Another of my GDB riding buddies, Chuck, approached me wanting to talk about recumbents, basically saying that he was tired of having sore back problems...  He had tried my SXP for about 30 seconds once, about 6 months ago... So I met him up at PCF yesterday afternoon to do some test riding, with the help of Greg up there.  Knowing that he already likes to ride, typically doing either the airport ride or the distance builder, I knew that an entry-level model wasn't going to be right, and he had already expressed tentative interest in a hiracer SWB, primarily for the potential ability to put it into his PTCruiser.
 
We talked about the various models they have on the floor, and about how one goes about fitting to a bike (seat position, recline, etc.), before heading out to the parking lot for some riding.  Greg first had him try a Sun Sport LWB, due to it's upright seating and low pedal position, having him start at the "high end" of the parking lot to let gravity assist his initial rolling a bit.  He was pretty wobbly, but in a couple minutes was tooling around the lot reasonably well, soon making turns without stopping.  He then crossed the street, doing some riding in the larger hotel parking lot for a while, getting a feel for it.  He was mostly doing casual cruising, making looping turns -- but I also had him push it up to 15-20 for a short stretch.   (I was riding alongside on another bike)
 
Then Greg brought out a Cafe, with its somewhat higher pedal position, but still upright seating.  This bike has "tweener" bars, so we talked a little about knee interference and heelstrike, and how to extend your inside leg on a turn.  There were the expected wobbles and tentative starts due to the higher pedal position and handlebar confine, and failed first attempts at turning, but again, he took to it reasonably quickly.  After riding this one for a while, he was somewhat used to the handlebar configuration, but he had already determined that he didn't like the 20" front wheel concept, favoring the thought of a 26" front.
 
[At this point, Nelson shows up, just stopping by after work on his commuter bike...  too funny! ]  
 
Greg next brought out a Corsa, with its seat set up at as high of an angle the pins would allow (which puts you at maybe 45 degrees).  Now THIS took a while...  When starting up, he would sit forward, but then have trouble getting his other foot from the ground up to the pedal, overbalancing too quickly.  We suggested that he remain sitting up for the initial pushoff, but then immediate recline back, to make it a little easier to get his leg up -- which eventually worked.  I laughingly told him that this is the greatest challenge of a hiracer (or almost any 'bent) rider -- getting started!!!  
 
After tooling around the PCF lot a bit, we went across the street to the larger lot again, where he did all the same maneuvers.  By this time, his balance concerns (except for starting) were pretty much gone, and he was moving the bike around farily nimbly.  At one point, a breeze started blowing from the east, which gave us a little headwind, so I commented on how riding into it probably felt different than on a DF, which he agreed with.
 
We went back, and saw Nelson rolling around the lot on the Xstream...  So we tried that one next, riding it briefly, but the handlebar setup was not right, and we were running short on time.  However, he could feel the overall smoothness of the ride quality on it.
 
At this point, I had to depart, so I left him in Greg's hands for further discussions.  I don't know what Chuck will decide, but I'm pretty sure he's going to get either a Strada, F5, or Corsa, or perhaps an Xstream, but I think he's still leaning (no pun intended) towards a SWB, again, for transport purposes.  However, he's about 20 pounds over the given weight limit for the Corsa at the moment.... and that's without gear.  But he already realizes that any balance issues or concerns about stability and adaptation are only temporary, so I look forward to seeing what he chooses.  He enjoyed the evaluation of the different model bikes, and the discussions we had.
 
Thanks to Greg for spending a couple hours with us!
 

city cyclist has one and a good selection of rans besides, but that's all the way down by me.

Chuck tried to go over to City Cyclist last Friday, but got in a massive traffic jam on 183, and turned around...   So he came over to the house tonight, and we spent a couple hours riding around the neighborhood, on both the StratusXP and the Xstream (I've borrowed it back from Rose for a little while)... It gave him the time to understand more about the differences between the bikes, and think about what he's really looking for.  He could see the greater versatility of the Stratus, and the somewhat easier pedaling aspect of the lower BB, not needing to use clipless...
 
At the end of the evening, we agreed that he should take my StratusXP home with him and ride it for a couple weeks, while I spend time on the Xstream proto prepping for TTTT -- so we put my bike rack on his car, loaded up the XP, and away he/they went (sniff...)!

I think city cyclist also has a v3 too.  Unless they've sold it.

Quote from johnnybent on Sep 1^st, 2009, 6:57am:

 
 
John, you can't go all the way over to FtWorth just to KICK TIRES....  
 
I'm thinking that I'm going to strongly recommend a steel V3 with a slingmesh seat to Chuck -- it's nicely in between the SXP and the hiracer/Xstream regarding relative pedaling height and recline/balance.  And it'll still fit into a PTCruiser!

The steel V3 has caught my eye a couple of times as well!  So many bikes so little money -- darn!
 
Take Care,
Nelson.

Conversion complete Phase II implemented -- Chas ordered an Aluminum V3 from PCF this afternoon!!!    

Quote from kingjason on Sep 10^th, 2009, 10:39pm:

 
Yes, one and the same...  we truly appreciate the loaner!!!  He was actually going to try clipping in last night, unless the scattered storminess got in the way....   I'll get the bike back to you after this weekend!