Recumbent - Performance Xpr Stilletto vs. Giro 20 TT ?

Anyone hear of the Performance xpr Stilletto or know anything about it? I am hard pressed to find any reviews. I"m Looking for a 2 wheel, swb, uss recumbent. I'm also thinking about trying out the BAcchetta Giro 20 TT. (I know the Baccetta is Oss) Im 5'2" and my x seem is 38.5. I guess what i'm looking for is a fast/touring bike. My husband has a Baccetta Giro 26 (which is why i'm looking at the Giro 20 tt - so we somewhat have matching bikes) I'm hard pressed to keep up with him though so anything that might help me be a bit faster is a plus. I'd like not to go over $2,000 if possible. And my choices of bikes that I can try is very limited. I have a richardson bike mart near me that has one performance xpr stilletto (the rest are oss) and there is another store that carries primarily Bacchettas, so i might be able to try one out there. If anyone has any advice please let me know. (Please don't tell me to just ride them...I"m trying to get your advice, no matter how different from person to person it will be. ) Thanks!

My buddy just bought the XPR lowracer. He really likes the bike, but after having had an actionbent as well as this one (and he has a corsa as well) he maintains that you'd better be prepared to do a LOT of work with the bike. I can't tell you how many hours he has put into modifications to get stuff to work the way it should have out of the facory, but I think so far (he just got it this winter) he's put more hours in the shop than riding it.

If you're ok with doing that kind of thing, the XPRs are good bikes for sure, but IMO the bacchetta is still going to be the way to go or perhaps even a rans v-rex which is a little heavier, but still a nice ride that my wife took on Ragbrai 2 years ago.

Shantarr - I'm in Fort worth, and we have one of the largest recumbent groups around. Whatever you want to try, we probably have among us something you can at least sit on and peddle for a little bit.

Your husband wouldn't have just bought that bike would he? Evblazer?

Come talk to us on the RBENT forum (recumbent enthusiasts of north texas) Most of us live over near you.

www.rbentonline.org

Yes, Evblazer is my husband. I'll check out www.rbentonline.org. Thanks.

I wouldn't call the V-Rex a speed demon by any stretch; but when I ran mine with spoke covers and a front fairing, it could put the hurts on most of the pack fodder in my club. I'm considering some Velocity wheels, as a way of lightening it up and lowering the spoke count. A V-Rex is a bit tall for the height-challenged, though. V-Rex converted to a dual-451 - now that'd be a good package.

Is the Stiletto another one of those China-mascot-family bikes?

Yes it is. My wife is 5'2" and fits the v-rex well with her stubby legs :) But to do so we switched from the regular seat pad to the thin one. She's much more confident and it lightened the bike considerably too.


I wouldn't call the V-Rex a speed demon by any stretch; but when I ran mine with spoke covers and a front fairing, it could put the hurts on most of the pack fodder in my club. I'm considering some Velocity wheels, as a way of lightening it up and lowering the spoke count. A V-Rex is a bit tall for the height-challenged, though. V-Rex converted to a dual-451 - now that'd be a good package.

Is the Stiletto another one of those China-mascot-family bikes?

Speaking of Stiletto, I was doing a search yesterday and found this blog (http://rollitjohndavis.blogspot.com/2007/11/join-revolution.html). Talk about closed-minded zealots! Unfortunately, he demonstrates very well the general attitude toward recumbents that you'll find in most bike shops. (That particular BLOG entry is several months old, BTW.)

Hi Shantar. I just bought a Giro 20, after trying both that and the VRex. I'm 5'3" with a 39 1/2" X-seam and found the seat on the vrex just a bit high for my liking. The Giro 20 is great and would be in your price range. The 20 TT I think is a bit over $2000 though.