Stimulating the imagination

[boddhi]

To clarify my modification to my Quest 3 I will start at the beginning. I was born with only a couple of short fingers on my right hand and no fingers on my left hand (I still have a wrist and palm equivalent).
I am now 60 and have spent a lifetime thinking about the easiest way for me to do things, and the list of things I can,t do as well as everyone is very short. Posting my modification was to show what is possible with a bit of thought. I congratulate John Tolhurst on his brilliant design and courage to take it to where we enjoy
the cruz bike experience. I love tinkering with bikes and have built some pretty fast recumbent trikes using old school 27 inch wheels, but that,s another story. Bike frames and components can with a bit of imagination fit together in unlimited ways. The modification was inspired by the Vendetta and Silvio before I bought my Quest 3 559. It is very easy to put together and it could be an option from factory. With a more upright seat learning to ride MBB cruz bike is a little easier. My balance and co-ordination at 58 when I bought the bike was not very good. I am now able to lean the seat further back as I improved my fitness and core strength.
What eventually sold me on the Quest 3 559 was the great price for a complete bike with cutting edge technology. A few little modifications and I was up and away. It was also easier to mount a larger mountain bike style tire, better grip and my riding is not always smooth roads.
A big thank you to the cruz bike community for caring and sharing, may you all have a great year
and above all have FUN

 

[Eric Winn]

Very cool. I am curious if

Very cool. I am curious if you rode the stock Quest before your Questta mod and what your thoughts are concerning how the handling compares. When I started with the Quest loaner and then switched to my Vendetta I thought the more tiller like steering of the Vendetta felt better for the MBB architecture.

-Eric

 

[Charles.Plager]

I'll echo Eric's sentiments:

I'll echo Eric's sentiments: very cool indeed!

The first question I have: did you need to do anything with the brakes?

Off-topic: There is a special needs subforum over at BentRidersOnline. I could imagine you posting any mods you made as they would help many others as well.

Cheers (and congratulations again on the Quest mod - very cool)!

Charles

 

[Eric Winn]

You lost me on this

You lost me on this statement:

On another note Eric I still have the components for you to soften your vendetta, although you may need the ape hanger bar to reach controls.

What does "soften your vendetta" mean? Also - ape hangers on a Vendetta just sounds very, very wrong...

?-Eric

 

[boddhi]

Making it work for me

Thank you for interest. I did attempt to ride the Quest stock when it first arrived and I couldn't,t get my co-ordination happening.But I had conceived the modification before buying, so I could ride stock now.
But the mod was itching to go.
I wasn't game to cut the attachment off the tube from head stem to front section in case it didn't work. But it was the same size as the outer seat tube of an old mountain bike, this also gave me a ready made adjustable handle bar attachment. The fitting to the handle bar required a thin shim, Nothing on the handle bar has changed it just swung down to its new position, cables are all long enough for plenty of adjustment. A simple way to describe how I do things is that I don,t have much strength in my right hand, But by using my left stumpy hand with my right hand (like you do when lifting a large ball, the fingers don,t really do much). So the strength and co-ordination I have from birth and the desire to fit in leads me to do most things really well. The rest of the mod was easy just a bit of aluminum the right width and thickness was on hand and just bent it over the outer tube a bolt between where it attaches back to where the original mount, although now turned over for a better fit. You also have to use part of the upright tube or equivalent to hold the head stem bracket. While doing that check the tightness of head stem to front forks, this takes a bit to get right but there is plenty of good information on that subject in previous posts.
The Q-Hybrid modification is a simple and very logical set of little solvable problems.
If you want to do it and have basic bike mechanical aptitude, have a go. If you, like me don,t want to cut anything, you don,t have to and I could change it back to standard in half an hour. Stop over thinking the process, its logical once you start. I,m sure i,m not the first to do it and I just posted my mod to help others in their Quest for speed. This is for people who like modify for speed, not directly copying as this doesn't stimulate the imagination or your ability to problem solve etc.
I,ve lived my life making things work for me and very successfully, you can to. Live is for Living and having Fun. On another note I have a Kirk Kinetic trainer. Because of the dual drive system and 1.75 mountain bike tires I put a 700 wheel on, its only a 6 speed but it shifts enough to leave in the gear I want. So much easier to get the fit right on the trainer. Because Kinetic trainers need speed to get the resistance I took the guard off the front drive and put on 53 tooth sprocket and just manually change when using the trainer. The dual drive is pretty high geared and is probably more suited to the smaller wheel.
I love the 42 oval drive and used the trainer to get the chain engagement where I wanted it, easy as.
I have put a 34 tooth sprocket on the front and found the gearing to be better, giving better hill climbing, as I can lift the cadence.
Maybe I just need to shed more pounds, do more riding and I,ll get stronger etc.
Cheers