General Cycling Discussion - The Landrider Bicycle!

I have seen the infomercial on t.v. for the "Land-rider Bicycle"! It's a comfy looking all-around bike, good for commuting to work, or riding down dirth paths, etc. But this bike has auto-matic shifting!!! Meaning you don't have to hit any levers or anything, it auto-matically shifts for you! Using a series of pulleys & weights in it's "auto-shift transmission" (basicly a rear-derailer that shifts for you). Anyways, I would like to know if anyone owns a Landrider or has ridden one so they can comment on the quality of the bike! I would love to get one, but I would like to get more info. from ppl who have ridden it. Thank you!

Auto shift is bad for one reason.

Say you are riding up a hill pushing really hard cranking on the gears. As you go faster it will shift while your mashing the gears.....and it will totally **** up everything. Plus all the other components on those bikes are crap, and the people that are in the commericials dont know anything about bikes.

Originally posted by SurfNonAssfaulT
I would love to get one....Absolutely not! We Bike Forum members with our good conscience absolutely cannot allow another fellow member like yourself to spend money on a piece of junk like this. Spend you money on a very nice single speed cruiser, instead....

George!

I've also heard that they shift when you don't want them to. And notice they don't tell you how much the bike weighs.

I can pretty much guarantee that if you buy anything on TV you will be getting ripped off. Bikes, coins, you name it. The advertisers prey on people who don't know any better.

This bike has been heavily discussed before, check out this thread.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17002&highlight=landrider

Basicaly bike is POS!

Originally posted by The Fixer
Absolutely not! We Bike Forum members with our good conscience absolutely cannot allow another fellow member like yourself to spend money on a piece of junk like this. Spend you money on a very nice single speed cruiser, instead....

George!

Ditto:

Hi,
go to a bike shop. They have to to actually fix what they sell. And they have to do it for a reasonable amount of money in a reasonable amount of time.
There are several reasons you should not get that thing. But let's get to the point. Go to a bike shop or two (or three); try a few bikes. Find one you really like. You will need to learn a few things along the way. The shop will help there, we can too.

I speak from first hand experience--don't get one.

A few years back, I visited a friend in Portland, OR and needed a way to get around town for the week. A former roommate had left one of those autoshift bikes and my friend offered it for my use. Surprisingly, she is still my friend!

Pros:
1. It rolled, sort of.

Cons:
1. heavy. Heavy. HEAVY.
2. Shifting was generally inappropriate.
3. Shifting was generally unexpected. Made keeping a cadence of over 40RPM's almost impossible.
4. Overall quality of the bike was something cold war/Eastern European.
5. Seriously ugly. Ugly enough to make other cyclists stop and look.
6. Did I mention that it was heavy?

Paul

Did anyone notice how the infomercial NEVER had the sound on when these bikes were in action. You want to know why?

That auto-shifting is NOISY to the point that people think the bike is broken. When the rider starts to put power, GRINDING noise from the autoshifting can be heard almost 50 feet away!

Just by looking at the infomercial, it looks like there is a governor, shifting the rear derailleur based on the rotational speed of the rear hub. I don't think that any autoshift would feel "natural", but if anything, I'd like it to operate based on torque, not on rpm's. BTW, I am from the East Europe, and lived there for a portion of the "Cold War" era. We didn't have bad bikes nor did we have bad bicyclists. Where in the world did you get the idea Paul? BTW, the only spacecraft today, capable to get people to the space station and back is from that part of the world and from that era. Not bad accomplishment for backward people, is it?

Eastern European, cold war quality:

http://www.team.net/www/ktud/eastern.html

Not once did I call you or your kin "backward people," so don't put words in my mouth.

Paul --note lack of smiley--

Originally posted by ComPH
.....get the idea Paul? BTW, the only spacecraft today, capable to get people to the space station and back is from that part of the world and from that era....... Sorry, but frankly, the spacecraft may function well, but it still has that 'look'.

George!

Repeat after me, "Never, never, never buy anything from a Tee-Vee infomercial."

Now, turn off the boob tube, get on a bike and give me three hard laps around the block!

although we have already had this discussion (how many times now?) I was thinking about the land rider bike, as the infomertial was on before the vuelta the other week, when it occured to me, that is they sold only their derailleurs for say $30 - $50 (though bike shops) they would probably sell way better than their bikes... as some rec riders might want the auto shift. :rolleyes:

dead horse.

Ever wondered why they are always smiling in that infomercial. Two reasons, (a) they are paid to smile, or (b) the have shares in the company that sells them and they are laugh at another successful rip-off.

Landrider bikes should be painted brown - to resemble the pos they really are.

I don't understand why we waste space in the forum talking about this nonbike. It is virtually unridable as a bicycle, nothing more than a walmart quality bike at 4 times the price. It's obvious that the manufacturers/marketers of this thing are of the financial type and don't ride themselves. If they were cyclist they would be selling bikes. I ordered one a year ago to give it a look, I got it in a damaged box, unboxed it, assembled it and rode it, the overall quality was poor, it did shift based on cadence which was too high for an unfit person to achieve and it made more noise then the garbage truck picking up the trash. I re-boxed it and sent it back, it took about 6 month to get a refund. I also took a look at the autobike which was even worst.

I just saw an infomercial on this bike today (8/8/05) with heavey discounts, gee, I wonder why? Buy the way. it weighs 33 pounds!

If you wanted an auto shift bike, wait for campagnolo to release their fully electronic derailleur.
I'll bet you in about 2 years, they're gonna make a version with not only manual electronic shift but also programmable full auto shift.

So say you're taking it easy, you put your colnago on automatic and let it shift for you.
Say you're climbing and you want to stay in a certain cadance you like or even torque, bam, programmable on the fly.
Wanna work on your spin? Program it to maintain 90rpm. Want to mash? set it to 60.

I wouldn't bother with landrider, if I ever found that piece of debris at my door, I'm gonna burn it.

BTW: when they get to the part about, "you sit upright, so you get better visibility", watch the young lady riding a foot away from parked cars almost get doored and she has to swerve out into traffic to avoid it. How the hell is that better visibility? "Oh, she saw the door and avoided it in time!"

If you wanted an auto shift bike, wait for campagnolo to release their fully electronic derailleur.
I'll bet you in about 2 years, they're gonna make a version with not only manual electronic shift but also programmable full auto shift.

So say you're taking it easy, you put your colnago on automatic and let it shift for you.
Say you're climbing and you want to stay in a certain cadance you like or even torque, bam, programmable on the fly.
Wanna work on your spin? Program it to maintain 90rpm. Want to mash? set it to 60.

I wouldn't bother with landrider, if I ever found that piece of debris at my door, I'm gonna burn it.

BTW: when they get to the part about, "you sit upright, so you get better visibility", watch the young lady riding a foot away from parked cars almost get doored and she has to swerve out into traffic to avoid it. How the hell is that better visibility? "Oh, she saw the door and avoided it in time!"

Have you seen the Shimano 4 and 3 speed electronic automatic transmissions? Auto -D inter 4 and 3.

heavy, gimmicky, crappy parts, did i say heavy?, cheesey. ehh, a real piece of tripe. no good sir no good.

I put one together for a local church auction; someone had donated it to them in the box. The thing was garbage to put it mildly. The shifting does not activate until you reach a certain rpm and as we all know when you go uphill your cadence begins to slow that is why you downshift.

ALL I got to say is that the Landrider is an absolute Pile of crap!!!Its basically a Walmart bike with Auto Shift. If someone is so stupid they cannot shift a bike...I recommend riding a coaster break bike with training wheels!

Have ridden one. $ave your money!
Don't want to or don't know how to shift? Get a single speed.

BTW, the only spacecraft today, capable to get people to the space station and back is from that part of the world and from that era. Not bad accomplishment for backward people, is it?

You still manage to tangle your subs up in fishing nets though.

Have you seen the Shimano 4 and 3 speed electronic automatic transmissions? Auto -D inter 4 and 3.

The what now? Is that like an internal hub?

Mmm... I love these George Romero threads. The Shimano Nexus-D (3-speed electronically governed internal hub) along with a whole slew of other electronic automatic shifting components (Shimano Nexave C810/Di2/CyberNexus 8-speed variety) from them have been around quite a while. Also, the Browning BEAST (from the same people who brought you the M2 heavy machinegun) was another early entry into the automatic shifting scene. It had moving chainrings and was at first rebadged by SunTour. All of these systems are far superior to the LandRider system. Although I personally have no use for them, I think they're a good idea for those that just want to push pedals and not worry too much about shifting. The LandRider is however a poor aborted attempt and really is nothing more than mis-engineered junk.

But, but, It has linear pull brakes!!

[Ever wondered why they are always smiling in that infomercial. Two reasons, (a) they are paid to smile, or (b) the have shares in the company that sells them and they are laugh at another successful rip-off.]

I always wondered how that young lady could keep a smile while mashing the pedals on that little uphill.

You still manage to tangle your subs up in fishing nets though.

Wow, what a nasty, disrespectful comment.

I totally agree.

Jim

I just saw an infomercial on this bike today (8/8/05) with heavey discounts, gee, I wonder why? Buy the way. it weighs 33 pounds!
Check the dates newb. This thread was dead and GONE for 2 YEARS

It should have stayed dead

The what now? Is that like an internal hub?

Yes. internal hub, battery operated electronic shift control. Push button, automatic, or automatic(performance) with higher shift points I believe. Not new, mostly marketed in Europe I believe.

I have seen them, never rode one. Not something I would want, but it is interesting. Here's an exploded parts view.

http://www.shimano.com.au/publish/content/australia/en/cycling/customer_support/service_diagrams/comfort_2004.MainContentPar.0008.Schematic.0003.File.tmp/se_4s35_ev.pdf

You still manage to tangle your subs up in fishing nets though.

That's a disgusting comment. Those were young men trapped down there - with grieving families praying for them. You should be ashamed.

heavy, gimmicky, crappy parts, did i say heavy?

One of the LBS owners, Buzz, likes to tour. He was on an organized group tour and there was a guy in the group with a Landrider. Buzz told me the guy completed the trip, but he didn't look all that happy during the whole ride.

RFM

The only vehicle in space ?

You mean the "Space Lada" ?
--------------------------


(well, actually the Australian Space program is still using solid-fuel rockets).......

Heh, with nobody buying that POS I reckon I may get one, in a few years it will be a rarity, I'll sell it at a good profit to a collector of novel bikes. Providing it doesn't fall apart by itself. It may join the chainless bike I have been eyeing. ;)

Even if it were made of good components, I probably wouldn't get it. There is a reason that when I buy a car I look for a manual tranny! The same with a bike! I like having control over the gearing for different terrain. At least a car's automatic give me some control.

Hopefully I clicked on the right spot to continue this thread. Thought someone who rode a LandRider for a year should put in 2 cents. I decided to start riding a bike for exercize after seeing the commercial. The bike certainly looked a lot better than my old RollFast I had as a kid in the 50's. And for some reason I thought "real" bikes cost a minimum of $1000 and more. The infomercial was priced at $479, but at least I checked ebay, where the same company was selling "reconditioned" bikes for $300, free freight. I was hooked. I did enjoy the bike, it was comfortable, it performed fine on the typical flat trails, that were my first choice of places to ride. It did not always upshift as I preferred, and when I started riding roads, it just didn't have a low enough range of gears to let me ride up some hills. And by the way, I put bike on a scale and it was 40 pounds. I can't imagine how they can report 33 pounds. So the bike did get me off the couch. The end of the story is I was very happy to receive a high bid on ebay of $255. Which of course went a long way to pay for the Trek 7200FX I replaced the LandRider with. If I had to do it over, I would have talked more with the son in law, forgotten the LandRider and started with the Trek a year earlier. It's a whole lot more bike for less money.

Thanks for the real time input. In a lot of ways, in regards to the drive train, I imagine when the automatic shifter replaced stick the guys would have the same argument. Always seems to shift at the wrong times etc...

Still, live input of someone who road one...thats a nice change rather than e-speculation.

Check the dates newb. This thread was dead and GONE for2 YEARS

It should have stayed dead
As long as they keep runing the Landrider ads, we should be talking about it and persuading people to spend their money on something better.

I was just bumming around this thread and laughing about how people will buy anything on TV... even infomercial bikes...

I got up, went to the TV... lo-n-behold! The landrider infomercial was playing.

Absolutely pathetic how they said the "3 Weekend Cyclists".. 1 with a road bike.. 1 with a cruiser.. and the third with? (given a Landrider). The cruiser huffed and puffed because the bike was too "heavy"... the road bike had "too complex" of a gearing system for the experienced cyclist to figure out... but the Landrider girl just chugged away.

What's worse... they TILTED THE CAMERA to give the ILLUSION of a hill! It was pathetic.

I speak from first hand experience--don't get one.

A few years back, I visited a friend in Portland, OR and needed a way to get around town for the week. A former roommate had left one of those autoshift bikes and my friend offered it for my use. Surprisingly, she is still my friend!

Pros:
1. It rolled, sort of.

Cons:
1. heavy. Heavy. HEAVY.
2. Shifting was generally inappropriate.
3. Shifting was generally unexpected. Made keeping a cadence of over 40RPM's almost impossible.
4. Overall quality of the bike was something cold war/Eastern European.
5. Seriously ugly. Ugly enough to make other cyclists stop and look.
6. Did I mention that it was heavy?

Paul

Well said Paul.

I have seen , ridden and worked on these junkers. lowest quality everything except for the advertising.

Listen to Paul, dont even THINK of buying this heap.

Check the dates newb. This thread was dead and GONE for 2 YEARS

It should have stayed dead
Again

"Bring out yer dead...bring out yer dead..."

Thanks for the Advice. Although some people thought that this forum was dead. New people are coming to the forums every day who have No bicycle experience. Although changing gears is simple to some one who knows how to do it. Remember that people like me who started out on single speed bikes fourty years ago are looking for a simple alternative to get healthy and get around. I Purchsed my bike at a store and thought that I received good advice and was surprised when I got my bike home and had to learn how to shift gears. For those who know how to shift, good for you . I don't and if I hadn't seen this forum I would have bought a land rider because I still am having trouble figuring out how to use all those gears. The area I live in is Coasal which means lots of hills and very curvy roads and I dont ride the bike because it is a lot to think about while trying to learn how to ride again. Yes I have trouble walking and chewing gum at the same time! I will never be able to pat my head and rub my stomach at the same time.

So if it is dead for you dont read it. I am open to any one who can explain how and when to change gears and basically getting a bike road worthy.

BY the way thanks for the help.

I am open to any one who can explain how and when to change gears...

No one better than Ken Kifer to explain this (IMHO):

Cycling Cadence and Bicycle Gearing (http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/touring/gears.htm)

I don't understand why we waste space in the forum talking about this nonbike. It is virtually unridable as a bicycle, nothing more than a walmart quality bike at 4 times the price. It's obvious that the manufacturers/marketers of this thing are of the financial type and don't ride themselves. If they were cyclist they would be selling bikes. I ordered one a year ago to give it a look, I got it in a damaged box, unboxed it, assembled it and rode it, the overall quality was poor, it did shift based on cadence which was too high for an unfit person to achieve and it made more noise then the garbage truck picking up the trash. I re-boxed it and sent it back, it took about 6 month to get a refund. I also took a look at the autobike which was even worst.
Too bad you didn't check the forum first before you bought one. You might have saved yourself a lot of trouble.

I just saw an infomercial on this bike today (8/8/05) with heavey discounts, gee, I wonder why? Buy the way. it weighs 33 pounds!


why does every one say 33lbs is heavy? that's what most entry level mtb's weigh.

Thanks for the Advice. Although some people thought that this forum was dead. New people are coming to the forums every day who have No bicycle experience.
It's fine to read it, but you don't need to RESPOND TO IT. You don't add commentary to an encyclopedia do you? Old threads are a reference nothing more