QX100 for a customer in Norway

[Peder Torgersen]

I took some pictures of a QX 100 that a customer here in Norway ordered.

This is the first “green” Cruzbike we have delivered.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sykkel-bent/albums/72157670563268005

 

[skipB]

it is pretty , they should enjoy it

 

[Emeljay]

I have an X100 also, it's great, with adjustable seat pan and seat back angle, disc brakes, rear suspension, aero rack, and the CruzBike front end make it a great bike for fun, commuting, errands, and coasting in comfort in CruzBike reclined position with a big smile!

 

[Peder Torgersen]

Took some more pictures before the customer collected the QX100
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sykkel-bent/albums/72157670563268005
The customer was able to ride on his first attempt.

 

[Gunnstein]

Hi, that's my bike

I had my first ride yesterday, aside from practicing takeoffs in my back yard. 36 km, max speed 40 km/h, both more than expected. Average speed 18.2 which is low, but includes some low speed manouvering practice. No UPDs (UnPlanned Dismount) or RUDs for that matter (Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly). It's easy to learn, I think I got about 22 of the 32 items on the skills checklist covered. As Peder told me, being a unicyclist might be a benefit (we both are), the pedal steer effect is somewhat similar.

I'm used to a large, full suspension, RWD FBB touring bike (Azub Max). The Cruzbike won't replace it. I need full suspension for some of my rides, and I don't see any bike contesting the Azub for long distance, load hauling, go anywhere mile-eating in comfort. But the QX100 looks to be a great ride for when I'm bringing a bike on a plane, and getting some upper body exercise is a plus.

I only wish Cruzbike would offer a suspension fork again, the front is very unforgiving even with 40mm tires. I'm planning to put 406/20" wheels on it anyway, and then I'll put a 55mm tire on the front for more squish. I was planning to get a Loopwheel, but they don't offer them for bikes anymore.

 

[Gunnstein]

A negative: Cruzbike recommends to park the bike by flopping the front end over to the right, leaning on the seat. That's not possible on my bike as the rear brake housing is too short, even after I lowered the handlebars some 3-4 cm. I'll have to replace it to avoid damage. However, I had a steering damper lying around ("Hebie Steer Damper 696") so I put that on, and now the front end can lean either left or right without flopping so far that a cable gets kinked or the bike falls over. No noticeable effect when riding. Anyone else using such a thing? It's a cheap and handy gadget that also makes for nicer bike pictures
(Seems I'm not allowed to post links or pictures yet.)

 

[Gunnstein]

I thought it strange that the QX100 has a down-pull front derailer. That means it has to use a cable pulley wheel to revert the pull. I would think that unnecessary when top-pull and pull-agnostic derailers are easily available. It also adds extra wear, and a potential point of failure. When I got the bike the cable had actually fallen off the pulley wheel, bending sharply around the bolt instead. I'll be looking for a top-pull replacement, unless there is some good reason for it I'm not getting...?

 

[Gunnstein]

I'll be looking for a top-pull replacement, unless there is some good reason for it I'm not getting...?

While top pull road derailers do exist, top pull road triples do not, as far as I can tell. And I'd like to convert the bike to a front triple. If I'm also getting smaller wheels I'll need something like a 60t big ring, so MTB derailers are out of the question. So it seems I'll have to keep the pulley - unless I can get a Speen Umlenker adapter to work.

 

[ratz]

First Welcome a board.....

While top pull road derailers do exist, top pull road triples do not, as far as I can tell. And I'd like to convert the bike to a front triple. If I'm also getting smaller wheels I'll need something like a 60t big ring, so MTB derailers are out of the question. So it seems I'll have to keep the pulley - unless I can get a Speen Umlenker adapter to work.

On 451 wheels a 50T ring is more than sufficient to get the bike up past speeds that it's not safe to go fast. No problem pedaling 30+ mph on a Quest with a 50T/10T combo; 451 Durano wheels. You can convert to a top pull with little effort; there just are more bottom pull options hence the pulley; but then 90% of the <$2k DF's on the road have a pulley too so not that surprising.

 

[Gunnstein]

Thanks ratz! I'm getting 406 wheels, not 451, but with 55 mm tires the 406's are actually a bit larger, depending on pressure. However I want to avoid expensive/hard to get cassettes, so 11t is the smallest. With 50t up front I get 7.4 meters gearing, and then I'm doing only 44 km/h at 100 RPM. In short, I couldn't pedal much downhill then. I know the Q isn't a race bike, but I was hoping for a bit more than that. What would you say is a safe max speed for the Q?

(Anyway, there are options: Get a triple and keep the pulley, or widen the current double, ditch the pulley, and get a top pull derailer. Or try the Umlenker approach. We'll see.)

 

[ratz]

Typo in my post. 50T/11T. With the stock 155mm cranks I spin out at 110rpm right about the max comfort speed for the bike. The tall steering stalk has me coasting in the 30-35 mph range anything beyond 35 seems to calls my judgement into quest, small wheels and pot holes not compatible.

Try this tools before you spend.

http://home.earthlink.net/~mike.she...RT=0&lRPM=70&hRMP=110&G=show&S=no&TITLE=Quest &HL=1

 

[super slim]

The Umlenker bracket is going to be very close to the path of you heel, especially when it is a Moving Bottom Bracket?

Once the front derailleur min tension is set up correctly, the cable will not fall off the wheel

 

[super slim]

If you want a wide spread gearing try a 130/74 BCD 5 hole triple crank-set like a FSA Gossamer, cut down to 155 mm by Bikesmith, and use a 53 Q ring (55.5 t max, 50.5 T min), 39T Q ring (41.0 T max, 37.0 T min), and a 24 T circular low range chainring, and a convential 11 to 32 10 speed cassette.
On my Silvio V1.0 with 700*28c tyres (2.093 m circ) that gives me a 20" to 132" effective wheel diameters, or 1.6 M to 10.6 M moved per crank revolution, 673% variation.
At 120 cadence in high gear, I am doing 76 kph, ONLY when going DOWN a hill!!!!

If you went to a 406 (20") 50 mm big Apple, (1.555 m circ) with 24 T, 39T Q ring, 53 T Q Ring, and a 9 speed 11 to 34t cassette.
then 14" to 101" effective wheel diameters, or 1.13 M to 8.07 M moved per crank revolution, 536% variation.
At 120 cadence in high gear, you would be doing 56 kph.

 

[Gunnstein]

(I'm hit by a "maximum 5 posts in 24 hours" limit.... I really hope that's just newbie anti-spammer protection. can't be a very lively forum if that applies to everyone.)

Had my 2nd ride yesterday, now with SPD pedals. I had some pain in my feet on the 1st ride, that's gone now that I can use my normal cycling shoes. Much better!

ratz: Right. I'm used to doing 80 km/h downhill on the Azub (full suspension dual 559/26"). I can see that this wouldn't be very safe on the Q (or on any bike, for that matter).
My Q has 160mm cranks, 48/34 rings, and 11-34 cassette. With 55-406 tires and stock gearing it will be quite similar to yours, just a bit lower. If I keep the double, I might just get a bigger big ring, but that can wait until I have tried the small wheels.

The Umlenker bracket is going to be very close to the path of you heel, especially when it is a Moving Bottom Bracket?

Yeah. I'm getting the Shimano FD-CX70 top pull derailer instead. Finally, the cyclocross genre has proven useful for something

That means I'll keep the double cranks. The low end is fine at 1.6 m, the high end at 7.1 m is a bit low, but I can get a somewhat bigger ring for that. (I really should start using Sheldon Brown's gain ratio instead of meters development, now that I've got a bike with short cranks.) So far I've only done 40 km/h, maybe I won't be doing more than 50 or 60. Even at 40 there was a bit of shimmy/vibration that I'll need to check out. Hopefully the problem is with the rider.

Once the front derailleur min tension is set up correctly, the cable will not fall off the wheel

True. But the plastic wheel is a part that will wear and may fail, most likely far from home, where getting a replacement will be a pain. I'd rather remove that uncertainty / extra maintenance check, and it doesn't hurt having a little less resistance/wear on the cable, either.

 

[castlerobber]

I'm hit by a "maximum 5 posts in 24 hours" limit.... I really hope that's just newbie anti-spammer protection.

It is. We had quite a problem with spammers some months back. Once you reach a certain number of posts, that limit goes away; or an admin can override it for you.

 

[ratz]

(I'm hit by a "maximum 5 posts in 24 hours" limit.... I really hope that's just newbie anti-spammer protection. can't be a very lively forum if that applies to everyone.)

It is I will short circuit that for you. In spring we were getting 50+ spam posts a day; now we get zero. Trade-offs

 

[Gunnstein]

It is I will short circuit that for you.

Thanks a bunch Bob!

 

[billyk]

I only wish Cruzbike would offer a suspension fork again, the front is very unforgiving even with 40mm tires.

I feel your pain. But my Q2, with front "suspension" gives only a slight advantage.

However, one easy upgrade is to switch out the stock spring rear shock for an air shock. It is a dramatic improvement, not only in the ride quality but in the rigidity of the bike. I ride about one gear higher than before on the same hills (my regular commute route).

It's not easy to find 125mm air shocks, at least in the US. I got mine from Aliexpress in China, and it took about 3 weeks to arrive. The shock is:
Kindshock KS A5-RR1 Dual Solo Air Bicycle Rear Shock
I see they still have it for us$86.36.

Note that the "RR1" model, with has dual air chambers (one for preload) is better. They also have a single-chamber shock (model RE).

I was suspicious because it is so much cheaper than air shocks usually are, but in fact it has proven quite durable. I've had it for almost a year, put about 2500 miles on it, and only had to pump it up once since the initial time.

See if this link works for you (and if these forums let me post a link).

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Kind...e-Rear-Shock-A5-RE-125-150mm/32607627654.html

Billy K

 

[castlerobber]

However, one easy upgrade is to switch out the stock spring rear shock for an air shock. It is a dramatic improvement, not only in the ride quality but in the rigidity of the bike. I ride about one gear higher than before on the same hills (my regular commute route).

It's not easy to find 125mm air shocks, at least in the US. I got mine from Aliexpress in China, and it took about 3 weeks to arrive. The shock is:
Kindshock KS A5-RR1 Dual Solo Air Bicycle Rear Shock
I see they still have it for us$86.36.

Note that the "RR1" model, with has dual air chambers (one for preload) is better. They also have a single-chamber shock (model RE).

I'll second that. I bought the A5-RE for my Q back in January. Same vendor, same shipping time. Significant improvement in handling and comfort.

 

[Gunnstein]

(...) However, one easy upgrade is to switch out the stock spring rear shock for an air shock. It is a dramatic improvement, not only in the ride quality but in the rigidity of the bike. I ride about one gear higher than before on the same hills (my regular commute route).

It's not easy to find 125mm air shocks, at least in the US. I got mine from Aliexpress in China, and it took about 3 weeks to arrive. The shock is:
Kindshock KS A5-RR1 Dual Solo Air Bicycle Rear Shock (...)

Really? I happen to have an A5-RR1 in my basement, on a bike I'm about to sell, but it's the 150 mm edition.

The shock on my QX100 is a "KSPEED 261" which I thought was a dead simple elastomer job, but the internet tells me it's a coil spring. Is this the shock you're both talking about? So far I like it actually. Handles the bumps well enough, haven't noticed any trouble. Should be near zero maintenance which I like since my main use for the bike is touring in faraway places. Not having to carry a shock pump is good. Anyway, nice to know that other options are easily available.

Billy, when you say you're faster after upgrading, what's the reason for that? Did the original pogo, or what?