Changes to my Nazca Paseo

[a.twiddler]

I've just had a peer at the bikes in my garage. How nice to be able to say that -"the bikes in my garage". I should relish that while I can, I suppose, as I'm very fortunate.

The uprights, including the Brompton, and the trike and the Linear have all "self -standardised" at 170mm (because that's what they came with!) and the Spirit as previously referred to has 160mm ones.

The odd one out really was the Dawes Low Rider as I'd experimented with crank length due to the leg reach being fractionally beyond me.
It had a very low seat, and a correspondingly high bottom bracket to clear the front wheel, which was 20". In real life terms the bottom bracket wasn't as high as it might be on sportier bikes, just the seat being so low made it a stretch. There was very little heel strike. Although I did a lot of short rides on it while trying to sort it out with various back supports, cushions, etc I never got comfortable enough to use it for longer rides. The impression I had once 150mm cranks were fitted was that I wasn't getting so much power to the pedals, whether it was the difference in leverage between the 170s on my other bikes or just that I wasn't getting close enough to them, or just the relative height of the bottom bracket, or even a combination of all three. If I rode it for any distance, I didn't develop knee pain, but pain in the backs of my legs and lower back. I really did try to ride it regularly for a while, thinking my muscles would adapt but it didn't work. In the end I just stopped riding it, and it was sold.

The Linear is just so comfortable. The seat on that is quite upright, and although compared with pictures of other LWB recumbents the bottom bracket is relatively high, it's still much lower than most SWB recumbents. This combination doesn't make for great speed, but does allow it to be a steady climber. My feeling is that the long cranks are very much in the relaxed character of the machine, and allow a good push off when starting. My cadence is not fast, but I do notice that I spin more when riding my uprights so riding recumbents has improved the way I ride. The reason that I don't get knee pain when pushing those long cranks just may be due to that lowish bottom bracket. It's the bike I've ridden furthest since I've had it.

The trike is the most reclined of any of my recumbents, and though the bottom bracket is relatively higher compared with the Linear, it's still not really high. The main difference is due to the recline, which could go a bit further back yet. I could barely ride it any distance with my head unsupported until I made a home made neck rest which has improved things greatly. I tend to ride the two wheelers more as it can be slow on the hills. I have some pain above the knees if I haven't ridden it for a while which I think is due to the unaccustomed recline. The hard shell seat with foam covering really does support your body's length.

The Spirit has better seat adjustment than the other two and I have it in the middle at the moment. If I wanted to recline it more I would probably have to devise a neck rest due to my creaky neck-not so easy as it is a mesh backed seat. It's a balance between more recline and neck ache or being upright and developing recumbutt (though I haven't ridden it fully upright for a longer distance yet).

The bottom bracket is higher than the other two recumbents though still not spectacularly high. Together with the over seat steering it promises marginally more speed than the Linear but whether other factors such as the small wheels will work against that remains to be seen. The gearing set up works well, the short cranks are pretty well unnoticeable unless you know about them and it's quite handy compared with the Linear. I did have pains above the knees while first riding it but that has gone now so I put it down to acclimatisation.

Once I'd got the hang of starting and stopping I haven't had problems in starting on hills with a recumbent. I haven't tried the Spirit on any of the local stinkers yet but it doesn't feel as if it'll give any problems. Of course I'm still evaluating it so there's still time for it to bite me in the behind if I get complacent.

[UpWrong]

The Spirit has better seat adjustment than the other two and I have it in the middle at the moment. If I wanted to recline it more I would probably have to devise a neck rest due to my creaky neck-not so easy as it is a mesh backed seat. It's a balance between more recline and neck ache or being upright and developing recumbutt (though I haven't ridden it fully upright for a longer distance yet).

You must have a dodgy neck. I rode the Spirit at its most reclined and I would still call it very upright.

22 miles and more than 1100 ft of climbing on the Paseo yesterday. I used the bottom gear quite a lot. No hill defeated me but there was nothing more than 10%. I had a couple of hll starts on maybe a 7% gradient which I managed in 2nd gear, however one in the wet took me 5 attempts because I was worried about my push-off foot slipping on the (platform) pedal with the hard effort.

[a.twiddler]

Upwrong wrote:-

"You must have a dodgy neck. I rode the Spirit at its most reclined and I would still call it very upright".

I certainly do. I refer you to the previous paragraph re the trike. However, I have a cunning plan to train the creaky neck by stealth, degree by degree, if I can manage it, until it's at full recline. What seasoned recumbentists might regard as a modest recline still feels like a luge to me, but I'm working on it.

[UpWrong]

I'm struggling with stepping off the bike when on a cambered road. You know how it is, you're forced to give way on an uphill single track road and you're in the wrong gear to start off and/or it's too steep. Whatever, you need to dismount and because of road camber the bike is higher relative to your standing leg. I manage by holding the bars at their highest point and leaning the bike over at some ridiculous angle, and your foot still catches as you try to lift it over. Will be more difficult with a heavily laden bike.

Every millimetre matters. This is why I switched from a suspension fork to a fixed fork.I might try reverting from the 49mm Maxxis DTH tyre on the front to a 38mm one. Tempted to order a 42-406 Conti Contact Urban but at £30 I'm not sure I can justify the purchase when I have 38mm Maxxis DTH tyres in my tyre box.

[a.twiddler]

I'm struggling with stepping off the bike when on a cambered road. You know how it is, you're forced to give way on an uphill single track road and you're in the wrong gear to start off and/or it's too steep. Whatever, you need to dismount and because of road camber the bike is higher relative to your standing leg. I manage by holding the bars at their highest point and leaning the bike over at some ridiculous angle, and your foot still catches as you try to lift it over. Will be more difficult with a heavily laden bike.

Every millimetre matters. This is why I switched from a suspension fork to a fixed fork.I might try reverting from the 49mm Maxxis DTH tyre on the front to a 38mm one. Tempted to order a 42-406 Conti Contact Urban but at £30 I'm not sure I can justify the purchase when I have 38mm Maxxis DTH tyres in my tyre box.

As a considerable shortarse of long standing (cos that's the only way I can reach many things) I feel your pain. The unsuspended Linear is ok when I'm fresh, and on a level surface. A bit different when fully (over) loaded, when it tends to be rather tail heavy when manoevreing or parking, and after a longer distance when my legs have stiffened up. The frame slopes upwards towards the front, so with the seat well forward, it tends to reduce the amount of stepover available above it. Perfectly manageable under normal circumstances, with decades of experience of riding uprights which weren't as low as I'd have liked. I've never tripped over the frame when getting on or off, and I can get both feet flat on the floor when stopped and comfortably seated. This helps when launching on the worst of hills. In the above mentioned circumstances if I need to stop somewhere, it helps to have a wall to put my hand against when stepping off, or a handy kerb to step on. Bearing in mind its other virtues it's just something that can be managed. Fortunately the side stand is easy to reach and flip out before getting off.

I can't help wondering if it would be noticeably lower with the original size 26" rear wheel instead of the 700C which a previous owner had fitted. You would think that with the space needed for underseat steering that the seat would be higher but it is OK. The very few other recumbents I've managed to try have had low seats but the question has been more of, can my legs reach within the amount of boom adjustment available, and would I get on with higher bottom brackets. As previously mentioned, I was quite disappointed to find myself on tiptoe when trying a Streetmachine GT as on paper it would have suited me otherwise. If you're on tiptoe on the flat, there's no margin left for potholes and steep cambers, and I do gravitate towards the road least travelled.

The Spirit so far works well for me. Small wheels are the price I apparently have to pay for getting my feet on the floor, and a long wheelbase bike that's shorter than my upright tourer even though the wheel spindles are further apart. Despite the suspension, the stepover is lower than the Linear. The frame slopes downwards towards the front. I haven't done any equivalently long trips on the Spirit compared to the Linear yet.

The over seat steering still feels strange compared with the underseat equivalent of the Linear. However, I think it might offer advantages in managing the bike if a dismount in an awkward place occurred, or if the worst happened and you had to push it to a place to remount and restart. I still hear echoes of "urban recumbent" which suggests I shouldn't use it for long trips or touring, and "starter recumbent" but no matter how much experience I have my legs won't get any longer.
It's a 21st century bike with modern rim sizes for which I'm grateful, and It suits my legs.

When it comes to changing tyres in the hope of losing a couple of mm here and there it would be good to know what the actual inflated size of the tyre is. For example, I've had a couple of Panaracer Paselas in 700 by 35c on my tourer for years and I know that they are exactly 35mm wide and 35mm from the rim to the highest part of the tread, ie they are round in section. The rear on my Linear is a Vittoria Randonneur in 700 by 42C but the actual width is 38mm though the distance from the rim to the tread is near to 42mm. It is a rather narrow rim which is probably why there is is an oval section. There is a website somewhere that gives the actual size of tyres versus their advertised size though there can be variations due to age, batch and rim width. It would be a start to finding a tyre that would give a lower ride height, rather than by guesswork. Hopefully someone will come up with a link, or you might turn it up by searching for tyre sizes on CUK

[UpWrong]

I can't help wondering if it would be noticeably lower with the original size 26" rear wheel instead of the 700C which a previous owner had fitted. You would think that with the space needed for underseat steering that the seat would be higher but it is OK. The very few other recumbents I've managed to try have had low seats but the question has been more of, can my legs reach within the amount of boom adjustment available, and would I get on with higher bottom brackets. As previously mentioned, I was quite disappointed to find myself on tiptoe when trying a Streetmachine GT as on paper it would have suited me otherwise. If you're on tiptoe on the flat, there's no margin left for potholes and steep cambers, and I do gravitate towards the road least travelled.

The Spirit so far works well for me. Small wheels are the price I apparently have to pay for getting my feet on the floor, and a long wheelbase bike that's shorter than my upright tourer even though the wheel spindles are further apart. Despite the suspension, the stepover is lower than the Linear. The frame slopes downwards towards the front. I haven't done any equivalently long trips on the Spirit compared to the Linear yet.

The Streetmachine is notoriously tippy-toe, designed for Germans!

It does sound like it might be worth you trying a 26" rear wheel to see if you prefer it.

[UpWrong]

The struggle getting off the bike was too much, so the 38mm Maxxis DTH on the lighter rim is back on the front and I am planning to revert to the 32mm Pasela on the rear, or possibly a 28mm folding Durano I found in the tyre box. I have a 17mm Mavic crossride which will take the Durano nicely. Now I've softened the suspension it should be ok. If I bought another cassette I could keep the Mavic X719 wheel set up with a wider tyre for touring.

I'm ordering a 2cm Ventisit for the seat. The basic foam pad I'm using with the Azub seat gets sweaty in the cocyx area more than the back which isn't pleasant.

EDIT: also ordering a 32-406 Contact Urban for the front. The bike is fun to ride, and it's my most sporty ride. So using lighter wheels and tyres might get me some higher speeds on the Strava segments!

[UpWrong]

I've reverted to narrow rims and narrow tyres. The rear is a 17mm Mavic Crossride with a 32-559 folding Pasela PT, the front an 18mm Velocity Aeroheat with 35-406 folding Kojak. Actual tyre widths rear and front are 29mm and 33mm. It turns out the folding 28-559 Durano is the same weight as the Pasela @ 260g, one of the reasons for sticking with the Pasela.

I also changed the cassette from 13-42 to 11-36 to give me bit more top end.

My first ride with the configuration was a disaster, I was really slow and baled out on the climbs. The handling felt dead and I was getting vibration from the road. The Kojak was at 50psi and the Pasela at 70. Today, a few days later, was totally different. I raised the ride height by one notch which tilts the whole bike forward, raising the seat back but keeping the same hip angle. Can't be more than 15mm but what a difference to my handling of the bike and I could get the power down. The small change puts the CoG further forward, puts my pelvis in a more natural feeling forward rotated position and the top of my back engaging better with the seat allowing me to move to a more "bridging" position. I was comfortable and more confident stopping and starting on steepish slopes.

The Ventisit and 32-406 Contact Urban are on their way ...

[UpWrong]

Oh yes, new more narrow rear mudguard too. I might try trimming 6" off the end. I view mudguards as air-brakes, a necessary evil.

[UpWrong]

Got a new PB for the one mile TT today, 24.4 mph.

[UpWrong]

The Ventisit is a big improvement. I think I'll revert to the Maxxis DTH on the front rather than experiment with the Contact Urban which is rather narrow. I need the extra comfort from the bigger tyre without front suspension and the DTH has the best comfort in my experience whilst still being light, grippy and reasonably robust.

Have to say, really enjoying the ride.