Q45 discomfort?

[bikemore]

Newbie here. I'm considering buying a Q45. After reading quite a few posts here, I'm hesitating for these reasons: the learning curve and seat discomfort.

I don't understand why there's a learning curve that's different than riding a "regular" bike. Is it because of the pedal steer? Or because balancing is so different in the recumbent position? Or something else entirely? The learning curve alone wouldn't prevent me from pulling the trigger--if others can learn, I know I can too.

My bigger concern is the posts I've seen about seat discomfort. One of the main reasons I'm considering a recumbent (my first) is because of the discomfort that I have, especially between my shoulder blades, when I ride my "regular" bike. If a recumbent will only transfer the discomfort to a different body part, that's not a solution. Several of the posts I read about this topic indicate that the owners solved their problem by swapping out the stock seat for a (expensive) 3rd party seat. I don't want to have to go that route, because I'm already stretching my budget.

Any comments and constructive suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

 

[billyk]

if others can learn, I know I can too

Yes! YES!

You may or may not like the stock seat, but I can guarantee you won't have the same problems as on a DF bike. It's a whole different world.

However, I had seat discomfort (recumbutt) from the stock Q45 seat on long rides and ended up buying a Thor seat ... Yeah, pricey, but it turned out to be well worth it.

My advice is to get the bike, get past the learning curve, experiment with dialing in the seat and riding position (many possible adjustments of boom, handlebars, seat angle and back/forth position, ...). You can also add stiff foam to tweak the seat shape. For instance, I reversed the two kinds of foam inside the seat so the stiffer one was on top. Lots of fun experimenting in your future; these bikes have many more adjustments than a DF.

Finally, these bikes have a high resale value, right here on these forums, so in the worst case you won't be out too much.

 

[paco1961]

I switched 2 years ago primarily due to saddle discomfort on my DF stable. Riding S40 since April 2018. Replaced stock seat w Thor Easy Seat and Ventisit Standard pad. Huge improvement in comfort and stability. It has a pronounced lumbar support that works perfectly for me. May not be the case for everyone.

Per your seat discomfort concern - ANY recumbent will be much better than a DF for all bits of anatomy. I prefer the contoured seat on the CB (both stock and Thor) over most of the other stretched fabric seats found on lots of other bents. And I can tell you from experience that at the end of a century, race or ride, my wrists, hands, arms, shoulders, back and everything else feel fabulous compared to the best day on any of my DFs. After the century mark I start to feel the recumbutt settle in but that would probably be the case for my living room couch also. The only improvement would be to go to a V20 that distributes weight between butt and back.

And don’t worry about the learning curve. It takes a while but we’ve all been through it. You’ll get plenty of encouragement from the forum. Enjoy!

 

[jond]

Newbie here. I'm considering buying a Q45. After reading quite a few posts here, I'm hesitating for these reasons: the learning curve and seat discomfort.

I don't understand why there's a learning curve that's different than riding a "regular" bike. Is it because of the pedal steer? Or because balancing is so different in the recumbent position? Or something else entirely? The learning curve alone wouldn't prevent me from pulling the trigger--if others can learn, I know I can too.

My bigger concern is the posts I've seen about seat discomfort. One of the main reasons I'm considering a recumbent (my first) is because of the discomfort that I have, especially between my shoulder blades, when I ride my "regular" bike. If a recumbent will only transfer the discomfort to a different body part, that's not a solution. Several of the posts I read about this topic indicate that the owners solved their problem by swapping out the stock seat for a (expensive) 3rd party seat. I don't want to have to go that route, because I'm already stretching my budget.

Any comments and constructive suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

most people ride the oem seat and find it very very comfortable indeed.

the learning curve is and should be fun like learning to ride all over again perhaps. The payoff is manifestly positive in terms of comfortable cycling.

no other recumbent company has such a supportive stance and network.

I own five brands with cruzbike a standout. Buy one.

 

[benphyr]

...will be much better than a DF for all bits of anatomy... And I can tell you from experience that at the end of a century, race or ride, my wrists, hands, arms, shoulders, back and everything else feel fabulous compared to the best day on any of my DFs...

I’ve added some emphasis that would have been heard in person. Welcome @bikemore

 

[woodguy]

I can’t compare comfort on my Q45 to a DF because I never seriously rode a DF. When I decided to improve my fitness with biking 5 years ago, a recumbent was the only thing I considered, and it was all about comfort for me. I had 2 other recumbents before my Q45 & they were good, but longer rides introduced some recumbutt. I’ve never had the shoulder pain you refer to on a recumbent.

I started with the stock Q45 seat, which was good, but when doing Biking Across Kansas in 2018(600 miles in 8 days), I did get some minor butt pain, but noting like the DF’ers. In 2019, my plan was to do a cross country ride from San Diego, CA to St Augustine, Fl - 52 days with an average of 65 miles per day. I decided to get the Thor seat because of that & don’t regret it a bit. I think the key is shifting more weight onto the back from the butt & some of that can be accomplished with the stock seat by adjusting the seat angle.

I also echo everyone’s comments about the learning curve. Just follow the Cruzbike instructions & the more you ride, the easier it will get.

My vote is to go for it @bikemore

 

[bikemore]

Thanks all for the encouragement.

 

[Giloun]

Let me add my experience here for your reference.
Last year I rode for 8 days in Korea. On some of the days I rode more than 100 km and finished like I can go many km more. There were no discomfort on any part and in fact it was very comfy riding long distance on Q45. FYI I was using the stock seat but added a custom neck support and inserted some foam at the lumbar area to change its shape a bit. (I think neck support is essential for comfort.)
Q45 has rear suspension which I upgraded to air shock and I think it is very helpful in smoothing out the ride.
Then I did another 5-day-tour on a MTB a few months later. I anticipated butt pain in long distance ride so I upgraded my bike with a biggish thick seat hoping to prevent it. It turned out that after 2 to 3 days t started to feel discomfort in my butt and needed to shift my seating pressure point from time to time to prevent the pain from developing.
In terms of comfort, my conclusion after these tours is that riding Q45 is enjoyable while riding a regular bike is tolerable.
You can search my previous posts to have a look at my tour report and also my custom neck support made out of a piece of aluminium and also the changes I made with my Q45 in my process of fitting the bike to my body and style of riding.
Of course everybody is different but I'm confident you'll find Q45 a much better touring bike over a regular bike in terms of comfort.

Talking about learning curve, I agree with you," if others can learn, I know I (you) can too". Not a concern.

 

[rx7mark]

Re: learning curve.

My experience was on a T50, but should be similar to the Q45. I was 56, and a little out of shape when I started. I rode everyday for a couple of days in a parking lot, on the 4rth day I took it to the local bike path and rode 10 mi, but was very nervous around walkers and other bikes.

By the 3rd week I rode a 28mi round trip to work. Again I was nervous around traffic and going up hills, due to increased wobble at slow speeds.

At 3 mo I was riding to work 3 days a week and did my 1rst century, and was perfectly comfortable with the bike, but decided to do a few upgrades to make things more comfortable on longer rides, like a Thor seat, Emiljay mod, and road bike controls.

At 2 years, I have about 8K on the bike and I am considering an upgrade for more speed, but don't really need an upgrade. Just tempted! And I might want a bike that is easier to pack for travel.

Mark

 

[3bs]

learning curve is a person by person thing. my son just got on and rode away. my neighbor twice up and down my driveway and he bought a used q. me? even now on my v20 i am still shaky on my v pedaling downhill over 30, and some days i can lean way over in curves at speed and some days i freak out. but, on my t50, its like stingray. i do all kinds of stuff and never notice.

seat wise, i dont think this is any different than any other bike. when i rode uprights i switched seats a few times. i have an thor seat that i have tried on my v. i went back to the stock seat with a wedge.

personal preference. the bike is very customizable. the q45 has even more variability.

 

[dule0911]

Here is my experience after some ~1550km on the stock seat Q45 - seat angle at around 45 degrees, added some foam pading for lumbar support. I'm 190cm tall (six foot two) and 95kg (210 pounds).

Yesterday 127km, the day before 115km. Something like that on my old MTB DF would be a month long rehabilitation from spine injury (have a herniated disc x2). The butt is not sore, but I always ride for pleasure, have not tried brevets yet (I plan to next month), so I do make stops regulary - no way any soreness can even develop.
If it develops, I will try to add some padding on the butt area before switching to the Thor seat which everybody recommends. Maybe the ventisit pad will be better here also, haven't tried it but from what I've seen on other bents, it should be better on longer rides since it's a bit harder and therefore better for 150+km rides.

The point is - the discomfort, even if it develops, will be much more easier to fix on the Q45 (or any bent for that matter), especially since the Q45 has the back seat angle adjustment.

 

[super slim]

Here is my experience after some ~1550km on the stock seat Q45 - seat angle at around 45 degrees, added some foam pading for lumbar support. I'm 190cm tall (six foot two) and 95kg (210 pounds).

Yesterday 127km, the day before 115km. Something like that on my old MTB DF would be a month long rehabilitation from spine injury (have a herniated disc x2). The butt is not sore, but I always ride for pleasure, have not tried brevets yet (I plan to next month), so I do make stops regulary - no way any soreness can even develop.
If it develops, I will try to add some padding on the butt area before switching to the Thor seat which everybody recommends. Maybe the ventisit pad will be better here also, haven't tried it but from what I've seen on other bents, it should be better on longer rides since it's a bit harder and therefore better for 150+km rides.

The point is - the discomfort, even if it develops, will be much more easier to fix on the Q45 (or any bent for that matter), especially since the Q45 has the back seat angle adjustment.

The ventisit thick pad(4 ?off 10 mm layers) makes a HUGE difference to comfort, as it acts as a spring, does not collapse like exercise matts, and breaths so reduces perspiration!

 

[bikemore]

I've had some complications that have put my decision on hold for now, but thanks for the feedback. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[2018CruzbikeQ45]

I'm sure this topic has already been well-documented and I understand that I'm also late to the discussion. However, I've recently discovered a great solution for the inherent discomfort of the 2018 Q45 (and possibly other iterations):

Grey pad on the bottom, then the ventist, then a third pad made from yoga mat (I used Retrospec Laguna Yoga Mat, Thick), bottom side up. I bought the yoga mat on Amazon Warehouse and cut out a piece to fit using the original grey pad as a pattern, then trimmed the bottom to fit. All three layers were stuffed into the cover with velcro tabs. I originally had discomfort/pain without this third DIY layer (I have lower back issues), but I can now ride for hours with zero discomfort. In fact, I rode for 3 hours today and have been riding 12-15+ miles every day for over a week with no lower back issues.

I also make my own DIY insoles using the same yoga mat material.

 

[bret]

Grey pad on the bottom, then the ventist, then a third pad made from yoga mat

Hi. Can you say what 'Grey pad' means? Is that the original pad in the original seat cushion?

stuffed into the cover with velcro tabs.

The fabric covering the original seat cushion? Or?

Cheers.

 

[billyk]

If you look inside the stock seat pad, you'll see one stiffer gray pad and a softer black one. You can try reversing them, switching then for some other material like @2018CruzbikeQ45 did. Etc.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

I have a V20 and S40 Cruzbikes. No pain on the V20 no matter how far I ride. The S40 gives me recumbutt after 30-40 miles and I have to get off and stretch a bit. Recumbutt is nothing like the pain of riding a DF bike. It doesn't cause and rashes or damage to the prostrate. It's just muscle pain that you can recover from very quickly with a quick stretch. I have found that recumbutt depends directly on the angle of the seat and the weight of the rider. Lower angles and lower weight reduces recumbutt. I went to the Thor Carrier seat for my S40. It fixed shoulder pain but didn't do anything for recumbutt. Last year I circled the whole US on the S40. The recumbutt did get a little better after several thousand miles, but never totally went away. It beats the DF seat, but the V20 is a dream by comparison.

 

[Saxfisch]

Reviving a somewhat necro thread here. My issue with the OEM seat is more about where it hits in the upper back/shoulder area. Still considering keeping the bike or not. I’m about 30 miles in and feeling pretty confident already.

Not too keen on needing to replace with a seat ($$) but if I keep it, I certainly will. In the meantime, anyone have any cures or mods for the upper back issue? I raised the seat a bit to take pressure off the back and that helped a bit.

 

[ratz]

Reviving a somewhat necro thread here. My issue with the OEM seat is more about where it hits in the upper back/shoulder area. Still considering keeping the bike or not. I’m about 30 miles in and feeling pretty confident already.

Not too keen on needing to replace with a seat ($$) but if I keep it, I certainly will. In the meantime, anyone have any cures or mods for the upper back issue? I raised the seat a bit to take pressure off the back and that helped a bit.

Can you get someone to take a picture of you from the side and behind when on the bike. That would help the community understand if it's adaptation or fit. Then, people can better share what they've learned that aligns with your challenge.

I'll boost your post count so you can upload the pictures.

 

[Saxfisch]

Tha

Can you get someone to take a picture of you from the side and behind when on the bike. That would help the community understand if it's adaptation or fit. Then, people can better share what they've learned that aligns with your challenge.

I'll boost your post count so you can upload the pictures.

Thank you. I’ll get some pics