The guys I blew by were stunned, this is one crazy bike.

[John Tolhurst]

I thought I might share this correspondence with a lady Silvio owner (yes, guys, don't think you got Silvio all to yourselves!!!), perhaps she will add her own comments directly in time. The final solution she mentions refers to the boom which is under a redesign to guarantee good front derailleur shifting for all leg lengths. -- John.


Hi John,

Thanks so much for the update ... it's good to hear from you. I'm very glad that you've enjoyed my praise ... and sorry I was so angry initially. I was disappointed, and scared. This was a huge investment for me, and for awhile it looked like there was no solution. I can imagine how it must have made you feel. Anyway, I hope my heartfelt praise has made up for that. I just cannot say enough about this bike. You have a faithful fan. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

My ride starts on July 26th so I doubt that we can make that deadline. If that's correct, not to worry. I'm fine with riding it this way for now. I am confident that the bike will perform very well for me. I am, however, very much looking forward to a final solution so thank you very much for keeping the ball rolling.

Yes, please go ahead and post my letter if you have time. I am swamped until the beginning of August. I hope to post photos at that time.

On July 4th, my friends and I did a 70 mile ride supported ride. The Silvio got a fair amount of attention. The guys I blew by were stunned. It was a wonderful ride and once again the bike really zoomed. And as I get stronger, I believe I'll be able to continue to increase my uphill speed so I don't think I've come close to maxing out the potential this bike provides.

I received business cards and flyers from Jim. I do intend to take them with me. You're sure to get some comments from riders, and hopefully some business. I think there are around 250 riders that week. Should be fun

I was wondering if you know what I can do to keep the rubber trim on my bike. It keeps working it's way loose and ends up trailing behind the bike sometimes. I guess I could just glue it on or maybe just put a dab on the front where it starts to come loose.

Thanks much,

Leslie
-----------------------------
Hello Leslie,

I am talking to our manufacturer today about your new boom, checking cable stopper positions, etc. as it is being welded.

Thanks for this email. Its been a huge amount of work to realise the Silvio and the happy messages from customers like yourself make it
worthwhile, I doubt we would have progressed this far without the encouragement, so please know how appreciated it is.

Do you have any objection to me posting this email to our forum, or would you like to do that? http://www.cruzbike.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=3

If you have photos, this is the link to the Silvio Brag Board http://www.cruzbike.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=7

Best regards,
John Tolhurst
-----------------------------
Hi John, Jim and Maria,

Well since I've had my odometer put on the bike, I've logged in 394 miles. Pretty much been riding on my own, getting used to the Silvio. First group ride was last weekend. We did a 50 mile ride with hard hills. Although I was not the fastest going uphill, I was in the middle of the pack. With my other recumbent, I would have easily been 20 minutes behind, riding alone. But the amazing thing was how this bike eats rollers. It certainly screams downhill. But when I hit a hill, I already had so much momentum that I could crank up all the rollers, hardly losing momentum. I made it back to the car at least 10 minutes ahead of everyone! That's NEVER happened. This is one crazy bike. My friends were more than impressed. I have several hardcore bike friends who just cannot bring themselves to consider a recumbent though they should ... degenerating disks and sore backsides. The Silvio really caught their attention and respect. They've never seen me ride like this. It's a wonderful bike.

With the hills I climb, I am very glad to have the triple. I do need it. I use my granny gear often enough on difficult hills. The bracket is working fine though I will be glad to have the new boom. I am having to adjust my gears fairly frequently which leads me to believe the bracket is not an absolutely perfect fit. Any news on the new boom? It would sure be nice to have for my July ride. Please John ... any chance? Also, as I said before and judging by the ride last weekend, I expect to get quite a lot of attention on the ride in July through Washington. If you would like me to hand out cards or information, feel free to send it along. I would be honored.

Leslie Bushnell
Silvio convert/Fast riding

 

[Mark B]

Cool beans. Come on, Leslie, register for the board and talk to us. Pictures are good.

Mark

 

[hardtdavid]

Re: The guys I blew by were stunned..rubber trim

I assume she is talking about the seat edge trim. The same thing happens on the Sofrider V1. I think this is from when the rider has legs/feet to the ground, walking the bike forward a bit.

Her idea of a spot of glue (liquid nails, et al) is probably the standard solution, yah? Or does someone have something better?

 

[Mark B]

Re: The guys I blew by were stunned..rubber trim

hardtdavid wrote: I assume she is talking about the seat edge trim. The same thing happens on the Sofrider V1. I think this is from when the rider has legs/feet to the ground, walking the bike forward a bit.

Her idea of a spot of glue (liquid nails, et al) is probably the standard solution, yah? Or does someone have something better?

I used automotive trim adhesive, which is basically a contact cement. You put some inside the trim and a bead around the lip of the seat. Allow the adhesive to dry and then, working very quickly, put the trim onto the seat.

Jack will probably chime in here, but I think he used plumber's caulk, or something. He did something different than I; Jack rolled his trim all the way around the front of the seat. I'm thinking this helps it to stay on better. I haven't had any issues with my conversion's trim, but my Silvio was different because I cut the trim right where the pan is welded to the main frame.

Mark

 

[MrSteve]

Girls ride recumbents...?
:twisted:
Seriously, cool story.

I got tired of trying different adhesives on the seat trim, and having those adhesives fail.
So, I drilled a few holes in the seat pan, adjacent to the problem trim,
and lashed the trim to the seat pan.
Problem solved.

The trim on my Sofrider's seat was pulling away from the very top of the seat pan, where
the bicycle rests when it's upside-down.

-Steve

 

[defjack]

Goop worked for me. Its a silicon and dries like glue. Jack

 

[MailSeanBell]

I took it all off and sharpened it down to a razors edge except in the places where I touch it. This way no one else can ride it without having their legs cut off :twisted:

Actually, it hasn't been a problem yet.

 

[zoomtobe]

Okay ... you all convinced me to sign on so here I am!

Thanks so much for the tips about the trim. At this point, I think I'll try the easiest solution and go with the super glue. It's not a huge problem in fact it didn't even come lose at all on my ride today. But once I was riding and heard some slapping behind me, and yup ... the trim was sailing behind me.

So since I signed on, I've been reading some of your comments and looking at some outstanding photos of other Silvios. So tomorrow I'm going to clean her up and takes some photos to share with all of you. I LOVE my Silvio!

Also, good tip about the hill climbing shoulder thing. I think I just learned to do the same thing a couple of weeks ago, except I think of it more as crunching my abs, sinking my lower back into the seat and voila, your shoulders move closer to the handle bars. And just today, I also noticed on my ride up my training hill, that when I did crunched my abs AND concentrated on pulling more with my feet, I increased my speed quite a bit and it acutally felt easier. Pretty cool. And my training hill is long ... 10 miles of nothing but an uphill grind! Really, really fun to come down though!!

Leslie - zoom-to-be

 

[Mark B]

Welcome and thanks for sharing!

Mark

 

[JonB]

zoomtobe wrote: Also, good tip about the hill climbing shoulder thing. I think I just learned to do the same thing a couple of weeks ago, except I think of it more as crunching my abs, sinking my lower back into the seat and voila, your shoulders move closer to the handle bars. And just today, I also noticed on my ride up my training hill, that when I did crunched my abs AND concentrated on pulling more with my feet, I increased my speed quite a bit and it acutally felt easier. Pretty cool. And my training hill is long ... 10 miles of nothing but an uphill grind! Really, really fun to come down though!!

Could you or someone else make a demonstration video of how to do it?

 

[Kamatu]

You mean simply discarding the trim until I feel like dealing with it isn't and acceptable solution?

As for how to do it: I simply lean forward, mash a bit on the pedals and violate the cardinal rule for learning to ride on the Cruzbike, I fight the pedal steer with my arms. It took some doing, but that is really the trick, do the wrong thing (fight the pedal steer with your arms) the right way at the correct time.