Well, I am not the most objective person to ask, being good friends with
the Calfee crew, but I have ridden the Stilleto, in several iterations I
might add. I also work for Easy Racers so you put me in a tough spot given
that you're interested in a Ti-Rush
However, I'll give my 2 cents...
It is a really nice bike, I mean really, really nice. If you have never seen a Calfee bike up close
and personal, you should. Just flawless works of carbon art, Craig is a genius. And Freddy, well
Freddy has as much experience riding HPVs as anyone, and I mean all kinds of HPVs, long, short,
headfirst, on your belly, on your back, tv-guided, aircraft, boats, etc... He is like the engine for
hire in the HPV world. So regardless of anything else, you gotta respect that. His thoughts and
opinions have been developed over 3 decades of real experience. And if Freddy builds his dream bike,
you gotta believe it's what he honestly, genuinely thinks is the best, for him.
It's obviously based off a TE/GRR, that's great, I think only the P38 rivals the design in terms of
sheer staying power, they are some of those "defining the genre" bikes. They are not a fad, they are
still here and in production because they work so well they can't be bettered, much
The Stilleto address' Freddy's issues with the TE/GRR and honestly I think they are simply a matter
of preferance. Remote steering = no tiller, not that the tiller is much to speak of on a GRR, and
you introduce extra mechanical complexity to your design and lose some handlebar real estate (an
issue for touring). Personally I don't care either way, the Stilleto's steering feels just as secure
and solid as a TE/GRR.
Speaking of which, I do believe the Stilleto has a bit less trail than the TE/GRR, making the
steering lighter and more responsive, good at lower speeds, maybe not so good at 60+mph, which is
not unheard for me on a TE/GRR in the Santa Cruz mountains. I have not actually gone over about 30
on the Stilleto so that is a bit of conjecture on my part. At all speeds I have ridden the Stilleto
it tracks incredably well, the light steering is almost psychic.
It is a very smoooooth ride, built in passive suspension, tuned to the riders weight! I think they
use different sized seat stays but could be wrong so don't quote me. This bit of genius gets around
one of the shortcomings of carbon, sort of a solid but dead feeling (my opinion). This is probably
the deciding factor for anyone torn between the two bikes, feel, and I don't dare to touch that one
with a 10 foot pole.
The Stilleto will be maybe 2-4 lbs lighter than the Ti-Rush, we will see when the seats come in from
RANS (come on Randy!) So we can't say too much about that right now. It will obviously climb like a
mountain goat regardless.
Other factors.... hmmm, the Stilleto I believe gets a 20 year warranty the Ti-Rush, lifetime.
I do have some further opinions, but I am not comfortable expressing them in this forum, e-mail if
you'd like.
In short... It's all about feel, what style grabs you, what YOU want.
Now what I want... hmm maybe a Carbon-Ti colaboration, a la, Merlin
Gabe
"deanaliddy" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:6M5Kb.7654$6l1.2266@okepread03...
> If anybody has been able to ride the new carbon Stiletto recumbent by Calfee, please give me your
> impression of it. I am in the market for a
high
> end LWB and thinking about a T-Rush but the weight and the credentials of this new Stiletto are
> really impressive. Somebody here in my town has ordered one but it has not yet arrived and even
> when it does, it will be much too big for me to ride but at least I could look at it. Any thoughts
> on buying a "new" design with cabled steering? Racers seem to love the Calfee uprights. Thanks for
> your comments.
