The wife's new play toy.

[JohnV]

I've been talking to my wife lately about changing her bike from her steel frame Sun EZ-3 recumbent trike to a tadpole style. I got home from my ride yesterday and she wanted to go shopping to see if she could get into a tadpole after having hip surgery.

Well, here is the old bike.....

[attachment=2559]



Here is the new one......

[attachment=2560]

This bike is so light that I can pick it up and put it in the truck pretty much by myself. It's also very fast.

[AL_BUNDY]

What Brand is that?? I learned the hard way you will want a rear fender. Mine has a mesh seat and the rear wheel sprays water right down your spine.
[attachment=2584]

[JohnV]

It's a TW Bents Boomer FRP 24 speed. I think the company is Australian but the guy where we bought it said the bike is made in Taiwan (so are pretty much all bikes anymore). I was actually wanting her to buy a CatTrike but the only dealer in our county moved to Tennessee. The next closest one is about 50 miles away. Luckily, there is a LBS close by that works on them so I don't have to drive 50 miles to get it serviced.

She is actually getting a rear fender. What happened was that he opened the box of fenders and mounted the two over the front wheels and then realized the fenders were for another model and the mounting bracket was different. So now he has to order fenders for her model just to get the mounting bracket.

She is also getting a rear rack, which he isn't going to put on until after he gets the fender on. I got a chance to ride it at the store and that thing is really fast. I have to figure out how to borrow it when she isn't riding it.

I really like the way you mounted the computer sensor. I looked at her bike and couldn't find a way to do it because the caliper housing is different and there isn't a way to mount a bar on it. I have to come up with another plan because the computer sensor is too far away from the control head, when mounted by the crank, and it doesn't work. I am thinking of mounting it to her mirror if I can find something to make the mirror arm thicker so it can accommodate the mount for the control head. We are still in the process of doing a few tweaks here and there but I think we can get it done by her next ride.

One thing I do need to get is a chainring guard for the crank set. The bike is not kind to riding with laced shoes. The loop of the lace always seems to get caught on a tooth when you pedal. I got her some bike shoes with SPD cleats, as the pedals on the bike come with reversible pedals, but she has to get used to the clipping out part.

[AL_BUNDY]

Its pretty important to clip in. If your feet bounce off the pedals they can catch the pavement and get sucked under the axle OUCH!!.
I also put some MTB style bar ends on mine that made a big difference for wrist comfort, for me any way. I planned on bar end shifters also. But may trade for a Catrike instead.
The seat on yours look more comfortable then mine
[attachment=2585]

[Bill]

Honestly I love the old one :d! But the new one is pretty nice too !

[JohnV]

Bill,

She likes the old one too and was very comfortable with it. The problem is that she has artificial hips and the surgeries have taken out quite a bit of muscle mass as she has had these surgeries all her life. The old trike is 60 lbs and she can't seem to get it past 10 or 11 mph. She took the new one out yesterday for the first time and right off the bat, increased her speed, at the same cadence, by 3-4 mph. She now needs to practice clipping in so she doesn't drop her foot while pedaling. The difference in position also works different muscles and she is feeling that this morning. But no-pain, no-gain.

Al,

That's an excellent idea with the bar ends. I'll show her that tonight and see if she wants to try them. I have to adjust her brake lever and shifter positions because the guy that put it together pushed them tight against each other and makes the grip shifters hard to turn. These bikes are not sold at a bike shop but rather in importer who just assembles and sells them.

[Bill]

John,
I did not know of the problems she had. Now it all came after reading this again to which I apologize. It os amazing that she is riding bike after all that endurance through out life! I do have respect for both of you and must say congratulations on such an awesome feat!!!

[JohnV]

Quote:Now it all came after reading this again to which I apologize.

Bill,

No need to apologize. I think she is an awesome women for not letting things like that stop her. When we started riding, she got herself a cheap used bike to see if she could ride it. However, she fell a few times (luckily she didn't hurt her hips) and then decided that she didn't want to ride anymore. I talked her into a recumbent but I thought we would go with a heavy bike (the Sun trike is 60 pounds) at first to build up her muscles and stamina. Now that her leg muscles are good to go and she is doing 20+ miles on the old bike, it was time to get her a much lighter bike (the Boomer is 32 pounds). Her objective is to be able to do the Saturday club rides with me and I think she is going to be doing it pretty soon.

[doctordee]

All three bikes are beautiful, I hope your wife enjoys the newbie John. I have searched all over Ireland and no where on this island sell such bikes. I'm 6.3 and would like to try one before splitting with the cash.

[JohnV]

Dr Dee,

Wow! You would think that there would be at least one bike shop that sells recumbents. Maybe you could open a bike shop that sells nothing but recumbents and be the first in Ireland. I'm sure that when others see those bikes, you'll be getting customers like crazy.

You really would need to try a recumbent before buying them because it is a whole different way of riding than what you are used to. Different muscle groups and everything but it sure does make the ride comfortable and no pain anywhere on the back, shoulders, arms or hands. I didn't care too much for her first bike, but I am thinking that when I can no longer ride the road bike because of aches and pains, I will be getting one of these for myself. So far, there are no aches and pains from the road bike, but I keep getting older and it comes with the age.

[Darrenjs92ni]

(06-22-2011, 05:05 PM)doctordee Wrote:  All three bikes are beautiful, I hope your wife enjoys the newbie John. I have searched all over Ireland and no where on this island sell such bikes. I'm 6.3 and would like to try one before splitting with the cash.

I have seen a few cycling about lisburn, but never seen any in a bike shop.