LarryOz
Cruzeum Curator & Sigma Wrangler
Tor Hovland and I will join about 100+ other riders in riding Sweden N-S in July. While Tor is an accomplished randonneur (as many have seen his great videos) - PBP, this Sweden ride 2 years ago, and many others - this is my first attempt at anything like this! We signed up for the "fast" group which has a 150 hour time limit to complete - the other groups leave 1 day and 2 days before us. That way we have people to chase. The record is something just over 101 hours. Tor thought we could probably break 100 hours if the weather was nice and we rode really hard with little sleep. However after talking about it, we both decided it would be much more enjoyable if we did it more like a tour and made sure to take breaks during the day (to smell the roses), and also get 6 hours or sleep in a real bed at night. Tor has graciously already made reservations for us along the way based on that scenario
To make the trip I purchased Jim Parker's Citron V20 when he moved up to his V20C. Since Tor's V20 is also the Citron color I thought it would be really cool to have a matching pair for the ride (maybe mine can learn through osmosis!)
To get ready for this event I have been riding about 800-900 miles weekly (mostly on my indoor trainer) - and building the V20 up for the task. This has taken longer than anticipated as part of the challenge of this ride is that it is self-supported (like all randonneuring) - therefore we must take all our clothing, drink, food, tools, etc) with us. This means basically outfitting the V20 to a "hopefully" high-speed touring Recumbent.
Based on suggestions from Tor and his past experience - I needed to add large bags (about 7 liters each) under the seat on both sides and under the frame between the wheels. Also above the front wheel under the boom - and also a rear case of some kind.
To make this all work I decided to put a long chainstay (21.5") so I could get a larger bag above the wheel.
This caused my BB to be higher so I also dropped the curved slider as it was too low and caused my handlebars to trap my legs more.
To make matters even more complicated when I installed the wonderful new Race Cage on my stock headrest - the bottom of it hit my rear wheel - this is because I am so short the headrest is pushed way into the back of the frame to fit me nice - Therefore I needed to pull the headrest out about 3" to raise the cage up so it cleared the wheel. This caused me to not be able to use the stock headrest if I wanted to use the Race Cage. So I installed the suspension adjustable headrest (which felt really nice) - but then the Race Cage was about 3" above my shoulder causing a huge aero problem.
So I decided to install the Cruzbike Adjustable Carbon Fiber Seat and Headrest - I'll have to admit - I was never a big fan of this seat as it really curved up at the top and stuck the head and shoulders up way higher than the stock seat did for me. But I will have to say after installing it - I really like it - and with all the other adjustments I made (longer chainstay (so higher BB), straight slider (so higher hands) - I think I was able to move the disrupted air (hole) higher so there was not quite as high a penalty for my head and shoulders being higher now.
I am still not as fast as I am on my stock V20 seat, stock headrest, 19.5" chainstay, and curved slider) - but it is close enough for randonneuring! Plus it allowed me to use the new Race Cage too - so I have the carrying capacity I need.
Another thing I found out is that I really like the headrest (both the suspension adjustable one) and the one that comes with the Cruzbike Adjustable Carbon Fiber Seat. The reason I love it now is that the pad fits nicely on my neck and also exerts a gentle pressure on my head that pushes it forward and more level (so I am looking more straight ahead - therefore more aero).
Here is a picture of my Citron V20 with all my bags on it - and loaded up. The entire V20 now weighs in at 50 lbs with the bags and all the gear. What a beast!
I took it out today for a test Century (with segments at different power levels) - Yes, this is what I do! - to see what kind of speed to power ratios I have now with all the weight and also all the bags (as I know it is not at aero as before). After my Century I was quite pleased with the initial results!
Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/11549188712/
I rode my standard 10.8 mile out and back loop for the testing - I marked 5-mile segments within each out and back - and ran those segments at different power levels. I started at 150W (2.5 W/Kg for me), and reduced 5W each succeeding loop (for 9 loops) until I reached 110W (1.83 W/Kg) - Here are my results. I think these results are awesome considering my head and shoulders are 2-3" higher than they used to be and I have 5 bags attached various places and stuffed full- adding at least 25 lbs to the empty V20. Even at 110W I am able to average above 20 mph!
FYI: If you even come work with me on aero testing - this is what we do!
Windsock gave me a 0.165 CdA for the entire ride -
To make the trip I purchased Jim Parker's Citron V20 when he moved up to his V20C. Since Tor's V20 is also the Citron color I thought it would be really cool to have a matching pair for the ride (maybe mine can learn through osmosis!)
To get ready for this event I have been riding about 800-900 miles weekly (mostly on my indoor trainer) - and building the V20 up for the task. This has taken longer than anticipated as part of the challenge of this ride is that it is self-supported (like all randonneuring) - therefore we must take all our clothing, drink, food, tools, etc) with us. This means basically outfitting the V20 to a "hopefully" high-speed touring Recumbent.
Based on suggestions from Tor and his past experience - I needed to add large bags (about 7 liters each) under the seat on both sides and under the frame between the wheels. Also above the front wheel under the boom - and also a rear case of some kind.
To make this all work I decided to put a long chainstay (21.5") so I could get a larger bag above the wheel.
This caused my BB to be higher so I also dropped the curved slider as it was too low and caused my handlebars to trap my legs more.
To make matters even more complicated when I installed the wonderful new Race Cage on my stock headrest - the bottom of it hit my rear wheel - this is because I am so short the headrest is pushed way into the back of the frame to fit me nice - Therefore I needed to pull the headrest out about 3" to raise the cage up so it cleared the wheel. This caused me to not be able to use the stock headrest if I wanted to use the Race Cage. So I installed the suspension adjustable headrest (which felt really nice) - but then the Race Cage was about 3" above my shoulder causing a huge aero problem.
So I decided to install the Cruzbike Adjustable Carbon Fiber Seat and Headrest - I'll have to admit - I was never a big fan of this seat as it really curved up at the top and stuck the head and shoulders up way higher than the stock seat did for me. But I will have to say after installing it - I really like it - and with all the other adjustments I made (longer chainstay (so higher BB), straight slider (so higher hands) - I think I was able to move the disrupted air (hole) higher so there was not quite as high a penalty for my head and shoulders being higher now.
I am still not as fast as I am on my stock V20 seat, stock headrest, 19.5" chainstay, and curved slider) - but it is close enough for randonneuring! Plus it allowed me to use the new Race Cage too - so I have the carrying capacity I need.
Another thing I found out is that I really like the headrest (both the suspension adjustable one) and the one that comes with the Cruzbike Adjustable Carbon Fiber Seat. The reason I love it now is that the pad fits nicely on my neck and also exerts a gentle pressure on my head that pushes it forward and more level (so I am looking more straight ahead - therefore more aero).
Here is a picture of my Citron V20 with all my bags on it - and loaded up. The entire V20 now weighs in at 50 lbs with the bags and all the gear. What a beast!
I took it out today for a test Century (with segments at different power levels) - Yes, this is what I do! - to see what kind of speed to power ratios I have now with all the weight and also all the bags (as I know it is not at aero as before). After my Century I was quite pleased with the initial results!
Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/11549188712/
I rode my standard 10.8 mile out and back loop for the testing - I marked 5-mile segments within each out and back - and ran those segments at different power levels. I started at 150W (2.5 W/Kg for me), and reduced 5W each succeeding loop (for 9 loops) until I reached 110W (1.83 W/Kg) - Here are my results. I think these results are awesome considering my head and shoulders are 2-3" higher than they used to be and I have 5 bags attached various places and stuffed full- adding at least 25 lbs to the empty V20. Even at 110W I am able to average above 20 mph!
FYI: If you even come work with me on aero testing - this is what we do!
Windsock gave me a 0.165 CdA for the entire ride -
