Bush Pilot
New Member
Would you choose the S40 or Q45 for loaded touring on the Eurovelo Danube Route? I have a HP Velotechnik Streetmachine and that bike weighs 41 pounds with racks in my home scale. That’s heavy.
Q45 or S40 for Loaded Touring Along the Danube Eurovelo?
- Thread starter Bush Pilot
- Start date
TylerWayne
New Member
I don’t own an S40, so I can’t give any experience to that, but I have done some bikepacking/touring on garbage roads and gravel with the Q45.
The Q45 rear shock is super nice for comfort, and reaaaally helps out when you accidentally send it over a pothole that you didn’t see.
I don’t know what your priorities are, but I have loaded up my Q45 for 3 days adventures so far, and haven’t run into weight capacity issues.
Looking at the Eurovelo route, that’s gonna be quite the ride.
Regardless of which you choose, I think getting extra racks for under the seat would be necessary.
Regarding your concern with weight, I’m not sure how much weight savings you will get. I just tested my own setup, and my Q45, with everything loaded including tent, sleeping bag, clothes, etc, is about 55 pounds.
When I take off most of the bags it comes out around 42 pounds.
I also think a lot of your gains are going to come from being a bit more aerodynamic than the trike, there is less frontal area, and only two tires contacting the ground.
There is definitely a learning curve with the Cruzbike system though, the front wheel drive has a unique steering experience. It took me about 3 months to get really confident to be able to ride at the level I was at on an upright bike.
All that being said, I love my Q45, so if you take anything away from this, you have at least one glowing review In the Q’s favor.
The Q45 rear shock is super nice for comfort, and reaaaally helps out when you accidentally send it over a pothole that you didn’t see.
I don’t know what your priorities are, but I have loaded up my Q45 for 3 days adventures so far, and haven’t run into weight capacity issues.
Looking at the Eurovelo route, that’s gonna be quite the ride.
Regardless of which you choose, I think getting extra racks for under the seat would be necessary.
Regarding your concern with weight, I’m not sure how much weight savings you will get. I just tested my own setup, and my Q45, with everything loaded including tent, sleeping bag, clothes, etc, is about 55 pounds.
When I take off most of the bags it comes out around 42 pounds.
I also think a lot of your gains are going to come from being a bit more aerodynamic than the trike, there is less frontal area, and only two tires contacting the ground.
There is definitely a learning curve with the Cruzbike system though, the front wheel drive has a unique steering experience. It took me about 3 months to get really confident to be able to ride at the level I was at on an upright bike.
All that being said, I love my Q45, so if you take anything away from this, you have at least one glowing review In the Q’s favor.
Jeffrey Ritter
Well-Known Member
A couple of years ago, I took my Silvio 3.0 to Europe and discovered, much to my surprise,, that the boat-bike tour mostly involved riding trails along the river. I did not enjoy it. First, there are often tight turns (remember these are mostly walking trails) and even tho Silvio has a great turning radius, its not that great. Second, I just never felt at ease. I tend to ride always on open roads and just felt constrained. There is so much to see so I would encourage the Q 45--more upright, more design for leisure-fun riding.
Black Hawk Down
Senior Rookie
I have never ridden a Q45 but I did finish an 11,000 mile tour around the perimeter of the US last year on my S40. It was loaded down with about 60 -70 lbs. The bike was superb on good roads but really was uncomfortable on rough roads. Dirt, gravel, forget it. My biggest problem was recumbutt. It plagued me every day for a year. I won't tour on the S40 anymore. I'm looking at ways to gear up my V20 for touring. It will still suck on rough roads and dirt, but no recumbutt.
I'm ardently sticking with Cruzbike as I really like the upper body exercise that you don't get with any other bikes. I previously tried to use my V20 for touring by using a trailer or Radical Design Banana Large panniers, but in both cases, the bike was wobbly due to all the weight. I weighed around 240 lbs. I think the latter was the problem. My goal is to get my weight down below 180 lbs before attempting a tour on the V20. I think I can do it then.
I'm ardently sticking with Cruzbike as I really like the upper body exercise that you don't get with any other bikes. I previously tried to use my V20 for touring by using a trailer or Radical Design Banana Large panniers, but in both cases, the bike was wobbly due to all the weight. I weighed around 240 lbs. I think the latter was the problem. My goal is to get my weight down below 180 lbs before attempting a tour on the V20. I think I can do it then.
2whluge
Member
I’m late to this discussion, but here are my thoughts:
We rode Euro Velo 6 from Vienna to Budapest in 2022. We rode our Bike Friday Tandem. We had most of our gear transported from town to town as we got tired of loading up the bike. It sounds like you are planning self supported vs River boat or other support.
If you are already comfortable on the Speedmachine, and have it set up for touring, I don’t think you’ll gain much by switching to a Q45. I had a Grasshopper FX I planned to tour with but could never get comfortable on the seat and the under seat steering. But if you like the HP setup, this is a very sold touring platform,
As noted above a Q45 would be the CB to choose it is the only CB with adjustable seat angle, which I consider critical for touring comfort.
I could go on about the pros and cons of each bike. Let me know if you have specific questions
Peace, Dennis
We rode Euro Velo 6 from Vienna to Budapest in 2022. We rode our Bike Friday Tandem. We had most of our gear transported from town to town as we got tired of loading up the bike. It sounds like you are planning self supported vs River boat or other support.
If you are already comfortable on the Speedmachine, and have it set up for touring, I don’t think you’ll gain much by switching to a Q45. I had a Grasshopper FX I planned to tour with but could never get comfortable on the seat and the under seat steering. But if you like the HP setup, this is a very sold touring platform,
As noted above a Q45 would be the CB to choose it is the only CB with adjustable seat angle, which I consider critical for touring comfort.
I could go on about the pros and cons of each bike. Let me know if you have specific questions
Peace, Dennis
