Steering/handling S40

[Art G]

I'm still adjusting to my S40, required after spinal fusion. I'm finding the steering and handling to be difficult to adjust to. I've been riding loops and figure 8's in a flat parking lot and that is reasonably easy. I'm finding that leaning is not the way to handle a Cruzbike. I'm finding that I must use the handlebars much more than on an upright bike. I believe I read somewhere that one leans away from a turn on these bikes, the opposite of an upright. But that instint to lean is hard to unlearn (been a roadie for 50 years). I can handle all this on a flat parking lot but out of the road, on a downhill, I couldn't seem to keep the bike going straight...really freaked me out. Good thing I was on an empty road because I wouldn't have been able to avoid a car; the steering was that unstable. I'm going to do more riding in the parking lot, hoping that time will address this. But is there something I'm missing? Is this inability to go straight at speed a common problem? Any tips for handling these bikes? Thanks.

 

[Decher Kritzmire]

"I believe I read somewhere that one leans away from a turn on these bikes, the opposite of an upright"..... I guess I'm having trouble understanding the function of this principal but somebody can sure correct me if I'm wrong. At least in my relatively limited experience and transition to the S40 last year I have not found that to be true. I lean into a turn as with any other bike/recumbent I've owned. I have found crank position, pedal up or pedal down, can certainly add input to the front end when coasting a turn. I didn't spend much time in a parking lot as I have a lot of country miles around me and I do think that you figure things out better when cruising on the open road at some kind of speed. On my first real outing I had tail wind and hit about 28mph, thought I was going to end up in a ditch, terrifying. I would agree that there is certainly much more upper body/handlebar input required on this bike. When I started I made a concerted effort to find a rhythmic balance, applying arm pressure to counter the force of the pedal stoke and develop some comfort and allow controlled wagging of the front end. Not muscling the bike, just countering the push. Spinning is easier than powering. Powering really pushes the front end requiring more arm control. Gradually that effort became much less pronounced and now barely noticeable. Hang in there.

 

[3bs]

something is amiss either in the bike or your technique. i lean. i go straight. lots of people ride without holding the handlebars- not me, i dont like riding without holding the bars.
that said, when i am riding hard and fast, my roadie friends say i occasionally have an unexplained jerk left on the bike. i dont notice it, but they say it happens. they still ride right up my tailpipe at stupid speeds, so they are not bothered by it.

 

[Frito Bandito]

It takes a bit of wheel time to get comfortable on it and to make it go where you want it to go. It took me almost two weeks of short rides around my neighborhood, progressively getting longer and longer before I felt confident enough to take my V20 out on the bike path and open it up without crashing into something painful. Even then, for the first week or so I would have sudden jerks. Now, I can ride without hands, even pedaling slowly and smoothly, and barring gusty sidewinds, I can make it go exactly where I want it to go. Even through these very narrow gates at +40kph that has about 10cm of clearance between each shoulder and a metal pole at the 1:30 mark in this video

You'll get the hang of it more and more. It just takes some time for your brain to build the necessary connections.

 

[CuHead]

I'm still adjusting to my S40, required after spinal fusion. I'm finding the steering and handling to be difficult to adjust to. I've been riding loops and figure 8's in a flat parking lot and that is reasonably easy. I'm finding that leaning is not the way to handle a Cruzbike. I'm finding that I must use the handlebars much more than on an upright bike. I believe I read somewhere that one leans away from a turn on these bikes, the opposite of an upright. But that instint to lean is hard to unlearn (been a roadie for 50 years). I can handle all this on a flat parking lot but out of the road, on a downhill, I couldn't seem to keep the bike going straight...really freaked me out. Good thing I was on an empty road because I wouldn't have been able to avoid a car; the steering was that unstable. I'm going to do more riding in the parking lot, hoping that time will address this. But is there something I'm missing? Is this inability to go straight at speed a common problem? Any tips for handling these bikes? Thanks.

I may be doing a head lean, at least to start a turn. If I'm riding slow, I may pull my back up off the seat, sort of hanging off the bars, and do a torso lean for a tighter turn.

 

[rdl03]

I'm still adjusting to my S40, required after spinal fusion. I'm finding the steering and handling to be difficult to adjust to. I've been riding loops and figure 8's in a flat parking lot and that is reasonably easy. I'm finding that leaning is not the way to handle a Cruzbike. I'm finding that I must use the handlebars much more than on an upright bike. I believe I read somewhere that one leans away from a turn on these bikes, the opposite of an upright. But that instint to lean is hard to unlearn (been a roadie for 50 years). I can handle all this on a flat parking lot but out of the road, on a downhill, I couldn't seem to keep the bike going straight...really freaked me out. Good thing I was on an empty road because I wouldn't have been able to avoid a car; the steering was that unstable. I'm going to do more riding in the parking lot, hoping that time will address this. But is there something I'm missing? Is this inability to go straight at speed a common problem? Any tips for handling these bikes? Thanks.

I may be doing a head lean, at least to start a turn. If I'm riding slow, I may pull my back up off the seat, sort of hanging off the bars, and do a torso lean for a tighter turn.

I completely empathize. I'm somewhere around 600km on the S40, and still struggling with it (though optimistic that it's possible to get completely comfortable). I've wrote essentially the same post you have several months ago, and have gotten responses saying that it can take a long time (as in hundreds of miles or riding.)
I struggle with the fact that I have way too much hand tension, and that the front wheel does little "wobbles" requiring a small correction frequently - especially after an hour or two of riding.
I'm in the Pacific NW, and not ready to go "Cruzzing" in the rain, so not a lot of riding so far this year. Last time I went out, I seemed to have some success with consciously relaxing my hands. One the things that seemed to help was a lighter touch on the pedals combined with a slightly faster cadence.

 

[Always-Learnin]

I completely empathize. I'm somewhere around 600km on the S40, and still struggling with it (though optimistic that it's possible to get completely comfortable). I've wrote essentially the same post you have several months ago, and have gotten responses saying that it can take a long time (as in hundreds of miles or riding.)
I struggle with the fact that I have way too much hand tension, and that the front wheel does little "wobbles" requiring a small correction frequently - especially after an hour or two of riding.
I'm in the Pacific NW, and not ready to go "Cruzzing" in the rain, so not a lot of riding so far this year. Last time I went out, I seemed to have some success with consciously relaxing my hands. One the things that seemed to help was a lighter touch on the pedals combined with a slightly faster cadence.

There's a lot to be said for a lighter touch on the handlebars. I found that 'for me' on long, gradual, increasing climbs, and rollers, it helps to consciously tell myself to relax my upper body and let me legs to the majority of the work. There is a point where I have to engage my upper body more but that seems to be on steeper sections of the climb. YMMV. ;-)

 

[bentinitalia]

Adjusting to the balance of a recumbent position from the upright position takes a little time. However, there was one thing that took me longer than it should have to learn. Unlike ordinary bikes, there is a lot more contact with the seat. On diamond frames the bike and its skinny little saddle naturally slips under us as the bike tilts into a turn—our bodies remain relatively perpendicular. The tendency on a recumbent is to lean with the bike causing oversteer and loss of balance. Once I figured out what I was doing wrong, leaning with the bike instead of letting the bike tilt/lean under me, all the problems with control vanished. Keep in mind, your body needs to maintain its center of gravity perpendicular to the ground while the bike leans into the turn. That extra contact with the seat leads you to lean with the bike. Leaning forward a touch helps let the seat slip under you while you keep your balance. Practice figure 8s in an open parking lot and soon handling that S40 will be second nature.

 

[2whluge]

Concentrate on nice, even circles when peddling. If you’re pushing more with one leg it’s going to wobble. If I’m not peddling smoothly I try and focus on making those nice circles. The MBB isn’t as forgiving as even a high racer recumbent.

 

[Juanito]

I pedaled my beloved Doublevision ~18 years after ~20 years on uprights (the last 14 on an incredible prototype Specialized Stumpjumper), and was ready for a different kind of bike (has to be a ‘bent but not a tryke) by 2000. I wanted to biketour Victoria > Tijuana with both our children (son, 13, could pedal his own; daughter, 11, would be stoker on a tandem with me) and the aforementioned Doublevision was the solution. When picking it up from Susan & Jack (Tandems Ltd) in BirminghamAL (January 2000), I quickly learned how to handle a ‘bent. After that I swore to never again own another upright, only ‘bents.
Well, the West Coast biketour never took place, but my love of that fine tandem recumbent grew. I was especially pleased with how much could be carried in the largely vacant stokers seat, and was often 400lbs+ (including a beefy 220 me) on my invariably solo biketours.
After retiring from 28 years in the classrooms with World-class Ysleta ISD 31DEC2017, I biketoured part of January & February 2018 East to good friend/former colleague in GrandfallsTX, then onto Big Bend NP. I thought I was just in bad shape due to “ageing out”, but realized something was seriously wrong when, 4 months later, my body was barely able pedal half my usual distance (using the “Ft. Hancock - Las Cruces I-10 Bicycle Bypass”) from my home on Eastside El PasoTX to Las CrucesNM. Having to overnight in a parking lot In AnthonyNM completely mystified— and frustrated—me. With a son & DIL in Mountain ViewCA and a daughter teaching at an international school in ChiangmaiTHAILAND, my plan to continue biketouring the World by cycling to the Bay Area, catching a boat to the Far East seemed completely thwarted. Jury duty ensured no long-distance cycling, so air flights became the best option.
By mid-September, my daughter picked me up at Chiangmai International, and I quickly learned about the great Grasshopper Adventures, participating in several delightful day-rides, interrupted only when I had to walk up (steep) inclines.
Five months later, I participated in a week-long GA biketour in Sri Lanka, and had the opportunity to try an eBike (something I’d long condemned) for slightly more. That was the answer! My atrophied muscles just needed help!
Within three months, after researching, I bought an amazingly light & VERY FAST CruzBike S40 (2019 model), all (extruded) aluminum (something else I had previously despised for bicycles), nimble but required a whole new skill set to master the steering. Recumbent it is, but the front wheel/pedals/steering was NOT easy and, despite my vast experience with ‘bents, it took me many hours practice to build up my confidence for cycling longer & longer distances, until I was finally comfortable enough to go far (across the border in Cd. Juárez) by the “Ride of Silence” mid-May.
I replaced the skinny 700c rear wheel with a heavy duty 48V 26 x 1.5 eWheel/eSystem from eBikeKit.com, which was absolutely required by my ever-weakening body.
Three and a half years later, after 2-countries/9-states/17,000+ miles, during January 2023, the slightly reamed dropouts (to accommodate the somewhat larger/square eAxle) finally broke off. Fortunately, I was still close to home, once again gimpwalking. I have since replaced it with an even better/purpose eBuilt T50E—no more 700c, only 26, something I’m extremely comfortable with.
Anyway, the point of this long monologue is practice, practice, practice pedaling. For me, doing “figure 8s” was not the answer, but gradually increasing my distance everyday, from just getting out the driveway to up-and-down the block to around the neighborhood to eventually very long distance was the answer.
It was very important to know that when I used my (modified) S40, and now (modified)T50, on the road, I follow all the same rules as any other vehicle using the road, though some (USA) roadusers intensely dislike any vehicle, especially a bicycle, in front of them forcing them to slow down.