Technical downhill singletrack!

[Manalive]

Sunday 20th March, I finally got to test the Cruzbike V2/K on some proper downhill single track, on our annual office outing to North Wales

The Marin trail, near Betws-y-Coed, is graded 'Red', i.e., "difficult, for proficient mountain bikers with good off road riding skills. Suitable for better quality off-road mountain bikes. Mostly singletrack with technical sections. Expect very variable surface types. A wide range of climbs and descents of a challenging nature will be present." The general opinion was that I was (a) crazy and (b) going to die, or at the very least suffer serious injuries.

Result: I'm alive! Only 2 of the group were actually proficient mountain-bikers, so they were rather quicker than any of us on the descents, but the Cruzbike was as fast as any of the rest. I had to walk the bike on a few of the very steepest/loosest climbs (due to loss of traction!), but I was walking the bike a lot less than some of the others on 'normal' mountain bikes Some of that was because I wasn't experienced enough to maintain momentum over short climbs on the singletrack sections.

Once, I wasn't travelling fast enough over a dip, the front wheel dropped in, the bike tipped up and (somehow!) I ended up on my feet, unhurt, in front of the bike. I'm sure I'd have landed on my head, on a normal mountain bike...

The best things about having used the recumbent:
- being able to power the front wheel over rocks/obstacles (stops it digging in, as it can on a RWD mountain bike)
- not having to worry about flying downhill head-first
- blasting past everyone on the fast road descent to Betws-y-Coed at the end
- the comments of "You did the entire Marin trail on THAT?!" from the guys at the bike hire shop!

Things that might make the Cruzbike better at this:
- softer rear suspension is vital (the bike was bouncing round a LOT on the steep rocky descents).
- a slightly longer wheelbase might help with traction on the climbs.
- a more laid-back front suspension may help with the descents.
- if it can be made lighter, it'll be easier to push

Conclusion: keeping up with the 'normal' bikes definitely counted as a success in everyone's book! John Tolhurst, you seem to have been going down the road/TT-bike trend with your development. Someone now needs to design something with similar ergonomics, but a lightweight frame with a slightly longer wheelbase, soft long-travel rear suspension, and a slightly more laid-back headset with a custom long-travel fork...

 

[JonB]

Thanks for your report. I have been thinking about converting my Freerider to off-road now that I got a Mango velomobile for commuting and road cycling. Which tires do you use? how wide are they?

 

[Manalive]

Hi Jon,

Slightly odd - feel that we're carrying on 2 separate conversations at once, on the same topic, on two different forums

May as well post a full spec:

- Tyres: Bontrager, 2 1/8 ". Just standard off-the-shelf off-road tyres. Can't vouch for them being the best choice! Note: I've found that they won't allow the rear wheel to slide normally out of the rear dropouts when fully inflated. John, a slightly longer frame would fix this!

- Gears: Shimano Deore. I'm using very high gearing for a mountain bike: a 48/36/26 chainset and an 11-28 9-speed cassette. My logic was that I wanted the full aerodynamically-assisted top-end for road use, and that lower gears would be pointless because I'd lose traction on any hill steep enough to need them. The logic worked! I used 26/28 a lot, but never found I wanted anything lower. 48/11 is high enough that I rarely spin out while cycling round town

- Fork: RockShox Dart 3, reversed. I think they cope fine.

- Rear shock: standard Cruzbike item. I think this was to blame for a distinct bounciness (the others commented on this). I'm keeping an eye out for a decent airshock in the sales. It's been noted before on this forum that upgrading to a decent air shock is worthwhile for rough terrain!

- Handlebars: light aluminium Raleigh North Road item, reversed, with the shortest stem I could find. Was a bit worried about how strong it is, but then, you won't put all your weight on it as you would with a mountain bike. I've never used the standard Sofrider or Freeerider handlebar styles, but I like the position of the grips on the North Road. It's a little bit of a stretch when fully-back, but that gives you plenty of room to hunch forward on the climbs! I must admit, I can still feel the muscles in the inside of my upper arms...

- Pedals: as the day wore on, I was having increasing difficulty clipping in (probably due to mud build-up), which was NOT fun. In future, it might be an idea to switch the pop-ups for SPD-only ones: I don't know for sure whether that would help, though.

 

[JonB]

Manalive wrote: Hi Jon,

Slightly odd - feel that we're carrying on 2 separate conversations at once, on the same topic, on two different forums

I know, but at least I do not duplicate the questions. I use bentrideronline to tap into Richards experience.

Manalive wrote: - Gears: Shimano Deore. I'm using very high gearing for a mountain bike: a 48/36/26 chainset and an 11-28 9-speed cassette. My logic was that I wanted the full aerodynamically-assisted top-end for road use, and that lower gears would be pointless because I'd lose traction on any hill steep enough to need them. The logic worked! I used 26/28 a lot, but never found I wanted anything lower. 48/11 is high enough that I rarely spin out while cycling round town

I can see the point for that, I have Rohloff on mine. I am thinking of toying with Schlumpf belt drive system to avoid getting my pants dirty and to have a clean "chain" which indifferent to mud.

Manalive wrote: - Fork: RockShox Dart 3, reversed. I think they cope fine.

Aha, this explains a lot. I have a stock Cruzbike Freerider and I think the front suspension is far too hard to be useful off-road. Now I know I have to give up on using my Cruzbike off-road.

Manalive wrote: - Rear shock: standard Cruzbike item. I think this was to blame for a distinct bounciness (the others commented on this). I'm keeping an eye out for a decent airshock in the sales. It's been noted before on this forum that upgrading to a decent air shock is worthwhile for rough terrain!

yes it does bounce, maybe I should change mine, but without a better front, I think it is a moot point.

Manalive wrote: - Pedals: as the day wore on, I was having increasing difficulty clipping in (probably due to mud build-up), which was NOT fun. In future, it might be an idea to switch the pop-ups for SPD-only ones: I don't know for sure whether that would help, though.

I have SPD on one side and regular platform on the other side.

 

[currystomper]

...nice, but not too technical

I had been thinking of up grading my conversion, but its ability on green lanes is what stops me from going down the "Silivo" route. I definitively haven't tried anything too technical - but I might now that I've seen your report. This track was quite cut up just a bit further down - but the conversion coped very well.

...The dog walkers I meet looked really surprised to see a recumbent on the trail!!

;-)

CS

 

[John Tolhurst]

Manalive wrote: Things that might make the Cruzbike better at this:
- softer rear suspension is vital (the bike was bouncing round a LOT on the steep rocky descents).
- a slightly longer wheelbase might help with traction on the climbs.
- a more laid-back front suspension may help with the descents.

Really great report to see what you have been doing.

Those three things could be achieved with a longer swingarm.