Tall Riders

[TallBill]

I am 6'5" with a very long X-Seam (maybe 50.5" or 51"). Will the FreeRider work for me?

I am considering taking some fairly long trips and have an 8-mile one-way daily commute.

Is the gearing on the FreeRider too narrow a range for moderately large hills?

are there any tall riders out there?

TallBill

 

[JonB]

TallBill wrote: I am 6'5" with a very long X-Seam (maybe 50.5" or 51"). Will the FreeRider work for me?

I am considering taking some fairly long trips and have an 8-mile one-way daily commute.

Is the gearing on the FreeRider too narrow a range for moderately large hills?

How come the commute is one way?

I have a FreeRider and i find the gearing okay. I wrote in another thread about it. But i live in Denmark, and it is quite flat. However on pavement i dont need lower gears as i cant go any slower or i loose my balance. In gravel and other dirt roads i loose tracktion before that. The top range is a bit too low, but it is only downhill i notice it, and if i get close to the current max speed at 50-55 kmh, it feels dangerous anyway, so i stop pedaling at arround 40-45, because i cant fully control the bike yet.

 

[Mark B]

JonB wrote:

TallBill wrote: I am 6'5" with a very long X-Seam (maybe 50.5" or 51"). Will the FreeRider work for me?

I am considering taking some fairly long trips and have an 8-mile one-way daily commute.

Is the gearing on the FreeRider too narrow a range for moderately large hills?

How come the commute is one way?

He just means it's 16 miles round trip. I do the same thing, except I say 20 miles doorstep to doorstep, or 40 miles round trip.

Welcome, Tallbill! How's the weather up there? :lol: :lol:

Sorry

Mark

 

[moose]

Bill..........for what it's worth I am 6' 6 1/2'' and ride a kit bike. I only need 48 1/2 inches however. I was sent the longer kit for taller riders when I made mine. I assume that this is also can be ordered on their regular production bikes. Most hills I climb are in my middle gear ring. There are a couple around here that I have clibm in my granny gear......but not many. Sine I retired last year I have put thousands of miles on my cruzbike. Except for rare rides I ride it about 95% of the time. It's the best around town bike.......and just plain all around bike I have ever owned. I have gotten rid of all but one of my nine other recumbents in favor of the Cruz. One of the bikes I sold wqas a 63 speed Orca.........full susp............the Cruzbike put it to shame climbing and on back roads. Another was a custom V2 that was my number one road bike. The cruzbike is heavy compaired to the V2..........but ouclimed it by a wide margine. On hills that I rode in granny gears I now ride in my middle ring.............with the exception of a coule of monsters. Once you ride the fwd a while, it's hard to go back to a rwd recumbent.
Moose

 

[Mark B]

moose wrote: Once you ride the fwd a while, it's hard to go back to a rwd recumbent.
Moose

Amen, brother!

Mark

 

[maifimd]

Bill,

I'm your height and have nearly the same x-seam, and I was also a bit worried about the adjustment range.
I now have a lightly used Freerider that I'm gaining confidence in riding around the neighborhood.
I quickly discovered that the adjustment range easily accommodates a tall rider, even with the stock 155 mm crankarms.
The pedal on the left crankarm had previously been crossthreaded, so I swapped the 44t/155's for a 48/38/28 170 mm triple from the parts bin.
The longer crank allowed a further reduction of boom length, and my knees are still clearing the handlebars OK.
I have the bars moved back as far as possible, and they still require a bit of a stretch with the shorter boom extension.
I don't think that 'reach' will be a problem, but more riding time will probably be needed. I doubt I'll be able to recline the seatback much

I do see and feel the positive upper body impact on climbing performance, but haven't ridden any significant hills yet.
I do plan to add a front derailer, but doubt that the inner ring on the triple would be too useful.

Cheers,
Mike