Having received some good news regarding bonuses at work, I'm thinking it's about time for a new bike.  I've had my Actionbent Tidal Wave for 2.5 years and have really enjoyed it, my first and only bent.  However it has some significant drawbacks.  The quality is not all that great, as it's very heavy and components tend to not always work well together.  Though I don't have anything to compare it to except my old Peugeot upright, it seems to have a LOT of flex.  Maybe this is normal for a bent, I don't know.  I've had good recommendations on the P38 from people I know and Charlie thinks I should take a serious look at Bacchettas.  Any info you guys can give me regarding various models of bents and their respetive plusses and minusses would be appreciated.  Bud, I know you used to have an Actionbent, so I'd really like to know how your Bacchetta (I think I remeber that's what you ride mostly) compares.  Thanks,
Robert

My Tsunami was like the TW2, with the road wheels and tires, so the weight wasn't bad at all: under 30 lbs. But yes, there was flex. I didn't have mine long before I started thinking I wanted a high racer, so I converted mine to one, just to get a feel for one. I liked the high racer feel (that full size front wheel takes road bumps SO much better), but with a 32 inch wheelbase, the Tsunami was way too twitchy as a high racer, so I got my Corsa. The Bacchetta high racers have a 46 inch wheelbase, which makes them very stable for a boom-out-front bent.
 
The Corsa is rock solid. Besides being aluminum, the Bacchetta booms are solid and don't adjust (the seat adjusts, instead) and that combined with the ovalized tubes make all the Bacchettas flex less, except for the Aero, which has too much flex for some people. Because the seat moves rather than the boom, fit is more critical with a Bacchetta high racer, so you need to get the correct size.
 
The Euromesh seat that comes on the Corsa (and is available for any Bacchetta high racer), combined with its thick pad, is just unbelievably comfortable for most who try it, including me. It is slightly heavier than a carbon seat, but once I tried it, I decided I could live with that.
 
If you don't want to end up with an lwb bike, do not, I repeat, DO NOT test ride a dual big wheel lwb like Paul's Stratus XP. If you ride an XP, you're probably going to have a hard time buying anything else. I think the dual big wheel lwb's are the other style we're going to start seeing more and more of. They combine the comfort and stability of an lwb with the bump eating of a big front wheel, and with a slightly higher bottom bracket than other lwb's, they are faster than an lwb without a fairing is supposed to be (which anyone who's chased Paul already knew). Even my old Nimbus, which I converted to a dual big wheel lwb, rides like a dream, and is faster than I thought it would be.
 
That'll give you some stuff to think over. Everyone has his own opinion about this stuff, ymmv. Happy shopping!

Quote from robert.j on May 18^th, 2007, 8:46pm:

 
I've heard that higher bottom bracket bikes are more prone to cause foot numbness, but I've never had that problem.
 
 
Quote from robert.j on May 18^th, 2007, 8:46pm:

 
You'll just have to try Bacchetta's tweener (superman) bars and see if you like them. Some people do, some don't. Arm fatigue isn't usually a problem, as long as your arms aren't too outstretched, which they can easily be on the wrong size bike.
 
 
Quote from robert.j on May 18^th, 2007, 8:46pm:

 
Not in a 6 foot bed, unless you lay the bike at an angle. I bought a rack. That is SO much easier on your back than lifting a bike all the way up into a truck bed.
 
Quote from robert.j on May 18^th, 2007, 8:46pm:

 
The XP's are awkward to transport, but they're not heavy, only 27 lbs or so. A Corsa is 25.

One thing I should probably add about the Euromesh and carbon seats on the Bacchetta high racers: they are intended to have a lot more recline than you use on your Actionbent. They don't have the "pan" on the bottom of the seat, and you get a "sliding off" feeling if you try to keep them too upright. You can also get a regular mesh seat (Bacchetta calls theirs a Recurve), but you lose some of the aerodynamic advantage of a high racer if you sit upright too much, anyway.

Thanks for input.  I'm 5'10", pretty normal dimensions.  Don't think the high racer would be a problem.  Charlie says his Stratus XP is slighty over 30 lbs. (includes the fairing), about the same as my Actionbent (they advertised it as 27.  Yeah, right. That must not have included the wheels! ).  My AB weighs in at 35 with small lights and a couple of spare tubes in the trunk.
I'll have to give the Corsa a try.  Everyone seems happy with it.
Now if I could just buy a new engine......

The SXP is definitely a Cadillac ride (but with Turbo V8   ), but my only real prior experience was the EZ1...  and yes, you can't just throw it in the trunk!  
 
I've heard excellent things about the topline Bacchetta's, but I'm also still very intrigued by the RANS V3 Aluminum -- listed weight 23 pounds, with the stability of LWB and somewhat higher BB than the SXP.  
 
Just for something different, you might also look at the Javelin, with the 700C / 20" combo.
 
Kinda depends on your wallet, eh?