Silvio ready to roll

[ChaleJake]

I have the Silvio back to stock with the original handlebar (Thanks, Ratz) etc. I purchased the bike from a guy in Canada on EBay. The slider clamp screw closest to the handlebar is stripped. Any suggestions on where to find a replacement or what type of screw will work? My bike shop did not want to drill out the screw without a replacement and he could not tell what type or size replacement was needed. Any help or suggestions are appreciated.

I luv the bike. So much smoother than my Q or Sofrider.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

Email Robert @ Cruzbike he should be able to hook you up with a replacement hopefully. I had the same problem with my Silvio, my fault, over tightening the screw will do it.

 

[ChaleJake]

Thanks, Rick. I will send him an email.

 

[ratz]

Any suggestions on where to find a replacement or what type of screw will work?

It's basically a Seat post screw; just a medium to long one.

Email Robert @ Cruzbike he should be able to hook you up with a replacement hopefully. I had the same problem with my Silvio, my fault, over tightening the screw will do it.

and that's the best; they aren't expensive to replace; I stripped the one on the Vendetta doing the build diary and Robert got me a new one within a week.

 

[ChaleJake]

Is there any reason why a quick release clamp should not be used?

 

[ratz]

Strength and diameter are the major limiters.

 

[ChaleJake]

Cruzbike is the best company. Robert is going to mail me the seat post screw. Yea!

 

[ChaleJake]

Received 2 screws and will be doing the swap today followed by a ride. Happy day!

 

[hurri47]

Silvio 1.0 used standard seat post clamp assemblies available at Vanilla Bike Shop down the street, but I had to learn that from Robert.

-Dan

 

[ChaleJake]

I have the new screw installed and the bike shop added anti seize stuff. The guy said it was a bear to get out. This was the 2nd Silvio in their shop for the same reason. The guy said a gal named Hope has the same bike.

Went for a short ride today but am having some knee pain that I did not have with the Sofrider. I have a right knee revision total knee replacement (I have had 10 operations on that knee along with scoliosis and spine DJD). Totally pain free won't happen but I need to get rid of as much as I can.

The cranks on my sofrider are 160 and the Silvio has 170. Could this be a contributor to the knee pain? I am going to try and sit a bit more upright on the Silvio and see if that makes a difference. I am open to suggestions. Thanks to all.

 

[ratz]

I have the new screw installed and the bike shop added anti seize stuff. The guy said it was a bear to get out. This was the 2nd Silvio in their shop for the same reason. The guy said a gal named Hope has the same bike.

Went for a short ride today but am having some knee pain that I did not have with the Sofrider. I have a right knee revision total knee replacement (I have had 10 operations on that knee along with scoliosis and spine DJD). Totally pain free won't happen but I need to get rid of as much as I can.

The cranks on my sofrider are 160 and the Silvio has 170. Could this be a contributor to the knee pain? I am going to try and sit a bit more upright on the Silvio and see if that makes a difference. I am open to suggestions. Thanks to all.

Depends on what "pain" means....

Sore behind the knee cap can mean boom too long
Sore in the front could be the boom to short
Sore side to side is usually when people attack with shorter cranks to clean up the pedal motion.

You probably know which way you knees are the weakest, no one here will know exactly what will fix it.... But you'll probably find the consensus is that shorter won't make it worse.

I'm running around with a shattered knee cap the floats in several places: 170's hurt; 165 I like, 155's are awesome. Many of the others with bad knees like them short too; usually 155 or shorter. Depends on the person and the height.

Others will chime in; Rick's a good reference point;

 

[Rick Youngblood]

I have the new screw installed and the bike shop added anti seize stuff. The guy said it was a bear to get out. This was the 2nd Silvio in their shop for the same reason. The guy said a gal named Hope has the same bike.

Went for a short ride today but am having some knee pain that I did not have with the Sofrider. I have a right knee revision total knee replacement (I have had 10 operations on that knee along with scoliosis and spine DJD). Totally pain free won't happen but I need to get rid of as much as I can.

The cranks on my sofrider are 160 and the Silvio has 170. Could this be a contributor to the knee pain? I am going to try and sit a bit more upright on the Silvio and see if that makes a difference. I am open to suggestions. Thanks to all.

Bob made some great references. And I agree short won't make the knees feel worse. Just off the top of reading into your post. You went from the Softride with a lower BB that has 160mm cranks to the Silvio with a higher BB. The recommendations (can't remember link or info, sorry) says higher the BB the shorter the crank arm. It appears you went in the opposite direction. This may be the cause of pain in your knee. I say may because there could be other unknowns. Short crank arms have helped many recumbent rides. My curent cranks are 150mm. I like them and believe they have helped deter my knee pains. Hope this helps.

 

[Bill K]

If you are using clipless pedals, make sure the cleats are aligned so the shoe does not try to twist your foot at any point in your pedal stroke.
I have had significant knee pain from this in the past.
If you are using the same pedals and shoes from your softrider, this is probably not the problem though.

 

[super slim]

I have a 46.3" X seam and went from 175 to 153 mm cranks, and it improved my right knee pain dramatically AND also allowing the handle bar to move further away from me!!!
The second best mod was the 100 mm chainstay extension to raise the BB 75 mm, so my thighs did not rub on the seat front!

 

[ChaleJake]

My xseam is 39" and I am 67" tall. The distance form the back of my seat to the extended pedal is at 39 so the boom length seems ok. The boom length isn't short but it won't go shorter inside the boom. I could move the handlebars closer. I don't think the boom length is the culprit because I don't have knee cap pain. The knee pain is on the right knee, below the knee cap, lower outside quadrant. It appears that shorter cranks could be in my future. The shorter cranks would not make the knee pain worse but would only help, I believe, based on what I'm reading. I am learning lots of information on this forum. Now, what size cranks? 150 or 155? What are compatible with the stock setup? I'll do some forum searching.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

Jake, this is the place withe the helpful crank arm man. http://www.bikesmithdesign.com/Short_Cranks/apex.html

Larry Oz uses 140 - 145, he is about your size. I'm about 42" xseam and ride with 150mm, tried 155mm for a quite a while. When I changed to the 150 mm, it wasn't noticeable in length, but was noticeable in need comfort.

 

[ratz]

My xseam is 39" and I am 67" tall. The distance form the back of my seat to the extended pedal is at 39 so the boom length seems ok. The boom length isn't short but it won't go shorter inside the boom. I could move the handlebars closer. I don't think the boom length is the culprit because I don't have knee cap pain. The knee pain is on the right knee, below the knee cap, lower outside quadrant. It appears that shorter cranks could be in my future. The shorter cranks would not make the knee pain worse but would only help, I believe, based on what I'm reading. I am learning lots of information on this forum. Now, what size cranks? 150 or 155? What are compatible with the stock setup? I'll do some forum searching.

If the boom is all the way in then it would need to be cut to go shorter; but since you said on the outside of the knee + sofrider evidence cranks probably the next step and no matter what happens the cranks are probably a win even if they complete fail on the knee issue because they also improve the bike fit.

The easiest way if you aren't mechanically inclined to do it yourself. Is to order a set of APEX cranks from Mark and bikesmithdesign.com. You can get a compact in lengths 137.5 to 158mm. Your xseam and height are the same as pluckyblond; and she rides 155mm, I had her try 150mm and she felt they were too short. Previously she'd been on 165mm and found the 155mm a nice improvement. The other advantage of the 155mm is if you want to go shorter a lot of other people will come along that would want your used 155mm's to try for themselves.

Now that said given the state of your knees you might want to jump to the shorter 150mm. A lot of this has to do with the length of your Calf and Femur. If you calf is longer and your Femur is short you'll like the shorter ones. if your calves are short and you have a long thigh you'll like them a smidgen longer.

There are other OEM options that some of the other members can fill you in on; Mark's solution isn't the cheapest but it's about the easiest; he sort of pioneered the short crank movement and can also supply Q-rings if you are so inclined. Be advised he's got hand issues that make typing tough to he will like want to call you to ask any detailed question that would require too much typing.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

probably the next step and no matter what happens the cranks are probably a win even if they complete fail on the knee issue because they also improve the bike fit.

That's a great point Bob. Also another win for short cranks, is the long term effect of long vs short cranks. When I first started riding recumbents almost 5 years ago, It took quite a lot of miles before I noticed the knee pain riding with 165-172mm cranks, and then quite a lot of miles riding with knee pain before figuring out shorter may help. What kind of damage did I do through the course of riding with longer crank?

 

[bladderhead]

There is a company called Redline BMX, who make cranks called Microline, which come in various lengths. I have 150 in my Silvio. I got them from American eBay. They come with a BB, which you need because it is Redline's own design. I broke one BB because I did not fit it properly. I now have one which I have used for 500 miles. They have 130 BCD

 

[ReklinedRider]

another option, and not the cheapest, but quick and handy, are Cobb Cycling cranksets. Standard and compact sets, with 145mm, 150, 155, and 165mm options. They come with a BB, fairly average quality. Their round chainrings can also be removed if you want a different tooth count, or if you want to use Q rings. Pricey, but high quality.