Re: Cannondale recumbent

[Mike]

The wheels are too small for serious riding, it's a good city - commuter
bike.

"DH" > wrote in message
...
> I'm new to all of this have been hooked by seeing and riding the Giant
> hybrid, the EZB series.
>
> There's a Cannondale dealer not too far from where I live and I was
> wondering what the opinion is from you guys for their model. As far as I
> can tell, they just make one model.
>
> Any thoughts? Thanks, Dave
>
>

[Tom Sherman]

Mike wrote:
>
> The wheels are too small for serious riding, it's a good city - commuter
> bike.

And what exactly is wrong with an ISO 305-mm front wheel/ISO 406-mm rear
wheel combination that makes it unsuitable for serious riding?

Tom Sherman - Near the confluence of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers

[MLB]

Tom Sherman > wrote in
:

>
> Mike wrote:
>>
>> The wheels are too small for serious riding, it's a good city - commuter
>> bike.
>
> And what exactly is wrong with an ISO 305-mm front wheel/ISO 406-mm rear
> wheel combination that makes it unsuitable for serious riding?
>
> Tom Sherman - Near the confluence of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers
>

Snobbery

[John Foltz]

Tom Sherman wrote:
> Mike wrote:
>
>> The wheels are too small for serious riding, it's a good city -
>> commuter bike.
>
>
> And what exactly is wrong with an ISO 305-mm front wheel/ISO
> 406-mm rear wheel combination that makes it unsuitable for
> serious riding?
>
Uh, define 'serious riding?' Perhaps the better way to put it is to
say that the overall configuration makes it a slow-to-medium speed
bike. At least with that Nitro in the "Lowracer Tom will like"
thread, the small wheels were used to get the rider down near the
pavement. With the Cannondale the rider is still sitting in the sky,
so to speak.

The second part of the statement sums up my opinion, though: it's a
good city/commuter bike. Also suitable for short-to-medium distance
day rides.
--

John Foltz --- O _
Baron --- _O _ V-Rex 24 --- _\\/\-%)
_________(_)`=()___________________(_)= (_)_____

[Mark Stonich]

Tom Sherman > wrote in message >...
> Mike wrote:
> >
> > The wheels are too small for serious riding, it's a good city - commuter
> > bike.
>
> And what exactly is wrong with an ISO 305-mm front wheel/ISO 406-mm rear
> wheel combination that makes it unsuitable for serious riding?
>
> Tom Sherman - Near the confluence of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers

IMHO, Absolutely nothing, if you have the right tires. Schwalbe is
introducing their "Big Apple" in 305-50, 406-50, and 507-50 sometime
in December. It is currently available in sizes ranging from 559-50 to
622-60. I'm hoping that 60s are available in the smaller diameters in
the future.

The Big Apple is designed to give low rolling resistance at low
pressures, providing an alternative to suspension. See
http://www.schwalbe.com/index.pl?bereich=produkte&einsatzbereich=4

Even at 30 - 40 psi a tire this big, with it's very round profile,
doesn't deflect much to form its contact patch. Thin, flexible
sidewalls and tread mean that the flexing that does occurr doesn't eat
up much power.

I'm planning a dual purpose 305-406 MWB to use these tires. I'll use
it around town with 40 psi, for a cushy ride. I'll tilt the seat
back, and pump them up to their rated max of 70 psi for "Serious"
riding. I expect them to roll much more easily than those stiff,
heavy, 100-130 psi 6 ply "Flatlander" tires like the Hookworm or
Snafu.

By serious riding, I mean paceline riding with my faster buddies, on a
bike designed to maximize the wheelbase in a very short overall
package. My lightweight lwb is a wonderful bike for covering long
distances or less intense riding, but I can't see the front wheel well
enough to ride very close. The leading edge of the front tire will be
2" behind the cranks at full extension, so I can tuck in really close.
Doing this with a 406 in the front would put the cranks higher than I
like. The fat tires, and passive rear suspension, will compensate
for not being able to see the road ahead.

Remember the "LoFat" 16/20 low racers? It seems they got down the road
pretty well.

[Tom Sherman]

Mark Stonich wrote:
> ...
> Remember the "LoFat" 16/20 low racers? It seems they got down the road
> pretty well.

Wasn't there another lowracer with the same size wheels as the Pharobike
LoFat built very close to where Mr. Stonich lives? I have heard it was
pretty fast, especially if it was one of the red ones.

Tom Sherman - Near the confluence of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers

[Mark Stonich]

Tom Sherman > wrote in message >...
> Mark Stonich wrote:
> > ...
> > Remember the "LoFat" 16/20 low racers? It seems they got down the road
> > pretty well.
>
> Wasn't there another lowracer with the same size wheels as the Pharobike
> LoFat built very close to where Mr. Stonich lives? I have heard it was
> pretty fast, especially if it was one of the red ones.
>
> Tom Sherman - Near the confluence of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers

Do you mean the one with the hard, skinny tires and half a fork? I
wasn't sure they didn't have 349s in front.

Mark Stonich - Near the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota
Rivers

[Tom Sherman]

Mark Stonich wrote:
>
> Tom Sherman > wrote in message >...
> > Mark Stonich wrote:
> > > ...
> > > Remember the "LoFat" 16/20 low racers? It seems they got down the road
> > > pretty well.
> >
> > Wasn't there another lowracer with the same size wheels as the Pharobike
> > LoFat built very close to where Mr. Stonich lives? I have heard it was
> > pretty fast, especially if it was one of the red ones.
> >
> > Tom Sherman - Near the confluence of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers
>
> Do you mean the one with the hard, skinny tires and half a fork? I
> wasn't sure they didn't have 349s in front.

I always like it when someone criticizes the ISO 305-mm/ISO 406-mm
wheelset, as it provides me a chance to talk about my Sunset. :)

I replaced the rear 28-406 Conti GP inflated to 8.3 bar (120 psi) with a
47-406 Comp Pool inflated to 6.2 bar (90 psi). I did not notice any
decrease in performance, and the ride on anything but the smoothest
pavement was much better.

The front is more of a problem, due to the RX-100 caliper brake. I have
been using the relatively narrow and hard 32-305 Primo Comet, but will
try a 40-305 Kenda Kwest when the Primo wears out.

Tom Sherman - Near the confluence of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers

[Tom Sherman]

Mark Stonich wrote:
>
> Tom Sherman > wrote in message >...
> > Mike wrote:
> > >
> > > The wheels are too small for serious riding, it's a good city - commuter
> > > bike.
> >
> > And what exactly is wrong with an ISO 305-mm front wheel/ISO 406-mm rear
> > wheel combination that makes it unsuitable for serious riding?
> >
> > Tom Sherman - Near the confluence of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers
>
> IMHO, Absolutely nothing, if you have the right tires. Schwalbe is
> introducing their "Big Apple" in 305-50, 406-50, and 507-50 sometime
> in December. It is currently available in sizes ranging from 559-50 to
> 622-60. I'm hoping that 60s are available in the smaller diameters in
> the future....

I would be curious to know if the small wheel recumbent market has grown
enough to make the introduction of these tires feasible, or if the sales
of small wheel upright folders are creating the demand. Certainly, the
situation is much better now than some years ago when according to Mr.
Stonich one had to resort to removing the knobs from BMX tires. [1]

[1] < http://mnhpva.org/tires/tires.html >

Tom Sherman - Near the confluence of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers

[Mark Stonich]

Tom Sherman > wrote
> The front is more of a problem, due to the RX-100 caliper brake. I have
> been using the relatively narrow and hard 32-305 Primo Comet, but will
> try a 40-305 Kenda Kwest when the Primo wears out.

There are two versions of the 40-305 Kwest. The aftermarket version is
rated at 100 psi, but is very stiff. The OEM one, such as comes on an
EZ-1 is rated at 65 psi, but is lighter and relatively flexible.
Where the load on the tire permits, this is the one I'd choose.
Overinflated to 70-75 psi if needed.

BTW one of the reasons I build LWB or MWB is that total rolling
resistance is less when the larger rear tire carries a significant
majority of the weight.

[BentHeadSWB]

>I would be curious to know if the small wheel recumbent market has grown
>enough to make the introduction of these tires feasible, or if the sales
>of small wheel upright folders are creating the demand

Good question, Tom...
In the 4.5 years that I have been bent, the amount of tires available has
grown exponentially. My wife rides an EZ-1 with Schwalbe Marathons front and
rear, I am happy due to my weekends are for riding and not fixing flats. The
stock Kwests were lethal in gravel or grass but flatted very well.

John H
N TX