Club rides

[lyis]

I only have about 100 miles on my new Quest, so all of this is new to me. I am enjoying it, but have only done one ride clipped in so far -- it's a little hairy for me at times, so my learning curve is still steep. Still... I am wondering whether I bought the wrong bike -- as I browse through the forums, it seems like the Quest is not taken seriously for faster riders and speedy club rides.

Does anyone else do this kind of riding on their Quest, or am I destined to switch to the Silvio as I become a more confident Cruzbike rider?

 

[ratz]

I only have about 100 miles on my new Quest, so all of this is new to me. I am enjoying it, but have only done one ride clipped in so far -- it's a little hairy for me at times, so my learning curve is still steep. Still... I am wondering whether I bought the wrong bike -- as I browse through the forums, it seems like the Quest is not taken seriously for faster riders and speedy club rides.

Does anyone else do this kind of riding on their Quest, or am I destined to switch to the Silvio as I become a more confident Cruzbike rider?

The quest is a good all around do a little of everything and anything bike. I've done 100 miles at 2 day rallies with my kids on a 20 inch quest we all road them. I have Pulled a kid trailer 50 miles with speeds frequently around 20 with the quest. But if I was trying to ride a pace line it would have to be upgraded to what we have affectionately dubbed a quest turbo in some other threads.

Excellent bike, good for rail trails, touring, commuting, and a solid MBB, people tour around the world with them. When people ask me if a quest would be a good first MBB for them I almost always say yes because if you fall in love with the MBB platform and decide you want a go fast bike, there will be tons of reasons to keep you quest as a complimentary ride and you then just add the S30 or V20 that speaks to you. If you find that it's just not for you, the quest will resell at almost no lose if well cared for.

 

[Jeremy S]

am I destined to switch to the Silvio as I become a more confident Cruzbike rider?

If you like the Quest and you can afford a Silvio or Vendetta -- yes, I'm afraid there's no avoiding it. I went from a Sofrider to a Silvio myself.

 

[castlerobber]

I started with the Q451 a year ago. I had been fascinated by the FWD/MBB concept, but I didn't want the extremely laid-back seat angle and high bottom bracket of the then-current Silvio or Vendetta. As I'm 5'5", even the Sofrider and Q559 seemed too high for the times I'd need to get my feet down quickly. After the initial few months of learning to ride the Q451, though, I began to want more speed. I couldn't seem to consistently go faster than 12 to 12.5 mph, and clipping in made me so nervous that I couldn't enjoy the ride.

When I saw my little Q next to a Silvio 1.5 at an event last August, and discovered that the seat height and angle (about 45 degrees) matched very closely, I began to look at that bike as a possibility. I test rode that Silvio the following January, was hooked immediately, and bought it in April. The more I get it dialed in, the more I like it, and the faster I go.

It may not be inevitable that you switch to the Silvio. I think you could use a Q559 for club rides, with sufficient tweaking (take a look at some of the mods in the Q forums). I don't believe I would have been comfortable learning on a Silvio--the Q has been a great beginner bike--but now that I'm used to the FWD/MBB platform, the Silvio has me thinking about half-centuries and metric centuries this summer and fall.

 

[lyis]

Thanks for your responses -- sounds like the speed difference between the Silvio and Quest is really significant... I'm still in the stage of feeling intermittently freaked out whenever I am clipped in on the Quest -- particularly when I am climbing. It is for that reason -- my concern about slow-speed handling while climbing, and in town -- that I ended up getting the Quest instead of the Silvio. I test rode both, and found the Quest much easier to stop and start, so figured in-town riding and hill climbing might be simpler on the Quest. I'm in NW Oregon, which is anything but flat, and ride with a hill-loving club and spouse. How do those of you who have spent time on the Silvio feel about its slow speed handling, and ease of starting for in-town riding? Thanks!

 

[Jeremy S]

How do those of you who have spent time on the Silvio feel about its slow speed handling, and ease of starting for in-town riding?

If I ever need additional low speed stability on the Silvio, for example in traffic, I just sit up and then my balance greatly improves. I sit up every time I stop/start, not sure if other Silvio or Vendetta riders do that but it works well for me and I feel no need to launch from a reclined position. Climbing steep hills at low speed can be a bit dicey. I have improved but I do feel a bit unstable sometimes at 5-6 mph uphill. Picking up my head off the headrest helps but can get tiring, and I find actually sitting up is too difficult on a significant incline.

 

[lyis]

If I ever need additional low speed stability on the Silvio, for example in traffic, I just sit up and then my balance greatly improves. I sit up every time I stop/start, not sure if other Silvio or Vendetta riders do that but it works well for me and I feel no need to launch from a reclined position. Climbing steep hills at low speed can be a bit dicey. I have improved but I do feel a bit unstable sometimes at 5-6 mph uphill. Picking up my head off the headrest helps but can get tiring, and I find actually sitting up is too difficult on a significant incline.

Jeremy, how much time have you spent on your Silvio? Do you still find yourself improving / getting more comfortable with it?

 

[battleaxe0]

Got mine Friday and I can start from riding position going up a slight incline about 90% of the time without wobble. I won't call what we have "hills". Haven't gotten to one of our overpasses or the levee yet, which are the only things hill-like around here. The only moments of concern for me now are sharp turns on wet asphalt (it's been raining daily and I wiped out in wet leaves on day 1) and mashing down an incline trying to beat the speed limit sign. My wobble gets more pronounced at high cadence, especially when mashing.

 

[Jeremy S]

Jeremy, how much time have you spent on your Silvio? Do you still find yourself improving / getting more comfortable with it?

According to Strava, I have over 1000 miles on my Silvio, the vast majority last summer/fall. I feel perfectly comfortable on the bike, except as I mentioned on long and steep hills where my speed gets very low, and I have improved a lot there. I could try learning new skills, like launching in a reclined position, launching with my left foot, making a U-turn in X amount of space, riding with no hands, etc... but I don't feel the need right now, I'd rather just ride.

 

[Abbott Smith]

Thanks for your responses -- sounds like the speed difference between the Silvio and Quest is really significant... I'm still in the stage of feeling intermittently freaked out whenever I am clipped in on the Quest -- particularly when I am climbing. It is for that reason -- my concern about slow-speed handling while climbing, and in town -- that I ended up getting the Quest instead of the Silvio. I test rode both, and found the Quest much easier to stop and start, so figured in-town riding and hill climbing might be simpler on the Quest. I'm in NW Oregon, which is anything but flat, and ride with a hill-loving club and spouse. How do those of you who have spent time on the Silvio feel about its slow speed handling, and ease of starting for in-town riding? Thanks!

Lyis,
I'm still new to my Vendetta V20, but it sounds like we have similar goals. I live in the Seattle area and predominantly ride with DF riders on club type rides. I chose Cruzbike because the FWD MBB geometry tackles the biggest problems I faced riding a traditional RWD bent with these groups; acceleration from a stop and climbing mixed gradient hills.

The S30/V20 models have outstanding power transfer. This is the thing that makes them good at those problems. Like Jeremy, I find that sitting up in the saddle solves many slow speed issues as I learn to ride this bike. I'm doing hills three weeks in though my initial gearing is off for the topography. I can handle long grades 10% and under and short grades up to about 13%, but I just don't have the fitness to mash a 34/32 combo up a 16% grade on any bike right now.

I'll be able to get you more info after I install my new 11-42t cogset and 10 speed brifter.

One other note, I've been riding clipless pedals since the third day. Huge difference in control for me. Relaxing is the key. I trust this bike to take care of me.

 

[ratz]

How do those of you who have spent time on the Silvio feel about its slow speed handling, and ease of starting for in-town riding? Thanks!

It comes rather easy after a while. I can cruize down our twisty wood trails without any problem on the Silvio.

This video was shot on those trails, although not from a Silvio this was on a quest. but I will ride these trails on the Silvio without issue with my kids or to ride to starbucks.

If you are going to ride in tight space; or in traffic or have to frequent clip in and clip out then One thing that helps is having to right type of shoe and cleat for the activity at hand. If I did a ton of in town riding and lot of climbing I would personally be riding speedplay frogs (which we run on all of our Quests). Simply the easiest in and out of any clip shoes that you can get. Confidence getting out is as important as confidence getting in.

As far as group ride you can rig a quest to be a mighty fast bike but that's going to mean starting with a 26" version; and potentially upgrading it to a turbo quest.
http://cruzbike.com/forum/threads/559-700cc-build-finally-ridable.7660/#post-27705. My daughter can hang with groups that ride <19mph on her quest 26" and I can do likewise on the 20"; but faster than that means a faster setup; or a serious upgrade to the engine.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

I'm in NW Oregon, which is anything but flat, and ride with a hill-loving club and spouse. How do those of you who have spent time on the Silvio feel about its slow speed handling, and ease of starting for in-town riding? Thanks!

I live a few hundred miles south of you in northern California. It's quite hilly here, in the beginning (two years ago) I dreaded the hills, and avoided them when I could. But because of that my rides were limited. Last year I was inspired by a discussion here on the Forum, between Eric and Ratz, there were talking about wanting to climb more. It got me to thinking, so I invested more time and training in climbing. It paid off big time for me. I'm now spending more time climbing, and having a ball doing it...the rewards is getting to the top and looking and then getting to take a free fast ride back down.

Once you get the miles and practice in with the Silvio, slow speed handling is great. For me it's equal (if not better) to my ex Tour Easy and Catbike Musashi, which are two bike with very good slow speed manners. But again, it takes practice and patience. It was not like that right out of the box for me, it was they last item I conquered on the bike. I can start from a dead stop on any hill that I could with either the TE or the Musashi. I can say the same for the Vendetta. However, I do find the Vendetta to be easier for starts of steep hills...But either will get the job done.

I also do a lot of in town riding, stop signs, stop lights, lots of heavy traffic, riding in and with traffic. The Sac River Trail is probably the most challenging riding I do, just because of the heavy traffic, dog, people walking, kids on bikes, skate boarders, people not watching what they are doing, twisty trails, icy bridge, etc etc! At this point and time I'm extremely confident with just about any situation thrown at me. Only fell once in over 10,000 mile with the S and V, it was a slow speed slowomo type of thing...the Sundial Bridge's glass deck was iced over and very slippery.

 

[JOSEPHWEISSERT]

Thanks for your responses -- sounds like the speed difference between the Silvio and Quest is really significant... I'm still in the stage of feeling intermittently freaked out whenever I am clipped in on the Quest -- particularly when I am climbing. It is for that reason -- my concern about slow-speed handling while climbing, and in town -- that I ended up getting the Quest instead of the Silvio. I test rode both, and found the Quest much easier to stop and start, so figured in-town riding and hill climbing might be simpler on the Quest. I'm in NW Oregon, which is anything but flat, and ride with a hill-loving club and spouse. How do those of you who have spent time on the Silvio feel about its slow speed handling, and ease of starting for in-town riding? Thanks!

I use the Speedplay X2 pedals. I used them for many years on a DF, and now use them on a Vendetta. They allow my feet to rotate so they don't cause unnecessary strain on the knees. I really like them. To disconnect, I just swing out my heel - this became second nature after a short period of crashing in the beginning many years ago. Where I live, we have a drawbridge that spans the Grand River as it goes out to Lake Michigan. It's the only way in the area to go south, so I can't avoid it. The bridge has a pedestrian/bike path that has fenced in sides and a couple of short, single, steel ruts parallel to the path. On my first ride across the bridge, I had to walk the bike the whole way in cleats. Not only does it have only enough room for one bike to cross at a time, it is also bouncing up and down and has a lot of noisy traffic (including semi trucks) passing by within a few feet (very distracting). After a few weeks of riding the V, I am now able to confidently ride across the bridge in a fully reclined position while clipped in either fast or slow. At first, I thought this would just be totally impossible. So, having your feet clipped in is just another thing the brain will adapt to and then it will become second nature the same as a FWD MBB and riding in a 20-degree recumbent position. I'm just starting out on a V (my first recumbent), but for me, I notice improvement on each ride. It's getting easier and easier. Just my observations.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

I'm just starting out on a V (my first recumbent), but for me, I notice improvement on each ride. It's getting easier and easier. Just my observations.

Joseph you are correct. In the beginning, you think there are certain rides or areas that require complex interaction and finesse that you will never be able to conquer or acquire technique so you stay away from them. Which is a good idea. But as the miles, hours, experience pile on, the bike becomes easy ride, your confidence grows, and you begin to tackle them one by one until there is nothing you can't get your sites on and not overcome.

Joseph it's great to read that you are progressing superbly!