S40- Wow!

Kenneth

Kenneth

Well-Known Member
Leif said:
View attachment 5878 Well it's been a little over a month of riding with my S40 so I thought I'd give an update.

First off, I'd like to say "thanks everyone!" for all the advice and shared experience on this forum. It's truly been an invaluable source of info and has greatly helped in the research, purchase and fine tuning of my cruzbike. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I think the most dramatic adjustment I've made to the bike is removing the headrest. That's right, after about 100 miles of riding, it became pretty clear I wasn't using it --- except to mount water bottle cages.
Yup, while trying to figure out how to carry water (I could't quite get the 'adding spacers to the existing holes on the back of the seat' to work), I first tried using clamp mounts from REI (only $8.00!) and then Cruzbike mounts ($50.00 -- ouch!).
View attachment 5880
(This is the REI clamp mount with pump)

Both solutions worked well and even allowed me to carry a pump, but like I said, the headrest had to go.
I ended up drilling new holes a little higher up on the seat for the water bottle cages and that works fine and as you can see from the top pic, I also carry a bottle on the boom. Works great.
I carry a pump, tools, spare tubes, etc. in a fanny pack behind the seat. Seems temporary but works really well too.

To address wheel slip, I've swapped out my conti 4000 28's @ 100 psi for kenda happy medium 35's @ 80psi. Straight off the ride quality smoothed out significantly and slipping reduced especially on loose gravel inclines. I've also been experimenting with leaning forward on the seat while climbing which seems to have some effect, although I'm not sure I have enough experience doing this to have an opinion on the benefits if any.

I also ordered a Thor seat more than a month ago (does it take this long to get?) and honestly I'm not sure I'll be needing it. The stock seat really ain't so bad, especially with the ventisit pad. I'm actually wondering If I made a mistake shelling out the dough for the "upgrade". Oh well. Bikes are my weakness and as you can tell from this post, it probably won't be the last time I do a little overspending in the name of research (that's what I tell my wife).

Anyway, the bike's been a real blast to ride. I look forward to getting on it every day and continue to be amazed at how well it performs, especially since before purchasing the S40, I was all but scared off by some of the negative posts regarding Cruzbikes and MBB on this and other forums. So glad I did't listen!

-LeifView attachment 5878View attachment 5880
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Leif,
I see when you took out the headrest you left the spot empty. You might consider flipping it over as it makes a good handle and looks good to I think. I plan to make a bag the uses it as a rack to hang on. I just cut off the curved ends and put it put it in upside down.
 

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Leif

Leif

Active Member
Kenneth said:
Leif,
I see when you took out the headrest you left the spot empty. You might consider flipping it over as it makes a good handle and looks good to I think. I plan to make a bag the uses it as a rack to hang on. I just cut off the curved ends and put it put it in upside down.
Click to expand...
What a cool idea!
Please post pic of bag, I'd love to see how it fits.

Leif
 
M

Markopolo

Active Member
Did a jog trot around the diamond yesterday. Really starting to like this S40. The aero advantage over a DF is crazy. I was curious the difference between a 40 and 20 degree incline trying to compare to the V20. Couldn't find anything definitive except for a comparison of solar panels. The Cd difference between a 40 and 20 degree incline was twice as much, or the graph showed 1.0 for 40 and .5 for the 20, that's the way I interpreted it anyway.

Was wondering whether the 30 front chainring was really needed but uphill in a 20-30 kt headwind it is kind of nice.
 
F

Frank Costantini

Active Member
Leif said:
...And it really didn't take that long!
I'm also getting the hang of swapping out wheels. When I'm doing a little off-roading, I use the wheels from my cyclocross bike (the kenda happy mediums). for everything else, it's the 28mm Conti 4000s's. Almost like having two bikes!
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When you swap wheels, do you swap the cassette, or do you have a cassette on each front wheel? In either case, does the derailleur work well with both front wheels, or do you have to readjust it each time you swap wheels?
 
Leif

Leif

Active Member
Frank Costantini said:
When you swap wheels, do you swap the cassette, or do you have a cassette on each front wheel? In either case, does the derailleur work well with both front wheels, or do you have to readjust it each time you swap wheels?
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I have the same type of cassette on each wheel, sram 11-36 11 speed.
Swaps out fine, no adjustment needed. Brake rotors too.
 
benphyr

benphyr

Guru-me-not
Leif said:
I have the same type of cassette on each wheel, sram 11-36 11 speed.
Swaps out fine, no adjustment needed. Brake rotors too.
Click to expand...
Maybe I missed it, are they exactly the same wheels right down to hub, rim, spokes, rotors, and calipers with only different tires? Sounds wonderful to be able to swap terrain. Kind of like winter tires on the car, but even easier! Though I guess you might not know about that in CA=California compared to CA=Canada.
 
Leif

Leif

Active Member
Thought I'd post a recent pic of my S40 which has now become my work commuter - grocery getter. This was taken outside my office. It's the first time I tried out the curved boom in my ongoing effort to get a better fit for me and while I'm not crazy about how it looks, I admit it helps... but I don't think I'll keep it.
Surprisingly, after installing a Thor seat on my V20 it went from the bike I almost wanted to sell to the bike I can't wait to ride--- all the time! Just can't carry stuff like the pannier/back pack you see on the S40.
s40111018.jpg
 
Roger Underhill

Roger Underhill

Member
Margo said:
Has anyone ever thought about using a Pinion gearbox? It would be relatively simple to implement into the boom of a Cruze bike. Much simpler than on a normal bike.
Here is the development = distance per revolution in meters.

View attachment 5691
Click to expand...

Something to bear in mind is all the weight up front. A Rohloff might make more sense. With a belt of course ;)
 
2whlfool

2whlfool

New Member
Leif said:
Thought I'd post a recent pic of my S40 which has now become my work commuter - grocery getter. This was taken outside my office. It's the first time I tried out the curved boom in my ongoing effort to get a better fit for me and while I'm not crazy about how it looks, I admit it helps... but I don't think I'll keep it.
Surprisingly, after installing a Thor seat on my V20 it went from the bike I almost wanted to sell to the bike I can't wait to ride--- all the time! Just can't carry stuff like the pannier/back pack you see on the S40.
View attachment 7464
Click to expand...
What sort of rack is that on the rear? Is it a standard size or is it for disc specific frames?
 
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