Recent content by billyk

Same here. Thor easy since I got my first edition Q45 in 2019. I’m only 185 but I’d say I ride it pretty hard: over curbs and potholes and whatever city streets dish out.

Nope. Not Ringling. I co-founded a juggling troupe in California (state and county fairs, rock concerts … lot of wild stories I will not tell here), but spent most of my performing time with the Pickle Family Circus, who toured the west coast and did a season in London. We were one of the early...

Yup. Even though I’ve been following CB for more than a decade, I learned stuff. But I also noticed that @Maria Parker said she likes the challenge of new skills and is learning to ride a “one wheel”, I’m assuming that means unicycle. Way way back I spent a decade as a circus acrobat, mostly...

Some wisdom from @Always-Learnin here. Maybe it’s the bottom bracket but consider something simpler before buying a bunch of tools you probably won’t use very much. Spokes can be the cause of infuriating clicking and creaking. And the noise can travel and appear to come from anywhere on the...

I agree with @castlerobber on both points: I had a Q2.0 with front suspension that didn’t do much and made the steering feel loose. And upgrading the spring shock to an air shock (Kind RR1-A5) is a major improvement In the ride. The response is less bouncy and the frame stiffens. They cost...

4-6 degrees, wide knobby tires, yes. 10 degrees or more, well, maybe. Probably not, in any case it would be a source of continued worry and likely frustration as you’d be slipping and then walking on at least some of them. Sorry to be a bringdown, but my experience (more than 20k Q miles...

This is about the Kind A5-RR1 air shock, right? We've had a bunch of discussions here about this over the years, with the strong consensus that the shock gives a better ride (less bouncy), stiffened the bike frame (less energy loss due to flex), and is a helluva lot lighter. Also more...

The wheels will be the limiting factor. Long ago I traveled with my Q559 in a plastic hard shell suitcase that was airline-legal (not oversize), but those 559 wheels are smaller than 650s I think. They barely fit in. Very awkward packing wheels!

Joining the chorus ... It was something like 600km when I started to feel comfortable on - at that time - first-gen Quest. Double that before I felt like I "owned" the bike. Willing to mix it up in urban traffic. But once you get it, you got it. It'll be just like, I don't know, riding a bike.

Yup. Good advice. Make sure you’re in a low gear when you attack a hill. Then go one lower. Without being able to stand up on the pedals you’ll find yourself mashing and that ain’t good for knees. I also agree with the short crank advice above.

Yup. Treat it like the thrill of learning to ride a bike like when you were 5.

FYI Australia, not NZ. John Tolhurst (designer of the original Cruzbikes and a remarkably wide range of other innovations) lives and works in Perth. Every once in a while he pops into these forums. Google will tell you more about his interests, bikes being only one of many.

As important as your printer is the software you'll need to design your models. I use Sketchup, but am becoming disenchanted with its ever-increasing price since they went to a subscription model. There's a huge range of capabilities and price, but I hesitate to hijack this forum with such a...

I’m pretty sure it doesn’t matter which way it’s installed. That is, there’s no “upside down”.

Yeah, but you’ll figure it out like all the rest of us. We have all levels of riders here. No high level skills needed, though some here (not me) do have those skills. It took me weeks before I was comfortable in close traffic. But once you do get it, these are fun bikes to ride. After...