R
Rocketman
Guest
Made my semi-annual pilgrimage to The Bike Rack in St. Charles, IL over Christmas. I was there to
check out the sale-priced Greenspeed trikes, among other things; but decided they're still too
pricey at $2,995 ($1,500 off the list price). They didn't have any Euro bents in stock,
unfortunately (had several on my last visit). Lots of Bacchetta's though! They must have had 8 or 9
Bacchettas sitting in the rack (no Aeros; but several sweet-looking Corsas) The helpful guys at the
Bike Rack let me have a test ride on a sky-blue 2004 Bacchetta Giro.
First impression: I love this bike. The seating position is near perfect, allowing my feet to be
flat on the ground in a stop. The seat is very comfortable, with room inside for a Camelback. (!)
The tweener handlebars feel natural and comfortable. BB isn't too high (seems about the same as my
RANS Rocket.) Steering is very sporty - some might say twitchy.
The bike wasn't setup perfectly when I started out. The seat immediately slid back about 6" under
power, and the gears weren't indexing correctly. I hopped off, cinched up the seat QR, tightened up
the right shifter cable about 3 turns, and off I went, everything working fine. It required less
fiddling than my Rocket does to get the seat cinched securely. Bravo Bacchetta!
I had the "tweener" handlebars set back pretty close to my body, as opposed to the "superman"
position, which makes me nervous. Even so, I could see that the Giro has, um, very sporty handling.
I bombed down the test hill out back of Bike Rack, and felt a little nervous at high speeds. I
accidentally snagged my coat sleeve on the handlebars and almost wrecked. Yikes! That never happened
on my Rocket...
The Giro scampered back up the steep test hill like a champ, with no hint of low-speed wobbling at
all. I tried some sharp turns, and noticed the "tweener" handlebars interfering with my knees; but
there was no heel overlap with the front wheel whatsoever. Another plus for Bacchetta.
The test Giro had the Kenda high-pressure narrow tires fore and aft. They're sweet looking tires,
and felt very fast. The sales guy said he had many people calling the shop looking for the 20"/406mm
Kenda's; but they don't have any sources for them yet.
BTW: Unless I miss my guess, the Giro fork will accept a 451mm front wheel. The 2003 and 2004 Giro
models were sitting side-by-side in the rack - mere inches apart - and I could easily see that the
2004 has a shorter head tube and a longer fork than the 2003 model. I'm assuming that Bacchetta
changed the geometry to allow a taller 451mm fork, should you desire to go that route. Nice work
Bacchetta! I'll bet the Challenge Katana stainless monoblade and a front disc brake would be a nice
upgrade for the Giro. How about a 451mm carbon fork from Velokraft?
A big minus on the Giro were the super-stiff SRAM Attack 9-speed shifters. They were so stiff that I
kept overshifting by accident because I couldn't feel the index points. I'd replace those crappy
Grip Shifters with some Shimano Rapidfires. Anything would be better than the stock shifters.
I had been considering the RANS V-Rex as a natural upgrade from the RANS Rocket; but I think I'm
leaning toward the Giro now. I really like the comfortable riding position, stiff frame, stable
ride, flat-footed stops, tweener handlebars and fast Kenda tires. The knee/handlebar overlap in
sharp turns is a problem; but probably not a show-stopper. The $1,550 price tag seems reasonable.
I'd like a few longer test rides before I decide; but let's just say that unless than 20/26
Challenge Taifun is amazingly sweet, there is some heavy competition for my next recumbent, with the
Giro out in front. I must admit, the other contender was the beautiful silver RANS Rocket with the
new RANS seat design. The Rocket just keeps getting better, doesn't it?
Rocketman
check out the sale-priced Greenspeed trikes, among other things; but decided they're still too
pricey at $2,995 ($1,500 off the list price). They didn't have any Euro bents in stock,
unfortunately (had several on my last visit). Lots of Bacchetta's though! They must have had 8 or 9
Bacchettas sitting in the rack (no Aeros; but several sweet-looking Corsas) The helpful guys at the
Bike Rack let me have a test ride on a sky-blue 2004 Bacchetta Giro.
First impression: I love this bike. The seating position is near perfect, allowing my feet to be
flat on the ground in a stop. The seat is very comfortable, with room inside for a Camelback. (!)
The tweener handlebars feel natural and comfortable. BB isn't too high (seems about the same as my
RANS Rocket.) Steering is very sporty - some might say twitchy.
The bike wasn't setup perfectly when I started out. The seat immediately slid back about 6" under
power, and the gears weren't indexing correctly. I hopped off, cinched up the seat QR, tightened up
the right shifter cable about 3 turns, and off I went, everything working fine. It required less
fiddling than my Rocket does to get the seat cinched securely. Bravo Bacchetta!
I had the "tweener" handlebars set back pretty close to my body, as opposed to the "superman"
position, which makes me nervous. Even so, I could see that the Giro has, um, very sporty handling.
I bombed down the test hill out back of Bike Rack, and felt a little nervous at high speeds. I
accidentally snagged my coat sleeve on the handlebars and almost wrecked. Yikes! That never happened
on my Rocket...
The Giro scampered back up the steep test hill like a champ, with no hint of low-speed wobbling at
all. I tried some sharp turns, and noticed the "tweener" handlebars interfering with my knees; but
there was no heel overlap with the front wheel whatsoever. Another plus for Bacchetta.
The test Giro had the Kenda high-pressure narrow tires fore and aft. They're sweet looking tires,
and felt very fast. The sales guy said he had many people calling the shop looking for the 20"/406mm
Kenda's; but they don't have any sources for them yet.
BTW: Unless I miss my guess, the Giro fork will accept a 451mm front wheel. The 2003 and 2004 Giro
models were sitting side-by-side in the rack - mere inches apart - and I could easily see that the
2004 has a shorter head tube and a longer fork than the 2003 model. I'm assuming that Bacchetta
changed the geometry to allow a taller 451mm fork, should you desire to go that route. Nice work
Bacchetta! I'll bet the Challenge Katana stainless monoblade and a front disc brake would be a nice
upgrade for the Giro. How about a 451mm carbon fork from Velokraft?
A big minus on the Giro were the super-stiff SRAM Attack 9-speed shifters. They were so stiff that I
kept overshifting by accident because I couldn't feel the index points. I'd replace those crappy
Grip Shifters with some Shimano Rapidfires. Anything would be better than the stock shifters.
I had been considering the RANS V-Rex as a natural upgrade from the RANS Rocket; but I think I'm
leaning toward the Giro now. I really like the comfortable riding position, stiff frame, stable
ride, flat-footed stops, tweener handlebars and fast Kenda tires. The knee/handlebar overlap in
sharp turns is a problem; but probably not a show-stopper. The $1,550 price tag seems reasonable.
I'd like a few longer test rides before I decide; but let's just say that unless than 20/26
Challenge Taifun is amazingly sweet, there is some heavy competition for my next recumbent, with the
Giro out in front. I must admit, the other contender was the beautiful silver RANS Rocket with the
new RANS seat design. The Rocket just keeps getting better, doesn't it?
Rocketman
