First ride of Nazca Paseo

DIscuss anything relating to non-standard cycles and their equipment.
UpWrong
Posts: 2409
Joined: 31 May 2009, 12:16pm
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire

Re: First ride of Nazca Paseo

Post by UpWrong »

The metabike has a steep head tube. A fork with a low offset will give you more trail. Alternatively put a smaller diameter rim at the rear .
UpWrong
Posts: 2409
Joined: 31 May 2009, 12:16pm
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire

Re: First ride of Nazca Paseo

Post by UpWrong »

Dave W wrote:My Metabike has tiller steering and was unbelievably twitchy to start with, it would give the feeling of a speed wobble although it was tracking straight and the bars weren't slapping about. Shifting my seat as far forward as I can has calmed it down considerably. I can now do hand signals (just). Makes me wonder if the designers got it slightly wrong with weight distribution or fork geometry.


Actually, I also had this "speed wobble" but I was running mine on 20" wheels with a non-factory fork. I think I measured the trail at around a mere 10mm. I suggest you measure the amount of trail you have. EDIT: might have been 20mm of trail. I think it was too small, 40mm would be more reasonable. Maybe 70 mm is more normal.
Last edited by UpWrong on 24 Feb 2017, 6:33am, edited 1 time in total.
swscotland bentrider
Posts: 299
Joined: 3 Aug 2008, 4:38pm

Re: First ride of Nazca Paseo

Post by swscotland bentrider »

All the reviews I've read of the Metabike comment on its tendency to hyper sensitive steering. Darksider in his review described it as waiting for a moments inattention from the rider to launch them into the undergrowth :x . Moving the seat forward apparently helps. I've had a brief go on Laid-back"s 26" wheeled example and found it to be fine in the steering dept. Big tyres on it may have dampened things down.

I don't think this is a characteristic of tiller steering however. My 24" Furai is tiller steered and is stable and predictable. My newly acquired Gaucho 28 is tiller steered and is as steady as a rock :D
User avatar
pjclinch
Posts: 5469
Joined: 29 Oct 2007, 2:32pm
Location: Dundee, Scotland
Contact:

Re: First ride of Nazca Paseo

Post by pjclinch »

swscotland bentrider wrote:
I don't think this is a characteristic of tiller steering however. My 24" Furai is tiller steered and is stable and predictable. My newly acquired Gaucho 28 is tiller steered and is as steady as a rock :D


I suspect it's a characteristic of tiller steering with some subset of riders using it. I have never heard anyone moaning that a Speedmachine with any sort of steering is twitchy, but I'm simply not as happy on one with tillers compared to Aero or USS versions. Every tiller machine I've ridden I've felt not quite right: never crashed one, but never been able to fully relax either. My bad, but I suspect I'm not alone.

Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
User avatar
[XAP]Bob
Posts: 19793
Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: First ride of Nazca Paseo

Post by [XAP]Bob »

The more I relax on the rapto the better the steering is. I can't quite let go - it picks up a bit of a wobble without damping.
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.
User avatar
pjclinch
Posts: 5469
Joined: 29 Oct 2007, 2:32pm
Location: Dundee, Scotland
Contact:

Re: First ride of Nazca Paseo

Post by pjclinch »

[XAP]Bob wrote:The more I relax on the rapto the better the steering is.


Oh aye, everything (upwrong or 'bent) works better if you relax more. There's just the step between holding on with an iron grip and saying "....... jst.........rlx........." through gritted teeth and actually relaxing!

Since I managed to learn to ride a uni I ought to be able to get properly used to tillers. If someone would just give me one for a few weeks I'm willing to experiment!

Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
Geoff.D
Posts: 1982
Joined: 12 Mar 2010, 9:20pm

Re: First ride of Nazca Paseo

Post by Geoff.D »

pjclinch wrote:If someone would just give me one for a few weeks I'm willing to experiment!
Pete.


Well.........if we'e going down this route......... if someone would just give me one until I'm absolutely, absolutely, unambiguously confident, I'll be happy to hand it back at that point !!! :twisted: :twisted:
swscotland bentrider
Posts: 299
Joined: 3 Aug 2008, 4:38pm

Re: First ride of Nazca Paseo

Post by swscotland bentrider »

I do wonder if tiller is suitable for some bikes more than others. I saw an image of an Encore with tiller steering. The owner was clearly happy but it looked so wrong! Reminded me of the original 1930's recumbents. I've heard it said (I have no experience of them) that tiller does not suit the street machine. So perhaps it is about the bike.
Post Reply