Import from America or custom build which is best

[Dunnroamin]

I searched for years looking for a standard, off the peg bike that I could ride. Having had my suspicions confirmed in these forums that bike geometry had changed in the last 30 years or so, and changed in a way that disadvantaged some older, less mobile folk such as myself, who is further hampered by short legs (especially my femurs), I decided that a "feet forward" or "crank forward" bike might be the way to go. The sad fact is, that this country's bike industry has let the likes of me down. We neither make, or import bikes that can be described as feet forward, although our bike builders seem quite ready to make bikes for riders who prefer to lie on their backs while riding (no disrespect to them). In the end I was forced to import, at great expense, a Dutch Sunny Comfort. At last I was able to ride again, the feet forward design enabled me to turn the pedals through a complete 360 degree cycle, whilst, at the same time, reach the ground with my feet when necessary. The Sunny has enabled me to get the exercise I needed, and this is great but, it is an extremely heavy (well built?) bike, so much so, that I can't lift it onto my towbar bike carrier for when I want to visit safer and more interesting cycle ways than the two street circuit I am currently stuck with. I used to be able to ride conventional bikes, and maybe could again, if I could find one that didn't have the near vertical rear tube and raised bottom bracket of today's breed. The American bike industry seems prepared to cater for its older, physically challenged riders, because American websites are almost awash with feet forward machines. So........I need to decide (with, hopefully, some suggestions from CTC Forumers) whether to import from America, based entirely on photo images and written specification or seek the expertise of a custom frame builder. Cost, obviously must come into it, so I would be interested to know how each solution compares.

[hercule]

A few thoughts on this…

You can buy crank forward (CF) bikes in the UK - see the Electra range. Whether they will be lighter or faster than your Dutch bike I cannot say. Also, as I enquired on another thread in the "Does Anyone Know…" sub forum, Pedersens are by necessity CF bikes to a degree but maybe not what you are thinking of…

The main manufacturer of CF bikes seems to be RANS in the US, however. They've been making them for a while and judging by their popularity in the US they seem to have got the ingredients right. If you imported one (probably pricey with customs duty, shipping, VAT, etc) you would at least have a likely well sorted bike with a recognisable name that would make it a bit easier to resell if you didn't get on with it. CF bikes aren't that popular over here, however. They do occasionally (very rarely!) come up for sale on the UK Velovision website - at least I can recall seeing one for sale there once!

I would be concerned about a custom builder getting it right. In theory it should be no more difficult than sticking the tubes together in a different way from a standard bike. But how different, and what the angles are, and how long the chain stays are, and what the head angle and fork trail should be… I suspect those answers have been the result of long trial and error by the likes of RANS. There's also the question of the seat/saddle, RANS use a specific seat and I'm not sure if a standard bike saddle would work. If you got the bike built up and decided you didn't like it or that the angles didn't really work, you would be in a much more difficult position to sell it, IMHO.

You seem to have dismissed the next suggestion I'm going to make, but there is a sound economic reason for considering it. As I see it the properties of the CF are a relatively upright riding position, "normal" height compared to ordinary bikes, and the ability to get both feet down flat on the floor when you come to a stop. The group of recumbent bikes known as Compact Long Wheelbase Bikes (CLWBs) meet these criteria. Whilst there are only really two in production that I am aware of - the HP Velotecnik Spirit being the only one readily available in Europe - the American BikeE was the prototypical model and whilst they went out of business around 2000 there's still quite a few knocking about in very good condition. I acquired one and a half (a complete bike and one that was mostly bits, but I've since built it up into a complete bike) a few years ago and despite having more modern and much more sophisticated recumbents to ride I've been very impressed with the BikeE's user friendliness and its versatility. You are not frighteningly low - head height is about the same as a normal bike - but flat-footed starts and stops are no problem. It handles pretty much just like a normal bike. If you swap the standard rather narrow straight bars for North Road backswept bars it gets even better. The AT models with a Cane Creek air shock are ridiculously comfortable. I've never weighed mine, but I'd estimate that they are in the range of a standard touring bike. One in good condition can be had for less than half the price of a new Electra Townie (say £300 for a good one), but the key argument here is that if you didn't get on with it after a few months' trial, you could probably sell it on for pretty much what you bought it for. I think this is a key factor to consider when trying something unfamiliar - makes it virtually a risk free purchase (provided the bike is in serviceable condition to start with, of course).

If I was set on a CF I'd try to get a hold of a RANS, I think. Before you investigate importing one, D-TEK in Little Thetford might be able to help you find one in the UK, if he hasn't got a used one somewhere in the midst of his giant collection of unusual machines. Custom building seems a bit too risky to me. But I'd also seriously consider a CLWB recumbent as a cheaper and less riskier experiment (see also D-TEK or plenty pop up on a regular basis on eBay).

[Dunnroamin]

Thank you for your extremely helpful suggestions, they give me plenty of areas to investigate that I was previously unaware of. BW, D.

[OldBloke]

Have a look at http://www.bicycleman.com/index.html. He has a lot of info on crank forward and recumbent bikes.

OB

[OldBloke]

This Canadian company, maxarya.com, have some interesting FF city bikes and recumbents. They don't indicate price on their site and the nearest dealer to you is in Italy.

[dakari-mane]

How about something like this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Giant-Semi-Re ... 19f29e956c

Or this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Recumbent-Bur ... 259452eb20
Or this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RECUMBENT-BIC ... 19f294e481

Or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

[hercule]

I'd still stand by the BikeE... I think the Revive was a heavy machine with limited gearing options.

[jayjay]

Kevin did have a Rans when I went over the other week, it was a bit long for my stubby little legs to reach the pedals though