Cycling UK Forum

I've changed my mind about putting them on the Open Sport rims. I've got some old but little worn 20mm Rigida rims that I shall use. The front is part of a complete wheel, the rear I'll need to build into a wheel so I've ordered a Claris 2400 freehub - the cheapest 130 OLN Shimano 9 speed compatible hub I could find.

Hmmm, well I ordered three 37-622 Voyager Hyper tyres from Planet-X late on Thurs night, along with 3 Vittoria extralite tubes, and they arrived this morning. The inner tubes weren't boxed so I almost cut through them with a pair of scissors when getting the parcel wrapper off.

The tread is thicker than I was anticipating, but pretty supple. The sidewalls don't feel very supple. They have a reflective band on them. The tyre label says "Speed Shielding", the box they came in says "Double Shielding". My kitchen scales say 420g for a tyre and 130g for a tube. I put some air in the tubes to check that I hadn't cut them and had great difficulty getting air through the valves on all 3. Hopefully it will be easier when installed on the rims.

I'm going to try them on my Open Sport rims though that is pushing the tyre to rim ratio at around 2.5 times i.e rim at 15mm and tyre at 37mm. Will try them at maybe 50 psi front and 60 psi rear.

No, my RD shifter is indexed. I assume I can just limit travel so it covers 8 sprockets rather than 9.

That's great. I never would have thought of that. I'll give it a go.

Will I need a spacer of some kind? Thanks.

I had a decent ride yesterday of about 25 miles round typical English countryside roads with some climbs and I think it's worth updating my impressions of the bike and of the SWB 20/20 format generally.

I find the bike easy to handle with it's low seat height. The seat is about 50cm off the deck and the BB is around 60cm. The seat is also quite narrow and I found it easy and natural to get my feet down quickly when stopping. Also its supportive of head and shoulders at the top so that my head felt like it was in a natural vertical position which helps greatly with balance. The reason I mention this is that my 2nd 'bent was an HPV Grasshopper which I totally failed to adapt to despite it being a similar format. It might have been that I was too inexperienced to deal with the recline but my recollection was how difficult it was to get my feet down correctly to support the bike when stopping. This was with the HPV BodyLink seat. It would be interesting to try a Grasshopper now that I am more experienced for comparison but I think the Metabikes seat is better for those with shorter legs.

Balance and steering on the Metabikes with the tweener bars was just brilliant. I was able to slow right down to trickle through junctions without putting a foot down, and crawl uphill in a low gear without wobbling too. One handed signalling was easy.

Stability at speed was excellent but, and this is the big but, the small wheels and lack of suspension limit the speed you dare ride at over damaged roads. The other problem I have results from not using SPD pedals or similar. My feet were in danger of being dislodged from the pedals when freewheeling over sections of bumpy roads at pace. It didn't happen but I had to work hard at bracing myself in the seat and pushing against both pedals when freewheeling downhill over the rough stuff.

Overall I like the 20/20 format. It's beautifully compact and friendly for those of us below average height, but I wouldn't ride one at night on unfamiliar and unlit roads for fear of coming a cropper because of potholes. Suspension would help of course, but this tends to add a lot of weight and some still feel more secure with bigger wheels.

It's megabucks though. I'd rather buy a velomobile.

I had a quick ride today and I like it. The steering and balance are very easy and very natural. Rolling over bumps, humps and cracks was not harsh at all - better than I was anticipating. I ran the tyres pretty soft: 60psi front and 45 psi rear. Tyre widths are 28mm front and 40mm rear. I've got lightweight inner tubes which I believe make a noticeable difference to comfort. An added bonus is that I am finding it easier to reach the ground which makes stopping and starting easier and more relaxing. And I'm having no difficulty seeing over the handlebars. A success I think though I've yet to try putting it in the car.

Well, I was looking at an Azub Origami but figured it was worth trying to reconfigure the Metabikes first. I probably won't get round to trying it out before the weekend.

I decided to try it in 20/20 format, so that it will fit in the car. I think it looks great, apart from the rack. Any suggestions for a 20" disc rack?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/7532343@N06/sets/72157648379740948/

No particular reason but I recenty got round to weighing my bikes. This is just using the bathroom scales for the difference between me and me holding the bike. All the bikes have racks and all except the Metabikes have mudguards.

RANS Stratus XP - 33.5 lbs, Metabikes Metathesis - 27 lbs, Thorn Audax Mk 3 - 26 lbs, Raleigh Pioneer 29 lbs. The Thorn is due to go on a diet soon and will lose more than a pound. The Metabikes was at 30.5 lbs with a steel fork and 2 disc brakes but I have just put back the carbon fork with front caliper and this has taken 3.5 lbs off.

If it's who I'm thinking of they were in the game of selling performer trikes with a big mark up after rebadging them as something else. And their sales tactics included making up defamatory remarks about other manufacturers' offerings dressed up as comments from private individuals.

but it's full of lies ... e.g. a photoshopped Challenge that it describes as made in Germany!!

Vortritek bear more than a passing resemblance to a company which was banned from bentrideronline after making threats.

Given the value of these things, can they be secured to the bike with a lockable skewer? Presumably they need lockable axle nuts?