Ready to build the ultimate Vendetta racing machine

LarryOz

Cruzeum Curator & Sigma Wrangler
Hamster or Tiller Bars

I have been looking around online for some of these bars to use for testing.
I am coming up black, except for refrences to them in this forum and BROL.
Anybody know where a fella could pick up a set, new or used?
 

snilard

Guru of hot glue gun
Andrew: I would say that

Andrew: I would say that these handlebar will not work on MBB bike. You cannot pull/push on these bars. But this is only theory.

There is page comparing drop bars with bullhorn bars somewhere here on Cruzbike web. Bullhorn bars are IMHO good aerodynamic way for MBB bikes.
 

Andrew 1973

Zen MBB Master
"I would say that these

"I would say that these handlebar will not work on MBB bike. You cannot pull/push on these bars. But this is only theory."
Thank you for your input; I have no experience with using such narrow bars. Larry was looking for a hamster or tiller style handlebar and this was one option that I came across. He is looking to use them for testing purposes, and I have to admit, I'd be willing to try them myself. I have never been one to take "it will not work" for and answer; I always want to find out why it will not work. :)
 

Rampa

Guru
Leverage

I always assumed the width of Cruzbike was twofold. Firstly to have the leverage to counteract the pedaling forces (after a while, you don't notice this), and secondly, to get your arms out of the way of your knees.

That image is just MTB riser bars cut down and used in a way to give the appropriate curve for mounting road brifters. The "horn" part is just bar ends. You could get carbon ones if you wanted as well.
 

Rick Youngblood

CarbonCraft Master
I used that style of hamster

I used that style of hamster bar on my Metabike. It does make the bike twitchy with less leverage, however I suppose you could get used it, but I don't think the brifters will work due to No bend in the bars to accommodate the lever action!?!
 

MrSteve

Zen MBB Master
Record Bike Custom Bars

Have you seen the photos of this record-breaking carbon recumbent bicycle?

All the photos are interesting, but look at his custom handlebars.
They are not bars, but that's where he puts his hands.

http://www.aurelienbonneteau.net/


Also, check out his lovely foot fairings, zero-recline seat, extreme aero, hyper-oval front chain ring
and other modifications.

-Steve

 

LarryOz

Cruzeum Curator & Sigma Wrangler
Thanks for all the bar and

Thanks for all the bar and aero info Bob.
I am already working on a platform for my rollers to make them a little safer when riding the V. Pictures to follow of course.
That way I can develope my sense of balance with whatever handlebar system I decide to go with.

Steve - all I can saw is wow! - I just don't know if I could ride with my hands "there". Oh yes - and love those foot fairings.
I guess those would put him in the "faired" category here.
 

ratz

Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
Straight arms.

For a TT like effort, You need straight arms and in tight to the body. A bent or flared arm will hurt you

If I recall correctly, Maria P had a bike with Gunner bars for RAM that was destroyed in the RAAM accident and never raced; I assume she trained on it enough to validate the configuration for the Kansas plains. Charlie O has a rig with Gunners as well.

In my experience with bullhorns and drops; the drop give you the leverage to steer from the width. The bullhorns give you the stability to go straight from the inherent rigidity of the straight arms. My bullhorn Silvo wants to "go in a line"; my vendetta allows me to "hold a line". They are decidedly different feelings.

For non TT stuff; Jim P is riding Origin 8 Gary Bars. I got lucky and seemed to have scored the last set of those on the planet on Ebay; I have never seen a par since in 31.8mm; they make them in 25.m4mm as the Gary2-Bar and with problem solver shims they will fit. . I got them based on Jim's urging, I had my doubts, I was wrong. I do love the bars enough on the V, that I have not felt any compunction put BullHorns on (The Silvio Geometry is why I like bullhorns on that bike).

You do cut the bars down for a Cruzbike application; below the brifter you leave about a hands width of bar plus a smig. To avoid the shims the Midge bar from On*One is almost the same geometry and probably a better choice these days, but I haven't used it.

Gunner bars can be made, but you have to do it yourself. You buy a CHEAP handle bar in 31.8mm you or some pipe if you prefer; and cut them off so they are barely wider than the boom. Then you clamp on independent TT bars and wire up in this case with Di2 TT brake shifters (Historically the previous bikes used bar end shifters).

For bull horns - Ask Eric, of the really active form members, he probably has the most miles on them, on the Vendetta.

So consider what riding you are going to do; I think you'll see Maria and Jim continue to ride Drops at most events unless it's TT-ish in nature. That says a lot right there.





 

snilard

Guru of hot glue gun
Andrew:
I can compare hamster


Andrew:
I can compare hamster (tiller) and superman (open cockpit) positions.
In hamster position you are turning the bike by moving handlebar left and right like with tiller on the boat (funny think: This is first time I translated world "tiller" to my mother language. And it has the same meaning on the boat as on recumbent). Bent hands on tiller are weak in this left/right direction. So it is not so easy to steer the bike it it wants to go other direction than you. So I think that It will not work on MBB because You will not be able to correct pedal steer by your hand because they are weak in the direction. So if you can steer only by legs while maintaining high power output you can use narrow tiller.
With open cockpit handlebars as same as with drop bars or bullhorns you are steering by pulling one hand and pushing by other. Nearly straight hands are strong in this direction. So it is much easier to steer the bike. I was moving from bike with tiller to bike with open cockpit. I was able to ride tiller bike one hand, but not on bad roads. With open cockpit I can ride one hand also on bad roads. On fast downhills I still need to use both hands but its simply because my bike is twitchy and my handlebars are more flexible than I want.
 

Andrew 1973

Zen MBB Master
@ Matej

Thanks for the explanation of your experience. I can imagine someone who has mastered the Cruzbike, like Jim Parker, who can ride his Vendetta with his hands behind his head, would have less issue with a narrow bar.

Even myself, I recall my first Cruzbike rides left my forearms burning. I later came to realize that this was the result of my fighting the steering inputs from my feet. I can now ride without hands for a short distance and I can also use the flats on my Origin 8 Gary handlebar with no loss of stability. However, when it comes time to apply power, my hands are on the drops or the hoods.

Getting this thread back on track: I'm eager to see what set-ups Larry tries and his perception of each.
 

Robert Holler

Administrator
Staff member
Moving to a narrow bar is

Moving to a narrow bar is best done as a gradual thing, as you get used to the inputs needed on the handlebars. Going too narrow though and while gaining aero I think that all leverage would be sacrificed and I wonder if sprinting and bursts of speed on hills would be compromised a lot.

The question for a ultimate racing vendetta would be - Where is the race taking place? If a race had any hills, I would want the leverage of the bars. Maybe on a flat TT where that is less necessary going for the super aero/narrow would be good...

This is easy to test with the stock bars, just hold the flat part of the bars either side of the slider at various widths. I tried this at a higher speed and it was way too frightening for me.



Robert
 

LarryOz

Cruzeum Curator & Sigma Wrangler
You have made a good point

You have made a good point Robert.
The V (any bike really) has to be custom configured for the course to be ridden, just as the wheel set for the wind on the day of the race.
I guess this first pass I am going after the Sebring course. I have looked briefly at a Strava segment of it, and intend to ride the segment on the KICKR, so I will know better what to expect. I think the worst "hill" is about a 30 or 40 ft climb, so probably not too bad. But if windy, even pan flat could feel like 2 or 3% grade, then may be a problem..
I like the gradually working you way to the narrow bars idea too!

I also have a set of rollers that I used to be able to ride no hands on my DF.
The ability to develop a finer sense of balance is what makes the rollers so great!
I am in the process of building a platform for them so I can ride the V on them a little more safely, but I have been able to learn to ride and balance on the regular V configuration already.
My idea was to develop and fine tune my sense of balance on the rollers with the narrow bar setup that I choose. Basically ride all my recovery rides on them.
Then when I just ride on the road it will be old hat.

Thanks again every for all the suggestions and input. This is going to be so much fun!
 

Jeremy S

Dude
People just don't like being

People just don't like being passed. Or being taken by surprise. I don't think there's any bell/horn/vocalization that's going to please everyone. You need some subliminal/telepathic form of communication to make people think they noticed you and decided to let you pass on their own.

Does the ultimate Vendetta need the ultimate horn? Here's a car horn for a bike:

http://www.loudbicycle.com/

I know the guy who's been developing this and I've seen it in person. It is big (apparently it has to be to make the right sound), heavy, loud (you don't want to use it on pedestrians or other bikes, just cars) and sounds exactly like a car horn. I would have no idea where to mount it on a Cruzbike. It might clamp onto a Silvio/Vendetta boom, but it would cause some serious leg interference. From their blog it looks like they are about to ship their first batch to customers, which is great (it's been in development a while).

Larry, I'm really looking forward to seeing your ultimate bike come together!
 

JonathanL

New Member
Fitting Loud Bicycle horn to recumbent

Hi Jeremy! I didn't know you had one of these?

You nailed all the issues about the horn -> mounting on the boom probably won't work, and it might be too heavy for Larry while racing. That said - we've had lots of interest from recumbent riders and we're doing our best to find solutions that work. For example we offer a button cable extension so you can have more flexibility about where you mount the horn.

Looking forward to seeing some pictures of the Vendetta bike!
 

Eric Winn

Zen MBB Master
2014 Bike Sebring Data

Larry, if it is helpful here is my 2014 Bike Sebring data. Same data but posted originally to RWGPS and then later to Strava. The elevation data should be pretty good as I was using my RFLKT+.

You will want good lighting if you do the 24 hour as the track is not lit. Pay particular attention to light characteristics that will let you corner well at night on relatively tight corners. You will want a light for the start on the track, especially if you start fast out of the gate. It will quickly become light enough to not need it but the start will be dark enough to require good lighting. Plan on a way to turn the head light off as soon as desired to preserve battery for later if you are going to do the 24 hour. The start can be tricky due to bunching, darkness, and a lot of varying take off speeds.

Battery management to power lights and other electronics for a 24 hour run can be a bit tricky. I had 2 batteries for my front light and had to switch during the night track period. It was a bit problematic as the light didn't fade and give me warning but basically just went out. Fortunately I was pretty close to the pits at the time and only rode a short distance before I could get to the pits and change my battery. I was not carrying the spare with me but probably should have in case it had done this far from the pits and my other backup gear.

I used an iPhone 5 with Cyclemeter and my Anker Astro 5600mAh external battery connected to my iPhone. This was only good for about 18 hours. I've since switched to using an Anker E3 10000mAh for 24 hour stuff but it is much larger and heavier, but easily powers my phone with display on constantly with GPS, etc for well over 24 hours.

Consider using the same technique that race cars use to "straighten corners" to minimize the total travel distance to get all the way around the track. I saw a lot of riders keeping a consistent distance from the track edge rather than trying to cut the corners and minimize travel. Over a long period the little bit of extra time circling wide around the track can add up.

The track is pretty wide but it can get crowded with enough riders. There are also seams and other bits that can be hazardous.

Some people were trying to bunch up at the timing gates on the night track portion which is bad both for timing and safety. People got better at not bunching up here as the night went on.

There are some fairly rough sections of road out toward the lake on the long loop and grit/sand/dirt in many of the corners so you'll need to keep an eye on the surface and your speed.

If you are doing the 24 hour non-drafting (RAAM qualifier) you will also want to watch out for pelotons passing you. Some of them can get quite long and box you in a bit closer to the shoulder than you want to be. I got caught by a big one at the start that kind of annoyed me because they came up behind me just before I started picking up speed and I got stuck until they all went past me.

Be careful of vehicle traffic too, they are normally really good around there from what I've seen but there have also been some bad incidents the last couple of years.

It has been very, very windy these last two years that I was there. Gusts up to 30+mph and steady winds in the 20+mph for long periods. This can pose handling dangers, especially with disk wheels but more importantly it can get cold enough to create some hypothermia risks if you aren't properly prepared - or get behind on nutrition even if you had proper gear. I think that is part of what I struggled with back in Feb. This year was better, the winds died down in the late afternoon, early evening but two years ago it blowed strongly all night long and got down to around 38F or 39F. Frankly, I don't know how Maria did it that year. This year I think the lowest temp was maybe 40F or 41F but without the high wind. Daytime high on race day was around 68F if I recall correctly with a smallish rain shower that mostly caught the slower riders. The day before race day was gorgeous.

Links open in a new window/tab.

RWGPS
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2245489

11 mile loop practice run from the day before. This is typically where you will feel the wind the most as you will be fighting the wind at first half of the loop and having it mostly at you back for the second half. The other part that hurts is the final return leg from the long loop back to the track as this is almost head-on into the wind.
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2239114

Strava
http://www.strava.com/activities/114918229??

-Eric

 

LarryOz

Cruzeum Curator & Sigma Wrangler
Thanks Eric for the tons of

Thanks Eric for the tons of great information! All great!

The one thing I have not got any information on is about the night time segment on a 24-hour race. It would be great to get some data of how much on average people slow down during the night hours, etc. Also, how do you stay awake, motivated etc. I'm sure it is something I should ask Maria. I know she did a lot of night-time rides. My biggest issue, is I don't really have anyone here that would/could do that for me.

The Sebring route:
I actually found Strava rides of the entire Sebring race. I found a way to download the riders data and made segments of 100 mile out and back segment, the long loop and the short loop on the track. I am going to try and ride them on the KICKR with Strava Segments. Have you tried that yet.
Here are the segment names and numbers:

?"Sebring 12/24 2013 - to Reedy Lake and back" record: Kurt Searvogel: 3:46:19 = http://www.strava.com/segments/3465662
?"Sebring Raceway" segment? = 3.6 miles (record = Kurt Searvogel in 25:16) = http://www.strava.com/segments/3393200
"Sebring 12/24 Loop" = 10.3 miles (record = Niel Shirley: 8:37) = http://www.strava.com/segments/2131448
 

LarryOz

Cruzeum Curator & Sigma Wrangler
Molten Speed Wax - anybody used this stuff?

Thanks Buddy for the info on the wax!
Wow - I read up on how to do this on their web-page.
Looks like a lot of work - Maybe it gets easier after you do it a few times.
Also looks like 70% of the effort is to get the chain clean in the first place.
I would be interested in hearing from anyone on the forum that have used this or any other "waxing" product.
Specifically - how long does it last. Will it survive a 400-500 mile/24 hour ride or would you need to have a "spare" one to switch out half way through.
Thanks,
 

ratz

Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
wax on wax off

Waxing done easy

1) Buy a $15 door mini crock pot
2) Buy wax of choice
3) Clean chain with wd40; just soak over night.
?4) Turn on Crock pot
5) Melt wax
6) Insert chain
7) Wait
8) Remove Chain and hang to dry
9) Shake Chain
10) Put chain on bike
11) Turn off crock pot let wax harden in it.

keep 2 chains; one pre waxed; rotate and wax chains ever 400 miles.

Discard used wax after 8000 miles and get clean wax

It does work; it work darn well; it's is time consuming.

I haven't done it since about 2008.

My ritual is;

1) Ride
2) Clean chain with wd40 when I get home (1 minute) using wd40 on a baby wipe
3) Apply teflon lube to to OUTSIDE of Chain
4) Park bike

Deep clean chain every 800 miles or any time it gets sandy/gritty. If I lived in a different climate I would match my lube to my location.

There are no Lube war threads; there are simply people that forget they live in different geographic areas.

Waxing works north of the mason-dixie line. It worked awful in rural florida; the sand sticks to the wax.


 
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