Fusion, setup and short ride report, long!



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Kelly

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I'm a RANS dealer with a small brick and mortar showroom down town so I frequently setup bikes at my
home garage and then move them to the shop. I setup 3 bikes today, a Stratus, Rocket and the new
Fusion. I'm 59 years old and have a little pain here and there and those frequently show up when I'm
lifting bikes on and off the work stand. Setting up a bike for me often requires the bike to be
placed on the stand two, maybe three times as you adjust various components. As I lifted the Fusion
on and off the stand it became very apparent that the bike is quite light, surprisingly light in
fact, darn sure lighter than the Rocket! The bike comes together painlessly and precisely.

I was anxious to test ride the bike. My street is a country colosac, 1 mile long, chip and seal,
with a shallow ravine in the middle so you are either going up or down, no flat terrain. I was
amazed at how easy, fast (?) the Fusion was. I've rode bikes on this loop for 22 years. Rode the
Fusion about 10 miles on this loop today. You have a tendency to want to sit to high on the back of
the seat, wrong..you need to sit down toward the front of the seat I discovered and you do really
get some power to the pedal! I rode it a few times in disbelieve at the ease of momentum with just
the platform pedals before rushing in and putting on my bike shoes and the Frog Speed Plays for a
test of how much pull back power I could get in addition. At first I didn't think you would be able
to get a lot more power from the clip ins but I was additionally surprised to find out that you can.
The geometry of this bike does require almost full leg extension for maximum power but the seat is
easy to adjust thus easy to dial in. I'm only 5'7" and the Fusion feels really small to me. Very
easy to turn around inside my crowed garage while riding. The bike would benefit from long pipe
shifters rather than the shorties. I really like the 5.0 brakes better than the either the 7.0's or
9.0's. They setup easily and work great. The bike rides sorta cushy like maybe a Stratus and has the
same metallic paint as a V2. I think the V2 and Fusion are superior value recumbents.

Between my neighbors property and mine is a steep little grass covered incline that I use to
evaluate how much climbing prowess a bike might have when it really gets tuff and the Fusion did
great in this micro test other than a slight wheelie at the steepest part. The wheelie surprised me
so I tried it again, another wheelie. Tried pulling a wheelie in my drive way, 6 inch lift on the
front wheel! WOW, COOL, heck I couldn't do a wheelie when I rode upwrongs. You can actually pull
back hard on the bar and sprint with this bike. I'm anxious to do a longer ride with it to see if
the upright, non-supported back position gives me pain, but none was indicated today. I enjoyed the
bike so much that I really don't want to sell it unless RANS can get me one to replace it with. This
bike, like the V2, is a great value in my opinion.

Kelly Springdale, AR
 
I would change a couple things about this bike.

There is a lot of twisting pressure on the seat when you ride, so it can be difficult to get the
seat post tight enough to avoid this. It might be better if it had an oval or rectangular seat
tube and post.

Randy thinks you should sit upright and even lean back a little on this bike. I disagree. For one
thing there is no back rest. Also I think you can get more power by leaning forward a bit and
closing your hip angle. I think if the bike had a more upright head tube, it would accomodate a
slight forward lean and would also give the bike better low speed handling. (One could put on a
shorter stem and lean forward, but the handling issues would remain.)

I think this bike is an interesting idea. I like it better than the Vision, which feels too much
like an upright bike to me. But I think it could use a bit of refinement.

johnriley1 (at) rogers.com
 
[email protected] (john riley) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I would change a couple things about this bike.
>
> There is a lot of twisting pressure on the seat when you ride, so it can be difficult to get the
> seat post tight enough to avoid this. It might be better if it had an oval or rectangular seat
> tube and post.

Will someone please tell RANS this?
>
> Randy thinks you should sit upright and even lean back a little on this bike. I disagree. For one
> thing there is no back rest. Also I think you can get more power by leaning forward a bit and
> closing your hip angle. I think if the bike had a more upright head tube, it would accomodate a
> slight forward lean and would also give the bike better low speed handling. (One could put on a
> shorter stem and lean forward, but the handling issues would remain.)

How about making it with a back rest? One could always lean forward from it and pull on the
handlebars for power, and then on long rides I'd welcome the chance to lean back.

Seems to me that this design even beats the Redundant which required dismounting and flipping up the
saddle. If the Fusion saddle had at least a kidney-height back rest, one could be truly fusioned:
sort of BentUp.
>
> I think this bike is an interesting idea. I like it better than the Vision, which feels too much
> like an upright bike to me. But I think it could use a bit of refinement.

How about a few other refinements such as a better gear cassette (more gears) and a wider range of
crank gear sizes? I'd love to get one and put clipless pedals on it, and narrow tires, and better
brakes. And a better color, preferably Metalflake.

C.C.,Rider
 
"Kelly" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]... <snip>
> Between my neighbors property and mine is a steep little grass covered incline that I use to
> evaluate how much climbing prowess a bike might have when it really gets tuff and the Fusion did
> great in this micro test other than a slight wheelie at the steepest part. The wheelie surprised
> me so I tried it again, another wheelie. Tried pulling a wheelie in my drive way, 6 inch lift on
> the front wheel! WOW, COOL, heck I couldn't do a wheelie when I rode upwrongs. You can actually
> pull back hard on the bar and sprint with this bike. I'm anxious to do a longer ride with it to
> see if the upright, non-supported back position gives me pain, but none was indicated today. I
> enjoyed the bike so much that I really don't want to sell it unless RANS can get me one to replace
> it with. This bike, like the V2, is a great value in my opinion.

This bike is the best looking and most interesting of the so called comfort bikes I've seen. I'd
like to know how the Fusion does in the hills and on longer rides. As a recumbent fusion upright
bike that you can't stand up on and one that seems to have a decidedly rearward weight bias I'm
wondering if it isn't an in town flat land short hop fun kinda bike.

I'm looking forward to your long ride report from a hill handling and comfort standpoint.

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