S40 test ride in the San Francisco/Bay area?

yangmusa

yangmusa

Member
Are there any S40 owners in the SF Bay Area that might be willing to let me test ride (or at least sit on) their S40? (I might also be interested in Q45 or T50 also, if you have those).

I have a Sofrider that I like (a lot!) I considering upgrading, but am uncertain about the seat size of the S40. I'm tall, and Cruzbike's claim that the seat will fit anyone is... economical with the truth. The seat on the Sofrider ends below my shoulder blades and is not comfortable on longer rides (if you look at my previous posts you can find pictures if you're so inclined).

Thanks!
 
yangmusa

yangmusa

Member
Charles.Plager said:
It's also possible a non-Cruzbike seat will fit you better. Lots of people have had lots of luck with other seats.
Click to expand...

I'm sure an aftermarket seat would fit better, and I see a lot of people have fitted them to S40s and V20s*. But we're talking about bikes that cost $4,000++ here, and I find it offputting that Cruzbike doesn't offer seats in multiple sizes. Many (most?) other high-end recumbents offer seats ranging from S - XL (at least in hard shell, mesh seats tend to be one size). If I'm going to pay that much money the bike had better fit like a glove out of the box.

I've considered fitting an aftermarket seat to my Sofrider, but given the suspended frame design it seems like it would be challenging to support the rear/upper part of the seat. The seatpost is under my lower back, and even with a layback seatpost the seat would not be well supported. I've seen people have fitted other seats to Quests and Q45s, but they have a different geometry that looks a bit more suited to it.. (Although if there are examples of Sofriders with custom seats on the forums that I've missed I'd be grateful for links!)

(* should that tell Cruzbike that they should rethink their seats? I read the recent race report about Jason Perez, and he has a Thor seat. Even their sponsored racer doesn't like the stock seat!)
 
benphyr

benphyr

Guru-me-not
You have my respect for making it work with a Sofrider.

As for racers, they usually have every upgrade imaginable. Considering the different shapes and sizes of people I think it may be more feasible to offer the suitable Thor seat with a matched size as an upgrade over the standard one size fits all seat.

From my experience with the Conversion kit and the QX100 I would agree about the lack of support higher up for a seat for you on the Sofrider. When I first had my Conversion kit (in my avatar) it just had the seat post and it was a little questionable and flexy. I then added an additional set of seat stays which triangulated the rear of it to what it is now. Added some weight but I don't worry about the seat support now. The QX100 has a similar rear seat support to your Sofrider - a long seat post which supports the rear of the seat but is only supported itself down below the base of the seat. It is suspended so that helps but still leverage... and your leverage is going to be much greater than average - longer lever arm and more weight / force on it.

Wheelbase comparison might help:
2019 Cruzbike models Specs
weight (/lbs) wheelbase (/cm)
T-50 32 109
Q45 34 113
S40 27 113
V20 26 115
 
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