The annual BAK (Biking Across Kansas) was June 5-12. My Quest 559 was the only Cruzebike that I saw. I had around 550 miles of training rides before we started. Lots of people were interested in it. Most of the time I enjoyed the ride but we had more thunder storms than usual. Wind, hard rain, lightening, and trucks make for exciting riding. Most of the days we rode 60-65 miles but we had two 70+ mile days back to back.
The Quest was ok most of the time with a couple of improvements needed. First of all the seat, I had put in some extra cushioning but it was not enough. Ten miles was about all I could go without having to stop, stretch and get off the seat. On the last day I had cut a gel seat in 1/2 and put each half in the seat. I was able to go 20 miles in the rain without stopping. I will be following the seat discussion thread to see other options.
The other problem I had was the bottom derailleur would not stay adjusted. It was adjusted and would work perfectly for part of the day and then the middle gears would be out of adjustment by the time the ride was over. I'm not sure what it needs to stay adjusted or what I'm doing wrong. On the last day I was going up a hill and got behind another biker but could not pass due to traffic. When I downshifted it spun out and I stalled. Of course I could only get one foot unclipped and fell against the curb. The best part was the slow uncoordinated fall which makes you look very ridiculous.
One other thing that caused some irritation was the rim tape on the front wheel was not centered so the spoke holes caused a flat. New rim taped fixed that problem.
It has been two weeks since I completed the 490 mile BAK. Since then I had my lateral meniscus trimmed and have not been on the bike. The knee operation was due to my first Quest ride which ended a little crash. When I heal I hope to make some adjustments to the bike and ride again. Overall, I am happy with the Quest but I wish it wasn't so heavy.
The Quest was ok most of the time with a couple of improvements needed. First of all the seat, I had put in some extra cushioning but it was not enough. Ten miles was about all I could go without having to stop, stretch and get off the seat. On the last day I had cut a gel seat in 1/2 and put each half in the seat. I was able to go 20 miles in the rain without stopping. I will be following the seat discussion thread to see other options.
The other problem I had was the bottom derailleur would not stay adjusted. It was adjusted and would work perfectly for part of the day and then the middle gears would be out of adjustment by the time the ride was over. I'm not sure what it needs to stay adjusted or what I'm doing wrong. On the last day I was going up a hill and got behind another biker but could not pass due to traffic. When I downshifted it spun out and I stalled. Of course I could only get one foot unclipped and fell against the curb. The best part was the slow uncoordinated fall which makes you look very ridiculous.
One other thing that caused some irritation was the rim tape on the front wheel was not centered so the spoke holes caused a flat. New rim taped fixed that problem.
It has been two weeks since I completed the 490 mile BAK. Since then I had my lateral meniscus trimmed and have not been on the bike. The knee operation was due to my first Quest ride which ended a little crash. When I heal I hope to make some adjustments to the bike and ride again. Overall, I am happy with the Quest but I wish it wasn't so heavy.
Crashing is not part of the normal learning process. I hope you have a speedy recovery.
