Most bicycles have extremely poor passive safety. The Cruzbike promotes passive safety as far as possible in several ways:

1. The optimum seat height assists safe braking, visibility and reduces the chance of accidental leg injury.

2. 50-50 weight between front and rear makes the bike easier to control in most if not all situations.

3. The telescoping tube directed forwards is known to absorb impact in some head on incidents.

1 Seat Height and Design

Feet Forward

The most obvious safety feature of the Cruzbike design is to be traveling feet forward, as you would in any other vehicle, rather than head first as you do on a standard bicycle.

Visibility

Placing the seat height of the Cruzbike at 25” to 26” means you are up in the line of sight of many other road users.

Effective Braking

The seat places the body weight as low or lower than on a standard bicycle to retain braking performance.

Anti-'Leg-Suck”

One of the dangers of the low racer or trike, apart from being below the sill height of most vehicles, is an injury known as leg-suck, where the leg is dragged under, breaking the femur (thigh bone). The usual ‘lawn chair’ seat design potentially contributes to this, as there are rails on the outside edge of the seat that prevent the leg from rotating to the side and suffering a relatively minor soft tissue sprain. The front of the Cruzbike seat base is rounded and combined with the seat height allows the leg to move sideways instead.

Supportive

The Cruzbike seat is specially designed to give support where it is needed, but otherwise to be minimal and not interfere with leg movements.

No undue pressure

The shape of the seat has no ridge or saddle and does not place undue pressure on the perineum, rather it is cupped up at the front and flat across the middle. The seat locates the buttocks to prevent the body sliding forward or backwards with pedaling.

The back of the seat is broad enough to support the upper back. The top of the seat back is shaped so that it follows the natural curvature of the spine. It is also narrows towards to locate between your shoulder blades and allow you to positively feel that you are sitting properly centered on the bike.

Smooth Shape

One of the injury modes in a bicycle fall is to get caught up with the bike. The Cruzbike seat by its shape which is rounded and following only the profile of the body where needed reduces the risk of injury in a fall.

Positive Feel

The seat back narrows near the base and allows the rider to easily stand straddling the bike. This makes it easy to maneuvering the bike. In addition, the weight of the bike is centered fore and aft of the handlebar grips, so that while straddling the bike you can lift it clean off the ground by the handlebars.

2 Seat Position and Suspension

50-50 Weight Distribution

While the seat height is critical, the fore-aft position of the seat is also critical, as this ultimately controls what percentage of weight is over each wheel. We won’t go into the complexities of bicycle handling here except to say that even weight distribution is very important and when riding the Cruzbike, the balanced handling is is immediately apparent. Superior handling characteristics on any bike make a definite contribution to rider safety on all road surfaces and in all riding conditions. Depending on each rider and how the Cruzbike is set up for them, weight distribution will be close to 50% on each wheel.

Even Traction

The suspension works – as it does in a car – to stop bumps from bouncing the tire off the road. With the tire in the air, all traction is obviously lost. With the Cruzbike, the suspension helps keep the tires firmly on and gripping the pavement, which improves braking and handling in all conditions. Unlike a mountain bike with knobby tires, the Cruzbike is fitted with 26” x 1.5” 100 psi pavement tires that offer better grip on sealed roads. And they roll very easily too.

If you are riding unsealed roads reduce the air pressure to 45 to 55 psi. This will make your ride much more pleasant and safe by increasing the contact area with the road and allowing the tire to take most of the impact and vibration caused by small stones. Please consult your local bicycle dealer for advice on more appropriate tires if you often ride on unsealed roads.)

3 Impact Absorption

Collapsible Front Tube

The telescoping front tube of the Cruzbike can collapse in a collision and may reduce the severity of the impact on the rider. In addition, the steering tube may bend to absorb impact

Note: We strongly advise you to fit a mirror of your choice.