Originally Posted by ChiliDog
I saw a small TE on the bike shop's website: now, do you know how difficult it is to find ANY bent to fit a 5'4" woman? AND, according to the Easy Racer's website, that was my "exact" size. So, I figured...hmmm...is this a sign? And it was RED-my favorite bike color! I had to go up (3 hour trip) to test ride that bike!
The Tour Easy seemed perfect first time I sat on it. Low seating (not too low), optimal hand position, no tiller effect at all. None. Feet lower than bottem bracket, but I've got myself leaning back a bit to counteract any "recumbent butt" and have had not a bit of it over 20 miles stretches. The frame flexes sweetly, the steel rides smooth, the gears run their course like butta. Excellent components, wheelset, and tires. And it was FAST!!! However, the price knocked me for a loop, but I was able to bring it home on a 12 month payment set-up, which made it possible for me. Otherwise, I was looking at the Koosah, which I was just about sold on. The Tour Easy was a "dream bent"...one I would never have thought I would attain due to it's price. It became possible, and I went for it. Life is short and I know it is a "life time" purchase. Other bikes may come and go, but "Big Red" ain't goin' anywhere!!!
Hi ChiliDog,
Thanks for the info and your insight! Having just acquired the GTO trike(and my Fusion just earlier this year), I won't be shopping for another bike for quite some time...but I think a lwb may be my next project. I've got the Fusion(which is almost long enough to be considered a clwb) for rides involving fun, fast handling...the Marin upright city bike for when I'm yearning for some pain and numbing
...the trike for when I feel like being just like Speed Racer(in other words, FULL-OUT FUN)...but I can see a future with a luxury liner...for longer distance cruisin'...and when I wanna be able to keep up with my wife on her road bike....
Everytime I visit my "local" bent shop(70+ miles away), I see all of the cool swb's, trikes, and lowracers...but I find my eyes getting glued to the Rans Stratus on the showroom floor. I know that model's been around for a long time...and Rans' new V2 Formula is racier and way cool...but there's something about the Stratus...I find it visually stunning(as bents go)...there's nothing I would change in the way it looks...and I hear it's got a great ride...and I feel drawn to the Tour Easy in a similar way...and the Tour Easy's ride(like all of Easy Racer's models) is
legendary....
It's wonderful to hear how perfectly that Tour Easy worked out for you...it does sound like it was fate that drew the "both" of you together....perfect size, favorite color(red's mine, too), perfect ride...a way to make it affordable...I'm glad that you didn't pass it up because of its higher(okay, much higher) cost...because that cost, spread over the many years that you're going to thoroughly love and enjoy riding it, will seem like pennies in the end....
Thanks again, ChiliDog! Take care....