Bacchetta Corsa initial impressions(long)

That pretty much mirrors my impressions. I recently bought a
used Corsa.

Two items to consider:

1) Since you have the bars in line with the head tube, you
can get rid of the GlideFlex unit. It weighs about a half
a pound and isn't doing anything for you. This will also
lower the bars.

2) You can cut the riser to lower the bars. While
irreversible, there are no ill effects from doing this.

Note that if you do get rid of the GlideFlex, you have no
way of properly tightening the headset. Bacchetta has come
up with a widget to solve this problem, available Real Soon
Now. It's also possible to get things tight enough without
the widget if you lean on the stem hard enough, then tighten
the collar. This is what I've done and it's just fine.

Harry, Thanks for the report. You will most likely need to
cut your riser down. I have cut as much as 3" off and re-
drilled and slotted them. For the very reclined rider like
you its pretty normal to hack off atleast 2". There is a
picture of the very recline position of AL K.'s Corsa on
the Bacchetta Yahoo Group. As I remember we cut over 2" off
his riser.

Jude Wheel Doctor Cycle & Sport Inc. 800-586-6645

harryo <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

OK, I have 150 miles on my new Corsa and here are my
initial riding impessions. I have been riding an Optima
Baron, almost exclusively, for the last 3 years so I will
be making some comparisons of the two bikes.

The M5 seat of the Corsa is smaller than the Optima seat
on my Baron. It is about 2 inches shorter in length and 1
inch narrower. The 2" of reduced length is between the 2
bends of the seat. Overall, the seat fits me pretty well
and is not uncomfortable, although right now I would say
that the Optima seat is a bit more comfortable for me, but
that is likely because I am accustomed to it. With more
miles on the Corsa, I'm sure I'll become more accustomed
to it's seat and it will feel perfectly comfortable. I
have no problem with neck fatigue, or pain, but then I
didn't on the Optima seat either.

My Corsa is the large frame and with the seat stays fully
reclined, the seat clamp is just about right in the middle
of the adjustment range. The seat angle is slightly more
than the seat on my Baron, which is fully reclined, but
not by much. When the handlebars are set for my arms fully
extended, the riser angle is almost perfectly in line with
the head tube. Even with the height adjustment of the stem
fully lowered, the handlebars are still a few inches
higher than I need. The superman position is certainly
different than what I am used to but it is not
uncomfortable.

The Corsa is a fast and efficient bike. On a flat, smooth
road, my Baron is faster for the same percieved effort,
but not by much. Into a stiff wind, the Baron also seems
to be a bit easier to maintain speed, but again , not by
much. It is really difficult to quantify any differences,
because I only have about 200 road miles this year.
Although the spinning work I have done, at the local
YMCA, have my heart and lungs in excellent shape, my legs
still need some more road miles and are getting stronger
every ride.

The Corsa is definitely quicker, when accelerating from a
stop, and also seems to be a better climber, on the hills
in my area. This is no doubt due to it's lighter weight. I
haven't weighed either bike but my just hefting them, the
Corsa is noticably lighter. Handling is excellent. It is
quicker responding than my Baron but is predictable and
smooth. I am still getting used to it but I am pretty
steady on it right now. Starting is a bit trickier, so
far, but again, I have had no real problems. The stiffness
of the Corsa and overall ride quality, seem to be about
the same as my Baron.

Bottom line, so far, with my limited miles, is that the
Corsa is a very comfortable ride and is certainly capable
of being ridden at a fast pace, by those capable of riding
it so. It might be slightly less efficient on flat, smooth
rural roads but for all long rides, in varied terrain, it
is probably capable of being ridden just as fast as my
Baron. For hillier rides, it might even be faster, for me.

I did a short mile ride last Friday evening, on mostly
rural roads, with light winds, but about 60 percent of the
ride was on a glacial moraine, with rolling, to slightly
hiily roads. Even after going through my home town and
riding the streets for a couple of miles I ended up doing
29.5 miles in 1:32. I did not push myself really hard and
only had about 100 road miles for the year. It appears
that I might not be getting many road miles on my Baron
for awhile and will be riding the Corsa.

Harry Jiles

You can also buy a shorter riser directly from Bacchetta.

"Andrew Douglas" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

That pretty much mirrors my impressions. I recently bought
a used Corsa.

Two items to consider:

1) Since you have the bars in line with the head tube, you
can get rid of the GlideFlex unit. It weighs about a
half a pound and isn't doing anything for you. This
will also lower the bars.

2) You can cut the riser to lower the bars. While
irreversible, there are no ill effects from doing this.

Note that if you do get rid of the GlideFlex, you have no
way of properly tightening the headset. Bacchetta has come
up with a widget to solve this problem, available Real
Soon Now. It's also possible to get things tight enough
without the widget if you lean on the stem hard enough,
then tighten the collar. This is what I've done and it's
just fine.

Actually, The short one often needs to be cut down. All you
need is 1/2" clearance.All the Bacchetta's now come with the
shorter length/shorter reach riser. On the bikes equipped
with the glidflex the tendency is to need to cut more off,
unless your riser is directly in line with the head tube. My
personal bike (Aero) is cut so short that I feel the hairs
on my legs touch the HB.

Jude

TimH <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

You can also buy a shorter riser directly from Bacchetta.

"Andrew Douglas" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

That pretty much mirrors my impressions. I recently
bought a used Corsa.

Two items to consider:

1) Since you have the bars in line with the head tube,
you can get rid of the GlideFlex unit. It weighs
about a half a pound and isn't doing anything for
you. This will also lower the bars.

2) You can cut the riser to lower the bars. While
irreversible, there are no ill effects from doing
this.

Note that if you do get rid of the GlideFlex, you have
no way of properly tightening the headset. Bacchetta has
come up with a widget to solve this problem, available
Real Soon Now. It's also possible to get things tight
enough without the widget if you lean on the stem hard
enough, then tighten the collar. This is what I've done
and it's just fine.

Harry: Well, the end of an era. One of the things I could
always count on in the central Illinois rides was looking
down from my relatively lofty Barcroft Virginia riding
position (19 inches) and seeing you flash by on the Baron.
Now I will need to look up and crane my neck to see you
woosh by. Two years ago in Monticello my wife and I are
riding our Barcroft Columbia tandem with you and a fellow
with a P-38, keeping fairly close to your pace, and thinking
we were some hot cycle jockeys. That is until you and the
other rider then decided to shift out of neurtal and into
drive. Gone in a flash. So, now it appears that with the
Corsa you might be even faster, which means we better see
you at the start or we won't see you at all on the ride.
Thanks for the comparison.

Mike S. St. Louis, Mo.

[email hidden] (mike s) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Harry: Well, the end of an era. One of the things I could
always count on in the central Illinois rides was looking
down from my relatively lofty Barcroft Virginia riding
position (19 inches) and seeing you flash by on the Baron.
Now I will need to look up and crane my neck to see you
woosh by. Two years ago in Monticello my wife and I are
riding our Barcroft Columbia tandem with you and a fellow
with a P-38, keeping fairly close to your pace, and
thinking we were some hot cycle jockeys. That is until you
and the other rider then decided to shift out of neurtal
and into drive. Gone in a flash. So, now it appears that
with the Corsa you might be even faster, which means we
better see you at the start or we won't see you at all on
the ride. Thanks for the comparison.

Mike, the right side of my brain takes over sometimes and I
have to take off and sprint. It's a male thing isn't it?

Seriously, I had been intrigued by the Bacchetta highracers,
since they first appeared and finally had to give them a
try. Now, I still find them quite intriguing. The Corsa
really is an efficient machine and continues to impress me
more each time I ride it. Yesterday evening, because of the
very high winds(30+ gusts), I rode into town(LeRoy), to get
a bit of shelter from the winds and rode there, on the
streets, for 1 1/2 hours. Now LeRoy is a small town, with
fairly light traffic on the streets, so I rode like I was in
a criterium. The Corsa is very quick in sprints and I can
really pedal it up to high speed quickly, even into the wind
and on light uphill grades. While I never felt that I had
severe visibility concerns on the Baron, the Corsa obviously
offers more visibility, both for me and for motorists seeing
me and is really faster for in town riding.

I really like the Corsa. I think I probably will be able to
ride it faster, overall, than the Baron. It is pretty darn
aero into the wind and it certainly seems to roll quite
easily so maybe the twin big wheels do offer some advantage
in rolling resistance. Right now, it appears that I might
very well be selling an Optima Baron in the future.

I hope to see you and Joan at Monticello again this year, if
my planting progress allows it. It really is a great ride!

Harry Jiles

harryo said:

... I hope to see you and Joan at Monticello again this
year, if my planting progress allows it. It really is a
great ride!

Mike always misses the most interesting HPV's on the
Monticello ride. He writes an article for RCN but does not
notice the bodysocked Screamer, TiGRR and "Wavewind" riding
together. Last year he missed the Greenspeed Tandem Trike,
Bike Friday Double Day and Earth Cycles Dragonflyer.

I believe he is trying to avoid me. However, he and Joan did
suffer the indignity of being photographed with me by a
reporter for the Havana [1] newspaper. 😉

[1] Illinois, not Cuba.

--
Tom Sherman – Quad Cities (Illinois Side)

Tom Sherman <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Mike always misses the most interesting HPV's on the
Monticello ride. He writes an article for RCN but does not
notice the bodysocked Screamer, TiGRR and "Wavewind"
riding together. Last year he missed the Greenspeed Tandem
Trike, Bike Friday Double Day and Earth Cycles
Dragonflyer.

It is truely hard to miss a Greenspeed Tandem Trike. It is
only about
1/2 a block long! Tom, I also hope to see you, Tom Smith and
Hal again, in Monticello. That ride does seem to attract
more than an average number of recumbents.

Harry Jiles

[email hidden] (harryo) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Tom Sherman <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]-
berlin.de>...

Quoted message said:

Mike always misses the most interesting HPV's on the
Monticello ride. He writes an article for RCN but does
not notice the bodysocked Screamer, TiGRR and "Wavewind"
riding together. Last year he missed the Greenspeed
Tandem Trike, Bike Friday Double Day and Earth Cycles
Dragonflyer.

Tom: I might have seen them but at my age I probably can't
remember. But you left one thing out. You are also
responsible for allowing me to try the only Lowracer I have
ever ridden where I didn't dump myself on the tarmac within
five pedal strokes. The Sunset Lowracer lived up to the
reputation you have so steadfastly promoted. As to the photo
and the publication in the local paper, I hope that is not
the reason they cancelled the ride this year! Hope to see
you on one of the rides. P.S. We leave early.

Mike S. St. Louis, Mo.