Choosing a y-frame bike for converting to a Cruzbike Recumbent

When choosing a bike for the conversion, pay attention to the following notes:

1. Low cross bar height makes for a comfortable seat position
2. Traditional style seat clamp fits the Cruzbike Seat support rails
3. 17" frame, rather than 19" gives a lower centre of gravity
4. Alloy chainwheel and cranks reduce the weight on the front triangle
5. 22.2mm (7/8") stem (requires you buy an ahead adapter), or threadless stem 28.6mm
6. Linear pull V brakes are best, not centre pull or cantilever type
7. 26" x 1.5" or x 1.25" high pressure road tyres are much much better than knobby tires
8. Fork leg is aligned with axle, is slightly better than offset, because fork leg has easier clearance to the wheel sprokets
9. Standard style fork crown - the motorbike style triple clamp is too wide

Will the conversion work on my/this/that mountain bike?

There are hundreds of kinds of mountain bikes out there. Can you find a link that shows a picture of this model? The best place to ask is on our forum, as the collective experience now exceeds our own and we read every post there anyhow. Please post a link to the conversion candidate that interests you in our forum.  We actively participate in the forum like others to be able to see what new conversions are coming through. There are some surprising and wonderful stories there, for doing the conversion and for making special modifications.

What about disc brakes?

Some otherwise-suitable donor bikes come equipped with disc brakes. When you use the front fork adapters to mount the rear wheel on the front, the fork legs occupy the space that the disc would need to operate in. So, unfortunately, disc brakes don't work on a converted bike, at least not on the front. We don't really recommend using discs on the rear alone because they will be hard to balance against front V-brakes or road calipers.