Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.cranky old dude
06-11-09, 11:42 PM
A while back I posted about using my Volae Tour to commute with instead of my old Trek Mtn. bike. The acclimation to SWB commuting has had its ups and downs (and the weather has sucked).
I've finally got the bike set up the way I want it and the past few weeks I've commuted with it quite a few times. Jumping on the Volae and heading in to work has become almost second nature for me now. I threw a wire crate behind the seat for stowage and intend to eventually build a tailbox around it. The crate will provide a good frame for attaching the tailbox materials to and I should be able to hinge a cover onto it nicely.
I remove the seat and bring it into work with me. The first or second time I did this the wind, oh we've had so much wind this season, blew my seat over from where I had it leaning against the bike rack. I believe that little incident has been causing me some problems....I have a tough time reattaching the lower part of the seat to the bike. Upon closer inspection I've recently noticed that one of the clips on the bottom of the seat is bent inward causing the seat to bind when I try to attach it. It must have bent when the seatframe fell onto the pavement. The seatframe goes for $165 so I'll just get by with it like it is untill the end of the season and then I'll take a shot at straightening it out. If I snap the clip then, I'll have all winter to sort it out.
Cars seem fascinated by the bike and generally offer me every courtesy you could possibly imagine. I get plenty of room when they pass from behind and most always they'll patiently wave me through at intersections (they probably just want a better look at the bike).
I'm hooked. I've decided to relegate the Trek to days of heavy rain and winter commuting. So untill sometime in late October or early November it will be the Volae for this dude.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r152/crankyolddude/IMG_1937.jpg
I've finally got the bike set up the way I want it and the past few weeks I've commuted with it quite a few times. Jumping on the Volae and heading in to work has become almost second nature for me now. I threw a wire crate behind the seat for stowage and intend to eventually build a tailbox around it. The crate will provide a good frame for attaching the tailbox materials to and I should be able to hinge a cover onto it nicely.
I remove the seat and bring it into work with me. The first or second time I did this the wind, oh we've had so much wind this season, blew my seat over from where I had it leaning against the bike rack. I believe that little incident has been causing me some problems....I have a tough time reattaching the lower part of the seat to the bike. Upon closer inspection I've recently noticed that one of the clips on the bottom of the seat is bent inward causing the seat to bind when I try to attach it. It must have bent when the seatframe fell onto the pavement. The seatframe goes for $165 so I'll just get by with it like it is untill the end of the season and then I'll take a shot at straightening it out. If I snap the clip then, I'll have all winter to sort it out.
Cars seem fascinated by the bike and generally offer me every courtesy you could possibly imagine. I get plenty of room when they pass from behind and most always they'll patiently wave me through at intersections (they probably just want a better look at the bike).
I'm hooked. I've decided to relegate the Trek to days of heavy rain and winter commuting. So untill sometime in late October or early November it will be the Volae for this dude.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r152/crankyolddude/IMG_1937.jpg