Recumbent - action bent

Does anyone have a recumbent from Action Bent? Am seriously thinking of buying their Tidal Wave USS. Have never riden a bent and due to butt pains want to make the switch. No dealer in my area so cannot try a bent of any kind. Tdail Wave seems like a good choice for the money but the seat seems to be pretty laid back with little lean adjustment. Also a Vision R40 is a possibility.

Help, if possible.

The Vision R40 is a fine bike. The Action Bent bikes look good for the price, but I have not seen one first hand yet. I have not seen any negative press on the Action Bent bikes. There is a review of the Action Bent Jet Stream on http://www.bentrideronline.com/ What aera do you live in? I may be able to put you in touch with some bent owners who will let you try there bike.

Thanks for reply. I live in Moncton N.B. No dealer in area. I can get a good price from action bent and also on the R40 from Old Town. Don't know if I should go for the USS or other. I'm an adaptable type so I'm sure I'll have no problem one way or the other.

I ride the Jet Stream II. It's a good bent. If you call the Action Bent guys and talk to them directly they should ship it for free. I bought mine off of ebay; it went a little like this:" I'll buy your bike for the "buy it now" price if you cover the shipping." They said no problem. Good Luck, HK

I also own the JetStream II by action bent. I saw it on ebay but decided to buy it from their website to get some of the accessories (rear rack, seat bag, light mount) and overall I'm very pleased with the bike. Price wise I don't think there is anything else in its class. I spent about $800 for the bike, the accessories, shipping and professional assembly. Then I bought panniers, a multitude of lights, a kickstand, bike locks and the standard stuff and I think I have about $1100 into it. I don't think that's bad for a bike that is fully set up for commuting.

I had one broken part, the chain idler came off the frame, and Randy, the importer, offered to pay to have it repaired.

Overall my experience with the bike (my first recumbent) has been very positive.

Does anyone have a link to the Bentrider online review? I can't seem to locate it.

http://www.bentrideronline.com/Buyer's%20Guide/SWB%202002.htm

I think that's the one you're looking for.


[edit] now that I look at it I don't think it is.

Try this one:

http://www.markschulmanproductions.com/av/BROWEB/indexBROJSASS.htm

Does anyone have a recumbent from Action Bent? Am seriously thinking of buying their Tidal Wave USS. Have never riden a bent and due to butt pains want to make the switch. No dealer in my area so cannot try a bent of any kind. Tdail Wave seems like a good choice for the money but the seat seems to be pretty laid back with little lean adjustment. Also a Vision R40 is a possibility.

I have never ridden an Action Bent but at that price if anything is not to your liking, you would be able to fix it and still be way below the price radar of many recumbents.

R40s are nice.

Does anyone have a recumbent from Action Bent? Am seriously thinking of buying their Tidal Wave USS. Have never riden a bent and due to butt pains want to make the switch. No dealer in my area so cannot try a bent of any kind. Tdail Wave seems like a good choice for the money but the seat seems to be pretty laid back with little lean adjustment. Also a Vision R40 is a possibility.

Help, if possible.

jpanna,

I have the Tidal Wave II USS, and it rocks. It is very well made and good components. The only caveat I have for you, it that the bike is not sold by a dealer, (Randy is basically an importer,) so you have to either put together the parts shipped in the box or have someone do that for you. Most bike shops are willing to do that for a fee. If you have worked on other bikes, you can probably do this with no problem. I took a couple of evenings to put it together and get it adjusted just as I wanted. Feel free to PM me with any specific questions before or after.

Mark

Try this one:

http://www.markschulmanproductions.com/av/BROWEB/indexBROJSASS.htm


Beautiful. Thanks.

The seatangle is something you get used to rather quickly. Remember that a reclined seat is much more comfortable than an upright one. If you have buttpains you should definitely choose a reclined seat. Otherwise there is a risk that you may get a recumbentbutt, which is rather painful. Actionbent is a good choice.

Incidentally, actionbent is now in the long wheel base market as well. They announced a new long wheel base yesterday that comes in 2 component groups. The Mantaray (http://www.actionbent.com/mantaray.html) and the Mantaray GT (http://www.actionbent.com/mantaraygt.html).

REGARDING ACTIONBENT

Hi,

I see that ab now has long wheel base models, these look simple enough that perhaps they will be a decent model. HOWEVER,, I have also seen that ab is having major problems with the loracer, the trike and the highracer. There are complaints that all of these bikes have been found with off location welds,, such as misaligned forks , frames, booms that dont fit and such. Anyone that would like more info on ab bikes, contact me and I will provide it. I dont know whether private emails are available on this board or not, just leave your contact info here and I will check in every few days. Thanks

I'm very interested in the Cobra (http://cgi.ebay.com/2009-ActionBent-COBRA-Foldable-FWD-recumbent-bicycle_W0QQitemZ140285339281QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item140285339281&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50).

Anyone with experience?

jrcin, can you just post the information? There is no risk of them coming after you for a forum post.

Go here:

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/actionbent/

I have a early 90's Vision R40 since 2006, last year I bought a Actionbent Focus, the ike is much heavier than I thought it'd be. People at Actionbent are slow to reply to emails, they had difficulty answering my questions, they dont seem to be very knowledgeable about their products that are sold through their website.. so I sold the Actionbent Focus.
I still ride my Vision R40 though, simple design, lighter in weight, though the shorter wheelbase require more attention to master the steering/handling.

Thanks! I need a folder b/c I travel a lot and have a small apartment. I'm currently using an upright and am thinking of making the switch if I can find a decent folding recumbent. My upright fits nicely in a standard Samsonite suitcase. Not something I'm expecting with a bent.

Go here:

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/actionbent/

Thanks! No real reviews there, either. As far as I can tell, there are only 3 folding recumbents in production, the ICE B1, the Grasshopper fx, and the Cobra by Actionbent. The latter is significantly lighter and looks to fold smaller than the other two. I also like the idea of front wheel drive. The one flaw is that it doesn't seem to have luggage capacity. Touring is the whole point of a bike you put in a suitcase. But towing the suitcase is always an option. (I do that now with my upright folder.)

I think there has been only a couple Cobras sold at this point. One of them has been rec'd and has some review of it on the AB forum. I don't think he has any mileage on it yet. But, you could at least contact him through the forum with specific questions. There has been some interest in the Cobra on Bentrideronline.com too. http://www.bentrideronline.com/messageboard/showthread.php?t=44691

jrcin, can you just post the information? There is no risk of them coming after you for a forum post.

jrcin hasn't posted on BF for more than three years.

Thanks!!

I own a Jetstream USS and the fully suspended Road Runner OSS, both great bikes.
But: their USS design has an abysmal turning radius.
As for the Cobra's front drive: beware, this design (I tried the Dutch Flevo which pioneered this) is dangerous for your knees because you push/pedal while at an angle when steering.

...As for the Cobra's front drive: beware, this design (I tried the Dutch Flevo which pioneered this) is dangerous for your knees because you push/pedal while at an angle when steering.

???

The Cobra is a fixed-boom FWD. The Flevo is a moving bottom bracket. The Cobra is more like a Zox, not a Flevo. Turning radius would be limited by chain interference, something that I'm familiar with on my lowracers anyway.

My biggest problem with the Cobra is the stupid little snake emblem that looks like it has a toothache from an impacted molar. How do you take anything seriously when it looks like that??? ;)

I would have to agree with that. The logo looks so ghetto, you have to worry about the rest of the bike.

The review is up at groups.yahoo.com.

My biggest problem with the Cobra is the stupid little snake emblem that looks like it has a toothache from an impacted molar. How do you take anything seriously when it looks like that??? ;)

Doncha see?? The humiliation factor goes up several orders of magnitude when you drop roadies riding a 'bent with a logo like that.

SP

The one flaw is that it doesn't seem to have luggage capacity. Touring is the whole point of a bike you put in a suitcase. But towing the suitcase is always an option.

You could always get a pair of saddlebags that hang off the side of the seat from http://www.radicaldesign.nl/. I borrowed a 70 liter (that's 4300 cubic inches) pair on tour in the Netherlands and they were great. They hold the weight low and made the bike feel very stable. I made my own pair from some waterproof GAP messenger bags that I got on sale for $12 :)

You could always get a pair of saddlebags that hang off the side of the seat from http://www.radicaldesign.nl/. I borrowed a 70 liter (that's 4300 cubic inches) pair on tour in the Netherlands and they were great. They hold the weight low and made the bike feel very stable. I made my own pair from some waterproof GAP messenger bags that I got on sale for $12 :)

Thanks! Another person from the folding forum. I suppose there is something addictive about weird looking bikes.

Nice to pull a thread like this back up . . .

Is ActionBent any better/worse than people thought a couple years ago? Have they worked through any customer service issues and do their bikes hold up over time?

I'm looking at getting a relatively inexpensive, fast 'bent and AB looks attractive from that angle. Is something like a mid-racer too much bike for a new 'bent rider?

Thanks! Another person from the folding forum. I suppose there is something addictive about weird looking bikes.

He he! I guess it's just that once one lets go of preconceived notions of what a bike "should" look like, then one is more open to persuasion about the functionality of different bike types...? That's my pop-psych take ;)

Is ActionBent any better/worse than people thought a couple years ago? Have they worked through any customer service issues and do their bikes hold up over time?

The best place for this question is probably the Yahoo forum linked above.

Anyway, from my own experience and that on the Yahoo list, I think that most people have an ok experience dealing with Actionbent. My ordering process was ok, but there was a long delay in shipping and it was practically impossible to get hold of anyone by email or phone. When I did get hold of Steve he was helpful and certainly not grouchy like his online reputation. It turned out there had been a serious illness in the family, and they threw in a load of free stuff to compensate - I almost felt guilty being impatient about the delay. The build was easy following the instructions.

I like the bike (a Tidalwave 3) a lot, it's quite a quality piece of kit. The fact that it cost 1/3 of my previous bent makes me feel much more comfortable using it in "the real world" - I can even leave it locked up outside while running errands without feeling paranoid ;) My Challenge Hurricane (full suspension Tour, disk brakes, the works) was an awesome bike, but I couldn't make myself leave $3000-worth of bike locked up outside. Hence, the bike had no transportation value to me.

My only change in the 2 years I've had the bike was to fit Schwalbe Big Apple tires. I'm very suspicious about non-suspended bikes with aluminum frames, especially on the bad roads here. It's a recipe for failure at some point. The Big Apples certainly reduce the shocks to the frame, and still roll pretty well.

I'm looking at getting a relatively inexpensive, fast 'bent and AB looks attractive from that angle. Is something like a mid-racer too much bike for a new 'bent rider?

You can handle it if you exercise a little patience. With your first bent, you may have to dial your expectations down for 3-4 months until you get 'bent fit'. Also realize that it might not be the easiest thing to ride in the very beginning. Again, give it some time and practice. Most likely, you will immediately gain in ride comfort, and the lower position will feel faster. But a measurable increase in speed may come only after your muscles have adjusted. YMMV

I haven't purchased from AB, but recently there seems to be much more positive feedback than negative. If you really want fast, I'd get on the waiting list for the next batch of AB lowracers.

My AB JetStream II was my first bent, and although it took me a few hours to get the hang of taking off, I really love it. Although it is heavier that many bents, it has held up very well for me. I got mine in Feb 08 and other than putting it together and about 2 months ago having to retighten the head, it hasn't needed any maintenance.

Oh, I did have the wheels trued after the first couple of weeks, but then I expected that. I just put a standard rear rack on it and my saddle bags from the DF and everything is great.

I did put on skinnier tires and that really made a difference in the speed. My only 'problem' was my knees. I put the clipless pedals from the DF on and ended up having to put spacers between the pedals and the crank arms. Wonderful starter bike for a bent in my opinion.