In mid-July, 2012, I had a Skype text exchange with an international customer. I’m calling him “D” to maintain his privacy. D had bought from me a Cruzbike Quest with 20″ wheels and the heavy duty touring rack. We were doing something fairly common when working with international customers: figuring out a testing, purchase and delivery plan for someone who was constantly on the move.
D visited me (and New York City) en route from New Zealand to Washington, DC, to NYC, to Toronto, Canada and then to Vancouver. He planned to ride from British Columbia down to Washington state and maybe Oregon and thought a Quest 20″ may be the vehicle of choice. Not having rode or even seen a Cruzbike before, D dropped by my place to try it, to make sure he liked it, was comfortable with the seat, and to ask whatever questions he had. Then, if everything was copacetic, we were placing the order and having it drop-shipped to him in Toronto.
The other week, I followed up to see how everything went. I was also curious to hear a “first timer’s” experience with packing the Quest 20″ into a suitcase and traveling with it. It’s one thing for a manufacturer to say that a given bike packs into a suitcase. It can be quite another matter for the rider/traveler to make it fit. In this case, with the Quest 20″, everything went smoothly.
– – –
RM: D- How is the Quest? Did everything go smoothly?
D: Yep, it got to Toronto before I did, assembled it and rode about 150 km to get it adjusted right, packed it up and brought it to Vancouver in a suitcase.
D: Will be unpacking and assembling it tomorrow morning, so I can hit the harbour bike trail with the family. 😉
RM: Cool. Glad to hear it. From 1(hard)-10 (easy), how easily did it pack up? What exactly is the brand/model of the suitcase you used?
D: Samsonite F’Lite 31″ suitcase. I bought the 2-wheel version, there’s also a “Spinner” 4-wheel version, not sure if the latter is also OK (probably). (US $171 at the time of writing).
D: Packing up was fairly easy in terms of steps, following the YouTube videos on the CB site, so maybe rate that a 7/10. Most of the steps are easy, and the Quest 2.0 has quick releases to make things a bit easier still.
D: The only hard part is fitting the folded bike into the suitcase – a bit of a tight fit, had to coax a few cables and parts into the right configuration.
D: Took me 2 hours the first time, probably 1 hour next time. 🙂
D: Packed weight is 46-48 pounds, so close to the weight limit on most airlines.
– – –
A related discussion in the Cruzbike forum is here.
For my city beater bike, I’m now riding a Cruzbike Sofrider 8-speed. I feel I’ve graduated to a new level, now that I feel comfortable taking it in NYC street traffic. (It took me about 7 hrs. of off-street/in-park riding to get to this point.) As much as I prefer high-end machines and components, the CB Sofrider makes a pretty good city bike for many reasons: not too expensive, has a tight turning radius, good head height in traffic, fairly lockable, room for fat 26″ wheels, space for fenders, satisfactory front/rear suspension, and if the components get stolen or vandalized, who cares.
The SofR handles our lovely potholed streets pretty well. I just need to resolve the cargo-carrying issues. I can’t use most seat-post mounts such as the 20 lb capacity Topeak which Sofrider easily accepts because it isn’t strong enough for cargos I often carry (e.g., groceries, hardware, whatever). To make it lockable, I pitlocked the front and rear wheels. This seems to be the best way to secure it though there are still lots of bolts a thief could undue, though in (un)doing so, he (or she) would render it unrideable. An errant child could also vandalize the seat cushions. Whatever. I can’t worry about everything. There’s a chain-sized hole in the middle of the frame which makes it easy to lock the bike to the streetscape. So, all in all, not bad at all but I really must address the cargo issues or else the bike will be relegated to only cargo-free runs.
Another Cruzbike out the door.
Yesterday, another tentative but happy customer took home a Sofrider. I gave him an hour lesson and within that time he became quite competent. I think he’ll enjoy it. I wasn’t sure, though, if he fully appreciated how nice a bike it was. I think the low price throws off some people and they feel they’re getting a bargain-priced bent as opposed to a bent that’s been carefully specced to give the max bang for the buck. It’s actually an extremely capable bike.
For me, probably what I enjoyed most, besides seeing a new rider “get” the Cruzbike, was seeing the Sofrider’s current spec and how it reflected the company’s attitude towards its riders. In the current edition, CB upgraded some components in the drivetrain. The gears were faster to setup and shift better than the old system. I also appreciated the new wheelset, since this is one of those things that your average beginner rider would not necessarily know how to judge. Some manufacturers skimp on the wheelset to expand the profit margin even if it’s at the expense of ride quality. And, too often, bike reviewers don’t say much about the wheels. The previous Alex “Subs” — a stiff, light and aerodynamic rim — were rather nice, surprisingly good, even, for a bike at this price, but the new model came in with the Alex G6000 Cross rims (review) and Maxis slick tires. (Should’ve taken a photo. Didn’t. Too busy. Sorry.) It further supports CB’s credentials as a bike maker who seems to genuinely enjoy making good bikes, even if they look weird. (It still throws me to see the drive wheel in the front and the SofR’s MTB Y-frame isn’t as pretty as CB’s other designs.)
There’s something particularly notable about this drivetrain upgrade that, again, your average new rider wouldn’t think about. Some background: most manufacturers reserve the right to change components mid-season just in case they can’t get a certain component at a certain moment. I’ve seen lesser manufacturers abuse that “right” by downgrading bike components or even frame materials. It may or may not be to improve profits, but it bugs me when they don’t bring the bike back to original spec because there’ll be reviews out there saying the bike comes with this or that brand of whatever when in fact it’s shipping with something else entirely. More ethical manufacturers will substitute an original component with — often — a slightly cheaper component as a temporary stop-gap till the supply starts running again, after which time I’ll see the original spec return. In this case, what I appreciated seeing from CruzB was that they actually improved the wheelset. Whether this is temporary or “permanent” — nothing is permanent — I don’t know, but either way, the wheels on that new arrival were better than those on my demo, bought in spring 2012. As a rider, I really appreciate this attitude and generosity. It reflects a courtesy and respect towards the end-rider, and demonstrates a sincere interest in seeing their riders move to a higher level. Good job guys.
My experience with CruzB continues to be positive. For riders who want a fast bent at a competitive price, they really should consider a Cruzbike. There’s a learning curve, yes, but it’s worth it.
I get a lot of interest in Cruzbikes. However, with every new inquiry, there is a question: how long will it take the prospective rider to learn to ride it?
People ask how long it took me to get it. I think they imagine they’ll have the same success as me. Now, I no longer think I’m a good example. It took me about 2 hours before I was comfortable taking it out on the street and to Prospect Park where I had space to practice. It looks like I was a slow learner!
The other week, I had two new Cruzbike riders, a woman and a man. I’d love to take credit for being a good teacher, but I don’t think I can. Both were fit and that probably helped. They were both off and riding within minutes. Minutes, I tell you.
The woman, who will remain nameless since she wishes to maintain her privacy on the internet, was off and riding immediately. Her fitness routine seems to consist of hiking on weekends and 30 minutes of pilates every morning. (But maybe that explains it: strong core muscles.) I gave her my usual basic starting instructions and then she was off and riding immediately with minimal control issues. She did admit that she’d like some time to practice in the park before heading off on a long ride, however this was clearly a natural Cruzbiker. Total time required to learn to ride: 5 seconds.
The fellow, a longtime recumbent rider, struggled for maybe 10 minutes, but then he was riding up and down the bike path like it was almost second nature. We headed to Prospect Park, spent a little time doing handling drills on one of the cross-park drives, then did a little off-roading and downhilling including going over erosion control bars with an 8″ drop-off, and then came back via city streets with traffic. His control was rather impressive. Wow. Total time required to learn to ride: 10 minutes.
It reminded me of the following video from Cruzbike showing a brand new rider.
It had taken me a couple hours before I was riding with control. And, after seeing a few others struggle to control the bike, I had begun to think it would take everyone a fair amount of practice. Clearly that’s not true. Yours truly is simply slow.
Some people are able to ride a Cruzbike immediately. For some it takes a while. You simply have to try it and have faith that when — not if — you get the hang of it, you’ll enjoy the performance advantages of the design.
I’m participating in an adventure race this Sunday. There’s an optional mountain bike segment that I was thinking of doing on a Cruzbike Sofrider. Well…won’t happen this time. I got a stomach virus last week, so my partner and I decided to change our expectations. We’ll just do the foot segment and use this as a “training” race. It’s clearly the smart decision and it’ll still be a blast. Next race maybe the Cruzbike will appear. We shall see.
Between my place and Prospect Park, there is currently 400 meters of construction that will eventually result in a beautiful separated bike lane. This project was unfunded for some 20 years, till now, and has included laying new pipes, and piloting around a construction robot doing I don’t know what, and generally digging up a road that used to be fairly smooth by New York City standards. As it is now, with the temporary patch jobs they do each time they finish a parcel of work, it’s the roughest #%&! road you can imagine. Take a washboard road, add 50 speed bumps of all sizes and shapes, intersperse each speed bump with a pothole or two, throw on some gravel and rocks, and put it on an incline, and you’ve very nearly got this road (at this time).
Needless to say, I avoid it when I can, but it’s the shortest route to The Park. A bad road is unpleasant on a standard frame bike, but with an SF, you can post (raise yourself off the seat). On a bent, you can’t. So, every few days, I’m reminded of what I like about fully-suspended recumbents or — if I’m riding an unsuspended bent — what I might have done to make this stretch more comfy.
Here are a few tips for smoothing out your own local worst road.
1. Full-suspension. If you’re shopping anew, consider full-suspension recumbent bikes or trikes. If you know you’ll be on bad roads, there’s no replacing the safety and comfort of keeping all wheels — whether two or three — in contact with the road at all times.
2. Steel is real. Favor steel recumbents over (non-suspended) aluminum bents. While a steel frame can’t absorb potholes, it does have a marvelous capacity to absorb road vibration and this goes a long way towards improving control on bad roads.
3. Fat tires, baby. Speaking personally, 1.5″-wide tires are my minimum for city tires and I like them at low pressure. My favorite? Schwalbe Big Apples. These are “balloon” tires. They’re relatively light, flat resistant, grippy, have low rolling resistance, can run as low as 35 psi, and provide “built in” shock absorption.
4. Big tires, baby. 26″ wheels roll over the rough stuff better than 20″ wheels. I realize that means we’re talking about high-racers and there are reasons why high racers are sub-optimal in the city, but there’s no getting around the benefit of big wheels. If you decide to look at this solution, check out a Cruzbike Sofrider or Cruzbike Quest: big wheels without the typical high-racer’s seat slope.
5. Sling mesh seats. While I love hard-shell seats for climbing hills, a sling mesh seat is comfort factorial on bad roads.
Would I put it all together? Say, a fully-suspended HP Velotechnik Street Machine Gte or Scorpion fs, with Big Apple tires and an Ergo Mesh seat? Or a dual-suspension Cruzbike Sofrider with 26×2.15″ Big Apples? Yeah, I’d consider it. At some point it may become overkill, but I’m not sure we’ve yet reached that point.
Maria Parker Shatters the Sebring 24-hour Course Record by a Whopping 7% on a Cruzbike Vendetta.
Beating men and women alike, Maria completed 474.5 miles in the 24-hour non-drafting race, shattering the previous course record of 442.6 miles. (For those who are reading this blog entry at some time in the future, this was in the 2012 race.)
Jim Parker writes:
Maria “…finished the 24-hour non-drafting race with an amazing 474.5 miles, beating all the men, too. Timothy Woudenberg had the second best finish on his NoCom and was the only other recumbent rider among the top nine finishers, the other seven all being men riding DF bikes. She surpassed Sandy Earl’s course record of 442.6 miles by a whopping 31.9 miles.”
So, as of now, here’s the tally for how long it is taking me to learn to ride a Cruzbike Sofrider, moving bottom bracket recumbent bike for the first time (your own results may vary):
Day 1:__0:45 (hr:min) (mastered the basics)
Day 2:__1:00 (hr:min) (ready to ride on road)
Day 3:__2:00 (hr:min) (Improving technique. Working on: figure-8s, tight and open loops, S-turns, increasing speed, climbing, handling uneven surfaces and dirt.)
Day 4:__1:00 (hr:min) (Improving technique. Working on: S-turns, increasing speed, climbing, handling, sprinting, getting a workout.)
Report
Yesterday, I put aside work to squeeze in another hour on the new Cruzbike Sofrider demo bike. I was looking to get in a workout and also continue improving my handling skills on this frame, which handles like nothing I’ve ridden in the past.
There were two unexpected experiences. First of all, even though I began to feel comfortable on my last time out, after four hours on the bike, this time, I wasn’t able to just get on, give it a kick and ride off. Like last time, the first 10 minutes were spent reacquainting myself with the pedaling and handling: I sat down, pushed hard on the pedals, and immediately pulled myself off-balance. Darn it. After a few minutes of persistence, recalling what I learned the last time, and soon I was riding up and down the bike path in front of my building, getting more comfortable before heading out into the street and off to Prospect Park.
I found a few tricks for reminding my muscles how to ride the bike:
1) Riding one handed, not two-handed, with a loose grip, reminds my body about what it needs to do. I could feel the handlebars pulling and pushing against that one hand, reminding me of the rhythm I needed to adapt.
2) Decide whether I’m going to let the handlebars pull against my fingers, or press against my palms; choose one or the other when I start so my body/mind is ready to respond.
3) Have active hands on the bars, but a light touch. Open my palms so the bars can press (or pull) as I pedal.
4) Pedal softly.
I was looking simply to get a workout yesterday. I had intentionally skipped my morning U.S. Masters Swimming practice so I needed the workout. Once in the park, though, I decided to keep working on handling skills again, instead of strength. This is because, given my current skill level, I simply can’t apply full strength. With only modest effort, my speed goes high enough that it butts up against my handling skills. I could see that my legs were going to get very little work until I could steer through the speed. For those who don’t know it, I will mention that the Prospect Park loop is also constantly rolling hills with one fast down and one hard up, and one flat section of about .75 miles.
Some aspects of handling remained easy — the figure 8s and loops, the starts and stops, the sharp turns are basically no problem. What I found challenging though was maintaining good control on S-turns — slaloming — at speed. I was using a drill that I always give beginning bent riders when I’m teaching them to ride. For the first few repeats, you begin with shallow S-turns at moderate speed. You’re seeking to understand how to use your body weight and handlebars to control the bike in combination with the forces generated by speed. In the drill, you gradually increase the slalom curves from low-speed shallow turns to low-speed deep turns, and, as you feel comfortable, you continue on to fast and shallow and fast and deep (the hardest to control, this is not for novices). I’m looking here for very precise control, where the bike ends up exactly where I want it, as if I’m steering around a 90-degree turn in traffic. This exercise is maybe more critical for the urban rider than the country rider.
The drill is a good skills test. How precisely can I control the mass of bike and rider? As I got faster, I started to see the limits of my ability: I could not be precise in my higher speed, deep turns. I’d find the bike suddenly over-turning. Was the weight of the bottom bracket pulling over the wheel? How do I control that? I found myself needing to concentrate constantly. Other riders may find as I did, that this is a very different experience to riding something like an HP Velotechnik Street Machine Gte or a Volae Century, which nearly drive themselves from the beginning; you just relax the upper body and pedal. On the Cruzbike, I was finding my upper body needed to be much more engaged. Well, of course, I said to myself. I had already found that this is precisely what provides the speed advantage when applying force: the whole body is involved and not just the legs.
There was something on my mind as I was working on my drills, adding a feeling of urgency. (Urgency may not be the optimal state of mind for learning new skills, by the way.) Earlier that day, while reviewing a NY adventure race calendar, I got the idea for using a Cruzbike Sofrider in the April 1 “Fool’s Rogaine” adventure race, if my skills were up to it. (The Fools Rogaine is an April First, six-hour, running, cycling and orienteering race on a broad variety of terrain.) Mind you, generally these are technical trails (but you don’t know until you’re on them) and it could be a good trial for the Sofrider as a trail bike. (Or it could be suicide.) So, I was beginning to put pressure on myself to “hurry up and get it” (again, no self-kindness there). I wanted to master the bike immediately, but I also understood that mastery takes time. I also know, when working with a high-performance design, it’s normal not to “get it” immediately. My progress was probably normal, but I still wanted to “get it” now.
Today, I decided to call Maria Parker and Dan Fallon, both Cruzbike racers, to ask them questions about handling, particularly on the slalom curves. I found they both have a lot of experience and are humble and honest — about what the bike does and what they do to control it.
Everyone does their own type of riding, so one needs to adapt advice from another’s environment to one’s own. In my case, I’m adapting techniques from road racing into an urban environment (and maybe onto trails).
In a video, I noticed Maria using a very slow cadence. For me, that seemed a sensible technique that would allow good coordination between the feet and hands. On the phone, she mentioned she also generally sits forward during turns. That could be seen on the video as well. While riding rear-wheel-drive bents on city roads, I too generally sit up when I need high maneuverability and vision — when turning, at intersections, changing lanes — so I can imagine this. I’ll have to play with that on a Cruzbike.
Dan Fallon has raced both rear-wheel-drive bents as well as front-wheel-drive moving-bottom-bracket recumbents and seems to have thought a lot about the similarities and differences. His stable of Cruzbikes includes a Vendetta, Silvio and Sofrider, by the way, so clearly this guy is a believer. He also owns (or used to own) a Bachetta Ti Aero, but he has now gone Cruzbike.
Dan trains in a mountainous area, so he has a lot of experience with the Cruzbike on the ups, the downs and the flats, including incredibly long and high speed downs and equally long up-hill grinds. A key insight he gave me was that the Cruzbike can get twitchy at high speeds, like above 50 mph or so, as it reacts to imperfections in the road or from cross-winds. His preference is to hold back the bike on the long downhills. (The “prudent individual” will say this sounds obvious, but, in the moment, it can be easy to forget.) While he backs off on the downs, he hammers on the ups. The result is an excellent overall time. This may run counter to some bent-riders’ temptation to take the downs at maximum speed (because though speed is dangerous, speed is also fun), but then go slow on the ups. I interpreted his words mainly as a comment on strategy. To use the Cruzbike design’s advantages, apply your energy on the climbs.
This made sense to me and illuminated how the Cruzbike can deliver very good overall times. One’s average time can be very good, though one’s “maximum” speed may be lower compared to a bent that feels smoother at high speeds. People should realize that I’m a cautious rider, and what I got from the conversation is that the Cruzbike may not be a bike I would want to take at high downhill speeds. It’s a bike that climbs quickly and handles the flats as fast as I would want to take them.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT SAFETY: To the everyday, mortal rider like me: do not attempt to ride any bike at the high speeds taken by skilled racers like Maria and Dan or other pro racers. (And do not attempt to ride any bike at the speeds easily driven by cars.) Not only do racers have exceptional gifts, skills, strength, experience, and training, they may also be taking exceptional risks in order to achieve wins or set records. Furthermore, their bikes may be customized for their use. Personally, when I talk to riders about buying bikes, I strongly dislike it when the conversation turns to speed because, simply, speed is dangerous and speed maims and kills. But also, speed is about you, the rider, and your capabilities. Interestingly, when I speak with racers about bikes, we’re rarely talking about speed as much as handling and power/force transfer.
I’m saying that because it’s the right thing to say. It’s also a “cover your ass” statement. Most bent riders are going to go out and ride at the speed of cars anyway and brag about it on Bent Rider Online. I’ll say it one last time: ride at safe speeds.
Anyway.
Dan had stories that supported my belief that this could be a good trail bike. He finds it’s superb in situations where you need to pick your path because the design allows you to see the contact point of the front, drive wheel. When a rear drive-wheel slips, you can’t see why. Good point.
Amusingly enough, he also experienced the intense concentration I felt I needed on the Cruzbike. He assured me that this is only at the beginning and, after a while, the bike feels natural. He no longer gives it a second thought. I was glad to hear that. He recommended that I ride only the Cruzbike, and nothing else for a while, if possible. This is what he did. It could hasten my skill development.
A specific suggestion he made, for technique, was always to increase wattage (force) gradually at the pedals. He finds that quick speed increases throw the bike off balance. One of the drills I give people, when teaching them to ride a bent, is to start with a strong first push, and we’ll do this several times in a row. Meanwhile, on the Cruzbike, it was always at the start, when I had just pulled the bike off the wall, that I had the most trouble. I’d get on it and attempt to get going with a good strong kick. Here, that doesn’t work. With the Cruzbike, you need to start slowly, and increase speed slowly.
Well, that’s the news from the “Cruzbike learning center.” I’m still thumbs-up about it and maybe even more so after speaking with Maria and Dan. Stay tuned to see if ultimately I ride it in the April 1 Fool’s Rogaine adventure race. That’ll require me not only to feel comfortable on the Cruz., but also to feel comfortable with my MTB skills in a bike orienteering format. It’s more than just ordinary riding. We’ll see how my training goes.
Cyclists David Byrne and Julie Retka have an inspiring gear list on their website “Recycling the World.” Go see it. I’m impressed that he’s traveling so simply and using only two and a half panniers. Nice example of lightweight touring.
Note that David is riding a Cruzbike Sofrider (version V2). For pannier racks, he’s using Axiom front racks custom-attached to his bike. Since the current version of the Sofrider doesn’t readily take underseat racks, that seems to be the best solution.
Julie rides a Cruzbike Quest. Photos (buried in the blog) show it fitted with racks and bags.
All in all, an inspiring bit of “keeping it simple” and “Doing It Yourself” and “just getting out and seeing the world.”
Peter and I (Robert) running into each other unexpectedly at the Croton Reservoir.
Note about this entry:
From time to time, I’ve updated this entry as my experience with Cruzbikes has evolved. Meanwhile, I’ve also posted new entries at later dates. To see all entries on this subject, simply click the “Cruzbike” label.January 2012
I feel like I’m learning to ride a recumbent bike again.
The other Wednesday, I took out the new arrival — a moving bottom bracket Cruzbike “Sofrider” — to get a feel for it and test the build. This was my first time on a moving bottom bracket front-wheel-drive recumbent. I’ll say this, although I got “going” on it immediately, it’s an odd sensation to coordinate turning the wheel with changing the leg angle. I admit that I had a great deal of trouble controlling the front wheel for the first five minutes. Or maybe it was 25 minutes. No doubt, to others on the bike path, I looked like I was learning to ride a bike for the first time.
Also, it was strange to feel so much movement in my hands while riding a recumbent bike. I spent about 45 minutes practicing various exercises, as if I was teaching a customer to ride a bent for the first time. Honestly, it was frustrating. Ultimately though, I became comfortable and, after a couple of breakthroughs, I found the frustration was self-caused. The bike was fine. It was me who was acting uncoordinated.
After 45 minutes, I mastered the basic elements of handling the bike and was able to do jerky figure-8’s and double circles within the width of an 8-foot bike lane. (So far, pretty impressive; try achieving a turning radius like that on an ordinary SWB recumbent.) I still needed to figure out the coordination between my arms and feet while pedaling, and develop better control in tight turns, but I was progressing steadily in that direction.
The next time we had good weather, this being January and all, I took it out again. After an hour of practice, I was sufficiently comfortable with the handling that I felt ready to ride it to Prospect Park, 3/4ths a mile away on city streets.
As of now, here’s the tally for how long it took me to learn to ride a Cruzbike moving bottom bracket recumbent bike for the first time (your own results may vary):
Day 1:__0:45 (hr:min) (mastered the basics)
Day 2:__1:00 (hr:min) (ready to ride on road)
Day 3:__2:00 (hr:min) (Improving technique. Working on: figure-8s, tight and open loops, S-turns, increasing speed, climbing, handling uneven surfaces and dirt.)
Day 4:__1:00 (I was away from the bike for about a month, busy with work and riding for practical reasons.)
[Update, a few months later (Aug. 2012), see last paragraph. In summary, great bike.]
I anticipate feeling ready to ride intermediate MTB trails after another 4 hours of practice. I look forward to this test of the off-road handling. Although, if the snow hangs around, that may need to wait till spring.
Originally, after that first day of 45 minutes, I thought it would take me about 8 hours to begin to feel comfortable on MTB trails. However, during my Day 2 ride I experienced two breakthroughs that helped me understand the bike. The first breakthrough was to handle the Cruzbike more like a diamond frame while standing on the pedals. Namely, as I pressed with my feet for each “stroke,” the key was to apply an equally strong pull in a countering direction with my hand.
I could have learned this faster. The Cruzbike website has a nice and very short set of instructions at the “How to Ride” link. At first, I thought the instructions were too simplistic. Not so. They were accurate once I understood the bike: keep your hands soft and ride with open palms. I found that by maintaining soft hands and counterpressing (or counterpulling, if one prefers), one offsets the turning force of the legs. (Note, much later: I’ve come to prefer “counterpulling” since this is what I’m used to on a standard frame and on my Concept II rowing ergometer.)
The second breakthrough was to maintain “soft” legs during turns, or remove the feet from the pedals entirely: turn with the hands only, don’t use the legs. In other words, I needed to relax my legs as I turned the wheel, and let my legs be guided by the pedals.
The mistakes I made during my Day 1 ride, which made the bike difficult to ride, included…I tried both to counterpress and counterpull with my hands (didn’t work); I tried to relax my hands too much, as if I were riding an ordinary fixed bottom bracket recumbent (didn’t work); and I rode with firm, straight legs (come on, dude…). Given the hand coordination issues, I anticipate some experienced recumbent riders may have more trouble learning to ride a Cruzbike than some diamond frame riders. Not what I would normally expect at all!
There are people who will be very well-served by this design, but who may find it hard to ride, especially in a demo ride context. I have to say, I hope they will persist for it will be well worth the effort. It’s a neat bike and a very good value. My good initial impressions remain. I love the responsiveness of the drivetrain, the overall lightweight of the bent, and the feeling of the front wheel drive. I look forward to riding it at speed, on hills and on trails.
To learn more about riding a Cruzbike, be sure to watch the nice videos on the Cruzbike website and take their instructions at face value. It’s as simple as they say, as long as you do what they say.
Day 3 Update
For first three minutes that I got back on the bike I wobbled like I had forgotten how to ride it. I quickly worked that out and then rode through city traffic (I’m in Brooklyn, NY) to and from the park. In Prospect Park, I practiced my technique including figure-8s, double loops, S-turns, increasing my speed, taking it on dirt and rough surfaces. I’ve concluded this is more than learning to ride a ‘bent. It’s learning to ride a whole new type of bike which has a unique body-mind input and a unique performance output. Compared to a normal ‘bent or to a standard frame bike, different muscles and coordination are called for, steering is different, weighting is different, pedaling technique is different, heck, even shifting is different (I seem to prefer riding the Cruzbike in a higher gear and with a slower cadence than I do on a “normal” bent, so I’m shifting up and down among high gears more frequently).
After about 45 min. of practicing technique, I felt the big breakthrough: the bike began to feel natural. I began to anticipate the motion of the bike and began controlling it without much thought. Also, I began to like the way it felt as opposed to struggling with it. Huh! After an hour and 15 minutes I felt ready to begin playing with increased speed of 15-25 mph. After an hour and 50 min., I felt ready to ride through rush hour city traffic for 3/4ths of a mile, back home.
It really does climb better.
On the park loop, Prospect Park has one primary hill to climb. I was pleasantly surprised to discover — wait a second, I’m lying here — I reluctantly discovered beyond any shred of a doubt — that it’s true: the Cruzbike climbs better than my other bents. I was climbing in a higher gear and with less effort and at a higher average speed. As a huge fan of HP Velotechniks and that relaxed style of riding, I have to admit that I hoped this wouldn’t be the case, but it is. This design really climbs nicely, and very possibly as well as a standard frame bike. I can’t believe I’m saying that. I didn’t think it was possible. (Note, later: I guess I wanted to believe that a relaxing ride would also be the fastest. But no, a bike that engages all the muscles and applies that energy to the wheels is the fastest. Seems so obvious, now.)
Here’s what I think is going on. First of all, the chainstays are short like a standard frame, so we don’t lose energy in the long frame as it twists under the application of large forces, as when climbing. Secondly, the chainstays are stiff, so they transmit energy well to the wheel. Thirdly, in the muscles, it’s not that I somehow use my arms to add power to the pedals, as if this were a row-bike. It’s that I can apply more pressure with my feet because I can counter-pull against the handlebars, engaging my core and arm muscles. This is instead of pressing my back into the seat as I mash the pedals. Normally, with a bent, I press against the seat back as I hammer. But this is an unstable position. I can feel my back squirreling around against the seat as I ride, so I can’t press as hard as I might. Further, if the seat is soft (as in, comfy), energy is lost. With a Cruzbike, the countering force comes from my core and arms, creating a stronger platform for applying muscle to the pedals.
Honestly, as I said earlier, I’m reluctantly impressed by the performance improvement. Given how odd the handling feels, I was hoping this wouldn’t be the case, but rather that the luxurious feel of an HP Velotechnik would, somehow, be better on a hill. However, I can’t refute it. Even the entry-level Sofrider is faster on the uphill.
The Cruzbike is clearly for those who have the patience to “learn new tricks” and who place a premium on overall speed. Face it: when we’re talking about speed, we all know that better is better and faster is faster and we’ll learn to ride whatever we must to get the best results.
Prospective Cruzbike riders are going to have to make some hard choices. For those who want a high-performance bent, this odd bird is a fast one. However, you must invest time learning to handle it. If you don’t have the patience, don’t have the time, or you’re really attached to the idea of the “comfort bent” where your hands don’t do any work, stick to a bent that’s easier to ride at the beginning, like an HP Velotechnik.
What I foresee doing here is sticking to the HP Velotechnik Street Machine Gte for touring, but going to the Cruzbike for racing. (By the way, we can install SON hub dynamos and all the usual stuff for brevets and all-night racing. Don’t worry about that.)
Day 4 Update
Day 4:__1:00 (I was away from the bike for about a month, busy with work and riding for practical reasons.)
I got back on it and rode off without problems. I’ve got the hang of it now after 4:45 hours:minutes. Long and short, I like it. I’m riding this Sofrider with rather “basic quality” components, and I’m keeping up with Prospect Park riders who normally drop me on the hills. Long and short, it’s a heck of a machine. It’s not about the bike, it’s about the design in this case, and the Cruzbike is a winner. I’m very tempted to add on some racks and fenders, etc. to the Sofrider so I can begin riding it as my daily ride, maybe even take it out for some weekends. I tell you: it’s growing on me. Riders who itch to go fast will like it too.
Update, a few months later (Aug. 9, 2012):
I’ve been using the CB Sofrider as my city “beater” for the past three weeks, handling all the city throws at me (not literally, I shall hope). Keep in mind, like 7,500,000 other New Yorkers, I don’t own a car, so this is my vehicle for commuting, grocery shopping, hardware store runs, whatever. It’s taken me a bit of time, but I’ve figured out those vital elements of city riding: how to add large bags and panniers so I can load it with groceries, how to lock it, where to carry the lock on the bike, how to start on a hill without wobbling when the light changes and there’s traffic all around me. And so, it’s become more and more useful as my daily ride. The other weekend, just for fun, I put on clipless pedals (for daily errands I always ride with platforms) and took it out to Prospect Park to ride with the dogs (small, big, medium, whatever). I was maintaining avg. speeds I normally never touch over 30 miles of repeating the main (hilly) loop and no one was passing me, even on the main climb, which I was taking at just over 15mph. I’ve become thoroughly convinced of the effectiveness of the design, as odd as it was to ride the first time.
Another update, August 13, 2012.
This morning I took the Cruzbike Quest 26″ out for a training ride, doing loops around Prospect Park. I averaged 20.2 mph over 34 miles with a maximum speed of 33.2 mph. To put this in some context, the last time I did a triathlon, about 8 years ago, the bike portion was 24.8 miles (40k) on a flat course, and I remember averaging 19.5 mph. I think that was my fastest ride for any substantial distance. Given that I was riding at race pace in that previous instance, I’m rather pleased — to say the least — with my training pace this morning. I wish I could say it’s all about me, and not about the bike, however I strongly suspect it’s mostly about the bike in this case.
Update, January 2013.
I’m still riding the Sofrider as my city beater. Like it a lot. Glad to have the shocks. I put on some fat tires. I put on those ugly-when-they’re-old-but-oh-so-useful Wald metal pannier-like side baskets. I use the Radical Design seatback bag on it every day to carry my basic stuff. People have asked me whether the front tire slips. I don’t have a problem with that but I know what they’re talking about. Learning to control the front wheel and minimizing slippage became one of those riding skills I simply had to develop. One thing I like about the format is that it requires a full-body effort. I think it adds to my overall fitness.
In addition, I continue to enjoy taking the Silvio for training rides in the park. Without my intending it, it may have become “my” bike by dint of the continual fine-tunings I’ve had to do to learn how to fit it to the rider (me, the test rider). But that’s the reality of high-end road bikes. You must dial it in for the individual rider for it to work as well as it is supposed to. And as you dial it in, it really stops fitting anyone other than the primary rider. In this case, that seems to be me.
Improve your Cruzbike technique: work out with a jump rope.
A hint for those who want to develop better Cruzbike technique: skip rope. Specifically, do one-legged skipping and a variety of tempos. This helps develop excellent coordination between the hands and legs, which is what you need for really good Cruzbike riding. It also helps strengthen the recumbent muscles. I’m using a Buddy Lee speed rope, but you could use a weighted rope as well.
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