ryan recumbent history

[ryancycles]

A bit of Ryan Recumbent customer history
Bob Reed was Trek's head engineer, he developed Trek's OCLV frames.
Bob helped me with some surplus suspension parts for a prototype bike.
Unfortunately he died in a car crash ending my unofficial association
with Trek.
Augie Nieto, owner of Life Fitness, one of the largest fitness
equipment companies in the world. Expressed some interest in the
company, but nothing ever came of it.
Vic Sussman, Vic was an editor at US News and World Report. Vic did a
big article in the magazine with a center fold spread picture of the
Vanguard and the Rebike. I spent years trying to get coverage on the
bikes and this was a really big deal for us. Bur unfortunately they
printed the wrong phone number for us resulting in some woman in Ma.
getting calls from all over the world.
Nordic Trac hired us to build a prototype recumbent utilizing an
automatic transmission and a band brake designed by the inventor Royce
Husted. They opted to go with a conventional df bike they named the
"Yankee" that was chosen as one of the best 100 products of the year
by Popular Science magazine in 1992.
Patrick Byrne, owner of "Overstock.com" rode our bike across the
country to raise money for cancer research.
Terry O'reilly, former Boston Bruin hockey player, owns two Vanguards
and a Duplex, has ridden in numerous charity rides.
Kurt Jensen, a part owner of Ryan Recumbents. He and his eleven year
old daughter rode our tandem across the country.
The enjoyment that our customers got from our products was one of the
few good things about the whole bicycle business experience.
**** Ryan

 

[Tom Sherman]

ryancycles aka **** Ryan wrote:
> [...]
> Vic Sussman, Vic was an editor at US News and World Report. Vic did a
> big article in the magazine with a center fold spread picture of the
> Vanguard and the Rebike. I spent years trying to get coverage on the
> bikes and this was a really big deal for us. Bur unfortunately they
> printed the wrong phone number for us resulting in some woman in Ma.
> getting calls from all over the world.[...]

Did Vic work at USN&WR at the same time as Bill Cook of Barcroft?

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

 

[stratrider]

On May 6, 3:21 pm, "Edward Dolan" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Only those who had more money than brains would ever want your
> bike.

Ed, before I bought my Stratus in 1999, I confess I really wanted to
ride a Vanguard. At that time the Vanguard was $1800. Yes. big
bucks.... Sadly Ryan was being sold to Longbikes at exactly that
time..... when Greg Peek opened for business the Vanguard turned
Slipstream was $2500.... Game. Set. Match. $1800 was out there.
$2500 was out of the question. Since that time, I have ridden several
Vanguards and Slipstreams. After I installed a RANS seat ( I don;t
like the sling seat), and added a rear rack, I can't think of a
better touring machine!

Jim

 

[Wilson]

"stratrider" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:2f9c670f-dac1-43b5-a501-9db8996e9626@x35g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
On May 6, 3:21 pm, "Edward Dolan" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Only those who had more money than brains would ever want your
> bike.

Ed, before I bought my Stratus in 1999, I confess I really wanted to
ride a Vanguard. At that time the Vanguard was $1800. Yes. big
bucks.... Sadly Ryan was being sold to Longbikes at exactly that
time..... when Greg Peek opened for business the Vanguard turned
Slipstream was $2500.... Game. Set. Match. $1800 was out there.
$2500 was out of the question. Since that time, I have ridden several
Vanguards and Slipstreams. After I installed a RANS seat ( I don;t
like the sling seat), and added a rear rack, I can't think of a
better touring machine!

Jim

Trying to fill in some blanks here, I take it that you did purchase a
Vanguard or Slipstream somewhere along the way for $1800 or less. Then you
installed a Rans, oops RANS seat to replace the sling seat and put a rear
rack on the bike. So considering the Stratus vs. the Vanguard what do you
like most and least about each bike?

 

[stratrider]

On May 10, 3:10 am, "Wilson" <[email protected]> wrote:
> "stratrider" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> news:2f9c670f-dac1-43b5-a501-9db8996e9626@x35g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
> On May 6, 3:21 pm, "Edward Dolan" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Only those who had more money than brains would ever want your
> > bike.
>
> Ed, before I bought my Stratus in 1999, I confess I really wanted to
> ride a Vanguard.  At that time the Vanguard was $1800.  Yes. big
> bucks.... Sadly Ryan was being sold to Longbikes at exactly that
> time..... when Greg Peek opened for business the Vanguard turned
> Slipstream was $2500.... Game.  Set.  Match.  $1800 was out there.
> $2500 was out of the question.  Since that time, I have ridden several
> Vanguards and Slipstreams.   After I installed a RANS seat ( I don;t
> like the sling seat),  and added a rear rack, I can't think of a
> better touring machine!
>
> Jim
>
> Trying to fill in some blanks here, I take it that you did purchase a
> Vanguard or Slipstream somewhere along the way for $1800 or less.  Then you
> installed a Rans, oops RANS seat to replace the sling seat and put a rear
> rack on the bike.  So considering the Stratus vs. the Vanguard what do you
> like most and least about each bike?

Sorry for the blanks... I never owned either the Vanguard or
Slipstream. The Stratus @ $1600 was too nice a bike to justify
paying 900 more for the slipstream. I was trying to describe (though
quickly and poorly) how I would customize the Slipstream for me. As
for comparison, I have been on a Vanguard and a Slipsteam. I have
come to prefer a higher BB so the Slipstream is my preference. As for
the Stratus vs the Vanguard/Slipstream, for me the RANS seat is a
hands down winner. Period. As for steering, the underseat steering
provides ultimate comfort for me. That's why I suggested to ED that
I'd love to tour on a Vanguard/Slipstream. In 1999, the Stratus came
with a "T" bar. After eventually replacing it with Calhoun's Evo-Pro
Bars (this was before RANS came out with their version) I would come
to realize how horrible the "T" bar was for me. Finally, let me
really mix it up..... If I could could go back to 99, with my current
knowledge of what I like and with the bikes on the market at that
time, I would choose neither the Status or Vanguard. I would have
gotten a Tour Easy for $1800. No question. I could not find one to
ride here in the Northeast USA in 99. If I had that would have been
the bike..... The steering, while not USS, is just right. The bike
is comfortable and fast enough for most!

Jim

 

[Jon]

"stratrider" <[email protected]> wrote
>
> If I could could go back to 99, with my current knowledge
> of what I like and with the bikes on the market at that
> time, I would choose neither the Status or Vanguard. I
> would have gotten a Tour Easy for $1800. No question.

Tour Easy is my second recumbent. After about three
years with my BikeE AT, I wanted something better for
longer distances and perhaps faster.

> I could not find one to ride here in the Northeast USA in 99

Me neither, in north Texas. I bought my Tour Easy
in late 2000 shipped from a dealer in Virgina, sight
unseen and seat unridden. I wasn't disappointed
then and not now.

> The steering, while not USS, is just right. The bike
> is comfortable and fast enough for most!

Fast is relative and domain specific. %^)

For a couple of years, I sometimes ran narrow,
high-pressure tires on my Tour Easy to be "faster".
Now I run medium touring tires on it all the time.
I have a third recumbent that is setup as my
"fast" road bike, a Volae Sport.

I haven't bought a bike in 5 years. If I were tempted
today, it might be for a low racer, or perhaps a tandem
like the RANS Seavo... There's used Fold Rush
currently for sale that I might consider for a more
transportable touring setup.

We're planning a bike vacation/tour in The Netherlands
this summer. I'll rent a "Dutch" recumbent for a week
or so. Hopefully, I'll get to test ride several makes
and models. If the US$ were in better shape, perhaps
one could be coming home with me...

Jon