Returning to a bent 10 years on.

[kingrollo]

What's everyones opinion on the the suggested rider height for the Street machine .. 5ft 5 ?

In reality do you need to be taller than that ?

[UpWrong]

What's everyones opinion on the the suggested rider height for the Street machine .. 5ft 5 ?

In reality do you need to be taller than that ?

Yes, definitely to be confident.

[a.twiddler]

I'm 5'5" and it is definitely too tall for me. I was on tippytoes even on a flat surface on the one I tried, but add a bit of camber or uneven road, let alone the mild off road that I like to do, and I'd soon be in trouble.

[yostumpy]

Part of the learning curve , with Grunhilda, my Streetmachine, was the act of actually sitting upright when coming to a stop. Problem is , in the reclined position( even at it’s most upright) when the front brake is applied just before touch down it compresses the fork, then when actually stopped the fork uncompresses even with the front brake still firmly on, causing the bike to move backwards, and thus the ‘foot on the floor’ or even tippytoes, becomes just that bit overextended, and a bit of scrabbling follows to stay upright. Sitting upright allows a ‘longer leg to be used, and the forks stay compressed, and of course better visibility.
Now I’m 6’2” so no problem height wise for me, BUT, as I’m always experimenting, I fitted a pair of 26” rigid forks and a 26” front wheel, which lifted it considerably, and it was ‘just’ ok for me. Fun to ride tho.

Here is 20” Grunhilda

And 26” flavour.

[kingrollo]

I'm 5'5" and it is definitely too tall for me. I was on tippytoes even on a flat surface on the one I tried, but add a bit of camber or uneven road, let alone the mild off road that I like to do, and I'd soon be in trouble.

I'm 5ft 7

[a.twiddler]

I'm 5'5" and it is definitely too tall for me. I was on tippytoes even on a flat surface on the one I tried, but add a bit of camber or uneven road, let alone the mild off road that I like to do, and I'd soon be in trouble.

I'm 5ft 7

There's no substitute for trying something for size. An extra couple of inches in height could make all the difference, assuming some of it is in your legs, and once you feel happy sitting on it, you'll quickly find ways of adapting to it as you ride it more.

[pjclinch]

I'm 5'8" (1.73m) and I have relatively short legs (I use 29"/74 cm inseam trousers and they're verging on a bit long for me).

Sat on my Streetmachine GT I can put both feet down completely flat on the floor with no problem if I sit up as I come to a stop.

Me sat on my Streetmachine GT at rest

As you can see this is nothing like a stretch for me.

So I'm a bit bemused by the idea one needs to be tall to use one. Mine's an older GT rather than a GTe but as I recall the overall geometry is pretty much the same, changes being the Bodylink seat and aluminium rather than steel.

Pete.

[a.twiddler]

I'm 5'8" (1.73m) and I have relatively short legs (I use 29"/74 cm inseam trousers and they're verging on a bit long for me).

Sat on my Streetmachine GT I can put both feet down completely flat on the floor with no problem if I sit up as I come to a stop.

1000004180.jpg

As you can see this is nothing like a stretch for me.

So I'm a bit bemused by the idea one needs to be tall to use one. Mine's an older GT rather than a GTe but as I recall the overall geometry is pretty much the same, changes being the Bodylink seat and aluminium rather than steel.

Pete.

It is what it is. I can only speak from my own experience. I fear that you must continue to be bemused in this instance.

[a.twiddler]

Part of the learning curve , with Grunhilda, my Streetmachine, was the act of actually sitting upright when coming to a stop. Problem is , in the reclined position( even at it’s most upright) when the front brake is applied just before touch down it compresses the fork, then when actually stopped the fork uncompresses even with the front brake still firmly on, causing the bike to move backwards, and thus the ‘foot on the floor’ or even tippytoes, becomes just that bit overextended, and a bit of scrabbling follows to stay upright. Sitting upright allows a ‘longer leg to be used, and the forks stay compressed, and of course better visibility.
Now I’m 6’2” so no problem height wise for me, BUT, as I’m always experimenting, I fitted a pair of 26” rigid forks and a 26” front wheel, which lifted it considerably, and it was ‘just’ ok for me. Fun to ride tho.
6FE529F0-0D41-4672-AA5C-1A81AB5F4641.jpeg

Here is 20” Grunhilda

55B6046C-1F29-4EFF-B648-6CB0F3441523.jpeg

And 26” flavour.

I soon learnt with the Grasshopper that a bit of sharp braking as you came to a halt enabled you to automatically sit up and helped you to get your feet down easily. Trying to stop when reclined meant a struggle to sit up, with your feet slipping about if there was the slightest bit of
gravel, sand, mud or even a wet road, particularly if you involuntarily stopped facing uphill. With USS there was nothing to pull on in those circumstances, and the friction device on the bar mount could move leaving you with one side up and one side down. With a bit of planning you could avoid those situations so it was just a matter of practice, though it was still possible to be caught out by an unplanned stop facing uphill.

The only way someone like me could manage a dual 26" bike is by riding one of these.

I managed a test ride and have now bought this thanks to the good offices of UpWrong of this parish.
The number of things that have stopped me working on it have been bonkers since it arrived in my garage but I hope to get out on it soon.

[pjclinch]

Since our touring is now predominantly off-road my missus has decided she'll probably sell her Fiero Tour, so drop me a line if interested and I can furnish more details.
You can see some pics of it in the various tour diaries at https://medphys.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/ ... aries.html.

In overall layout/feel think of it as something between a bit like a Grasshopper that's had some Speedmachine DNA spliced in.

Pete.

[kingrollo]

Since our touring is now predominantly off-road my missus has decided she'll probably sell her Fiero Tour, so drop me a line if interested and I can furnish more details.
You can see some pics of it in the various tour diaries at https://medphys.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/ ... aries.html.

In overall layout/feel think of it as something between a bit like a Grasshopper that's had some Speedmachine DNA spliced in.

Many thanks for the info and kind offer.

However it's early days both in terms of the prognosis on my ageing spine and research into all things bent.

Thanks again
Pete.

[pjclinch]

So I'm a bit bemused by the idea one needs to be tall to use one. Mine's an older GT rather than a GTe but as I recall the overall geometry is pretty much the same, changes being the Bodylink seat and aluminium rather than steel.

It is what it is. I can only speak from my own experience. I fear that you must continue to be bemused in this instance.

My bemusement is folk saying you need to be tall (which I've heard a fair bit). I don't consider 5'5" to be tall though!

Pete.

[belgiangoth]

I expect that you need to be taller if you want to lie back and get a foot down vs sitting up. Bearing in mind that sitting up like you are in the pictures much trickier with tiller steering or superman bars.

[RecumbentRide]

Azub for me. The luggage carrying ability of these bikes with their proprietary luggage racks beats the hell out of anything currently available if touring is your thing.

[pjclinch]

Azub for me. The luggage carrying ability of these bikes with their proprietary luggage racks beats the hell out of anything currently available if touring is your thing.

From what I see it looks good, but it doesn't look obviously very different to HP Velotechnik's offerings so I don't really see it would necessarily "beat the hell" out of e.g. a Streetmachine with rear and lowrider racks

Pete.