Under or over seat steering?

Slumped over the toilet, (GeoB) spewed forth :

Harry, I appreciate your comments, but for the sake of offering a
different perspective I am responding.

I think you should go with what you are more comfortable with, but here are
some disadvantages for USS:
1. It is heavier and more complicated.

I'm not familiar with the models ya'll have been discussing, but my
Vision r40 has a direct USS setup that looks as light as the OSS
setups I'v seen.

4. It is harder to walk the bike because you have to lean way over to hold
the handlebars to steer the bike.

I quit doing that like the first day. I hold the top of the seat on
each side, and push/pull to turn. Even easier than leaning the bike,
which takes more room.

Some people think that USS is more comfortable, some don't.

I keep thinking that people who ride USS long enough to be at ease
with it generally find it more comfortable for long trips. Actually,
this has been my observation, but I wanna toss this out as a question,
see if folks agree.

GeoB


I role my R50 from Santa Barbara to San Diego Dec-Jan and, suprisingly ( for me, anyway ), I just hated the OSS.

I move the bike in and out of hotel a lot and just hated the way it flopped around, side to side, front
to back. I was so sick of it.

However, I found that USS for the Vision just doesn't give my arms enough bend to make it comfortable.

So ... does anyone know of some kind of locking mechanism to lock the "handlebar stem" in place, someting
like the Rans Flip-It ( http://tinyurl.com/36c8l ) ?

Quoth garryb59 :
....
| But it got me thinking [something I've been runing over for some time]
| as to why there are not alternatives to the USS design - specifically
| in the style of 'lever action', like a fork lift truck/crane kind of
| thing. I'm not sure what handling would be like, but it would sure
| resolve this turning curve problem that seems to crop up with USS
| sometimes. In addition, you could also have the levers a little closer
| to your body, if you so desired, making you slightly more streamlined.
|
| Does anybody know of a bike with this kind of steering, or a home
| builder who uses it?

I read an account of a local builder who mounted a steering
control stick on the top bar, between his knees. The way I
remember it, he found it difficult.

I haven't noticed a handlebar turn limit on my Vanguard, but
it has the straight bars. Which I like. Among other things,
the cow horn style generally seems to leave the brake handles
backwards, index finger at the free end of the lever. I'm sure
I could learn to live with it, but glad I don't have to.

Donn

"paul" wrote in message
...
Ok, so I've been and had a play, and I want one. The bike in question is
the new machine from HPvelotecnic, the grasshopper. It's the business
Now I started this search with firm views that recumbents should have
USS, but the demo bike had above seat steering. I still think the USS
looks better, but what are the pros and cons of each steering type?

thans for your help.
--
.paul

It depends on the bike, I have 2 bikes one with USS and the other with OSS

The USS is on a Vision R-50 and I wouldn't be without it, very comfortable
and your arms are in a very natural position while steering. The OSS is on
an Optima Baron low racer, because of its low configuration OSS is about the
only one way to go, I was concerned that I wouldn't like it however it works
very well.

"GeoB" wrote in message
om...

Some people think that USS is more comfortable, some don't.

I keep thinking that people who ride USS long enough to be at ease
with it generally find it more comfortable for long trips. Actually,
this has been my observation, but I wanna toss this out as a question,
see if folks agree.

GeoB

I felt that way too and could steer my R-50 using just a couple of fingers

On Fri, 12 Mar 2004 20:21:23 -0000, "Danny Colyer"
wrote in message
:

USS is more comfortable IMHO. It also has the advantage that you can
leap off of the bike as you stop, which doesn't work well with OSS.

Mine (OSS) has a joint in the steerer so you can dismount as easily as
on a USS bike. It is also narrower, good in traffic.

The thing is to try some, I reckon, and see which suits.

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Simon Brooke theorised:
... above seat steering means there are a lot
of nasty things to hit tender bits of your anatomy on in a shunt ...

The first time I rode a friend's new Speed Machine (OSS) (or rather, the
first time I braked hard on a friend's new Speed Machine), I advised him
to reposition the large bell that he had fitted in the centre of the
handlebar and to fit some pipe lagging. In fact, with his agreement I
got my tools out there and then and moved the bell. And the next time I
saw him he had the centre section of his handlebar lagged.

--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/
Why I like OE6 - http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/misc/oe6.html
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

GeoB wrote:

...
4. It is harder to walk the bike because you have to lean way over to hold
the handlebars to steer the bike.


I quit doing that like the first day. I hold the top of the seat on
each side, and push/pull to turn. Even easier than leaning the bike,
which takes more room....

On a lowracer or semi-lowracer the top of the seat back will be too low
to hold on to without stooping over. On this particular bike [1] I found
it easier to just pick up one end of the bike and half carry it than
trying to walk it.

On the other hand, my Sunset Lowracer [2] with a RANS Flip-It hinge and
OSS is the easiest bike to walk that I have ever had.

[1] http://www.liegeradinfo.de/wisbone2.jpg.
[2] http://www.ihpva.org/incoming/2002/sunset/Sunset001.jpg.

Tom Sherman - Quad Cities (Illinois Side)

"paul" wrote in message
m...
In article ,
says...

paul wrote:

In article ,
says...

I would advise, if the bike comes both USS/OSS, and especially if you
aren't sure, get the USS. Reason: USS is usually a more expensive set
up, and you can then try the OSS latter.



Now that is thinking I can relate to

after market OSS set ups are really cheap Paul, and aftermarket USS are
really difficult. I'm assuming this is a indirect linkage USS? if so,
that is all the most money.

Yup, indirect USS. Seems this is a bit of a no brainer if you think you
want USS but aren't sure.

anyone for the defence of OSS?
--
.paul

If at first you don't succeed...
Skydiving is probably not the sport for you.

Paul,

I have heard from people that ride long distances and have tried both types
that they think the OSS is more comfortable for the long haul than USS. So
I guess it may depend somewhat on what your intended use is...

Jack

paul wrote:

anyone for the defence of OSS?

Paul - I've opined on this before and you could google this NG's history
to see a long history of this debate but I'm a dyed in the wool USS
person. I've got three of them. Reasons:

1. Ergo comfort/fit - shoulder/arms/hands in a very neutral position.
2. Aesthetics - I think the USS bikes are prettier and I like the open
view in fromt of me.
3. Safety - people have argued that they may not be as safe. I've never
been convinced that there is any safety problem with a single rod bolted
between the handlebar and the fork. Nor have I ever heard of a single
problem with this steering. Others have argued that USS is safer since
you could fly forward off the bars without getting tangled in them. I
consider both points moot.
4. Speed - many have argued that the coefficient of drag is greater on
USS than it is with USS. There is not real data on this other than
anecdotal. The famous "Vision" wind tunnel tests compared apples and
oranges as the OSS bike was a high BB bike and the USS bike was a low BB
bike. When I got used to the fact that any high BB bike could cream
wedgies on flats-to-rolling I gave up on getting any faster except for
big climbs where my belief is that USS is clearly more ergonomic.
5. Weight - I ran my weight-weenie algorythm on the comparison once and
came up with USS being slightly ligher but this is also moot.

Regards
Chris

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
I use an Air Zound and have never seen the need to fit pipe lagging.

But as you've pointed out a couple of times, your Stinger has a hinged
steerer tube. My friend's Speed Machine doesn't. I believe it's an
option, but it's not one he went with.

Reinforcing plates around the welds, yes, but not pipe lagging ;-)

Maybe lagging would have kept your boom warm and it wouldn't have got so
brittle ;-)

--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/
Why I like OE6 - http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/misc/oe6.html
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine