What Happened to the S30?

[TomR]

I have been riding my 'RANcchetta' for about 20 years now. (RANS Ti-rex frame with Bacchetta seat and tweener bars). It is super comfortable when I get everything dialed in, but the Ti frame flexes so much I can watch the bottom bracket move while pedaling. If I hold the bike by the BB and shake it back and forth, it flexes like a swimming fish. Hey, MBB bike, but not in a good way. I have been looking to get a new bike, was looking at the Corsa, but the BB is soooo dang high for shorties like me. Then I recalled Cruzbike, and me likey . I would go for the V20c, but my experiments with seat angle tells me that 30 degrees is the magic spot, at least on my current bike. I know the S40 would work, but I think the S30 would be ideal.
Are there any S30's still lingering about?

 

[Greg S]

Suggestion: get a v20c and put a wedge under the seat to change the seat angle to 30 degrees. That's what I and several others here have done.

Edited to add: here's a photo of mine but there are other examples on the V20 sub forum.

 

[mesooslo]

Judging by the number of people that complain about recumbutt and sell their S40 I would think Cruzbike would have made an “S30” with adjustable seat angle by now.
A lowracer is fast and fun but not a bike you can ride with the upwrongs.

 

[Frito Bandito]

Judging by the number of people that complain about recumbutt and sell their S40 I would think Cruzbike would have made an “S30” with adjustable seat angle by now.
A lowracer is fast and fun but not a bike you can ride with the upwrongs.

My opinion is only worth 2 cents, but not only would I add an S30 to the fleet I would also add an MBB low racer.

 

[Robert Holler]

The short answer: The S30 didn't fill a gap between the seat angle of the V20 and the S40 enough to justify making more (at the time) and also physical space for warehousing bikes played a big factor.

The S30 was neither fast as the V20 nor upright/utiitarian as the S40. The S30 did not climb as well as the prototype S40 which I field tested for nearly 18 months. So it landed in the weird "middle child" arena for the hydroformed models. I also used to field nonstop questions about how to make the S30 "faster" like the V20 as people were disappointed in its overall speed and also on the other hand that it was not upright enough to be good for peoples commuter/road tourer needs...... sigh.

So the S40 was born to fit the needs of the latter since the speed is clearly well covered on the former. The S40 fit the largest gap in the lineup at the time.

The S30 was also not capable of carrying a decent amount of gear due to the rear suspension design (the carbon/steel stay which was not a Cruzbike item became discontinued anyway...) so that would have needed to be redesigned and cost a pretty penny.

Given unlimited resources and space I would love to redesign another model like the S30 but likely not in the cards the moment.

If you can find an ACTUAL S30 (not a Silvio and not a "Silvio S30" - which it was never called officially and is a naming mistake/confusing - it is a great bike for that mid-road performance.