HPV Grasshopper the 1st 1000 miles

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NUKe
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HPV Grasshopper the 1st 1000 miles

Post by NUKe »

Actually its more like 1200 now just took me a while to write.

I have had a hankering to try a recumbent since the Late 80’s when reading Richard Ballantine book when he talked about the Goldrush

I picked up the grasshopper from DTEK on the Sunday of the August bank holiday. Kevin helped with initial boom and seat adjustment so I was ready. Returning home I found a deserted car park and did a bit of stop start, riding in circles just to get used to it. Next morning the bank holiday, sonthe roads were quite early on, meant I could get a bit of road riding and by Tuesday I did my first commute. Since then I have spent my time, learning the machine.
I have fallen off it more times than all the other bikes I have owned, but these have all been stupid slow speed manoeuvre errors, and have not caused damage either to me or the bike. Such as trying to negotiate a staggered cycle path gate without unclipping. I did manage the gate but then just dropped off the edge of the tarmac. Into rough grass. SPD too tight so I was locked in and couldn’t twist my foot, been in too high a gear to set off, and the list goes on

Hills? OK this is Suffolk, but slowly but surely I am making progress. I thought I could spin, but this is still a learning curve to go through. Slightly slower up hill on the steeper gradients than on my Audax bike. Downhill probably not much different. On the flat my speeds are still increasing, where I have seen the biggest difference is into a headwind, where the lower position seems to help.
Motorists some give a wide birth other still pass close. So far no incidents of people pulling out, or telling me that they can’t see me. Member of the general public seem to quite like it and are curious, the only real negative comments I have had are from other cyclists, well a couple anyway.
I am still adjusting things as I learn more about the bike and its fit. I had lengthened the seat too much when I first got the bike, so that is the latest thing to play around with.
Chains I bought 5 SRAM 830 chains this gives me 2 recumbent chains by joining them together. This cost £25 for the 5 so it works out at£12.50 a chain, and I have 2 chains to work with. Other enhancements have been a Rucksack converted to a seat pack.
So far my longest distance has been 55 miles, I’ve got admit this was easy and I could have quite happily time permitting done the same again, and yet I can get off the bike after a short 10 miler and be ready to collapse into heap ,as I have pushed it fairly fast. Although this is no different to my other bikes.
Points I have learnt over the 1000 mile.
1) Use gears, The 3 speed hub is great in that you can change down even at a standstill. And I think of the 8 speed cassette the only gear I don’t use is first.
2) Pedal retention systems need to be a bit slacker than normal, its more difficult to twist than on an upright.
3) You can pedal through the corners as You won’t ground the pedals out.
4) You don’t need cycling specific shorts and tights, but you don’t need to rush out and buy new stuff, the old stuff still works
5) You cant trackstand but you can fairly close.
6) It is seriously good fun, just wish I had done it sooner
7) riding in the rain is not too bad.
If this is The Dark side then am I a Padawan?
Last edited by NUKe on 4 Nov 2016, 9:06pm, edited 1 time in total.
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nigelnightmare
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Re: HPV Grasshopper the 1st 1000 miles

Post by nigelnightmare »

Very seductive the dark side is. :lol:
hercule
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Re: HPV Grasshopper the 1st 1000 miles

Post by hercule »

I've been riding recumbent bikes since 2010 and am still a Padawan, but there is the occasional day when the Force is with me and it all just comes together!

Recumbent trikes, on the other hand, are grin-a-minute from the beginning!
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pjclinch
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Re: HPV Grasshopper the 1st 1000 miles

Post by pjclinch »

hercule wrote:I've been riding recumbent bikes since 2010 and am still a Padawan, but there is the occasional day when the Force is with me and it all just comes together!

Recumbent trikes, on the other hand, are grin-a-minute from the beginning!


Once past the "but why am I just drifting in to the kerb, no matter how much I lean over" common to most trikes, recumbent or otherwise., at least.

I like the Kett because the configuration makes handbrake turns possible, but otherwise I can't say I find trikes any more fun than bikes. Sorry...

Pete.
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pjclinch
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Re: HPV Grasshopper the 1st 1000 miles

Post by pjclinch »

NUKe wrote:Hills? OK this is Suffolk, but slowly but surely I am making progress. I thought I could spin, but this is still a learning curve to go through. Slightly slower up hill on the steeper gradients than on my Audax bike. Downhill probably not much different.


Riding a 'bent really taught me how to spin. And it had payback for the upwrongs too: I'm a much better hill-climber back in a saddle as a result of not having much choice in the matter on the 'bent.

Downhill isn't automatically quicker on the Streetmachine: you can get similarly aero on a road bike with your nose on the bars... but add in a bumpy road with twists and turns and the combination of suspension, looking where you're going properly and being feet rather than head first combined with braking that won't have you exiting head-first and all but the most fearless upwrong riders are generally left in the wake. Get something more low slung (the Grasshopper's a little lower, but not much) and you'll win on aero on a big descent.

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squeaker
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Re: HPV Grasshopper the 1st 1000 miles

Post by squeaker »

pjclinch wrote:
NUKe wrote:... but add in a bumpy road with twists and turns and the combination of suspension, looking where you're going properly and being feet rather than head first combined with braking that won't have you exiting head-first and all but the most fearless upwrong riders are generally left in the wake. Get something more low slung (the Grasshopper's a little lower, but not much) and you'll win on aero on a big descent.
That's my experience too. I've had my 'Hopper for some 9 years now and really rate it as a very practical all-round bike.
It's seen off several low-racers that tried to usurp its place in my garage, but I admit that trikes have their appeal, especially when I'm fatigued or when they are covered in a kevlar aerodynamic body...
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NUKe
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Re: HPV Grasshopper the 1st 1000 miles

Post by NUKe »

pjclinch wrote: Get something more low slung (the Grasshopper's a little lower, but not much) and you'll win on aero on a big descent.

Pete.

You are a bad man and I am not listening. :D

I still haven't gone as low as I can on the hopper.
I do fancy a Bacchetta for the speed. :wink:
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Re: HPV Grasshopper the 1st 1000 miles

Post by pjclinch »

NUKe wrote:
pjclinch wrote: Get something more low slung (the Grasshopper's a little lower, but not much) and you'll win on aero on a big descent.

You are a bad man and I am not listening. :D

I still haven't gone as low as I can on the hopper.
I do fancy a Bacchetta for the speed. :wink:


Don't forget I own and ride a Streetmachine by preference. My wife has a Nazca Fiero which is about a head lower, but much as there are times I covet it I'd not swap long term. There are definite Plus Points to going quicker, but a damn big hill with a twisty descent provides plenty of thrills on the Panzerfiets as it is.

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squeaker
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Re: HPV Grasshopper the 1st 1000 miles

Post by squeaker »

NUKe wrote:I still haven't gone as low as I can on the hopper.
I do fancy a Bacchetta for the speed. :wink:


I reckon that fitting narrower bars helps ;)
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: HPV Grasshopper the 1st 1000 miles

Post by [XAP]Bob »

pjclinch wrote:
hercule wrote:I've been riding recumbent bikes since 2010 and am still a Padawan, but there is the occasional day when the Force is with me and it all just comes together!

Recumbent trikes, on the other hand, are grin-a-minute from the beginning!


Once past the "but why am I just drifting in to the kerb, no matter how much I lean over" common to most trikes, recumbent or otherwise., at least.

I like the Kett because the configuration makes handbrake turns possible, but otherwise I can't say I find trikes any more fun than bikes. Sorry...

Pete.



Handbrake turns on a tadpole (corrected) are also possible. MicroBob's trike is designed for them....
Last edited by [XAP]Bob on 11 Nov 2016, 10:10am, edited 1 time in total.
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
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squeaker
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Re: HPV Grasshopper the 1st 1000 miles

Post by squeaker »

[XAP]Bob wrote:
pjclinch wrote:...I like the Kett because the configuration makes handbrake turns possible, but otherwise I can't say I find trikes any more fun than bikes.


Handbrake turns on a delta are also possible. MicroBob's trike is designed for them....

Errm, isn't a Kett a 'delta' (as opposed to a 'tadpole')?
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hercule
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Re: HPV Grasshopper the 1st 1000 miles

Post by hercule »

pjclinch wrote:
hercule wrote:I've been riding recumbent bikes since 2010 and am still a Padawan, but there is the occasional day when the Force is with me and it all just comes together!

Recumbent trikes, on the other hand, are grin-a-minute from the beginning!


Once past the "but why am I just drifting in to the kerb, no matter how much I lean over" common to most trikes, recumbent or otherwise., at least.

I like the Kett because the configuration makes handbrake turns possible, but otherwise I can't say I find trikes any more fun than bikes. Sorry...

Pete.


I'm lucky enough to have the choice and from my cycling logs I do a large proportion of my mileage on the Trice and a roughly equal proportion on my Fuego. I wouldn't say the trike is more fun than the bike, but I certainly enjoy riding both. The main difference is the length of the learning curve.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: HPV Grasshopper the 1st 1000 miles

Post by [XAP]Bob »

squeaker wrote:
[XAP]Bob wrote:
pjclinch wrote:...I like the Kett because the configuration makes handbrake turns possible, but otherwise I can't say I find trikes any more fun than bikes.


Handbrake turns on a delta are also possible. MicroBob's trike is designed for them....

Errm, isn't a Kett a 'delta' (as opposed to a 'tadpole')?

Brain fade - I meant tadpole
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
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NUKe
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update 1 year on and 6000 miles

Post by NUKe »

I have now had the grasshopper for over a year and done a little over 6000 miles in that time. So thought it was time to update the thread.
It has been a year of learning and still continues, there have been times, when I have felt I have done the wrong thing, but these are much outweighed by the stupid grin it puts on my face most of the time. It’s just a real pleasure to ride.

I think overall, I have fallen off more times than I have fallen off all the other bikes I have ever owned, since my dad took the stabilisers off my first bike in 1967. Fortunately the falls were all low speed and no damage was done to either me or the bike. They have consisted of just not having the steam to get up a hill, in the early days, or trying to negotiate cycle path gates without getting off, doing the second look at a junction realising there is a car coming and then not unclipping, putting a foot down and it slipping on a wet road. Only nearly serious one a small child ran out in front of me, and then stopped, proved the brakes worked, doing a stoppie before being unceremoniously dumped on the tarmac. , But as the miles passed, these incidents have gone from frequent to non-existent.

The GHopper, as I have named it, is used for day to day transport, to and from work, from this respect is a fairly practical machine. I have a rucksack attached to the back of the seat and this is more than big enough to carry the essential for work including a change of clothes when I need to take them in. lunch and tools and a waterproof jacket. I have on occasion loaded up with 2 large and 2 small paniers on the twin racks, the low down weight is only really noticeable in having to down gear when climbing, I will at some point replace the rucksack with a rack pack.

Leisure riding I have done less than I would have liked this past year, the longer distance is where the grasshopper comes into its own, I have done 2 Audax events this year the first was in March, a 100k, where I was incredibly slow, I really did wonder why I had bought the damn bike at this point. Turns out I had both brakes binding, front and rear and I had a cold starting. The cold passed in a couple of days and I made my mind up to replace the brakes. At this point I started to look at the setup as well and a few weeks later I was claiming it was faster than my upright. I do say claiming as I have never really found a way of proving this. The second Audax was a completely different affair, a 300k jaunt round Suffolk and Norfolk, DIY route devised by a friend and myself. By this point my bent legs are much stronger the bike, I really enjoyed the ride. Finding it much easier to keep up with my riding partner. I have also done a few rides with my local CTC group
Mechanically I have changed the disc brakes from SRAM to Shimano, replaced the headset bearings, chain and sprockets, chain tubes and tyres I class everything apart from the brakes are consumables. I am particularly impressed with the 3 hub and 8 speed derailleur set up, DDR3, it took a while to get used to it, but the 3 speed hub if you think of 1 for uphill, 2 flat and 3 for Downhill as suggested by SRAM, and the way it is marked on their one handed control then it works well, I have a separate 3 speed controller on the left, which for me is better, you then have a range of eight gear for the difference in terrain. The 155 cranks have grown more and more on me and I think are the right way to go particularly if you are short in the leg.

I did a pre winter service a couple of weeks back greasing threads on the BBB removing and replacing the cranks, copper slipping the pedal threads, greasing rear suspension bushes etc. All seemed in good working order. Chains I bought 5 standard chains and made up 2 long chains, which I change when the one on the bike needs oiling. At which point I clean and oil as appropriate. Having the chain not in the firing line of the front wheel combined with the length of the chain means it seems to need a lot less attention than on a regular bike The other modification I have made is an SP-SD8 hub and with B&M IQ-X front light. The bike had all the wiring in place and a dynamo rear light. I still have the tweener bars but by moving the twist grip shifter further in then using a longer grip by cutting down a full length one I have narrowed my grip by a couple of inches, but still have the option of the wider hand position.

The seat set-up took some getting right, but I have found It suits me best about 50% reclined, the seat is extremely comfortable even on long rides. The boom length is pretty much as Kevin set for me although I have moved it slightly to account for the different recline.

Some of the self discovery over the past 12 months Knowing your gears and matching them to the terrain helps greatly with climbing even more so on a recumbent. You can pedal through corners. Weight is nowhere near as big an issue as you imagine. Learning to relax helps both the handling and speed. It has taken a while to get used to the fact the bikes wheel base is significantly shorter than the bike.

Overall motorists do tend to give you more room and do see, Main issue tends to be people over taking and pulling back in before they are past you, i.e. not estimating your speed correctly, but in the worst case, a quick dab of the brakes spits you out the back, an Air Zounds might be another way of tackling the problem. Concerned Cyclists are the ones that seem to complain that you are invisible and perhaps a flag would help.
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