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Old 11-16-2009, 07:04 AM   #18 (permalink)
Frank Lee
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: up north
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Blue - '93 Ford Tempo
Last 3: 27.29 mpg (US)

F150 - '94 Ford F150 XLT 4x4
90 day: 18.5 mpg (US)

Sport Coupe - '92 Ford Tempo GL
Last 3: 69.62 mpg (US)

ShWing! - '82 honda gold wing Interstate
90 day: 33.65 mpg (US)

Moon Unit - '98 Mercury Sable LX Wagon
90 day: 21.24 mpg (US)
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Ha Ha- I was telling a friend about it, and that I'll probably be in the local paper. She said "In a good way or in a bad way?" I said "That remains to be seen"! LOL

As far as can-to-ground distance... there is a point of lowness where it gets awkward to put your foot down and save yourself; the same is true for launching I think. For me, this seat height is about perfect for that- not too low, not too high. I've read about guys having plenty of problems with higher (around 30") seat heights.

Metro, this is about the easiest way of getting into a recumbent without buying one that I've ever come up with. A little hacking, a little bending, and there you are. No welder or stuff to buy outside of the two donor bikes needed. I did it all from 2 a.m. to 3 p.m. in one day, and that includes digging through my parts bikes with a flashlight, and lots of standing there looking at it, deciding what to do.

Originally I was thinking of using the "his" from the matching his-n-hers bikes as the main chassis as it had a damaged top tube anyway. But in looking at it I decided the "hers" frame would get my seat height low enough and then I wouldn't have to weld anything. Not that I'm against welding, but to make a seatbase even lower than what I have would likely result in a weaker frame, and I didn't know where I was going to end up "fore and aft" at the time anyway. I was imagining problems with weakness in the head tube area. I can easily go an inch or two lower on this one too. Maybe I'll test that.

It may not be apparent from the pics, but the seatback angle and height are fully adjustable. I could lay it back probably up to 45 degrees. The best spec for that will gel as I get more riding time on it.
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Last edited by Frank Lee; 11-16-2009 at 07:16 AM..
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