BikeE Bad?



J

Jeff Grippe

Guest
In an earlier thread, someone referred to the BikeE as uncomfortable. I have
never ridden one but I was considering getting a cheap one on ebay just to
have a bike. I got rid of all my two wheel vehicle when I made the switch to
trikes. A bike is certainly easier to transport, however. If I'm doing rail
trails a bike would be fine. Are there BikeE owners who read this ng? What
do you think of them.

Jeff
 
Jeff Grippe wrote:
> In an earlier thread, someone referred to the BikeE as uncomfortable.


All bikes will be differently comfortable for different folk,
because everyone has a slightly different physiology which will
work better or worse with the geometry and layout of the bike.

Look at BROL's HPVel reviews and they think the Bodylink seat is an
improvement on the previous seat the company used; OTOH, I don't
like it nearly as much.
So, if you want to know if a BikeE is comfortable or not there's
really no substitute for trying one yourself.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
 
Jeff Grippe wrote:
>
> In an earlier thread, someone referred to the BikeE as uncomfortable.


My few days of getting around an unfamiliar town on a rental BikeE
were pretty educational. Physically, I found the thing to be just
fine, better in fact than any upright bike I could have rented would
have been. I found the thing intensely uncomfortable, though, because
of its nasty and unstable steering qualities-- It required a very
attentive yet restrained touch at the bars to keep it from flipping
its front tire sideways and departing from underneath me. It was
easily as treacherous as any of the many long-forked, small-front-
wheeled homebrew choppers I've tried, if not more so. It was mentally
and physically exhausting to cope with the BikeE's tightrope handling;
I'll take a narrow hard saddle over that, any day.

I suggest you consider something with a more conventional head angle
of 68 to 76 degrees and a normal amount of rake and trail for its
wheel size. These values have been arrived at through refinement over
the course of a century or more, and they should be changed sparingly
and with a clear sense of the implications and tradeoffs.

Chalo
 
Jeff Grippe wrote:
> In an earlier thread, someone referred to the BikeE as uncomfortable. I have
> never ridden one but I was considering getting a cheap one on ebay just to
> have a bike. I got rid of all my two wheel vehicle when I made the switch to
> trikes. A bike is certainly easier to transport, however. If I'm doing rail
> trails a bike would be fine. Are there BikeE owners who read this ng? What
> do you think of them.


The only way to tell is to try on for yourself. My first 'bent was a BikeE for
about 2 years. I then went to a Burly Limbo (I hope my buying a bike doesn't
trash all manufacturers :) mainly because it had a better drive train. I've
ridden an 'E once since that time. It did feel different. Mine was a CT-xl,
the one I rode was a short BikeE.

Don't settle for one or two loops in a parking lot - try one for an hour or
more on all sorts of biking conditions - up-hill, down-hill, fast, slow. Give
it a good workout.

mike



--
Mike Vore
http://www.OhMyWoodness.com
http://mike.vorefamily.net/twr
 
chalo colina wrote:
}
}
} Jeff Grippe wrote:
}>
}> In an earlier thread, someone referred to the BikeE as uncomfortable.
}
} It required a very attentive yet restrained touch at the bars

This is true of a stock BikeE, but if you can find a pair of handlebars
from an old Raleigh 3-speed (the wing shape, not straight-back grips),
the handling comfort will be immensely improved, and you will be able to
place the bars lower for the same knee clearance