Sofrider V1 Mods

[MrSteve]

This handlebar is working well for me.
It was cheap and it fits!

I do not recommend this modification if you are not
fully competent on your bike.

Why?

-There is no room to put your knees anywhere but between
the drops;

-There is not enough leverage to steer the bike with your arms.
You must be able to steer with your legs.

Why do I like it?

-My arms are straight.
That improves my aerodynamics.

-I think they're very comfortable.

-It opens up my cockpit.
With my arms out front and out of the way, I can sit up easily.

-It improves my power. I have some theories... but the fact is
that I'm faster uphill and, well, faster overall when I use this handlebar.

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi,
Interesting!  Thanks for

Hi,

Interesting! Thanks for the picture.

Where do you put your hands? (more pictures!) Do you change your hand position as you ride?

Thanks,
Charles

 

[ak-tux]

@yakmurph, Looks good. I

@yakmurph, Looks good. I would probably prefer a flared version of those or the extra wide 46cm or more, ones.

Thanks for posting.

 

[MrSteve]

Yet More, Even!

Ak-Tux, I agree with you: some flare would work even better.
But the bars were cheaper than my plan was to go ahead and make my own.

Charles, my hands go everywhere...
-seriously, I cruise with them resting on the shifters;
go fast with my hands in the drops (under the brake levers);
or alternately, cruise with my hands right on the bends.

----

Here's a real update for those of us who need a neckrest.
For the first time in my bicycling life, I need a head rest/neck rest.
My 18 degree reclined seat is just too much for my neck!

The frame of my neckrest/headrest is wood and is very easily modified.
Right?
Right, so, I've found that, for me, foam padding -no matter how thick, configured or dense (or not dense)
will cause my head to bounce around.
With my head bouncing around, my eyes bounce along too and
along with all that bouncing, my eyeglasses also bounce.
Makes the road sort of hard to see well.

So, I drilled a line of holes in the headrest frame, to make it easy
to lash up different pads.

What worked best, was my much-patched spare (not really... I just never threw it out) inner tube!
With it lightly inflated -easy to adjust with a pump- and folded over itself
to the right size and lashed onto my headrest?

Smoooth ride. Big bump? No problem.
No more buzzed vision.
Air suspension works very, very well for my neck/head rest.

I'll make a fabric cover for my new spare inner tube/headrest pad and that'll be that.

Ride safe,
-Steve

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi Steve,
We're definitely

Hi Steve,
We're definitely going to need pictures of that headrest.

As far as hand positions, that makes a lot of sense. Take some picture of your favorite hand positions.

Cheers, Charles

 

[MrSteve]

Headrest

This is a close up detail of the top of my integrated head rest.

It's all 1/8" Baltic Birch, void-free plywood;
The holes are drilled over-size, filled with epoxy and re-drilled;
the structural support is a cardboard tube, reinforced with one layer
of fibreglas reinforced epoxy.

It's padded with a few laminated layers of camping mat.

 

[MrSteve]

Headrest

Here are the components of my riding-on-air headrest, all laid out.
-Seat, with integrated headrest;
-Blue nylon bag, used to cover and fair the headrest;
-Black bootlace, used to lace the tube to the headrest;
-Faded red dog lead (strap) used to wrap the tube into a bundle;
-Old, much-patched tube, repurposed as my air-suspension headrest.

 

[MrSteve]

Headrest

This shows the tube folded, then folded again and the resulting
bundle wrapped by the repurposed dog lead.

 

[MrSteve]

Headrest

I lash the bundled tube to the headrest with the bootlace,
whipping it around the dog lead, through the headrest,
around the dog lead on the other side, back... and so on.

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi Steve,
Nicely done!  And

Hi Steve,

Nicely done! And thanks for the pictures.

Charles

 

[MrSteve]

Headrest

Finally, the blue bag is slipped over everything, the opening cinched up snug
and it's ready to roll!

I have many miles on this headrest setup and I'm very, very pleased.
I can't imagine improving on this design!
Well-
maybe a prettier bag, but that's it!

You'll have noticed the raw cardboard tube fairing... the raw pink foam fillet under the seat pan
and the rugged finish.
It's too cold to work on finishes today; too messy outside for me to ride as well.
So: enjoy the pictures!

-Steve