GRR - tops for comfort and speed?

I have been riding recumbent for almost four years. During this period I have often wondered about
the $$$ of the GRR. I have a 99 Stratus. It is a great bike and still today, an excellent value. But
after reading four plus years of postings, and reviews, I continue to see the GRR near the top of
almost every list for comfort and speed! In fact I have NEVER read a bad review! With few universal
truths in recumbency, is there one here. IS THE GRR TOPS FOR COMFORT AND SPEED?

Jim Reilly Reading, PA

 

My observation is that GRR's & TE's stick with their owners better than other bikes. They seem less
likely to wind up on the used market everytime some company comes out with a the latest super
wonderful bike with a lot of market buzz. I figure mine has saved me a bunch by curing my recumbent
fever. I am a satisified GRR ('96 polished alum) owner and intend to stay that way. If you like lwb
oss then it would be hard to find something not to like about a GRR or TE.

skip

 

The only bike that beats the GRR is the Ti-Rush. A little prettier and a lot more comfortable. John
Carnahan [email protected]

 

[email protected] (stratrider) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I have been riding recumbent for almost four years. During this period I have often wondered about
> the $$$ of the GRR. I have a 99 Stratus. It is a great bike and still today, an excellent value.
> But after reading four plus years of postings, and reviews, I continue to see the GRR near the top
> of almost every list for comfort and speed! In fact I have NEVER read a bad review! With few
> universal truths in recumbency, is there one here. IS THE GRR TOPS FOR COMFORT AND SPEED?
>
> Jim Reilly Reading, PA

I have and sell both the Stratus and Gold Rush. I find the ride on the Stratus is smoother, thus
the Stratus is the more comfortable bike. I find the seats on both similar in comfort. The Gold
Rush is slightly lighter and has a more efficient drivetrain due to not having a top chain idler.
Now that Mueller is offering a fairing with body sock kit for the Stratus I think the Stratus is
a worthy performance competitor to the Gold Rush but the Gold Rush would still have a slight edge
in climbing.

Zach Kaplan

 

I love my TI Rush and I loved the GRR I owned previously..

However, for the $$$ the Stratus qwould seem to be a "sleeper" LWB value. Stratus owners are
extremely loyal. I rarely read a bad word about a Stratus.

On the other hand, used Velocity 2s were fairly easy to find at a good discount from the new price
not too long after they came out as the "hot new recumbent".

--
Gator Bob Siegel EasyRacers Ti Rush "stratrider" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have been riding recumbent for almost four years. During this period I have often wondered about
> the $$$ of the GRR. I have a 99 Stratus. It is a great bike and still today, an excellent value.
> But after reading four plus years of postings, and reviews, I continue to see the GRR near the top
> of almost every list for comfort and speed! In fact I have NEVER read a bad review! With few
> universal truths in recumbency, is there one here. IS THE GRR TOPS FOR COMFORT AND SPEED?
>
> Jim Reilly Reading, PA

 

[email protected] (stratrider) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I have been riding recumbent for almost four years. During this period I have often wondered about
> the $$$ of the GRR. I have a 99 Stratus. It is a great bike and still today, an excellent value.
> But after reading four plus years of postings, and reviews, I continue to see the GRR near the top
> of almost every list for comfort and speed! In fact I have NEVER read a bad review! With few
> universal truths in recumbency, is there one here. IS THE GRR TOPS FOR COMFORT AND SPEED?
>
> Jim Reilly Reading, PA

Personally, I don't own an Easy Racer but I ride with a LOT of folks who do. The loyalty of the
people who ride them is admirable. I have tried two Tour Easy's and one Gold Rush. They are fun and
find the riding position to be comfortable and "intuitive".

To answer your question, "IS THE GRR TOPS FOR COMFORT AND SPEED?", I would have to leave it to
people who are long time GRR/Easy Racer owners and have had the opportunity to have owned or test
ridden other similiar bikes. I say "similiar" because you need to compare "apples to apples and
oranges to oranges". Lowracers and the new breed of "highracers" have taken the lead as far as speed
potential goes and most owners of these types of bikes find them very comfortable to ride as well.
It's all in one's perception I guess. My suggestion is to find a GRR that you can borrow or rent and
take it for a long test ride and formulate your own opinion.

Edward Wong Orlando, FL

 

[email protected] (stratrider) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I have been riding recumbent for almost four years. During this period I have often wondered about
> the $$$ of the GRR. I have a 99 Stratus. It is a great bike and still today, an excellent value.
> But after reading four plus years of postings, and reviews, I continue to see the GRR near the top
> of almost every list for comfort and speed! In fact I have NEVER read a bad review! With few
> universal truths in recumbency, is there one here. IS THE GRR TOPS FOR COMFORT AND SPEED?
>
> Jim Reilly Reading, PA

This is one of those unanswerable questions. Each time I bought a different recumbent I tried the
Gold Rush because so many had said that it would be the last bike I would own. Each time I passed on
it as it did not feel comfortable or perform (in my opinion) up to its pricetag. I find the LWB
somewhat gawky to manuver, the upright seat not to my liking, the reach to the handlebars
uncomfortable, and on and on. This isn't to say it isn't a great bike for others, but not for me. I
am so supremely comfortable with my present steed that there is no comparison. Speed wise, my
unfaired bike can keep pace on the flats, move past it on the descents and beat it up the hills,
although the Gold Rush is faired. We did find a used Gold Rush on the web which my wife now rides
and is getting used to. She finds it more to her liking than the higher bottom bracket bikes I
prefer. It just boils down to there are horses for courses and different strokes for different
folks. But the Gold Rush as tops in comfort and speed, not to me. A nice bike for others, but not
the universal solution to biking performance.

Mike S. St. Louis, Mo Barcroft Virginia GT Barcroft Columbia

 

stratrider wrote:
>
> I have been riding recumbent for almost four years. During this period I have often wondered about
> the $$$ of the GRR. I have a 99 Stratus. It is a great bike and still today, an excellent value.
> But after reading four plus years of postings, and reviews, I continue to see the GRR near the top
> of almost every list for comfort and speed! In fact I have NEVER read a bad review! With few
> universal truths in recumbency, is there one here. IS THE GRR TOPS FOR COMFORT AND SPEED?

I was going to mention that I have found the Earth Cycles Sunset Lowracer [TM] to be the best
combination of speed and comfort, but I realize everyone is tired of hearing me talk about an out of
production bike of which only 18 examples exist.

Tom Sherman - Various HPV's Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)

 

"Tom Sherman" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
>
> I was going to mention that I have found the Earth Cycles Sunset Lowracer [TM] to be the best
> combination of speed and comfort, but I realize everyone is tired of hearing me talk about an out
> of production bike of which only 18 examples exist.
>

Maybe Earth Cycles was a bit ahead of their time. You're an engineer, people want lowracers, you
could build a good one, so why don't you check out what it would take to get into production and
give the bent business a look?

skip

 

skip wrote:
>
> Maybe Earth Cycles was a bit ahead of their time. You're an engineer, people want lowracers, you
> could build a good one, so why don't you check out what it would take to get into production and
> give the bent business a look?

Skip,

From the information I have been able to gather, Earth Cycle's/Shean Bjoralt's problem was not sales
[1], but cash flow, lack of capital, and lack of profit per unit.

There are a large amount of custom made, low volume parts on both the Sunset and Dragonflyer, and
both of them have aspects of design and construction that indicates that they were rather labor
intensive to build. (Eliminating these features would result in losing much of what is special about
the Sunset and Dragonflyer.)

Starting a successful recumbent company would certainly require much more capital than I have access
to, and I lack the political connections to get a guaranteed government business loan. And I am not
in line to inherit any significant amount of money either.

[1] Reportedly, some people who put down deposits for Dragonflyers and Sunsets received neither
their trike/bike nor a refund.

Tom Sherman - Various HPV's Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)

 

U can always do a Burley on the world. Begin with 10 souls of like mind, each puts up a few K and
go to a credit union for a line of credit and UR off to the races. It ain't rocket science and the
only reason it does not happen more often is that people are profit & greed motivated and the
Co-op fails.

"Tom Sherman" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
> skip wrote:
> >
> > Maybe Earth Cycles was a bit ahead of their time. You're an engineer, people want lowracers, you
> > could build a good one, so why don't you
check
> > out what it would take to get into production and give the bent business
a
> > look?
>
> Skip,
>
> From the information I have been able to gather, Earth Cycle's/Shean Bjoralt's problem was not
> sales [1], but cash flow, lack of capital, and lack of profit per unit.
>
> There are a large amount of custom made, low volume parts on both the Sunset and Dragonflyer, and
> both of them have aspects of design and construction that indicates that they were rather labor
> intensive to build. (Eliminating these features would result in losing much of what is special
> about the Sunset and Dragonflyer.)
>
> Starting a successful recumbent company would certainly require much more capital than I have
> access to, and I lack the political connections to get a guaranteed government business loan. And
> I am not in line to inherit any significant amount of money either.
>
> [1] Reportedly, some people who put down deposits for Dragonflyers and Sunsets received neither
> their trike/bike nor a refund.
>
> Tom Sherman - Various HPV's Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)

 

I tried a GRR when I had the Linear and preferred my bike. Like the others say, its individual
choice. Chas

 

"Joshua Goldberg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> U can always do a Burley on the world. Begin with 10 souls of like mind.....

I am VERY pro trike, and want to import trikes only from North America. But after seeing many
silicon vally businesses failing, this state being in the red $32+ billion; I am afraid I would lose
my shirt! Now if I can find 10 souls to obtain storage area, t would gladly venture into non
polluting transportation, especially in these Arab oil times.

Chris Jordan Santa Cruz, CA.

 

I think it depends on the rider. I got rid of my P-38 because it was so much slower and
uncomfortable compared with my Tour Easy. I used the money to buy a Gold Rush which proved even
better than the Tour Easy.

OTOH, I do have a friend who almost never rides his GR because he is faster on his P-38. Go figure.

Andy

"LB" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> The only bike that beats the GRR is the Ti-Rush. A little prettier and a lot more comfortable.
> John Carnahan [email protected]

 

I was fast (for me) on my now-sold P-38 XT. When I first got my Ti Rush it was slower. But after one
month riding only the Ti Rush, I was faster on the Ti Rush than on the P-38. I think if I trained
equal time on both, the faired TiRush would be faster on the flats, the unfaired P-38 faster on the
hills. Also, if I had a fairing on the P-38 I think it would be faster all the time. But not by a
whole lot.

Finally, riding a GRR or Ti Rush is effortless. They require very little rider attention, and steer
and track very smoothly. Also, they start up from dead stops, even uphill, with little if any
effort. The P-38 is a great bike but it demands the rider's full-time attention and can be hard to
start from a dead stop, especially uphill.

--
Gator Bob Siegel EasyRacers Ti Rush "Andy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I think it depends on the rider. I got rid of my P-38 because it was so much slower and
> uncomfortable compared with my Tour Easy. I used the
money
> to buy a Gold Rush which proved even better than the Tour Easy.
>
> OTOH, I do have a friend who almost never rides his GR because he is
faster
> on his P-38. Go figure.
>
> Andy
>
> "LB" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > The only bike that beats the GRR is the Ti-Rush. A little prettier and a lot more comfortable.
> > John Carnahan [email protected]

 

"Robert Siegel" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I was fast (for me) on my now-sold P-38 XT. When I first got my Ti Rush
it
> was slower. But after one month riding only the Ti Rush, I was faster on the Ti Rush than on the
> P-38. I think if I trained equal time on both,
the
> faired TiRush would be faster on the flats, the unfaired P-38 faster on
the
> hills. Also, if I had a fairing on the P-38 I think it would be faster
all
> the time. But not by a whole lot.
>

My friend who is faster on the P-38 rides with the nose cone.

Andy

 

"Robert Siegel" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I was fast (for me) on my now-sold P-38 XT. When I first got my Ti Rush
it
> was slower. But after one month riding only the Ti Rush, I was faster on the Ti Rush than on the
> P-38. I think if I trained equal time on both,
the
> faired TiRush would be faster on the flats, the unfaired P-38 faster on
the
> hills. Also, if I had a fairing on the P-38 I think it would be faster
all
> the time. But not by a whole lot.
>

Sorry I sent my message too soon.

I had the partial fairing on my P-38 and it was slower for me than my faired Tour Easy. My friend
who is faster on his P-38 than his Gold Rush rides the P-38 with the nose cone.

Andy