Post Yer Bents - 2019
#1
Thread Starter
Senior Member

Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 12,560
Likes: 799
From: Middle of da Mitten
Bikes: Trek 7500, RANS V-Rex, Optima Baron, Velokraft NoCom, M-5 Carbon Highracer, Bacchetta Quattro, Catrike Speed
Post Yer Bents - 2019
Let's leave this for bents that haven't been featured in previous "Post Yer Bents" threads, either the huge original one or last year's medium-sized one. If you have a 'new-to-you' bent or are a newbie, post a pic here.
So, let the posting begin!
So, let the posting begin!
#3
Thread Starter
Senior Member

Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 12,560
Likes: 799
From: Middle of da Mitten
Bikes: Trek 7500, RANS V-Rex, Optima Baron, Velokraft NoCom, M-5 Carbon Highracer, Bacchetta Quattro, Catrike Speed
Here are my contributions for this thread. I bought these in the hopes that I can get my wife riding something!
First up is a Catrike Speed. It's too low, she can't get into it. I may inherit this just for fun.

And next is a RANS Wave. I even put a nice set of Thorn 155mm cranks on it. This one's too high, she's afraid of falling. <sigh>
First up is a Catrike Speed. It's too low, she can't get into it. I may inherit this just for fun.

And next is a RANS Wave. I even put a nice set of Thorn 155mm cranks on it. This one's too high, she's afraid of falling. <sigh>
#4
Super Modest



Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 25,385
Likes: 6,665
From: Central Illinois
Bikes: Trek Domane+x2, Trek Emonda
Love the Speed. One of my favorite trikes.
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“Train hard until your legs are tanned, then keep going until the shape arrives.” -Jolanda Neff
#5
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,116
Likes: 102
From: Colorado Springs, CO.
Bikes: 2011 ICE Sprint Special Edition

Our "new to us" Terra Trike Rover Tandem, Efneo 3 speed IG drive unit front (strokers bottom bracket) and NuVinci N330 CVT IGH back), 2nd. Generation TT Rover Trike with 1st. Generation TT Rover Trike Tandem Kit", that's why it's Blue and Silver. Mods done by Angletech, www.cycledifferent.com in Colorado Springs, CO. My new to me, Bike E (RX model), picked up in June:
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Take Care, Ride Safe, have FUN! :)
Jo: 2009 ICE Trice T
BJ: 2011 ICE Sprint Special Edition
Take Care, Ride Safe, have FUN! :)
Jo: 2009 ICE Trice T
BJ: 2011 ICE Sprint Special Edition
Last edited by bjjoondo; 06-21-19 at 03:57 PM. Reason: Added photo
#8
Senior Member
Joined: May 2019
Posts: 72
Likes: 11
From: NYC
Bikes: Birdy, Orbea Gain, Optima Baron, SatRDay
I've had the SatRDay for about 6 months. I went to a recumbent meetup two weeks ago and the general consensus is that it rides like a normal SWB recumbent. From riding a dozen other recumbents, I think it has a particularly low stall speed. I got it for cruising around the park and going on slower (<15mph) group rides or mass events. It's apparently the coolest bike ever to 9 year old boys, since I've had a number of them yell those exact words at me. I've done two metric centuries on it, the (super rainy) 5 boro bike tour, and a couple 50 mile rides. All of these were done at a pretty casual pace because...
The owner before me and the one before him didn't really take care of it and this was the only recumbent I'd ever ridden before doing the meetup so getting it fixed up has been an extended learning process. As an example, I went to re-true my front wheel after I had a spoke replaced on the back and found that both rims were fairly close to true but the tires had been ridden so far out of true that the wear pattern made them lumpy on a true wheel and I had to replace them. My biggest issue was that when I'd put a lot of power into the pedals the power would just disappear. It's one of the main reasons I wanted to do the meetup aside from wanting to ride everybody else's bike. After considerable discussion they figured out that the motion of the top chain around the mid-drive pulls the shaft upward. Since the rear triangle isn't clamped down this collapses the triangle and lifts the seat when I pedal hard enough. Solved it with a black heavy duty zip tie holding the back end together, which you can see in the unfolded picture. First ride with the zip-tie had me climbing Harlem Hill three gears higher than I'd been doing previously.
Now that I have the mechanical issues sorted, it's pretty nice for most things but I still don't like riding it in traffic. My remaining plans are to replace the cranks with ~10mm shorter ones and get a less hacky solution for clamping the rear end together.
The owner before me and the one before him didn't really take care of it and this was the only recumbent I'd ever ridden before doing the meetup so getting it fixed up has been an extended learning process. As an example, I went to re-true my front wheel after I had a spoke replaced on the back and found that both rims were fairly close to true but the tires had been ridden so far out of true that the wear pattern made them lumpy on a true wheel and I had to replace them. My biggest issue was that when I'd put a lot of power into the pedals the power would just disappear. It's one of the main reasons I wanted to do the meetup aside from wanting to ride everybody else's bike. After considerable discussion they figured out that the motion of the top chain around the mid-drive pulls the shaft upward. Since the rear triangle isn't clamped down this collapses the triangle and lifts the seat when I pedal hard enough. Solved it with a black heavy duty zip tie holding the back end together, which you can see in the unfolded picture. First ride with the zip-tie had me climbing Harlem Hill three gears higher than I'd been doing previously.
Now that I have the mechanical issues sorted, it's pretty nice for most things but I still don't like riding it in traffic. My remaining plans are to replace the cranks with ~10mm shorter ones and get a less hacky solution for clamping the rear end together.
#10
Thread Starter
Senior Member

Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 12,560
Likes: 799
From: Middle of da Mitten
Bikes: Trek 7500, RANS V-Rex, Optima Baron, Velokraft NoCom, M-5 Carbon Highracer, Bacchetta Quattro, Catrike Speed
#11
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 1,606
Likes: 703
From: Layton, UT
Bikes: 2011 Bent TW Elegance 2014 Carbon Strada Velomobile
I got the covers on now (it came with them). Just didn't have them on when the pic was taken. I don't know that they really make it much faster, but they do look cooler!
#12
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 410
Likes: 5
From: Wisconsin
Bikes: AllCity Nature Boy, On-one Pompino) , Fuji Roubaix road bike, Niner EMD, Voodoo Hoodoo MTB, Surly Pugsley/Krampug, Performer Midracer Custom
not new, but new config. 26 rear wheel. 451 front. New fork.... the original highracer fork (replaced the folder fork) new handlebars ( homemade..cut from old road bars), brake levers mounted higher to be operated with thumbs, and new stem...nos trek recumbent stem. the longer Fork both increases my height and visibility and increases the wheelbase making the bike tracks traitor and more stable. The fork is also tapered and soaks up more Road vibration. I tried with a 26 wheel in the front but due to my short legs I was getting hard interference with the crank arms. just got this thing up to 47 miles an hour.... loving it in this config. Going to try it with a hoagie seat.
#13
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 473
Likes: 2
From: Singapore
Bikes: Cruzbike Flamingo folding conversion, Oyama East Village
Thought I'd share some photos of a Cruzbike Conversion kit recumbent I built in 2014.
I was looking for:
1. Foldable - for use on public transport
2. Rear suspension - for comfort
3. Internal gear hub - for shifting at traffic lights
The donor bike was a Flamingo London NX7. It folded (and still does fold) like a Brompton and comes with a Shimano Nexus 7 speed IGH.
Here are some photos taken today. The bike is nearly 5 years old and has seen a fair amount of miles. The facial hair, on the other hand, is quite new.

Folded

Unfolded
I was looking for:
1. Foldable - for use on public transport
2. Rear suspension - for comfort
3. Internal gear hub - for shifting at traffic lights
The donor bike was a Flamingo London NX7. It folded (and still does fold) like a Brompton and comes with a Shimano Nexus 7 speed IGH.
Here are some photos taken today. The bike is nearly 5 years old and has seen a fair amount of miles. The facial hair, on the other hand, is quite new.

Folded

Unfolded
#15
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 473
Likes: 2
From: Singapore
Bikes: Cruzbike Flamingo folding conversion, Oyama East Village
Well the conversion kit was a product being sold by Cruzbike at the time. It was meant for mountain bikes though, but that didn't mean there weren't non MTB implementations.
Previous successes with folding bike donors were done by Charles Plager, which he called the Cruzigami Mantis (the original donor was an Origami Mantis):
https://recumbentquant.blogspot.com/...mi-mantis.html
and Chris Blessing's Cruzinspeed (based off a Speedone frame):
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tdHuyUOsoIwhDLyA2
Both these bikes I believe were unique in the world. However in Charles's case he removes the seat-back to get it compact. Chris Blessing used a quick-release seat to fold his. Both were suitable for the type of use they wanted out of it.
I needed mine to be mobile in its folded form. Also disassembly is difficult with the local public transport so staying together was another requirement.
I looked a long time for a suitable donor. The Flamingo was suggested to me by Ivan Liew (a Singaporean). The bike fit the bill nicely. I found one second-hand (it was out of production), and the rest is history.
I did nearly all of the work myself. This was quite an experience as it was my first time delving into such detail. It was quite rewarding.
Mine is not the cleanest implementation, but I believe I set out to achieve what I wanted - i.e. a true folding bike without disassembly.
I also believe this particular manifestation, being a FWD MBB recumbent that can be folded like a Brompton, is quite unique in the world. At least, I have not come across anything similar thus far.
Last edited by Shahmatt; 08-10-19 at 11:52 PM.
#17
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 24
Likes: 0
From: Naples, Florida
Bikes: None at this moment...
Previous successes with folding bike donors were done by Charles Plager, which he called the Cruzigami Mantis (the original donor was an Origami Mantis):
https://recumbentquant.blogspot.com/...mi-mantis.html
and Chris Blessing's Cruzinspeed (based off a Speedone frame):
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tdHuyUOsoIwhDLyA2
Both these bikes I believe were unique in the world. However in Charles's case he removes the seat-back to get it compact. Chris Blessing used a quick-release seat to fold his. Both were suitable for the type of use they wanted out of it.
There is also "SesameCrunch" Downtube + Cruzbike recumbent conversion that he did in 2006-2007.
#18
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 473
Likes: 2
From: Singapore
Bikes: Cruzbike Flamingo folding conversion, Oyama East Village
#19
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 1,606
Likes: 703
From: Layton, UT
Bikes: 2011 Bent TW Elegance 2014 Carbon Strada Velomobile
#20
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 263
Likes: 4
From: New Westminster, BC
Bikes: 2013 Surly Big Dummy, 2008 Giant Rincon, 1980's Raleigh Century, 1970's Apollo Deelite
Picked up a used Borealis Velomobile at end of May 2019. Enjoying riding a lot more now. No more discomfort and less crap from auto's.
Hard to believe this Velo is 10years old or so, it's frame was discontinued in 2009.
Hard to believe this Velo is 10years old or so, it's frame was discontinued in 2009.
#21
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 473
Likes: 2
From: Singapore
Bikes: Cruzbike Flamingo folding conversion, Oyama East Village
#22
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 263
Likes: 4
From: New Westminster, BC
Bikes: 2013 Surly Big Dummy, 2008 Giant Rincon, 1980's Raleigh Century, 1970's Apollo Deelite
I can cruise at 30km/h easily and with current gearing max out at 45km/h on flat road. Hoping to change large chain ring in future to allow for more speed.
It's also got a Bionx 350w e-assist to help with climbing hills.
It's also got a Bionx 350w e-assist to help with climbing hills.
#23
Thread Starter
Senior Member

Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 12,560
Likes: 799
From: Middle of da Mitten
Bikes: Trek 7500, RANS V-Rex, Optima Baron, Velokraft NoCom, M-5 Carbon Highracer, Bacchetta Quattro, Catrike Speed
I always liked the styling on the Borealis. The body was made to mount on an ICE trike, IIRC? While monocoque frames have their advantages, having a real trike underneath makes it more versataile.
#24
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 263
Likes: 4
From: New Westminster, BC
Bikes: 2013 Surly Big Dummy, 2008 Giant Rincon, 1980's Raleigh Century, 1970's Apollo Deelite












