Sofrider's inability to quickly turn and weird inner-ear vibration

[perogy1]

I started more serious cycling two years ago for health reasons (260 lbs, stupidly high blood pressure). Since then I've dropped 20 lbs, blood pressure is normal, and had carpal tunnel surgery on both hands. This year I've found that I am placing too much pressure on my hands while riding my DF bike. This led me to a recumbent, and in particular the Sofrider.

I received and assembled my Sofrider 3 days ago. It took several hours to get the right adjustments for my height (5'5") by moving the seat as far forward and adding a 110mm adjustable stem so I would quit bashing my knees on the handlebars.

My impression so far is that it rides very smoothly and the back support is awesome, but I am finding a few faults that I hope someone may be able to assist me with.


1) I feel the vibration of the road in my ears (?!). If I pull myself forward so that only my lower back is touching the seat, the vibration goes away. I've swapped out the tires to Continental Travel Contacts (26x1.75), ensured that the wheels and seat are mounted properly (and all nuts & bolts are appropriately torqued)

2) My city does not have the best roads. Just sticking to riding a couple of blocks around my house I have found that the need for emergency turning has resulted in nearly flipping over (hard braking), or nearly wiping out


Issue number 2 has happened several times. Although my skill has improved immensely over 4 hours of riding, I still find myself often weaving about. I am finding the bike inherently dangerous and unpredictable. I know that with time the overall twitchiness will work itself out, but the inability to quickly steer due to foot position is convincing me to return the bike.

 

[Kim Tolhurst]

legs first in steering.

Hi perogy1,
When following the First Ride instructions www.cruzbiking.com.au one of the aims is for the legs to be engaged in the steering first and the arms used to help with this, pushing forward evenly. You will see from the rolling and peddling videos there is no weaving. Various people take various time to let the bike itself show you how it works by always returning to the basics of the two initial lessons. It appears to me that techniques of riding a DF are interfering with the way you are learning to ride a cruzbike with steering imput coming back through your arms.
Be encouraged its a process to follow. As for the vibration, rear suspension adjustment, wind it up maybe or tire pressure? others might shed light on vibration. Most I have heard of the suspension on cruzbikes is vibration-less.

best, Kim.

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi,
A couple of comments:
*

Hi,

A couple of comments:

* As Kim suggested, once you've put on wider tires (and lowered the pressure), you should find the bike runs much more smoothly than before.

* I've never experienced any such vibrations on my Sofrider. I'd consider taking it to (an open minded) local bike mechanic to see what they can figure out. Misadjusted shocks, loose spokes, (and I'm sure lots of other things) could be responsible. I really dislike noises that aren't supposed to be there. I'd tolerate a vibration even more poorly.

* I don't think the Sofrider (or any recumbent) will ever be quite as maneuverable as an upright bike. Your center of mass is lower which makes it harder to quickly change directions. That being said, I find the Sofrider (which now almost 1500 miles) to be quite maneuverable and don't have any issues with it.

* When starting out, I found that if I started to feel out of control, taking my feet of off the pedals made huge difference and I immediately felt in control again. This is probably the single, most important tip I'd pass on to people.

* Once you are more comfortable, I found that clipping into the pedals gave me more control over the bike. I would not recommend this at first.

At the end of the day, if you don't feel safe, I completely understand returning the bike. I do highly recommend Kim's videos (if you haven't seen them already) and if you can find a safe place to practice, then hopefully you'll get a bit more experience and it can just click ? for you. Again, removing your feet from the pedals when you have that "oh $h|t" feeling may be just what you need to feel much more comfortable.

Good luck,

Charles

p.s. You can read more about my learning process in this blog entry. I have experience with other weird wheeled transport ( e.g., unicycles), so I don't know that I was your typical Cruzbike beginner.

 

[John Tolhurst]

The brain will internalise in time

"I am finding the bike inherently dangerous and unpredictable."

That is not the case, because cruzbikes are ridden safely day after day all over the world. What is happening the following:

You are riding the cruzbike, going straight and smooth. Then your brain tries to go automatic to early and momentarily rides like it rides your DF bike. You wobble. Brain kicks back in, rides smooth again. It is the reversions in the brain that produce the wobble. With more practice, your brain will go automatically into the cruzbike riding technique, and they will start to disappear completely. The brain will internalise, so you don't have to consiously to anything, but it has to have time to make the adjustment.

 

[perogy1]

Thank you for the advice

First, thank you everyone for your suggestions and comments.


To Kim Tolhurst,
I watched the videos prior to purchasing the bike and experienced the DF reflexes taking over (very much so the first day and diminishing as more time is spent riding). The weaving is much less now, but I am still nervous passing other people with little clearance as I still occasionally wobble around (and definitely not ready for commuting to work)


To Charles Plager,
The vibration I was feeling in my ears became now no longer disappears when I move my back away from the seat (and now it is in just my left ear). My guess that it's due to the barometric pressure. It will probably go away entirely soon enough.

I've found myself already removing my feet from the pedals for more (DF-traditional) control. It helps when closely passing anyone. I watched everything I could find on Youtube related to Cruzbike and found them all insightful.


To John Tolhurst,
I understand that the bike is not dangerous, it's the rider experiencing difficulty with unlearning decades of previous casual experience. Your explanation is exactly what I am experiencing, trying to run with my eyes closed when I'm learning to walk.


When I am stable, I feel like I can go on forever until my feet start to tingle (need to loosen the laces on my shoes). It really is like riding a cloud (until I bottom out the front suspension on bad piece of road). If all the videos and information found online says anything, is that the FWD design takes time and patience to learn, but with worthwhile results.

Thanks again!

 

[leakyduck]

Feet Tingling

I also came from the DF world to the Bent world. First thing I learned was to position my feet further forward on the pedals that I was accustomed to on my DF. When you say your feet tingle, do they feel numb? Numb foot is not an uncommon issue with Bents. I have to make sure that my feet are below the level of my hips or I get it. Also if you can lighten up your pressure (spin not mash) that might also help your feet.

I get my Sofrider next month and get to go thru all the learning process my self. I have faith that all the info I have gained from this forum will guide my learning process.

 

[perogy1]

Feet tingling

Leakyduck, I was probably mashing more than spinning. I should have more time for a ride in a day or two (joys of a newborn).

 

[perogy1]

What a difference a week makes

It's been a week since I posted my first impression of the bike and I feel that I must apologize to John Tolhurst for my hasty comments. Most of the wobbles have since disappeared with a little time and I am now finding the bike a real blast to ride. I'm now almost at the point of making it my commuter once I master starting with either leg . I am finding new unused muscles everyday, especially in the upper body. A major difference compared to other bikes.


I do have one question (if you're willing). I am bottoming out the front suspension quite often due to the less than optimal road conditions. I don't want to damage the bike with all the fork slamming, or is this something I shouldn't worry about?

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi,
I find that most (but not

Hi,

I find that most (but not all) people who give it a good, honest try end up really liking Cruzbikes in the end. I'm glad that you stuck with it!

The Sofrider front fork isn't nearly as agressive as an off-road fork and won't handle as agressive terrain. Where are you riding when it bottoms out?

Congratulations on making it over the hump!

Charles

 

[perogy1]

Bottoming out the front fork

Charles,

I am riding on poorly maintained paved road, on some sidewalks that dip between driveways, a little gravel road (no issues there). On the sidewalk transition across driveways and large enough "patched" road are areas that often bottom out. As I am near the weight limit for the bike I don't want to do any damage.

On a side note, I got my first flat the other day.i discovered that the plastic rim tape wasn't covering all of the spoke areas and pierced the tube. Moved the plastic insert over and hopefully there'll be no more flats like that again. The downside is that I am now out of spare tubes and all the stores are closed for Labour Day here in Canada.

 

[leakyduck]

Try bigger tires

A fatter tire that can be run at a slightler lower pressure might help. As for the tube, I patch mine several times before I put them in the recycle bin.