SIlvio Lesson 2

[mickjordan]

Well I'm making progress. Still riding around my neighbourhood as I don't yet feel confident to mix it with traffic, as I'm still wobbly at times, especially after starting from a stop, which I have now almost mastered. Occasionally the bike seems determined to go in a direction I don't want it to and I can't figure out what to do to fix it in the heat of the moment. I'm working on tighter turns in the parking lot. It's a bit like skiiing in the respect that I'm definitely better turning one way than the other. I get lots of looks and "cool" remarks from folks in the 'hood who, clearly, have never see anything like the Cruzbike.

It's still accurate to say that almost nothing I know from riding my DF bike is of any help with the Cruzbike.

I rode a 400K Brevet on my DF last Saturday. Took me forever (21.5 hrs) and I was pretty sore in the butt and neck most of the time. That's what I'm hoping the Cruzbike will fix. Plus I am inspired by the times that Jim and Maria achieve on long rides on their bikes, e.g., <a href=\"http://cruzbike.com/race-report-heart-south-200\">http://cruzbike.com/race-report-heart-south-200[/URL]

Mick

 

[Kim Tolhurst]

Push Forward

Hi Mick,

Good to read your update. Steering is a balanced affair that the legs learn. To help teach them, push forward with your arms, open palms. Going off in a direction like you say comes from one hand gripping and then the other hand gripping out of unison.

The next stage of practise is a light grip and still pushing forward with your arms. You will then feel the varying tensions in your hands as a second nature to your legs being the major steering function.

More of the second lesson until the bike matches your body and all becomes as smooth as anybody thats followed through =)

Lazy circles and figure 8s in a car park are good. You will naturally learn from practise of lesson two how the standing start works.
I have refrained from adding more than the first 2 lessons because people would go straight to them instead of securing the basics.

keep in touch,

Kim.

 

[Charles.Plager]

One additional thing that I

One additional thing that I found quite helpful in the beginning. When you feel like it's out of control, take your feet off the pedals. I found that after about 100 miles, I never needed to do this anymore, but when first learning, the feet and the hands can fight a bit over what's going on and when it just feels like you have no control, taking teh feet out of the equation for a couple of seconds can help.

Good luck (and it does get easier!),
Charles

 

[mickjordan]

On the Road

Last weekend I rode 2x 300K on my DF and came home with the requisite sore neck/shoulders/hands/butt. Hopefully this will soon be a thing of the past but not until I've got a lot more comfortable on the Silvio.

So this being my recovery week, I took the plunge and rode out of the 'hood onto the real roads and traffic. The nervousness is still there but diminishing. I can start pretty reliably now, although I had one junction where I failed three times in succession. I eventually realised that I need to be in an even lower gear to ensure a quick transition to having two feet on the pedals. The road I was on had a decent bike lane although it felt a lot narrower than when on my DF! At traffic lights I let cars and other bikes go ahead so I had a clear path in case I wobbled, which I did fairly regularly. I did however, pass a couple of DF bikes on the return segment. I confess I got off and walked the bike at the return point. I wasn't confident handling two back to back 90 degeee left hand turns plus traffic.

Eventually I was motoring at about 20mph on the flat, without any real effort, which is encouraging, and the short, low grade uphills felt fine. I wonder how many miles I need to get really stable. Thinking back to last weekend and the roads I was on, many of which did not have bike lanes or shoulders, I'd be very fearful of passing traffic right now. I counted 5 cars last weekend that passed me too close ( < 3'), which I can handle on the DF because I can ride a very straight line.

 

[John Tolhurst]

It appears it is a bit harder

It appears it is a bit harder to learn the cruzbike while continuing to ride a DF. The internalisation process is interrupted somehow. (I am not a learning theoretician so these are simply observations.)

 

[gilpeel2002]

On the road

Hi Mick,
In February 2011 I bought a new Silvio. I found myself to be quite wobbly around my house because it is flat or slightly down hill. When I got myself far enough away, after many short rides, I was 8 miles away with a slight up hill ride all of the way back. I found that the long climb with more leg exertion quickly got the hand and feet working better together. The next time out I was still a bit wobbly going down hill but was smooth going up. I did this route probably 5 times and became much more confident. Today I have ridden about 3000 miles on the Silvio, and still find myself a bit more wobbly going slightly down hill. My friends say that they do not see my wobbles at all so it is more my perception than reality.
Keep on Cruzbiking,
Gil

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi,
I'm not an expert, but I

Hi,

I'm not an expert, but I agree with John. Try riding just your Silvio for a while instead of swtiching back and forth. You are trying to get your body used to the "new" way of riding, and giving it what it think it wants (the old way) is just convinicing it it doesn't really need to learn this new-fangled bike.

Cheers,
Charles

 

[mickjordan]

SILVIO ONLY

Unfortunately, I have to keep riding my DF bike for a while as I'm taking it to the UK in September to do the Ride Across Britain (the DF bike has S+S couplers so goes into a suitcase).

I agree that some long rides would undoubtedly help to get me over the hump to complete familiarity. My current plan is to do the Death Valley Century (or possibly Double Century) in October on the Silvio. Miles of mostly flat to rolling roads, no super steep climbs and minimal traffic. That should do it. Then, all being well, I'll start the 2013 season on the Silvio (or Vendetta which I am considering for the more serious climbing rides).

Meanwhile, I'm reasonably happy with my progress. Just switched my pedals to a pair with SPD clip ins on one side and flat on the other, so I can start experimenting with clipping in.


Mick

 

[Charles.Plager]

HI Mick,
I put the same (type

HI Mick,

I put the same (type of) pedal on my Sofrider. I found that clipping in makes everything feel more secure (and this is the first bike to which I've clipped in).

Good luck!

Charles

 

[mickjordan]

RE CLIPINS

Yes, as I was riding Saturday I felt that the opportunity for my feet to slip/move on the pedals might be contributing to some of the wobbling. OTOH, there may be some wobble caused by clipping/unclipping! I think Dan Fallon suggested unclipping both feet at the same time, which should help with the latter, but it will be interesting to see how getting the second foot clipped in from a start contributes to instability. I have my pedal tension settings dialed way back.

 

[mickjordan]

CLIPINS SUCCESSFUL

The very unseasonabe weather in NCal cut short my DF training ride in the hills, so I went for another Silvio ride later in the day, this time with clipless (SPD) pedals. I was expecting this to be a longish learning experience but in fact it was no problem at all and I felt comfortable from the first start. Overall I'd agree with cplager that I felt more stable. With clipins of course you can add power on the return stroke. It's not entirely clear how this affects pedal steer - pulling should add to the turning force being applied by the pushing leg - but it didn't seem to have that effect. I'm guessing that being able to pedal more consistent circles with both legs with clipins reduces the wobble effect.

I also climbed my first (short) steepish hill for which clipins definitely help, and made it up easily in the middle chain ring. The (straight) descent was fun and not wobbly ( I didn't pedal - rarely do on my DF either).

Definitely getting there.