Getting Off the Fence

GetBent

Well-Known Member
Thanks folks for posting the build diaries. The "Ratz" spread sheet was huge.

A brief history...

I used to ride a lot, to include a 6 day, 700 mile trip. Due to wrist pain and numbness in the hands, stopped riding except for commuting. Fast forward - friends wanted me to ride with them, but I found it very difficult to keep up on my commuter (a hybrid - not a road bike, not a mountain bike, sort of in between, loaded down with all that necessary commuter stuff). So I "needed" a fast bike to keep up, and picked up a Specialized Tarmac Pro. Wow! What a huge difference, that thing was designed for one thing, and one thing only, going fast. I put aero bars on it to avoid the wrist/hand issues. You can see where this is going, can't you? At about the 6 year mark with the Tarmac, I started having serious shoulder and neck pain. The day I got off the Tarmac and had tingling and numbness from the neck, through the right shoulder, down the arm to my fingers was the day I decided to switch to a recumbent.

After test riding several high end recumbents (after all, this will be my "go fast" bike), I decided spending a pile of $$ on a recumbent was a seriously dumb thing to do. I really did not know how to ride one, did not know what to look for in a recumbent, did not know if I would like riding one, and did not know if it would solve the pain issues. So I bought an old Action Bent off of Craigs List. I chose the Action Bent because the body position was similar to the high end recumbents that I hoped I would eventually buy. And at $270.00, if I hated it, so what? After I got reasonably adept at riding it, I did Tour de Blast. It took me about 4 hours longer than on the Tarmac. Not sure if it was the weight (35 lbs vs 19 lbs), the fat tires, the low end drive train, lack of experience, not having "bent" legs or all of the above.

Decision Time

I like the elegance of the Silvio rear suspension, but do not want to spend the weight on the front suspension. Where I live, I have no place to go but up, so I am a little sensitive to weight. I am leaning heavily towards a Vendetta. I suppose we will never see a Vendetta with a "Silvio like" rear suspension.

Decisions, decisions. Buy factory built, used, or build my own? What to do with the Tarmac? Strip the gear off and put it on a Vendetta frame (probably my least expensive option), or sell it complete and put the $$ into a Vendetta build?

My general outlook, the bike needs to be fast enough to keep up with my friends, as light as practical (cost factors heavily on "practical", I want to drop 10 lbs from the Action Bent weight), easy to live with (low/easy maintenance, parts and support availability), robust (perhaps I should say "not fragile") and quiet (the noise from the idler wheels drives me nuts).

Potential Drivetrains

NuVinci wth belt drive

The good:

1) Simple, 2) Low maintenance, 3) Quiet, 4) Will always be able to stay at the cadence I want, 5) No need to futz around changing chain rings and cassettes to get a comfortable gear range, 6) No losing momentum when downshifting the FD while going uphill , 7) It is fun do things a little differently, 8) It would look cool.

The bad:

1) More difficult to change the front tire, 2) No data on drive train efficiency 3) Weight - 2.4 Kg!!! 4) "Cool" becomes silly and pretentious when the chunky chick on the Huffy out climbs me because of the weight, 5) If this was such a great idea, one of you would have done it already.

The Verdict:

The dark horse in this race, primarily due to the weight.

Rohloff with chain drive

The good:

All above except 4 and 8.

The bad:

1) More difficult to change the front tire, 2) About 2% drive train efficiency loss, 3) About 20% heavier than a conventional drive train, 4) No control over the gear ratios. With the NuVinci, it is infinitely variable, with a standard drive train, I can swap out chain rings and cassettes to get gearing I am comfortable with. It took three iterations of chain rings, and two cassettes for me to be happy with the Tarmac. If I can not get comfortable with the gear ratios of the Rohloff, I am pretty much toast.

The Verdict:

A strong contender.

Shimano Di2

The good:

A known quantity. Similar to the Dura Ace on the Tarmac, except electronic shifting.

The bad:

Also a known quantity. All the stuff we complain about.

The verdict:

In the lead by a nose, but this race ain't over.

My wallet is cowering in a corner quivering. Somebody please talk me out of this.
 

Jeremy S

Dude
I like the elegance of the Silvio rear suspension, but do not want to spend the weight on the front suspension. Where I live, I have no place to go but up, so I am a little sensitive to weight. I am leaning heavily towards a Vendetta. I suppose we will never see a Vendetta with a "Silvio like" rear suspension.
FYI, the newest Silvio does not have a front suspension.
 

ratz

Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
In the lead by a nose, but this race ain't over.

Welcome Welcome....

What Jeremy S said; the new S30 has no suspension; and sits at 33 degrees and will climb really nicely. There is no weight penalty the nose of the V20 and S30 is now the same completely. This now actually differentiates the bike more than when the S30 was suspended.

Rohloff, Nuvinci; not worth the hassle will not really work well on an S30/V20 have been tried with Luke warm results. Save you bucks and the weight respectively. (I was one of the first people to put a N360 no a trike and actually do many many many miles on it; I know what the Nuvinci is all about; and it would never make it on anything but a QX100 in my garage).

Di2 and Etap are indeed the pinnacle but gosh a SRAM Rival or Apex drive train is dirt cheap. IF you don't do Di2/Etap and you don't get a Power Meter you can almost afford both an S30 and V20 with the same funds as a tricked out V20. So always consider that.

Lastly Know what you are building for; I've got 5 kids and run a business; I put stupid expensive things on my bikes so that they require the least amount of hassle before during and after the ride. I have so little time to ride I can't waste it; and I have to keep the bikes for the other 6 ppl in the house working so I spend to make it easier. You don't have to do what I do to have a great bike and you can always upgrade later. Also note I spend a huge amount of time in the winters trying to prefigure out how this crap works and doesn't so that in summer I can just ride; so if you do go with the stuff I've posted; don't be afraid to ask questions no need for other people to repeat my mistakes; I'd rather have you find new ones of your own so I can learn from yet.

Again welcome. Mental Specing is half the fun; enjoy it.
 
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LarryOz

Cruzeum Curator & Sigma Wrangler
I like the elegance of the Silvio rear suspension, but do not want to spend the weight on the front suspension. Where I live, I have no place to go but up, so I am a little sensitive to weight. I am leaning heavily towards a Vendetta. I suppose we will never see a Vendetta with a "Silvio like" rear suspension.
Getbent:
I have had both a Silvio and a Vendetta, and currently ride a Vendetta V20. It is so fast it is scary and truthfully it is so fast that I don't even have to ride hard to keep up with the A group rides where I live.
I can embarrass them anytime I want, but usually don't until the very end.

I almost wish I had a Silvio so I could work just a little harder to keep up, plus being more elevated in the seat would make me more "approachable" and easier to converse with when riding with uprights in the groups.
It's partly what you want to do with the bike. I love to race and go as fast as I can, so I have a Vendetta. ;)
As far as the suspension and ride quality is concerned between the 2 bikes (Silvio - Vendetta). My 2 cents is that a Vendetta with 28mm ProOnes at 85 psi is every bit as smooth and takes bumps just as nice as a stock Silvio with Gatorskins and tubes.
 

DavidCH

In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
The new Silvio sounds fab. I haven't ridden it. But as soon as I get my money together it's going to be on the new V20. I have been told it's 5mph faster than the Vendetta 2 which use to be a world record holder. I find the V2 scary fast so the the V20 is awesome.

The vendetta can be really comfortable too but the seat is more reclined.

The Silvio S30 is 30 degrees
The Vendetta V20 is 20 degrees

The more aero you are the more you are like a speeding bullet.

It's so fast that you will always be out in front.

(Unless you are with Larry)

So once in a while it's good to flock together.
 

DavidCH

In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
Thanks folks for posting the build diaries. The "Ratz" spread sheet was huge.

A brief history...

I used to ride a lot, to include a 6 day, 700 mile trip. Due to wrist pain and numbness in the hands, stopped riding except for commuting. Fast forward - friends wanted me to ride with them, but I found it very difficult to keep up on my commuter (a hybrid - not a road bike, not a mountain bike, sort of in between, loaded down with all that necessary commuter stuff). So I "needed" a fast bike to keep up, and picked up a Specialized Tarmac Pro. Wow! What a huge difference, that thing was designed for one thing, and one thing only, going fast. I put aero bars on it to avoid the wrist/hand issues. You can see where this is going, can't you? At about the 6 year mark with the Tarmac, I started having serious shoulder and neck pain. The day I got off the Tarmac and had tingling and numbness from the neck, through the right shoulder, down the arm to my fingers was the day I decided to switch to a recumbent.

After test riding several high end recumbents (after all, this will be my "go fast" bike), I decided spending a pile of $$ on a recumbent was a seriously dumb thing to do. I really did not know how to ride one, did not know what to look for in a recumbent, did not know if I would like riding one, and did not know if it would solve the pain issues. So I bought an old Action Bent off of Craigs List. I chose the Action Bent because the body position was similar to the high end recumbents that I hoped I would eventually buy. And at $270.00, if I hated it, so what? After I got reasonably adept at riding it, I did Tour de Blast. It took me about 4 hours longer than on the Tarmac. Not sure if it was the weight (35 lbs vs 19 lbs), the fat tires, the low end drive train, lack of experience, not having "bent" legs or all of the above.

Decision Time

I like the elegance of the Silvio rear suspension, but do not want to spend the weight on the front suspension. Where I live, I have no place to go but up, so I am a little sensitive to weight. I am leaning heavily towards a Vendetta. I suppose we will never see a Vendetta with a "Silvio like" rear suspension.

Decisions, decisions. Buy factory built, used, or build my own? What to do with the Tarmac? Strip the gear off and put it on a Vendetta frame (probably my least expensive option), or sell it complete and put the $$ into a Vendetta build?

My general outlook, the bike needs to be fast enough to keep up with my friends, as light as practical (cost factors heavily on "practical", I want to drop 10 lbs from the Action Bent weight), easy to live with (low/easy maintenance, parts and support availability), robust (perhaps I should say "not fragile") and quiet (the noise from the idler wheels drives me nuts).

Potential Drivetrains

NuVinci wth belt drive

The good:

1) Simple, 2) Low maintenance, 3) Quiet, 4) Will always be able to stay at the cadence I want, 5) No need to futz around changing chain rings and cassettes to get a comfortable gear range, 6) No losing momentum when downshifting the FD while going uphill , 7) It is fun do things a little differently, 8) It would look cool.

The bad:

1) More difficult to change the front tire, 2) No data on drive train efficiency 3) Weight - 2.4 Kg!!! 4) "Cool" becomes silly and pretentious when the chunky chick on the Huffy out climbs me because of the weight, 5) If this was such a great idea, one of you would have done it already.

The Verdict:

The dark horse in this race, primarily due to the weight.

Rohloff with chain drive

The good:

All above except 4 and 8.

The bad:

1) More difficult to change the front tire, 2) About 2% drive train efficiency loss, 3) About 20% heavier than a conventional drive train, 4) No control over the gear ratios. With the NuVinci, it is infinitely variable, with a standard drive train, I can swap out chain rings and cassettes to get gearing I am comfortable with. It took three iterations of chain rings, and two cassettes for me to be happy with the Tarmac. If I can not get comfortable with the gear ratios of the Rohloff, I am pretty much toast.

The Verdict:

A strong contender.

Shimano Di2

The good:

A known quantity. Similar to the Dura Ace on the Tarmac, except electronic shifting.

The bad:

Also a known quantity. All the stuff we complain about.

The verdict:

In the lead by a nose, but this race ain't over.

My wallet is cowering in a corner quivering. Somebody please talk me out of this.
If u have the money di2. It comes in many flavours so perhaps it's cheaper just to get the Shimano Ultra Di2 upgrade

I have the manual version and the lever when shifting sometimes catches your finger... Really irritating ... Like it happened to me today. That wouldn't happen with Di2. With the vendetta you will and can ride every day. Recovery is really quick. I do so much cycling it would be beneficial to go with Di2. Now with the summer season ending... There should be better discounts.
 

LarryOz

Cruzeum Curator & Sigma Wrangler
If u have the money di2. It comes in many flavours so perhaps it's cheaper just to get the Shimano Ultra Di2 upgrade
I have the Di2 upgrade: the aero version that has the aero-brakes with the little button on the side for shifting and it has been working very nice for me for almost 2 years.
I also just got a the aero version of SRAM eTap, (which Ratz also has on his V20's), but have not installed or tested them yet.
eTap a little pricier than Di2 - but nicer to not have to have any wires.
Either one is a good choice in my opinion! Good Luck
 

ratz

Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
I have the Di2 upgrade: the aero version that has the aero-brakes with the little button on the side for shifting and it has been working very nice for me for almost 2 years.
I also just got a the aero version of SRAM eTap, (which Ratz also has on his V20's), but have not installed or tested them yet.
eTap a little pricier than Di2 - but nicer to not have to have any wires.
Either one is a good choice in my opinion! Good Luck

We have two of each. I prefer the Etap for ease of install and overall better product. I prefer the Di2 for the mid range derailleur but I almost have that solved on ETAP where we have 11-30T cassettes working at this point. di2 needs to evolve.

Scuttlebutt is that FSA wireless will ship next spring; watch for prices to drop $500 across the board if that happens.
 
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super slim

Zen MBB Master
We have two of each. I prefer the Etap for ease of install and overall better product. I prefer the Di2 for the mid range derailleur but I almost have that solved on ETAP where we have 11-30T cassettes working at this point. di2 needs to evolve.

Scuttlebutt is that FSA wireless will ship next spring; watch for prices to drop $500 across the board if that happens.
That is GOOD news about FSA!!!!! Not that I am cheap!!!
 

super slim

Zen MBB Master
When will we see a build report (with photos!!!) on the FSA electric shifting system??

What bike will you fit it to, as are there ANY bikes in your huge fleet that do NOT have Electric shifting?
 

Robert O

Well-Known Member
Thanks folks for posting the build diaries. The "Ratz" spread sheet was huge.

A brief history...

I used to ride a lot, to include a 6 day, 700 mile trip. Due to wrist pain and numbness in the hands, stopped riding except for commuting. Fast forward - friends wanted me to ride with them, but I found it very difficult to keep up on my commuter (a hybrid - not a road bike, not a mountain bike, sort of in between, loaded down with all that necessary commuter stuff). So I "needed" a fast bike to keep up, and picked up a Specialized Tarmac Pro. Wow! What a huge difference, that thing was designed for one thing, and one thing only, going fast. I put aero bars on it to avoid the wrist/hand issues. You can see where this is going, can't you? At about the 6 year mark with the Tarmac, I started having serious shoulder and neck pain. The day I got off the Tarmac and had tingling and numbness from the neck, through the right shoulder, down the arm to my fingers was the day I decided to switch to a recumbent.

After test riding several high end recumbents (after all, this will be my "go fast" bike), I decided spending a pile of $$ on a recumbent was a seriously dumb thing to do. I really did not know how to ride one, did not know what to look for in a recumbent, did not know if I would like riding one, and did not know if it would solve the pain issues. So I bought an old Action Bent off of Craigs List. I chose the Action Bent because the body position was similar to the high end recumbents that I hoped I would eventually buy. And at $270.00, if I hated it, so what? After I got reasonably adept at riding it, I did Tour de Blast. It took me about 4 hours longer than on the Tarmac. Not sure if it was the weight (35 lbs vs 19 lbs), the fat tires, the low end drive train, lack of experience, not having "bent" legs or all of the above.

Decision Time

I like the elegance of the Silvio rear suspension, but do not want to spend the weight on the front suspension. Where I live, I have no place to go but up, so I am a little sensitive to weight. I am leaning heavily towards a Vendetta. I suppose we will never see a Vendetta with a "Silvio like" rear suspension.

Decisions, decisions. Buy factory built, used, or build my own? What to do with the Tarmac? Strip the gear off and put it on a Vendetta frame (probably my least expensive option), or sell it complete and put the $$ into a Vendetta build?

My general outlook, the bike needs to be fast enough to keep up with my friends, as light as practical (cost factors heavily on "practical", I want to drop 10 lbs from the Action Bent weight), easy to live with (low/easy maintenance, parts and support availability), robust (perhaps I should say "not fragile") and quiet (the noise from the idler wheels drives me nuts).

...

My wallet is cowering in a corner quivering. Somebody please talk me out of this.

End of last summer, I wanted to pick up a better climbing recumbent. I'd done two years on a homebuilt 700c highracer. Nice machine, if I may say so, but about 31 lbs bare. I did two STP's and three RSVP's on that bike, but I have silly rabbit friends who love to scramble up hills. I had met Leif Zimmerman, and I knew he had established the cross state north-south UMCA recumbent record for Washington State on his Vendetta 1.0. I went down to Portland to test ride a Vendetta, and ended up buying a V20 frameset. I picked up a SRAM Red compact double crankset, SRAM Force Yaw 22 FD, SRAM X-7 Mark 2 RD, FSA brake calipers, SRAM TT-500 barcons, and a bullhorn cockpit. I went the mechanical route for affordability, and because all of it was well within my limits as a mechanic. I ended up with a 25 lb bike that runs like no one's business, and after a 12 hour total time STP this year, nothing hurt.

I have yet to do Tour de Blast, are you somewhere up here in the Pacific NW?
 

GetBent

Well-Known Member
FYI, the newest Silvio does not have a front suspension.

Looks like I need to revisit that. My more rational side says to get the suspension, and the more upright seating position will make clearing for traffic easier. Bah! My more emotional side says "Go fast - get the Vendetta". (My "fast" is probably painfully slow for you folks.)
 

GetBent

Well-Known Member
Rohloff, Nuvinci; not worth the hassle will not really work well on an S30/V20 have been tried with Luke warm results. Save you bucks and the weight respectively. (I was one of the first people to put a N360 no a trike and actually do many many many miles on it; I know what the Nuvinci is all about; and it would never make it on anything but a QX100 in my garage).

Thanks, I figured somebody had tried this, but was unable to find any info. Amazing how many things look better on paper than real life.

Di2 and Etap are indeed the pinnacle but gosh a SRAM Rival or Apex drive train is dirt cheap. IF you don't do Di2/Etap and you don't get a Power Meter you can almost afford both an S30 and V20 with the same funds as a tricked out V20. So always consider that.

Nope, no "tricked out" bike for me, just something to fit my needs (wants?). Etap and power meters are out due to cost. I am willing to spend a little extra for what I feel is a worthwhile benefit. I would like to get a power meter and do something like this: Ride at a given power output for an hour, and see how far I get. Do it again at a higher power out, then again, and again. Now I have a base line. Next make a change, and do the rides again. Now I have a measure of performance gain, and could quantify performance gain/cost. That would be fun in a geeky kind of way.


.
 

Tohopko

Member
I know exactly what you mean! I'm over in Cd'A, and struggling over the decision. I've been on recumbents a few years primarily because of cervical disk issues, but also because there is no pain anywhere after a long ride (although I haven't ridden much in the past two). A couple of years ago, I stopped by to see Robert in Portland and did a test ride on the V20. Despite my trepidation, after hearing the horror stories about learning to ride the front drive, it seemed quite natural. At the time, I wished for a Silvio without the front suspension. Now that it is available, the decision is much harder to make about the V20 vs the S30. I've never been a "competitive-level" cyclist, but I enjoy suprising the lycra crowd from time to time. Two years of down time mysteriously added 15lbs to my bike's engine, and that needs to come off before I reward myself with a Cruzbike, but I'm finally back in the saddle on my Bacchetta, and anticipating moving into the Cruz collection in the Spring. As soon as I decide which model...and whether complete or frame...and which kit...isn't deciding fun?
 

ReklinedRider

Zen MBB Master
My two cents worth-- if the new S30 (no front suspension, 33deg recline) had been available last August when I ordered the Vendetta, I'd have bought the S30. The current S30 was exactly what I was looking for at that time.

But if that had happened, I wouldn't have known what I was missing on the V20. Love this bike. Love it. Have never regretted for an instant going with the Vendetta.

At 5'6" I have not had to cut the neckrest down, and my 5'6" is of the 'long x-seam, short torso variety', so the neckrest can fit shorter folks with a little trial and error.

I vote big V ;)
 

GetBent

Well-Known Member
Keep getting an error, lets see if this works...


Wheels.


Since I am a recreational rider, I do not see the need for custom wheels. Now that NuVinci etc. are out of my system, I can go back to my original plan, Mavic Ksyrium Elite as first choice, and Cruzebike as fall back position (in case of major cost over runs...)


So, it is settled. Order the Mavic wheel set.


Then along comes Liberty Wheel Systems with Hubdock. I have got to get one of these! So, back to custom wheels. Grrr!



To Aero or not to Aero, that is the question...


After doing quite a lot of reading, my conclusion is that for me, the benefits of the aero rims are not worth the additional weight. Of course, I could be horribly wrong.


Carbon or Alloy


Carbon rims make me nervous. The thought of catastrophic failure bombing down a hill is scary. But lots of people are using them. And from Light-bicycle.com, I can get a stock carbon wheel set that is about 400 g less than the Mavic, and costs less. Of course, a custom build with the Hubdock will increase the cost. Not sure what to do.


Spokes


I think that aero spokes are a no-brainer, as long as they are compatible with Hubdock.


So, I need to re-think the wheels - again.
 

DavidCH

In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
Light bicycle.com will give you a ceramic hub if you ask for it. They are very accommodating... They are going to be doing tubeless rims soon. I am very pleased with my deep rimmed wheel. Word of caution: don't bother with their rim brakes. I replaced mine recently with Swissstop's black prince's and they are fantastic in the dry, others on the forum says Raynolds blue is better. I went for something that would take the heat away from the rim.
 
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