RANS recumbent frame kit for Bafang M series mid-drives

[Warren]

The Phoenix is a pretty standard LWB recumbent

http://shop.ransbikes.com/product-p/mabk0100.htm

This new variant will have a Bafang bottom bracket mount.

https://www.facebook.com/RoseCityRecumb ... 6512009242

[neptronix]

Oh wow. You know, i called that company asking for parts a while back, and they were super friendly and fun to talk to. I'm happy to see they are pioneering still and not stagnating.

.. it does look unnecessarily overbuilt and under-suspended. I feel this could be done much better.. it will have a harsh ride if you have crappy pavement. Clearly the work of a company that also does aircraft design, hehe.

[Warren]

Oh wow. You know, i called that company asking for parts a while back, and they were super friendly and fun to talk to. I'm happy to see they are pioneering still and not stagnating.

.. it does look unnecessarily overbuilt and under-suspended. I feel this could be done much better.. it will have a harsh ride if you have crappy pavement. Clearly the work of a company that also does aircraft design, hehe.

I was wrong about the M600 series fitting. Stupidly, Bafang has at least two different frame mounts.

https://electricbikereview.com/forums/t ... ble.31374/

[donn]

People who ride this kind of recumbent sometimes claim that the long frame provides enough suspension already. I don't know, of course that's unquantified evaluation from people who never had real suspension in the first place, but it is a little different from the tight geometries of shorter recumbents. My Ryan Vanguard is as long and isn't anything like suspended, but it's steel.

[amberwolf]

My long (more than 10 feet) unsuspended medium-cargo-hauler CrazyBike2 was a lot better than a regular unsuspended diamondframe bike, but it got way better when I added sort-of-decent front suspension...but the rear was still a very small wheel (20" vs 26" front) and especially when loaded could beat the crap out of anything in it (and the rear wheel, and even broke the actual frame at one point) on our not-well-maintained-streets.

Similarly, my 11 foot long SB Cruiser trike sucks on rear end hits, though even with no suspension in front it's not *too* bad, partly because it's like CB2, 26" front, 20" rear (well, effectively 22" rear with the big tires).

Suspension, even minimal, would make those rides much better, and good suspension would probably make them a dream.


So...yes, an unsuspended longbike will feel better than an unsuspended diamondframe/shortbike, and will vary based on design and materials used, but....


As far as "enough suspension", that would depend on the road/etc conditions one rides thru, and one's expectations.