I'm a RANS dealer with a small brick and mortar showroom down town so I frequently setup bikes at my
home garage and then move them to the shop. I setup 3 bikes today, a Stratus, Rocket and the new
Fusion. I'm 59 years old and have a little pain here and there and those frequently show up when I'm
lifting bikes on and off the work stand. Setting up a bike for me often requires the bike to be
placed on the stand two, maybe three times as you adjust various components. As I lifted the Fusion
on and off the stand it became very apparent that the bike is quite light, surprisingly light in
fact, darn sure lighter than the Rocket! The bike comes together painlessly and precisely.
I was anxious to test ride the bike. My street is a country colosac, 1 mile long, chip and seal,
with a shallow ravine in the middle so you are either going up or down, no flat terrain. I was
amazed at how easy, fast (?) the Fusion was. I've rode bikes on this loop for 22 years. Rode the
Fusion about 10 miles on this loop today. You have a tendency to want to sit to high on the back of
the seat, wrong..you need to sit down toward the front of the seat I discovered and you do really
get some power to the pedal! I rode it a few times in disbelieve at the ease of momentum with just
the platform pedals before rushing in and putting on my bike shoes and the Frog Speed Plays for a
test of how much pull back power I could get in addition. At first I didn't think you would be able
to get a lot more power from the clip ins but I was additionally surprised to find out that you can.
The geometry of this bike does require almost full leg extension for maximum power but the seat is
easy to adjust thus easy to dial in. I'm only 5'7" and the Fusion feels really small to me. Very
easy to turn around inside my crowed garage while riding. The bike would benefit from long pipe
shifters rather than the shorties. I really like the 5.0 brakes better than the either the 7.0's or
9.0's. They setup easily and work great. The bike rides sorta cushy like maybe a Stratus and has the
same metallic paint as a V2. I think the V2 and Fusion are superior value recumbents.
Between my neighbors property and mine is a steep little grass covered incline that I use to
evaluate how much climbing prowess a bike might have when it really gets tuff and the Fusion did
great in this micro test other than a slight wheelie at the steepest part. The wheelie surprised me
so I tried it again, another wheelie. Tried pulling a wheelie in my drive way, 6 inch lift on the
front wheel! WOW, COOL, heck I couldn't do a wheelie when I rode upwrongs. You can actually pull
back hard on the bar and sprint with this bike. I'm anxious to do a longer ride with it to see if
the upright, non-supported back position gives me pain, but none was indicated today. I enjoyed the
bike so much that I really don't want to sell it unless RANS can get me one to replace it with. This
bike, like the V2, is a great value in my opinion.
Kelly Springdale, AR