Thoughts on Challenge mistral sl

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fossala
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Re: Thoughts on Challenge mistral sl

Post by fossala »

I don't think I like recumbent bikes. I've rode it around 60 miles. I don't wobble, I can go up hill well, I'm fine setting off. It's non of the obvious "normal" reasons, I kept thinking that I prefer my trike every time I ride it. This may of been a short lived experiment...
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Thoughts on Challenge mistral sl

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Hmm - I wonder if it's insufficiently different ;)

I have an ICE Sprint RS and a raptobike.
So one is USS, the other is hamster tiller bars
FWD/RWD
Hard seat/mesh seat
Two very different beasts (probably 4-5mph difference in speed)
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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fossala
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Re: Thoughts on Challenge mistral sl

Post by fossala »

[XAP]Bob wrote:Hmm - I wonder if it's insufficiently different ;)

I have an ICE Sprint RS and a raptobike.
So one is USS, the other is hamster tiller bars
FWD/RWD
Hard seat/mesh seat
Two very different beasts (probably 4-5mph difference in speed)

The Challenge is faster, I get to work just under 5 minutes earlier so around 10% faster. It's closer to riding a DF than the trike and I love riding trikes so so much. I think I'll end up selling the mistral and keep an eye out for a folding rear end or maybe buy a new one from ICE.
hercule
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Re: Thoughts on Challenge mistral sl

Post by hercule »

I've been there... dithered with a variety of recumbent bikes but nothing really hit the mark and each time favoured my Trice QNT over everything else that I'd tried. My last recumbent bike purchase maybe 5 years ago was a second-hand Nazca Fuego. Felt a great bike to ride but I still preferred my Trice. Over the years, however, the balance has gradually tipped more in the Fuego's favour, last year I was riding them maybe 50/50 and I think so far this year the Fuego is a bit in the lead, in large part I think because I switched from tiller to superman bars. Still riding a bike has stresses that the trike doesn't have and if I had to choose between them, I'd stay with the Trice. With the Streamer fairing (and me as the rider) there isn't much in it overall speed wise.

I would suggest sticking with it for a while if you can. If nothing else bikes are easier to clean than trikes after a wet ride!
belgiangoth
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Re: Thoughts on Challenge mistral sl

Post by belgiangoth »

I think 60 miles is a bit short to make a decision, but there is a level of "intangibles" and "gut feeling". I got a really nice second hand DF three years ago, Argos Audax ... never rode it, for whatever reason my commuter would edge it out. I never really gave the new bike a chance and so ended up lending it to a friend who bought it off me. It was an excellent bike and had I kept it for a couple more years I would have learnt to love it.
If you don't have the space and need the money then that's a different matter. Otherwise it's worth giving it a good year to see how you feel. However if/when you come to sell the Mistral I'm sure you'll make back most of what you spent on it.
If I had a baby elephant, I would put it on a recumbent trike so that it would become invisible.
UpWrong
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Re: Thoughts on Challenge mistral sl

Post by UpWrong »

I have a trike, an LWB and an SWB bent. They are all very different experiences and equally rewarding in their own way. I find the SWB is more challenging to ride in terms of technical skill than the other two.
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fossala
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Re: Thoughts on Challenge mistral sl

Post by fossala »

belgiangoth wrote:I think 60 miles is a bit short to make a decision, but there is a level of "intangibles" and "gut feeling". I got a really nice second hand DF three years ago, Argos Audax ... never rode it, for whatever reason my commuter would edge it out. I never really gave the new bike a chance and so ended up lending it to a friend who bought it off me. It was an excellent bike and had I kept it for a couple more years I would have learnt to love it.
If you don't have the space and need the money then that's a different matter. Otherwise it's worth giving it a good year to see how you feel. However if/when you come to sell the Mistral I'm sure you'll make back most of what you spent on it.

It's not I need the money, I do need the space though so if something else came up it would have to go. I'm going to give it another ride today, I'm trying to like it.
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pjclinch
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Re: Thoughts on Challenge mistral sl

Post by pjclinch »

I do like 'bent bikes, but not all of them... As I noted previously, my encounter with a (lower spec) Mistral in the past left me feeling meh without there being anything actually identifiably wrong with it, and Roos felt the same way about my Streetmachine before deciding on a Fiero (chosen on the same trip that took in the Mistral, and we tried a Rainbow Lyner which was meh without anything really wrong too). But one lap of the square outside the shop on the Fiero and it was Big Grins all around.

So without going through all the hoopla of buying a succession just in case, do give alternatives a try when you have a chance and you might find there's a model that floats your boat.

Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
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