2003 models?

[Risto Varanka]

Did any bent vendors publish their models for the 2003 season yet?

What do you think will be bent of the year 2003?

--
Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/ varis at no spam please iki fi

 

[Paul S. Podbiel]

I am an evangelical believer in the Longbikes Slipstream. The improvements for 2003 on an already
stellar platform are awesome.

It may not be the fastest in MPH, but its comfort, stability and bombproof reliability could well
make it the fastest in miles per week.

I get the feeling that after a nuclear holocaust, the Slipstream and the cockroaches will be all
that's left.

I will be purchasing one as soon as I can get out of my current town, which has not been kind to the
employment of Mechanical Engineers for ten years.

My 2 cents Paul Podbielski Erie, PA [email protected]

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Did any bent vendors publish their models for the 2003 season yet?
>
> What do you think will be bent of the year 2003?
>
> --
> Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/ varis at no spam please iki fi

 

[John Riley]

"Paul S. Podbielski" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I am an evangelical believer in the Longbikes Slipstream. The improvements for 2003 on an already
> stellar platform are awesome.

Have you seen and ridden one? If so, where? These are pretty hard to find. How long of a ride did
you have? What are you riding now (i.e. what is your frame of reference?)?

You don't think the seat base is too long?

johnriley1 (at) rogers.com

 

[John Riley]

> <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Did any bent vendors publish their models for the 2003 season yet?

Yes, pretty much all of them. Not that much new.

> > What do you think will be bent of the year 2003?

Probably one of the big wheel bikes, like the ti Bacchetta Aero.

johnriley1 (at) rogers.com

 

[William Meacham]

[email protected] (john riley) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> "Paul S. Podbielski" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
> > I am an evangelical believer in the Longbikes Slipstream. The improvements for 2003 on an
> > already stellar platform are awesome.
>
> Have you seen and ridden one? If so, where? These are pretty hard to find. How long of a ride did
> you have? What are you riding now (i.e. what is your frame of reference?)?
>
> You don't think the seat base is too long?
>
> johnriley1 (at) rogers.com

I road mine 46 miles today. I road it 17.5 miles to work and then another 28.5 miles going home with
a side trip around Tempe Town Lake. My top speed was 30 and my average was 14. It is silky smooth
and easy to ride for hours. I also rode it 72 miles last Saturday on the Desert Classic in Phoenix.

It is not a massed produced bike, but that is about to change. Even so, there are at least four
Slipstreams in Phoenix and one in Tucson. I am also a evangelical believer and feel it should be the
Bent of the Year for 2003. Some of the reasons are:

With little change from RANS or Easy Racers and what has become a sea of Sabers/Strada/Volae's, the
Slipstream stands out as a one of a kind. It is the perfect bike for looong rides. Whether you're
riding along with your four year old daughter at 6 mph or riding a century at 20 or touring across
Iowa, the Slipstream holds it own.

It is a beautifully designed bike. The adjustability of the seat and the steering linkage are first
rate. The clamp holding the seat to the frame is rock solid. The USS is designed to adjust to any
riders needs. And even the way in which a rear rack attaches to the frame is very clean.

An innovated Bolt On Rear Triangle has been added. This allows the owner to remove the rear triangle
for travel or shipping. It also allows Longbikes the ability to produce differently designed rear
triangles in the future for different needs (Different size wheels or suspension). If you're worried
that a Bolt On Rear Triangle might not be as sturdy, think about all the bikes out there with rear
suspension. Same principle. This design works.

Quality of components. Longbikes fits the bike with top of the line components from the start. i.e.
components like Disk Brakes are standard.

Production. Longbikes has taken the plunge into high volume production and is having frames built
overseas. This will greatly increase the availability of the Slipstream very soon.

I guess I've talked enough, but I do want to throw one last quote from Brian Ball of Bent Rider
Online, "We are very excited about the new Slipstream. It looks like the LWB market is finally
starting to pick back up again in America."

So... I ride it alot and think it is the smoothest ride on wheels. I do not think anything else
released this year or any major changes by any company competes. Bike of the year? Yes!

Bill (Slipstream Evangelical) Meacham Mesa, AZ

 

[Tom Sherman]

William Meacham wrote:
> ... The clamp holding the seat to the frame is rock solid....

Anyone who had looked at the rock cores I have in the last few weeks would never use the term "rock
solid" as a compliment again.

Tom Sherman - Various HPV's Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)

 

[Stratrider]

Paul, I take it that you own a Slipstream. I have been looking for a Slipstream/Vanguard to ride
since 1999. I bought my Stratus because Vanguard was being sold to Longbikes at the time. I
understand that Larry Black in Mt. Airy Md has one at his store. I will get down there to ride it
hopefully soon. I agree completely. That 2003 looks like a beautiful piece of work! Good luck in
Erie. Too bad about the jobs. Erie's a nice place.

Jim Reilly Reading, PA

 

[William Meacham]

Tom Sherman <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> William Meacham wrote:
> > ... The clamp holding the seat to the frame is rock solid....
>
> Anyone who had looked at the rock cores I have in the last few weeks would never use the term
> "rock solid" as a compliment again.
>
> Tom Sherman - Various HPV's Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)

So are you a mud engineer or have you been looking at Geods? If you're a mud engineer, well,
ummm, Sorry.

Bill ([1][2]) Meacham

[1] Slipstream
[2] Evangelical

 

[Harv]

I've heard that the difference between civil and mechanical engineers is that mechs build bombs and
civils build targets. "William Meacham" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Tom Sherman <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > William Meacham wrote:
> > > ... The clamp holding the seat to the frame is rock solid....
> >
> > Anyone who had looked at the rock cores I have in the last few weeks would never use the term
> > "rock solid" as a compliment again.
> >
> > Tom Sherman - Various HPV's Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)
>
> So are you a mud engineer or have you been looking at Geods? If you're a mud engineer, well,
> ummm, Sorry.
>
> Bill ([1][2]) Meacham
>
>
>
> [1] Slipstream
> [2] Evangelical

 

[Tom Sherman]

harv wrote:
>
> I've heard that the difference between civil and mechanical engineers is that mechs build bombs
> and civils build targets.

So is it better to build something that improves the quality of life for people or something that
kills and maims people and destroys their quality of life? [1]

[1] <http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/gulfwar2/civilians.htm>

Tom Sherman - Various HPV's Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a
theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. The world in arms
is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of laborers, the genius of its scientists, the
hopes of its children.... This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of
threatening war, it is humanity hanging from an iron cross. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953

 

[Tom Sherman]

William Meacham wrote:
>
> So are you a mud engineer or have you been looking at Geods? If you're a mud engineer, well,
> ummm, Sorry.

The cores I have been looking at have been NX size [1], so I can provide recommended side friction,
end bearing, and passive resistance values to structural engineers.

You should feel sorry for geotechnical engineers, as theirs is one of the more underpaid professions
(relative to education required). I suspect this is because the overriding responsibility of a
consulting civil engineer is insuring the safety of the public, not maximizing profit for a private
business entity.

[1] Standard for geotechnical investigations.

Tom Sherman - Various HPV's Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)

Arguing with an engineer is like mud wrestling with a pig... You soon find out the pig likes
it! - Unknown

 

[Harv]

You're right Tom. It seemed funnier when I read it in Machine Design mag. For the n.g I should have
been more pc and said that the me's build the bents and the ce build the roads. Apology extended to
the ng and to our resident ce.

Ike had some interestingly humanistic philosophies for a Republican. "Tom Sherman"
<[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
> harv wrote:
> >
> > I've heard that the difference between civil and mechanical engineers is that mechs build bombs
> > and civils build targets.
>
> So is it better to build something that improves the quality of life for people or something that
> kills and maims people and destroys their quality of life? [1]
>
> [1] <http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/gulfwar2/civilians.htm>
>
> Tom Sherman - Various HPV's Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)
>
> Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense,
> a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. The world in
> arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of laborers, the genius of its
> scientists, the hopes of its children.... This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense.
> Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from an iron cross. -- Dwight D.
> Eisenhower, 1953

 

[Tom Sherman]

harv wrote:
>
> ...and said that the me's build the bents and the ce build the roads...

And the buildings the 'bents are manufactured in.

Tom Sherman - Various HPV's Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)

 

[John Riley]

"Paul S. Podbielski" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I am an evangelical believer in the Longbikes Slipstream. The improvements for 2003 on an already
> stellar platform are awesome.
>
> It may not be the fastest in MPH, but its comfort, stability and bombproof reliability could well
> make it the fastest in miles per week. [...]

I wouldn't expect it to be as fast as a low racer, but if it was much slower than, for example, a
Tour Easy, I'd be curious to know why. I get it about the aerodynamics, but why wouldn't it climb as
well? (Bryan's review suggested it was not a stellar climber either.)

BTW, I had some brief rides on some Burley's this WE. Their LWB's (Canto and Taiko) seem like very
relaxed rides that would be good for racking up the miles. Assuming you can get past their
appearance ;-) Fortunately you can't see the bike when you are riding it. ;-)

johnriley1 (at) rogers.com