hchattaway

HI all

Here is a pic of my new "Silvio" bike from Cruzbike.com Uses all standard road bike components and as you can see, the front of the bike is the rear triangle of a standard bike, but just mounted up front. It has been very comfortable, and lots of power.. On lastnights group ride out of Gear Works in Leominster, MA, I was going up 17% grades with it...it has carbon fiber chainstays, a front air shock, and rear polymer shock... very cool!

Harold

LWB_guy

I just watched the manufacturer's video of the Cruzbike Silvio this morning. I was so surprised to see it has shock absorbers. It is a very slick design. How much does it weigh empty?
I was also surprised to see it has an aluminum alloy seat.

Harold, let us know how it handles on the streets - or wherever it is you ride. And how you like front wheel drive.

Allan

hchattaway

It was a bit tricky at first to learn the coordination of front wheel drive. Since your feet and hands are on the same axis, when you start pedaling, the bike wants to swerve. You have to learn the coordination to counteract the force with your arms. But once you do, it's just as steady and straight as any other.

This configuration gives a good upper body workout and when going up hills... it's the same kind of force on your upper body you get on a DF when you are standing up... On a DF you work your lats standing up, on the Silvio you do too..

Yeah, the seat is nice.. Very solid to push against. It has enough padding to make it comfortable.

It handles great in the street. Very tight cornering, good at slow speeds... I've gotten up to 40 mph on the steep hills in southern NH with no problem.

For weight the site says "Frameset weight as supplied is 6.5kg / 14lbs, with final weight in the order of 11.5 to 12.5kg. The total weight of the complete bike will ultimately depend on the components and wheels each person selects."

The part that sold me was there is no long chain.. always looked weird to me, and heavy. And all standard components... nothing special. Also great community on their forums..

Harold

defjack

I have 2600 miles on mine and can do 60mile rides with no pain. Jack

JusticeZero

It's not 'resisting with the hands' you should be looking for - concentrate on spinning the pedals and steering through your feet, and just use the hands to fine tune and buffer. If you can ride a unicycle, you can jump on a Cruz and go, the dynamics of controlling the position of the crank with your feet are very similar in ways.

Danielpeper

Hey Silvios,
Juxt got back from my third ride. I drove to a local metropark, and rode for about fifty minutes. Getting better; thought I was going to hurt myself on the first ride when I tried to make a wide left turn, but the Silvio wanted to get cute (or acute to be specific) As the radius of the turn got sharper and sharper, eventually the bike tied me up like a calf at a rodeo. I crashed at such a slow speed it must have been funny to see. Fortunately, I was alone on an empty parking lot.
But I like the bike. It does climb hills pretty well. Couldn't really wind it out on the bike path; it is a 10 mph speed limit in the park.
I have an Ultegra groupset, with a compact Shimano 50-34 crank, Mavic rims and Shimano hub.
I want to get an indoor trainer. The Kurt Kinetic Pro Trainer looks good. What do you think?
Looking at an Old Man Mountain rack to hold water and some tools. (AND FOOD/BEER!) Any thoughts?
Do any of you use a fairing? It might be nice when the weather gets cold.
Ciao,
Daniel