Recumbent - Tweaked Toscana 20/26

I know some here are riding the same Taiwanese built TW Bents Toscana 20/26 as I am, so I thought this might be of interest to you.

I shortened the seat support by cutting out the short piece with the rear rack mounts. The rack now mounts directly to the seat mount. Works perfectly well.

I also drilled & welded a new mounting point on the frame for the seat/pulley mounting bracket. You can see from the photo how much further forward it is now. The chain line has improved and feels more efficient.

The seat is now reclined further back, and the aero gains are surprising. I added another 5km/hr to my cruising speed. I can now cruise at 38 - 39km/hr with one pannier, in regular shorts & T-shirt (my standard commuting mode). Definitely gets more top speed, especially on any downhill, but I haven't quantified how much because I'm too chicken to go that fast :oops:

There's a little more weight on the front wheel but it has made no difference to the handling. It took about an hour of riding to get my balance back up to where it was before the mod, I was a little twitchy at first when I rested my head back in the more reclined position. It felt a little different in the legs as well, but I'm sure with more seat time the legs will adjust.

It originally looked something like this (manufacturer's image)...

http://www.taiyingsystems.com/images/ty-toscana2026cm-ass.gif


Now it looks like this...

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x248/cyclaholic_album/toscmod1.jpg

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x248/cyclaholic_album/toscmod2.jpg

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x248/cyclaholic_album/toscmod3.jpg

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x248/cyclaholic_album/toscmod4.jpg

Cheers,
Gab.

So... exactly how did the front wheel get more weight if your body went rearwards?

:)ensen.

So... exactly how did the front wheel get more weight if your body went rearwards?

:)ensen.


...
I also drilled & welded a new mounting point on the frame for the seat/pulley mounting bracket. You can see from the photo how much further forward it is now. ...

:thumb:

I have a Toscana highracer. My mods involved an ill-fitting wood seat, moving the seat rearward 2 inches & shortening the boom a similar amount. The bike felt stiffer and more stable (could almost do hands free). I liked the snappier ride but had to go back due to recumbutt & knee strike on the bars.

May be something to try again. You could attach the rear seat support higher up on the back, but the fiberglass near the front edge looks too thin for new holes.