Learning to ride a Softrider

[baerly]

I'm a brand new owner of a Softrider V3. This is my first experience of any kind on a recumbent. I have about an hour of practice on the bike in a large parking lot. This session ended with two sore ankles/Achilles tendons from slamming my feet into to pavement to avoid crashing. Both near crashes occurred when I very briefly turned my attention to other activities in the parking lot.

I am not the type to be discouraged by this experience. I am seeking information from the knowledgeable people on this forum to bolster my determination. I have already received a lot of great information here and believe I have thoroughly searched and noted all that is already available.

Including all suggestions from seasoned riders, I have the following specific questions:

What seat position is general the best when first learning to ride this bike?

Can anyone explain in layman's terms the physics involved that causes this bike to be so different than a conventional bike to ride. I can ride a unicycle and keep a regular bike upright while not rolling so I don't think my sense of balance is lacking.

I very much appreciate all advice.

Bryan

 

[1happyreader]

everybody learns differently.

Hi Bryan,

Sorry for your pain, it was not that way for me, but I looked at my sofrider as NOT a bike but something new , never tried before, and tried to enjoy learning like a toddler.

I had the seat up around 60 degrees for starters.

I did a lot of coasting and feeling what the sofrider was doing or wanted to do.

short wheelbase, very balanced but with movable weight out front, you can do turns very differently than a DF, fall down differently too, a lot of old muscle memory no longer applies.


I won't guess what prompted your " near crashes" but sugguest a little web research while your legs recover.

these are links found on this website:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U1TcH0oPxBo

http://cruzbike.com/CruzbikeOwnersManualRevP.pdf ( see page 13 )

http://cruzbike.com/NeverFailRidingInstructions.pdf

This is from a fourm post by RATZ? a cruzbike rider.

Here's the script we use when

Here's the script we use when people come to ride the Quests and see if it's for them. We've refined this over a bunch of people this summer; we are at 20 riders as of August; Some family, some friends, and a good number of former strangers.

If doing this on a Silvio or a Vendetta either sit up for all of these steps or put something behind you back to raise the angle to at least 40 degrees. It's easier to train your hands and feet if you aren't also training your balance. We keep all the quests set at 43 degrees and people learn pretty easy; especially bent riders. The laying back will come easier as a secondary skill. For example going from Silvio 27 degree to Vendetta 20 degrees took me only two full rides; but it was darn shaking for me at first; the lower you go the more balance you have to adjust to; so just take that out of the equation; riding sitting up is a great skill that you will want for intersection and going up step hills, so use it for your learning.

So......

1) Find a parking lot with about a 1-2% pitch. Go to the high end.

2) Do 5 coast down with your feet up in the air spread eagle. Yeah it sounds stupid; but get them as high as you can. This will help you learn the glide and slide mounting trick. Do at least 5, not 1, not 2, at least 5.

3) Do 2 coast downs with you feet just resting on the pedals Do not pedal; your ego will want to, don't do it.

4) Do 3 coast down with you feet just resting on the pedals and steer just a touch using only your foot pressure (this is harder than it sounds; but you need to learn what it feels like) Again resist the urge to pedal the best students wait. You are trying to teach the brain the subtle things.

5) Start doing runs with pedaling 5 or 6 minimum. Straight lines; down and back up the incline. Avoid turning; stop the bike; turn it 180 and go the other direction.

6) Start doing shallow turns; when you turn "DROP" your outside shoulder; it should feel like a reverse shrug; just relax you shoulder muscle so the shoulder drops. This is the same thing you do on racing motorcycles and snowmobiles you have to lean OUT ever so slightly on the turn; this is the opposite of what you do on a road bike. This is the #1 thing DF riders do wrong; they want to lean in to the turn; and coast; at which point they start to fall into the ground. Took watching several struggle to figure that out. This was a hard learned lesson that Bill paid for with his ankle injury. Those that came later owe him one for that.

7) After you can do the shoulder drop; do some pedaling figure-8's. Start big and work smaller; go Both directions; one side will be way easier that the other; that is you dominate side. Make note if it's easier to go left or right. Pedal through the turns if you feel tipping. This is the first bike you've had that you can pedal through any turn. You may have to slam a foot down on your weak direction the first few times.

8 ) Now consider your #7 results. If you turn left and it feels like you will fall into the ground then your right foot is dominate; if you feel like when you turn right you will fall into the ground then you left foot is dominate. If you feel like you are going to fall doing both you are a freak and need to continue practicing #7. Using your dominate foot Practice your up hill starts using this technique

http://cruzbike.com/looking-riding-tips-toe-clips-or-snap-shoes-general-...

After you can do the hill starts you are ready for riding out of the parking lot.

 

[Jeremy S]

What seat position is general

What seat position is general the best when first learning to ride this bike?

As upright as you can get it. Sitting up gives you more control of your balance.

Can anyone explain in layman's terms the physics involved that causes this bike to be so different than a conventional bike to ride. I can ride a unicycle and keep a regular bike upright while not rolling so I don't think my sense of balance is lacking.

Well I've never ridden a unicycle and I don't think I'll ever try! Kudos on that.

Recumbents have a couple of difficulties: you are oriented more horizontally so you have less ability to shift your weight around and control your balance. On your unicycle and regular bike, I'm sure you are more vertically oriented. Also, putting the pedals up off the ground in front of you makes launching harder, since you get no help from gravity. I test rode a Bacchetta once (pedals posititoned very high) and found it incredibly difficult to launch.

Cruzbikes are a bit better than some recumbents in that the pedals can be lower (overlapping the front wheel is OK), but they have a quirk in that the pedals are attached to the steering, which really takes some getting used to.

If possible your first learning experiences should be on a shallow downward slope, with your feet off the pedals, near the ground. Only put your feet up once you feel comfortable coasting downhill.

I learned to ride a Sofrider several years ago and it was fun but definitely tricky at first.

 

[baerly]

Taking the the great advice

Taking the the great advice in the two above posts, I moved the seat back to the most upright position. I also moved the seat back to the rear-most position. I thought the handling might improve with a little less weight on the front wheel.

I was running out of daylight so instead going back to the parking lot down the street I just practiced starting and turning in my L-shaped 60 yard, level drive-way. I felt pretty good on the bike. Definitely less tense and more confident. I got the feel of what 1 happyreader said about dropping the outside shoulder. It sounded counter-intuitive but it worked.

Thanks for the tips. I'll keep at it until it feels natural.

 

[Kim Tolhurst]

a good watch

www.cruzbiking.com.au First Ride

head up, don't look at your peddles.

I was second person to ride the cruzbike proto type after seeing the designer ride it for 5 minutes. to disengage my brain I automatically started whistling and hey and away.

everybody is different, relax works.

Kim.

 

[Eric Winn]

Head up like Kim said but

Head up like Kim said but besides not looking at the pedals don't look too closely toward the ground in front of the bike, especially in turns. Look further ahead in your future flight path. Just dipping your head can make the bike behave differently and when you do this at slow speed you'll tend to follow the direction toward which your head is dipping.

Head dip controlled turns come in handy later though, especially for ultra long distances when you are getting tired. And of course being tired an unwanted head dip can again result in an unintended turning input. The affect is more acute the more the seat is leaned back.

-Eric

 

[baerly]

Riding a straight line is best practice

I took the Softrider to a paved side road with very light traffic yesterday and just rode the mile back and forth a few times. For me, this seems to be the best method for getting the hang of the bike. I was able to just relax and ride smoothly 90% of the time.

I'll tackle figure eights and other practice maneuvers after I am really comfortable riding a straight line.

Because my goal is to ride on gravel roads, I put mountain bike tires on. I remain somewhat skeptical that I will be able to ride a line as accurately as is required for the gravel roads in my area. On my regular mountain bike I often must stay in a path the width of a pick-up tire in order to stay out of the loose-packed deep gravel.

We'll see....

 

[Jeremy S]

Hi Bryan, that does sound

Hi Bryan, that does sound tricky however I encourage you to have patience and continue to practice. It really is possible to ride these bikes in a straight line and you will improve with time. My experience on my Sofrider was vastly different after the first few weeks on the bike.

 

[baerly]

Thanks for the encouragement

Thanks for the encouragement Jeremy.

 

[baerly]

I am providing a progress

I am providing a progress report for any current or future new riders.

My 32 year-old son took one look at my Softrider and knew he had to have a go. After a few wobbly failures he swerved his way down the length of my driveway and that was his best effort. He thinks it has promise though.

This weekend, after scoffing at the boys for claiming the bike was hard to ride, my wife announce she was going to hop on and ride off. Before I could catch up with her, she rode down the driveway, into the yard and around the house. She handed the bike off to me and, without saying a word, gave me the clear message that I needed to just ride the thing.

So a rode eight miles yesterday, including four miles on gravel. The gravel roads are currently virtually free of loose gravel so I still don't know what to expect when they have been recently graded but it should be okay.

 

[Kim Tolhurst]

wish I had been there.

what a lovely laugh.

K.

 

[Eric Winn]

Sounds like you need his and

Sounds like you need his and hers Sofriders!

?-Eric

 

[baerly]

For the benefit of any new or

For the benefit of any new or potential Cruzbike riders that might be perusing this thread I provide the following update:
I am comfortable on the Softrider when on a relatively smooth surface. Chunky loose gravel is still a bit of a thrill but it is obvious the bike can handle it with a more experienced rider.

We have had some particularly windy conditions here lately which have hindered the growth of my confidence. I plan some longer (for me about 20 miles) gravel rides this weekend and really look forward to every chance I have to ride this great new bike.

By the way Eric, if I can get my wife to start competing with me for time on the Softrider, that will be all the excuse I need buy a Silvio.

 

[Kim Tolhurst]

ON GRAVEL

50 lb - 60 lb, pressure in the tires is helpfull. 100 lb is best on pavement,

cheers,

Kim.

 

[baerly]

Good advice Kim.  I put 2

Good advice Kim. I put 2 inch wide mountain bike tires on the Softrider. They are rated 35 to 65 lbs. and i have them around 40.

During my ride yesterday, the wind was gusting at over 30 mph. I came to a section of gravel road that had just been graded. On a down hill section while coasting at about 18 mph, I suddenly lost control and was barely able to stay up.

I took it easy the rest of the way home but in the last mile the bike developed some give in the steering. When I got home I made sure everything was tightened down and cant find the problem. Maybe this isn't the recumbent solution to gravel grinding?

 

[Charles.Plager]

When you feel like you're

When you feel like you're losing control, take your feet off of the pedals and let your arms take over. You won't need to do this for very long, but it's very helpful in the beginning.

 

[Kim Tolhurst]

Also

Tire pressure too low on gravel you then have to control too much 'give' in the tire. I discovered this and did further testing on pavement with lower than recommended tire pressure also. Your tire might be too big for this use on a Sofrider being front wheel drive where by the tire floats over the gravel and tries to get purchase. I used the standard tire and noticed it found grip underneath the gravelly surface. See how you go and you most likely know that this model bike has been used on a round the world trip, a lot of no pavement, right?

best,

Kim.

 

[baerly]

I very much appreciate Kim's


I very much appreciate Kim's advice about gravel tires. My experience on D-frame bikes is that wider tires provide more stability on deep, loose gravel. I can bomb down hills on my mountain bike with 2 inch tires, spinning out in 27th gear. When I try this on my wife's hybrid, with thinner tires, it is a recipe for disaster.

My problems on the Softrider have occurred on down-hill sections with freshly graded deep gravel.Because drive-traction is not an issue while going down hill I don't understand how the Softrider's added weight on the front wheel would make it more stable with thinner tires in theses conditions.

I would appreciate additional opinions regarding the best tires more a Softrider on gravel.

 

[MrSteve]

Gravel

The gravel driveway I used to ride on was a tenth of a mile long.
It had a short steep hill with some loose, deep spots but was overall a nice road.

Gravel is what it is and until you learn where the best paths in the gravel road are,
you ought to be pretty cautious.

If you are an experienced off-road rider, you will have learned that carrying
speed is your friend.
If you are inexperienced off-road, you will have learned that going fast
will get you into trouble very quickly.

The best basic advice is to get off-road experience!
You know, ride.

Your tire choice will be up to you and your riding style.
If you ride off-road most of the time, then choose an off-road style.
You know, big, soft and knobby.

If you ride on dry, smooth, paved macadam most of the time, then choose a low profile,
high-pressure tire with a smoother and less aggressive tread design.

My Sofrider is shod with higher pressure slick tires, because I do most of my riding on
dry, smooth and paved roads.
They worked on the gravel, too... but I'm pretty good off-road.

While you are learning how to ride your Sofrider in the gravel,
sit as upright in the seat as you comfortably can.
Also, sit forward and upright in your seat when you're pedaling uphill,
to both minimise wheel slip and maximize your low-speed control.

Finally, riding your Sofrider will teach you a lot more than will THINKING about riding your Sofrider.

Have fun,

Steve

 

[baerly]

I've given up on the

I've given up on the Softrider for the gravel. I'm totally comfortable on pavement so I will gradually get it set up again for regular roads. It definitely has to have up-graded components; especially the front derailleur. As others have mentioned, the chain falls off if you do no not carefully ease it from one sprocket to the other, regardless of adjustments.

This has been a disappointing experience.