put the original shock on and tightened the preload so that a hard bump won't hit the tire…

Was preloading the spring enough to avoid contact between tire and seatpost or did you try a stiffer spring? I also rotated the bar on my 2024 Q45 and am a little concerned as I am on the heavier side (220 lbs).

 

[Black Hawk Down]

Was preloading the spring enough to avoid contact between tire and seatpost or did you try a stiffer spring? I also rotated the bar on my 2024 Q45 and am a little concerned as I am on the heavier side (220 lbs).

Yes. It worked great. I'm 225 lbs. Just keep adjusting the preload until the sag is about 10%-15% of the remaining range or so. You can check to see how far the shock compresses on your ride by pushing the o-ring on the shock tube all the way up, then after the ride, see how far the o-ring moves. You can also just bounce up and down on the seat to see how far the o-ring moves. I had my heaver son do that while I watched. I'm pretty happy with the shock except for the noise. I do wish I could lock it out as when riding on smooth roads and climbing hills, you lose a lot of energy compressing the shock with each peddle stroke. It is a very comfortable ride, however, on some of the rough roads I traverse in my daily ride.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

Ok. I got my under seat rack for the Q45. Here it is mounted:



Real easy to install. Nice design. Now here's the bike fully loaded for a tour (just for photos):






Notice the Steer Stopper I just added:



I'm having derailleur trouble. I have a Sram Eagle (1 x 12). It was already replaced on Warranty, but this one has the same problem. I can't adjust it to work on both high gears and low. In fact I have to have both not working well just to limp along. If I make it work for the low gears, the high gear won't engage and visa versa. I will need to find a LBS that will work on recumbents and are Sram certified techs so they can process the Warranty return. If I can't get it replaced, I'll either go back to Shimano or look at implementing a Rohloff.

Other than that, the bike's done and ready for touring.

 

[Velocivixen]

By chance could your derailleur hanger be bent?

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Yes I like the under rack as well, however it makes the stand un-usable.
By the way, I noticed that you have the spring the other way round from how I found mine fitted (and also how I see it on the Cruzbike pics). You have the pre-load ring at the top whereas mine is at the bottom. Any advice what it right/better?
By the way 2 - I put GX Eagle 12-speed on mine and it shifts like a dream - best shifting of all my bikes. So indeed I suggest taking it to a qualified SRAM LBS.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

By chance could your derailleur hanger be bent?

The hanger is super thick. But even if it were bent, it would bias in one direction. My problem is the derailleur won't move far enough in either the low gears nor the high gears. I suppose I could verify this by swapping hangers between my V20 and Q45, as they should be the same and the V20 doesn't have this issue. I'll report back.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

The hanger is super thick. But even if it were bent, it would bias in one direction. My problem is the derailleur won't move far enough in either the low gears nor the high gears. I suppose I could verify this by swapping hangers between my V20 and Q45, as they should be the same and the V20 doesn't have this issue. I'll report back.

It does sound similar to the issues I had when I tried a Shimano Deore XT M8100 (12 speed) with a SRAM Eagle 12 speed cassette. The Shimano RD did not reach the largest nor the smallest cog even with the stoppers completely open. Changing to the SRAM GX Eagle RD and all was instantly good. I did check some MTB groups re compatibility between the two 12-speed groupsets and the consensus was that you're better off not mixing these.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

Yes I like the under rack as well, however it makes the stand un-usable.

Yeah. That's a real bummer. I looked high and low for an alternative kickstand to no avail. The height of the Q45 frame is too high for all the double leg kickstands. I thought that I might add a spacer, but it would make the stand sag too close to the ground. There may be a solution out there, but I ran out of enthusiasm.

By the way, I noticed that you have the spring the other way round from how I found mine fitted (and also how I see it on the Cruzbike pics). You have the pre-load ring at the top whereas mine is at the bottom. Any advice what it right/better?

You can mount it either way, makes no difference. Having the preload at the top makes it easy to access.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

It does sound similar to the issues I had when I tried a Shimano Deore XT M8100 (12 speed) with a SRAM Eagle 12 speed cassette. The Shimano RD did not reach the largest nor the smallest cog even with the stoppers completely open. Changing to the SRAM GX Eagle RD and all was instantly good. I did check some MTB groups re compatibility between the two 12-speed groupsets and the consensus was that you're better off not mixing these.

I'm not mixing group components. It's all SRAM Rival.

 

[kizarmynot]

Yeah. That's a real bummer. I looked high and low for an alternative kickstand to no avail. The height of the Q45 frame is too high for all the double leg kickstands. I thought that I might add a spacer, but it would make the stand sag too close to the ground. There may be a solution out there, but I ran out of enthusiasm.



You can mount it either way, makes no difference. Having the preload at the top makes it easy to access.

For the kickstand, consider https://www.click-stand.com/
I have one for my DF bike and it works great. I saw a post somewhere on the forum about using it for a Q45, so it's doable (I haven't ordered a new one yet).

 

[Black Hawk Down]

For the kickstand, consider https://www.click-stand.com/
I have one for my DF bike and it works great. I saw a post somewhere on the forum about using it for a Q45, so it's doable (I haven't ordered a new one yet).

I bought one years ago and still have it. I never was able to make it work on a CruzBike as it's too flimsy. It's a total balancing act. They collapse and the bike falls over too easily. I also don't want to have to stow it away every time I use it. I ordered another kickstand today that attaches to the back wheel and is designed for thru axles. We'll see how that works.

Thru axle VIARON Adjustable kickstand

 

[kizarmynot]

I bought one years ago and still have it. I never was able to make it work on a CruzBike as it's too flimsy. It's a total balancing act. They collapse and the bike falls over too easily. I also don't want to have to stow it away every time I use it. I ordered another kickstand today that attaches to the back wheel and is designed for thru axles. We'll see how that works.

Thru axle VIARON Adjustable kickstand

View attachment 17476

FWIW, the click-stand works with a fully loaded bike and can be folded to a small size (options available.)

 

[Animal494]

Yes I like the under rack as well, however it makes the stand un-usable.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

FWIW, the click-stand works with a fully loaded bike and can be folded to a small size (options available.)

The one I have, attaches to the wheel axle. It didn't work at all. I never tried the long one that hooks on the frame. Still, for me, I don't want to be folding and unfolding and unpacking and stowing every time I stop. I'd rather just lay the bike down or prop it against something. The ultimate for me is a real kickstand where you just kick it down and up when needed. I will use it in conjunction with the steer stopper.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

I received my thru-axle mounted kickstand:

Martins Bike & Fitness Thru axle Adjustable kickstand 22-29 inch /700CC Wheel

1. Simple practical design, Stable stand, and durable in use. 2. Easy to install on the frame. 3. Aluminum alloy material, strong and durable. 4. The kickstand can be adjusted to fit your bike....

www.martinsbike.com

It works GREAT!



You need a SteerStopper to work with it:



It works better than the stock kickstand as it's adjustable, where the stock stand is not and it caused the bike to lean too much making it difficult to find good ground to hold it up. It was $50, which is a bit steep. I did see one on Amazon for a lot cheaper but I can't vouch for the quality.