Osiris
Zen MBB Master
While my Vendetta will always hold the number one spot as my best all-around bent, a mid life crisis may have led me to buy Phil Plath's record setting M1 Lowracer when he retired from racing.
John Morciglio builds each M1 to a particular rider's specifications, so it was lucky that Phil and I have the same physical dimensions. It seemed to be a message from the gods that I should buy it, so after a bit of haggling over price, the deal was made.
Unfortunately my first experience aboard the M1 was not a good one. I knew it would be difficult to ride, but I had no idea just how unmanageable and downright dangerous it would be. The problem was the custom built tiller:
Ergonomically, it was fine for my arm length, but its geometry was clearly designed solely for racing on a velodrome, where steering and shifting up and down through the gears were of no great importance. There is only a rear derailleur, and shifting to larger gears is accomplished by pressing the TT style lever forward with your thumb. Unfortunately, shifting back down through the gears proved to be impossible. There is just no way to hook your thumb around the shift lever and pull it back once it's all the way forward. Steering was a nightmare owing to the extremely narrow hand position, and there was always the danger that one of my knees would hit my hand and cause a sudden loss of control. Two incidents like that convinced me that a major redesign was needed.
Fortunately I had already been down this path with my M5 Carbon High Racer, so I bought another tiller just like it from a Taiwanese recumbent builder. The mechanical TT shifter was replaced by a Di2 system, similar to the one I have on my V20. Gear changes are now effortless, thanks to the mountain bike style thumb shifter on the handlebar. This is how the setup looked after yesterday's test ride:
I've since added a small mirror and a set of foam grips. The tiller has several slots milled into it, so I may try to route all the wiring though the hollow stem for a cleaner look. It will never bet as aerodynamic as the original setup, but it has completely transformed the bike from a narrow focus racing machine into something suitable for general use. Steering is now extremely predictable and stable even in tight turns. Interestingly enough, the clunkier handlebar setup seems to have cost very little in terms of aerodynamic efficiency. On level ground, it only required 223 watts to maintain a speed of 27 mph. I was so surprised the first time I looked at my GPS readout that I re-ran the test several times to ensure that I wasn't getting a false reading. I also looked up Larry Oslund's test results at roughly the same speed on his M1, which shows him doing 27.7 mph with only 223 watts on the racetrack, so it looks like my readings were pretty accurate. Once I get more accustomed to riding the M1, I'll conduct more tests at even higher speeds.
I'm really not sure at this point what use I'll put it to. Having a seat only 7 inches above the ground makes riding it on public roads a scary proposition, so it may just be the thing I'll want to ride occasionally on fast sections of local bike trails. I've never been out there, but the Van Fleet trail reportedly goes 20 miles in each direction, and is as straight as an arrow. No doubt there will be a few KOM's out there for the taking.
John Morciglio builds each M1 to a particular rider's specifications, so it was lucky that Phil and I have the same physical dimensions. It seemed to be a message from the gods that I should buy it, so after a bit of haggling over price, the deal was made.
Unfortunately my first experience aboard the M1 was not a good one. I knew it would be difficult to ride, but I had no idea just how unmanageable and downright dangerous it would be. The problem was the custom built tiller:
Ergonomically, it was fine for my arm length, but its geometry was clearly designed solely for racing on a velodrome, where steering and shifting up and down through the gears were of no great importance. There is only a rear derailleur, and shifting to larger gears is accomplished by pressing the TT style lever forward with your thumb. Unfortunately, shifting back down through the gears proved to be impossible. There is just no way to hook your thumb around the shift lever and pull it back once it's all the way forward. Steering was a nightmare owing to the extremely narrow hand position, and there was always the danger that one of my knees would hit my hand and cause a sudden loss of control. Two incidents like that convinced me that a major redesign was needed.
Fortunately I had already been down this path with my M5 Carbon High Racer, so I bought another tiller just like it from a Taiwanese recumbent builder. The mechanical TT shifter was replaced by a Di2 system, similar to the one I have on my V20. Gear changes are now effortless, thanks to the mountain bike style thumb shifter on the handlebar. This is how the setup looked after yesterday's test ride:
I've since added a small mirror and a set of foam grips. The tiller has several slots milled into it, so I may try to route all the wiring though the hollow stem for a cleaner look. It will never bet as aerodynamic as the original setup, but it has completely transformed the bike from a narrow focus racing machine into something suitable for general use. Steering is now extremely predictable and stable even in tight turns. Interestingly enough, the clunkier handlebar setup seems to have cost very little in terms of aerodynamic efficiency. On level ground, it only required 223 watts to maintain a speed of 27 mph. I was so surprised the first time I looked at my GPS readout that I re-ran the test several times to ensure that I wasn't getting a false reading. I also looked up Larry Oslund's test results at roughly the same speed on his M1, which shows him doing 27.7 mph with only 223 watts on the racetrack, so it looks like my readings were pretty accurate. Once I get more accustomed to riding the M1, I'll conduct more tests at even higher speeds.
I'm really not sure at this point what use I'll put it to. Having a seat only 7 inches above the ground makes riding it on public roads a scary proposition, so it may just be the thing I'll want to ride occasionally on fast sections of local bike trails. I've never been out there, but the Van Fleet trail reportedly goes 20 miles in each direction, and is as straight as an arrow. No doubt there will be a few KOM's out there for the taking.
