High performance & durability Cannondale Semi Recumbent

Below is a pic of the recumbent I'd like to try...M5 Low Racer:

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Wonder how it would handle with a motor in the rear and a battery under the seat :).

They also make a "tail kit" for it to give you some storage and reduce the overall aerodynamic drag.
 
Atos62 said:
The first hours I was not totally happy, tight cornering at low speed was a bit weird - after the fork change to the 30mm travel fork - original one was non-suspenion, but I was already so spoiled... Will use a bigger rear tire (50-406 slick still fits) after this one wears down.
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While it's never going to handle as competently as a normal bike, you can tame twitchy steering a bit by increasing front tire, tube, and/or rim mass. A thorn resistant tube is probably the cheapest and easiest first step, followed by a heavy new tire like Kenda Kwick Drumlin KS+.

Increasing front wheel peripheral weight disproportionally increases the amount of gyroscopic precession in the steering, which tends to steady things and to allow small body weight shifts to guide the steering better.
 
Bullfrog said:
Below is a pic of the recumbent I'd like to try...M5 Low Racer:

View attachment 352736
Wonder how it would handle with a motor in the rear and a battery under the seat :).
Click to expand...

Recumbent lowracers are famously ill-handling because of the low center of mass height. Low CoM is great for trikes, but awful for bikes because it interferes with countersteering.

 
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I'm also not a fan of this style because i live in the land of giant trucks and SUVs all over the road who are so tall that they'd miss a Mazda Miata next to them and repeatedly try to merge into their lane as a result. Ask me how i know.

This bike puts you lower than that..

I have only ridden a few bikes of this type and always found that the handling was poor. CLWB is a handling step-down from an upright bike and these seem to be a much lower rung. Maybe the problem is that i never spent enough time on them to get how to move with the bike, but.. first impressions were really bad.

Not a fan of the strained neck position they produce either..

Seems like more of a straight line speed bike.
 
Chalo said:
Recumbent lowracers are famously ill-handling because of the low center of mass height. Low CoM is great for trikes, but awful for bikes because it interferes with countersteering.

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Chalo has a problem with recumbents. Take everything he says about them with a pound of salt. I have over 75K miles on recumbents, over 36 years, and the only broken bones I ever got were on my carbon fiber road bike. Turns out, riding head first on a step ladder is dangerous.
 
Warren said:
I have over 75K miles on recumbents, over 36 years, and the only broken bones I ever got were on my carbon fiber road bike. Turns out, riding head first on a step ladder is dangerous.
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I file this under "the way you do one thing is the way you do everything."
 
Pretty sure I've said this before, but I ride both semi-recumbent and regular upright bikes. I like both. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, and both an be made enjoyable and safe.

Determining a whole class of bike is either dangerous and/or unfit for purpose off the back of limited experience and/or others limited experience as Chalo (and many others) do is only hurting themselves as they miss out.

This is otherwise known as generalisation....something I find Americans are great at....but to say that would be...generalisation. :p

Cheers
 
I built a full recumbent bike about 10 years ago and I eventually abandoned the project because it was too unstable :).

I still like the aerodynamics and I may do it again if I want to chase a Land Speed Record at Blytheville, AR with the East Coast Timing Association.
 
One of the take away observations as a recumbent designer is not everyone can figure them out.
Someone who surfs, skateboards, skis of any type usually understands recumbents right away.
With those sports the feeling for turning and balance starts at ground level.
If the only sports experience the person has is upright bikes they usually need more tutoring and training.
High, upright seat recumbents like EZ Racer or BikeE are easiest to learn with the trade off of not being the fastest.
The recumbent skill came to me naturally and I found speed increases with them straight away.
Although, I never have enjoyed the low, extremely laid back seat versions for street use.

As Always
Your Results May Vary
 
I'm also a reigning champion of 'told you so', and at this point i get no satisfaction from the job either 😅

Warren, this is a badass motorcycle design. I'm surprised the guy didn't win anything.
 
"Whenever there's a breakthrough, a true breakthrough, you can go back and find a time period when the consensus was 'Well, that's nonsense!' So what that means is that a true creative researcher has to have confidence in nonsense."

- Burt Rutan
 
Big fan of Craig Vetter because his vehicles are more on the practical side of efficiency hacking.

Long term, i would like to build something that's right in the middle of Vetter's upright yet highly streamlined bikes and the powered luge that Robert Horn built.

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neptronix said:
Let me know how that thing handles. I'm betting it's very agile, and a bit of a canyon carver.
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Few weeks ago ... adjusted the fork using a hydraulic press, replaced the rear shock with the ancient SID (has a separate feed valve for the negative chamber to get more sag for chain clearance without sacrificing performance) and fitted a narrower handlebar. Handling further improved :bigthumb:, feels great at any speed now.
Next thing to do would be a hinging mechanism for the seat, at the moment I have to take it of when I put the bike inside my car.
 
Atos62 said:
Few weeks ago ... adjusted the fork using a hydraulic press, replaced the rear shock with the ancient SID (has a separate feed valve for the negative chamber to get more sag for chain clearance without sacrificing performance) and fitted a narrower handlebar. Handling further improved :bigthumb:, feels great at any speed now.
Next thing to do would be a hinging mechanism for the seat, at the moment I have to take it of when I put the bike inside my car.
Click to expand...

Kickin' ass over there, you got a build thread?
 
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