What did you do to your Cruzbike today?

ratz

Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
Might go for the Bright RED "A" it's easier to see.

Clearly that logo needs a redesign.
 

RojoRacing

Donut Powered Wise-guy
Hopped on the Vendetta at 3:10 am this morning to sneak in a quick 80 miles over our local Mt. Diablo before joining the saturday group ride. I only have to get up an hour earlier then normal to leave that early so it's not bad for me, but I don't bother asking anyone to join me. It's always so nice to ride those super early hours where you maybe see 2 cars in the first 2 hours. Mt Diablo is normally a stressful cluster of riders and cars trying to pass riders but at this hours the whole park is closed and the rangers still snugly tucked in bed, so I could just let my eyes relax and spin the pedals in total solitude. Sadly there was no moon in sight so I couldn't go sans lights, but I do drop their intensity to about 10% for the long climb, it's easier on the eyes. Up at the top, 2000 feet above the cloud layer it was much warmer then expected making for a perfectly comfortable decent in only a wind vest and still before sunrise. About half way down I entered the clouds and the temperature took a nosedive but was still bearable. I made it back into town just as the saturday group was heading out so I joined them and scored some homemade cookies from my friend Minh. About 10 miles into the group ride or my mile 90 we caught my Mom who was out riding by herself because all her friends had family and salon type things going on. I didn't want to leave her on her own so I hung back and we just chatted over the next 20 miles since I don't visit enough these days. She's not the fastest rider but not slow ether and she is my Mom so she isn't shy about trying to keep up with the group until she pops. We were talking for a bit at first then she started the taking breaths between words so I started doing most the talking so she could listen and breath :D. I count myself lucky to ride bicycles and have raced motorcycles with and against my dad and to be able to share a saturday spin with my Mom. There are too few of families who can share stuff like that so I feel blessed.

end of the day 110 miles with over 8000 feet of climbing, now where did I put down that Super Burrito
 

LarryOz

Cruzeum Curator & Sigma Wrangler
I count myself lucky to ride bicycles and have raced motorcycles with and against my dad and to be able to share a saturday spin with my Mom. There are too few of families who can share stuff like that so I feel blessed.
Blessed indeed Jason!
 

bladderhead

Zen MBB Master
Kudos to Jason, and to Mr and Mrs Perez. My parents rode across Victoria Falls. My mother fell off her bike. Yes, you are blessed.

What does Minh put in the cookies?

Lining up the valve with the 'R' of Panaracer? What about the 'N' of Continental?
 

KiwiGuy

Well-Known Member
Great ride Jason. My son is back visiting with us for a few weeks and we've been getting in some rides together. I've been appreciating what you've experienced. Thanks for sharing.

Kind regards... Blair
 

super slim

Zen MBB Master
Broke the 55mph speed limit with a casual 61.1 mph :D Next RojoRacing retrofit will be a dynamo hub to power my radar detector :rolleyes:
You could install a ducted aluminium wind turbine generator mounted low in front of the front wheel, to provide power AND create extremely high radar speeds with the spinning blades!
 

trapdoor2

Zen MBB Master
Installed basic black wire bottle-cage under RH side of seat (standard holes). Inserted zippered bottle-bag toolkit. Done.V20 toolkit.jpg Toolkit contains: Park multi-tool, CO2 filler (and extra cartridge), tire levers, self-adhesive patches and one xtra master-link.
 

AbramClark

Active Member
I'm gearing up my Silvio for unassisted touring. I just swapped my little 30 tooth chain ring with a tiny 24 tooth. I also figured out my 55 liter Radical Design banana medium bags actually fit without a rack (with some string to keep them away from tires). The bags can easily fit my camping gear, and the chain ring will hopefully make the climbs with the extra load less painful. I now have 53 - 42 - 24 chain rings and 29 - 13 cassette, for an excellent gear range of 492% :). A few mechanics said I'd probably have trouble with such a big jump on the chain ring, but I removed a link from the chain, and didn't even move the derailleur and I easily shifted through the full range on a test climb.

Check out this tiny ring!
fD7TNYg.jpg


The front strap runs over the frame under the seat, the middle strap over the middle of the seat, and the rear strap over the top of the seat through a loop of string tied through a hole I drilled in the top of the seat pan (needed to anchor higher than the seat stay to keep bags rubbing on tire below the frame. To keep the bags from rubbing on the tire between the fork, I used two pieces of string tied from bottoms of rear fork, and over the seat. One string over the bottom of the seat back (not visible), the other over the top through the holes in the seat pan to keep it in place.
KkFZhAQ.jpg

Z6KHMjm.jpg



... a quick 80 miles over our local Mt. Diablo

Hey I live in East Bay, and would like to do more group rides. I just found out about Grizzly Peak Cyclists, and I'm planning on riding with them. What is this Saturday group ride you speak of?
 

RojoRacing

Donut Powered Wise-guy
Grizzly Peak Cyclists is an excellent group to get hooked up with if your on the west side of Mt. Diablo. I'm in Brentwood so the other side of the Devil so we really only ride with them on their Second Saturday Ride(SSR) or some of their random centuries rides. I'll be honest and admit it's been about 2 years since our way way eastbay group regular-ed those rides. Our group of about 6 friends would jump in with the fastest 80 mile option for the grizzy peak SSR and in as friendly a manor as possible we'd end up pushing the pace and killing the slower half of the group :lol. A few of the ride leaders nicknamed our group the Brentwood bruisers after we became semi regular. Their SSR is on a rotating route so it's different each month with 3 options. Our favorite was the Sonol option with the Diablo route a solid second. The Crocket route never grew on me because of the extra city time and traffic lights on that route. You won't experience any bike-ism attitude with those riders ether which is nice and you won't be the first recumbent to join them but don't expect to see any fellow recumbents.

The saturday and sunday group rides I regularly refer to are our own little clubs and or groups located out here in Brentwood. One is called the Delta Pedalers and the other more recent and thriving group is the Delta Valley Vello group based on face book for now. The riders over here are nothing special, I just do them for convenience and to hang out with my friends. Maybe I can rally the troops and crash another SSR and you can join us out there.
 

trapdoor2

Zen MBB Master
Got my Ventisit pad in last night. Stripped off the 'stock' pads, cleaned the seat with alcohol and applied the ventisit. Looks good and feels good...gotta get out and ride!

I also spent some time tinkering with the shifty bits. Adding the curved slider meant I needed to take a click or two on the RD adjuster. I've also noticed that my brake cables have stretched...gotta sort that out too. I'm very nearly to the point where the bike is 'stable-state' and I can concentrate on simply getting out and riding. I want to put a couple hundred miles on her before I strip all the original cables off and re-work with the new Jagwire kit.

Also need to sort out the handlebar wrap. Even though I wrapped it per Ratz' video, the RH end keeps unraveling and the bar end has popped out a couple of times (now broken). All I think I really need is a 'real' bar-end plug (one that installs with a hex-key rather than just popping in). The red electrical tape is starting to take over the red lizard-skin...

I have been imagining the new bars (Salsa Woodchipper clone?) on this bike. I think I would like the brifters to point more into the wind. I find myself having to shift my hands around to perform some shifting/braking duties...better to have them stable and keep movement down to a minimum.
 

ratz

Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
Also need to sort out the handlebar wrap. Even though I wrapped it per Ratz' video, the RH end keeps unraveling and the bar end has popped out a couple of times (now broken). All I think I really need is a 'real' bar-end plug (one that installs with a hex-key rather than just popping in). The red electrical tape is starting to take over the red lizard-skin...

Do more overlap then; I have similar problem with that hand. Use Wine Bottle corks for the best plug possible. Cheap excuse to by some good wine. Got that idea looking at Roberts bike at the retreat

I've also noticed that my brake cables have stretched.
As a public service; cables don't stretch; rather housing compresses. Cheap cables with tri-flow lubricant are fine for most people. Cheap housing is bad for everyone :)

I have been imagining the new bars (Salsa Woodchipper clone?) on this bike.
He's going to kill me but email Robert support@cruzbike.com for an eta on the new ones before you buy 3rd party. Gotta support the cause. :)
 

trapdoor2

Zen MBB Master
Do more overlap then; I have similar problem with that hand. Use Wine Bottle corks for the best plug possible. Cheap excuse to by some good wine. Got that idea looking at Roberts bike at the retreat
Hmmm. I have a good stock wine bottles (all full) but cannot access them until I meet my goal weight. :)
As a public service; cables don't stretch; rather housing compresses. Cheap cables with tri-flow lubricant are fine for most people. Cheap housing is bad for everyone :)
As an engineer (and former rigger of airplanes which use cables to hold their wings together, etc.), I would have to reply that cables do indeed stretch. However, in this case I think you're right.
He's going to kill me but email Robert support@cruzbike.com for an eta on the new ones before you buy 3rd party. Gotta support the cause. :)
Patience. I'm going riding. When Robert & Co. decide to announce "in stock"...then I'm hittin' the button. :D
 

RojoRacing

Donut Powered Wise-guy
Rolled out at 3am this morning for my AM commute for the second time ever on the vendetta. Last week I was slightly bummed I missed my existing record set on the Ridley of 1H29M
Blimey! You must need a lot of road for that speed. And a smooth road. And good brakes. You don't want to do what Joe did at that speed.

62.1mph yesterday :)
 
Top