Rans Dynamik?

[southshore]

Anyone own a Rans Dynamik? Thoughts?

[scottogo]

Try this forum:
http://pub23.bravenet.com/forum/1970022224/

[southshore]

I appreciate the info,
southshore

[brasballs]

Has any purchased and rode one of the Rans CF bikes? Looks like a nice compromise.

[Doug5150]

Has any purchased and rode one of the Rans CF bikes? Looks like a nice compromise.
I have a 2006 Fusion, bought in October 2006.
It's nicer than a regular bike for shorter distances, <20 miles or so. You won't need padded shorts, but lycra/synthetic shorts are nice. The seat is big but doesn't interfere with pedaling, and the edges are flexible plastic. It rides easily, like a "normal" bike, people can get on it and get going right away.

Downsides are that not being able to stand and pedal feels odd at times, and I can't find any good rack solutions for it; the one I've made didn't turn out so hot overall. The seat clamp may slip if you're ~200 lbs or over, but there's tricks to cure that. There's no easy way to put any conventional bicycle saddle on it--the seatpost is 1-3/8" OD, and the seat bracket is a custom aluminum-extrusion job.

The Fusion can be adjusted for a straight-up riding position and I wanted it specifically to avoid hand pressure and neck strain--but I have since found that it's more effective with the position leaned a bit forward.
------
The Dynamik I don't own and haven't seen first-hand, but I would call it a "casual/bike path" bike and not really a MTB. I doubt it would withstand hard pounding like any other $1K MTB would.
~

[Woodlark]

I have a 2006 Fusion, bought in October 2006.
It's nicer than a regular bike for shorter distances, <20 miles or so. You won't need padded shorts, but lycra/synthetic shorts are nice. The seat is big but doesn't interfere with pedaling, and the edges are flexible plastic. It rides easily, like a "normal" bike, people can get on it and get going right away.

Downsides are that not being able to stand and pedal feels odd at times, and I can't find any good rack solutions for it; the one I've made didn't turn out so hot overall. The seat clamp may slip if you're ~200 lbs or over, but there's tricks to cure that. There's no easy way to put any conventional bicycle saddle on it--the seatpost is 1-3/8" OD, and the seat bracket is a custom aluminum-extrusion job.

The Fusion can be adjusted for a straight-up riding position and I wanted it specifically to avoid hand pressure and neck strain--but I have since found that it's more effective with the position leaned a bit forward.
------
The Dynamik I don't own and haven't seen first-hand, but I would call it a "casual/bike path" bike and not really a MTB. I doubt it would withstand hard pounding like any other $1K MTB would.
~


The Topeak Expedition rack works quite well on the 2006 Fusion.

[brasballs]

can you do a century on the fusion?

[Doug5150]

can you do a century on the fusion?
There are people on the crankforward forum who do ride long distances on these bikes, and I would bet it would be considerably more comfortable than a regular upright bike would. I only have the OEM mid-riser bars and I'd want some bar ends on there or some way of providing different hand positions; after a couple hours nonstop my arms/hands to tend to ache a bit, just from the lack of motion.

A century non-stop would be tough, one's rear would be aching pretty good for the last 20 miles or so. It's not really practical to stand on the pedals at all, you can lift up for short-moments to get over big bumps easily but you're basically sitting on the seat the whole time you're on the bike. (-when I say "non-stop", I mean that literally--get on the bike at the start, and do not get off the bike at all until the finish line. No rest stops, no bathroom breaks. To an extent this sort of use depends on the climate, how much water/food packed along and how long the rider can go without bathroom breaks...)

I use a LWB recumbent for long-distance riding however; the Fusion seat is nice, but it's not as nice as a recumbent seat is. On the recumbent I generally stop every ~40 miles to stand for a bit, but 100 miles non-stop is not a big deal because one can shift around in the seat while riding to greatly alleviate pain from pressure points.
~

[Curious LeTour]

I am also interested in the Rans Crankforward bikes. I'd love to read more replies regarding these bikes.

[jeffh129]

go here

http://www.bentrideronline.com/

and then to specialty discussion. There is a entire group there for crank forward bikes

[lowbike]

I have one of these bikes also and it's the most comfortable CF bike that i have ridin.
i currently own 5 Rans bikes.

[Luser]

I am also interested in the Rans Crankforward bikes. I'd love to read more replies regarding these bikes.


What sort of questions do you have?

[bobbycorno]

Anyone own a Rans Dynamik? Thoughts?

Oh come on. Nobody rides on of THOSE. They just look too weird! ;)

Scott P
Bend, OR

VRex
F5
...both of which are perfectly normal-looking, thank you!

[ChiliDog]

Check out discussion at: www.crankforward.com, the Rans site message board.

[vik]

Downsides are that not being able to stand and pedal feels odd at times, and I can't find any good rack solutions for it; the one I've made didn't turn out so hot overall.
~

http://spincyclz.com/images/IMG_5934.JPG

Talk to Nanda at Spincyclz - he should be able to sort you out with a rack. I'm pretty sure an Old Man Mountain QR rack (http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Pages/RackPages/RearRacks.html) would work fine.

~Nanda Holz
925.301.7043
www.spincyclz.com
onyourleft@spincyclz.com

[JanMM]

Oh come on. Nobody rides on of THOSE. They just look too weird! ;)

Scott P
Bend, OR

VRex
F5
...both of which are perfectly normal-looking, thank you!

I agree that crank forward bikes are weird.

[Luser]

Recumbent riders have long awaited the chance to have another bike style to refer to as weird. The abused become the abusers.

[Stradavarius]

[quote=vik;6365612]
Talk to Nanda at Spincyclz - he should be able to sort you out with a rack. I'm pretty sure an Old Man Mountain QR rack (http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Pages/RackPages/RearRacks.html) would work fine.


Thanks Vik, now...who's got questions. There are loads of photo's on my website (http://spincyclz.com/), the Crank Fever 1.0 (http://spincyclz.com/Crank_fever_1_0.html), 2.0 (http://spincyclz.com/Crank_fever_1_0.html), and Spinventory page (http://spincyclz.com/spinventory.html).

I love the "weird" response...spoken like a true recumbent rider eh :)

Here are a few of my favorite builds or in process projects:
http://spincyclz.com/images/IMG_5531.JPG
http://spincyclz.com/images/IMG_5286.JPG
http://spincyclz.com/images/IMG_5936.JPG

http://spincyclz.com/images/IMG_6146.JPG
http://spincyclz.com/images/IMG_4921.JPG

http://spincyclz.com/images/IMG_59752.JPG

[Tom Bombadil]

If those pictures were about 33% smaller, I could see the entire bike.