New Crank Forward - First Impressions

Due to major back injuries / surgeries, I sold my conventional diamond
frame bikes and bought a Rans CF bike called the Dynamik. This isn't a
recumbent but rather a 'real' bike but in the form of an Electra Townie.
Supposedly the Rans is as fast and climbs as well as a conventional
bicycle but is more comfortable. Here's a link:

http://www.ransbikes.com/Dynamik07.htm

The bike is enormously comfortable. It took a lot of adjusting with the
seat height and the seat angle to get it to feel right, but it is there.
The sit up position makes riding a true pleasure. I'm riding in street
clothes with hiking boots. Again, the clothes make for a very
comfortable ride. It's also pleasant when reaching a destination to get
off the bike, lock up and then be dressed conventionally rather then
clunking around in Spandex and stiff shoes.

The sit up position is easy to like. I'm riding down courses I've ridden
perhaps hundreds of times before but seeing things I'd missed time and
time again on conventional bikes. I also think the safety element is
much higher because I"m up and looking about and can swivel my head to
see behind me easily. Thus I'm more aware of my surroundings,
traffic-wise, than on a conventional drop bar bike.

The front end is way out there making it lighter than a conventional
bike. Thus it'll wash out easier on gravel or loose dirt. I know from
experience. However, the seating position makes it easy to recover from
a washout.

I'm skeptical that this bike will climb like a conventional bike. The
technique is a bit different. Instead of standing to climb (you CAN
stand) you pull back on the bars to put more power into your legs. So
far this isn't as effective for me as standing but I am able to climb
hills if in a lower gear. Also I"m a bit out of shape so this may be
something which comes in time.

The bike is probably as fast as conventional on a level surface. It
flies downhill. But there is a gotcha in a way. Being upright, I"m more
susceptible to wind. My first ride was into a 20 mph wind outbound. It
was tough going due to the sitting position. However, at turnaround, I
was going downwind and the bike flew. I hardly needed to pedal. It was
like I'm a windjammer craft. So IMO, the bike isn't as good in high
winds although if it were always downwind...

The only real dislike I have for the bike is the grupo - specifically
the SRAM X.5 gears. My conventional bikes had Record 10 and Shimano XT.
This grupo doens't shift well and will even shift itself. The twist grip
shifters seem attached to elastic cables. The entire shifting experience
is unsure and unsatisfactory. If I grow to use this bike a lot, I'm
upgrading to XT's.