Something bad and something good ....

It has been a while since I last posted something on this blog, which means that I did not ride my XP very much lately. Not that I did not want to, but mainly because of the wet winter we've had so far. As you know I do not like to ride my XP (or any bike that is, with the exception of my velomobile) in the rain or when it's wet. Total milage on my XP is 4.860 so far, which implicates that I only rode 1,755 miles on it this year. Not much at all, but this year I added another bike to my stable (the Z Pro) and I also rode that one. Oh well, anyway, I still like the XP very much and appearantly so do others. This year I had two people coming over to test ride my XP and were so impressed by it that they ordered their own XP. At the end of this week, a third person is coming over to do the same and he's also considering ordering an XP for himself. I think it's time that I ask RANS BIKES for some kind of commission ;-) !

A couple of days ago I read another terrifying news : R.C.N. has closed down !!! I could hardly believe it when I read the article ! Unbelievable ! It is a very sad thing for the recumbent community that Bob Bryant no longer publishes his magazine .... I've been a subsciber since the first time I knew about his publication. It was R.C.N. that got me convinced to buy my first Stratus all the way back in 1999, since there was no possibillity to testride a RANS bike over here in Europe. A very sad loss indeed .... Let's hope he'll be able to continue his work online or in any other kind of form !

For all you other bent riders out there : many happy and safe miles for all of you in 2008 !

Still my favorite LWB !

No news, good news ....

It's been a while, but I'm still here ;-). Lately I've been riding only my Z Pro and my velomobile (mostly commuting), but today I felt like taking the XP for a ride again. Today was pretty windy but with mild temperatures and the weather forecast predicted a period of rain starting tonight. I took a 40 mile ride, mostly on the towpath near the canal. Though most of my rides are near the canal, I've never seen so many pedestrians on the towpath as today. On any Sunday, the towpath is crowded with bicyclists, but not today. Strange ....
I really enjoyed being on the XP again, it still remains my most favorite bike to ride after a night shift. After a night shift at work, speed is absolutely of no interest to me, but comfort is. It doesn't get any better than on the XP's seat, that's for sure !
Bentrideronline.com has a story about a woman who made a bike trip on her XP in Alaska with plenty of pictures. I really enjoyed reading it, you can read it here (look for ACA's Denali Adventure 2007, since there's no direct link).
Though I'm still pretty satisfied with my XP's set-up, I'm considering adding an extra chainwheel in front. It's not that I'm short of gears for most of my rides, but I want to be able to ride my XP everywhere. Well, for the winter that is coming, it'll do just fine. Maybe next Spring ...

Late summer ride

Today was such a beautiful day that I simply had to ride my bike. Although I planned to ride my Zenetik Pro, I took my XP instead, planning to ride for a couple of hours. I decided to ride to the crossing of the canals, where very recently a watch tower has been put up . I rode along the towpath all the way up to Dessel where I climbed all the way up. The view over there is magnificent, a lot of trees and of course the crossing of 3 main canals.

While coming down from the tower, 2 elderly man where watching my XP which I had parked at the bottom of the tower. When I approached, one of them asked me : "We were just looking at your wonderful bike, but we can't seem to find the battery ! Could you please tell us were the battery is installed ?" I managed not to burst out laughing, but told them it was not an electrical bike at all. When they pointed at my rear wheel, I told them that is my internal gear hub. They both had a lot of questions ( like usual ) which I explained very patiently before I took off. I've had some weird remarks regarding my XP in the past, but never someone taking it for an electric bike before ! I think my hair must be turning grey ;-)

View at the canals

New fenders

Since I started riding my XP I have been looking for black fenders. I know Freddy Fenders are black, but not available here in Europe. SKS should have them, but I've never found them so far. Until two weeks ago. While on holiday in the Netherlands, we visited Emden in Germany for one day and in a local bike shop, I found a set of black SKS fenders.

They are a little bit wider than the set I already installed on my XP, which is perfect since I'm using big tires. So far, when riding on sandy surfaces, some sand and debris still gets thrown up besides the fenders, ending up between my legs on the seat (and probably on the chain too).
The new ones are a bit wider so hopefully they'll solve this problem. I installed the new fenders today, which was a piece of cake since I only had the change the fenders itself. The one for the back wheel is a little longer, which is perfect to keep the debris off my kickstand and off the chain.

Just a little bit longer is long enough ....

The result is just what I was looking for, more finished if you like. I sure prefer the black fenders over the silver ones, finally my XP is like I wanted it to be from the start !

Now if only that silver fork ....

Flanders Tour 2007

Just got back from a short bicycle holiday, the Flanders Tour 2007. Starting and arrival place was Drongen (near Gent) and together with 23 people we cycled for five days. You had to carry your own luggage whith the exception of the tent, which was transported for you.
I rode my XP using 2 rear panniers and a BOB one wheel trailer, while my wife rode her Kettwiesel with 2 front panniers. Average daily distance was around 40 miles, with a cultural/social stop in the morning or in the afternoon. Tents were put up on soccer fields, where we could use the facilities such as showers, toilets etc. At the end of the day, for those who felt they did not ride enough, some extra rides could be made. Of course I joined all of them, enjoying riding the bike without the extra weight of the luggage. I rode all the way to Drongen last Sunday (a 102 mile trip) following the LF5 to Gent, where I spent the night together with some other riders who came from far away (we had one Englishman and 2 people from the Netherlands).
Without realizing it at the time, I completed my first century on the XP ! It wasn't hard at all, just riding along and following the signs .... When we got back on Friday, I decided that after sleeping in a tent for one week, I needed my own bed, so I rode the XP all the way back home. I only arrived at 02.30 am in the morning, but the luxuary of my own bed made everything more than okay ! Total distance this week was a stunning 420 miles, not bad for this old fart ;-) !

Though I never used the XP for touring before, I did not regret choosing this bike for doing so. It has comfort written all over it and I enjoyed every minute on it.
Some fellow riders asked to try out the XP and all of them were surprised at how comfortable and relaxed it rode. Most of them ride low riders with hard shell seats and although most of those bikes have rear suspension, there comfort is no match for the XP. On Thursday night we went for a local signaled tour which turned out to be more of a tour for mountain bikes : half of it was on fireroads, through some woods and on gravel. The XP handled extremely well and I could easily could keep up with a much younger rider riding his OPTIMA CONDOR, a dual 26" suspended high racer with fat tires. In fact, out of the 4 riders who participated, we were always leading. I really made me feel like a kid again, just blasting through and over anything with the big wheels underneath me .... Great ! After we finished the ride, the other 3 riders told me that they did not expect the XP to be so versatile, that I could even ride it on gravel and through the woods. It just shows what a great design the XP is !

Another nice surprise was to discover that the rollerbrakes performed more than adequate. There were some downhills were I reached speeds of almost 40 mph, but even fully loaded they performed flawlessly. Nice !

The only negative thing I can think of is the seat mesh. When I rode back home last Friday night, I felt the metal structure from the back of the seat through the mesh. I stopped and tried to stretch the seat mesh some more, but it was already stretched to the maximum. Maybe the mesh itself got stretched in time, but I need to fix this, for it is not really comfy. I'll sent RANS a mail to find out if they ever had heard of this problem before.

For those who are interested : info about the Flanders Tour 2007 can be found here, and the pictures I took on this trip can be found here

Group picture taken on the last day (without me, someone had to take it)

Touring with the XP

I'm planning to take a bike trip next September, so yesterday I put my loaded panniers on the front and back rack of the XP to see how it would ride. I'm not sure yet whether I'll take my XP for the trip, but since it's one of my most comfortable bikes, I wanted to do a testride. Except for the tent, almost everything I needed was loaded in the 4 panniers. I'm still not sure which tent I'm going to take with me and where to put it, so I left it out for this ride. I might add a B.O.B.-trailer, but that would make the XP really look like a freight train, I wanna try to get everyting on the XP itself. I know that you can order a under seat rack for the XP, but at 120 $ + shipping, that'll be a very expensive utility.

I rode the XP for almost one hour and I learned a couple of things.
First of all, the front rack I have on the XP sucks. Since the sides are connected on one side only, the weight of the panniers is pulling them open. Everytime I hit a hole or rode on bad surfaces, the rack would open up a bit in front. I defenitely need a front rack like the one for the regular Stratus, which is connected on both sides on top. Unfortunately, the Stratus has a 20" front wheel, so it's rack will not fit the XP.
Getting started was a tad more difficult, but once up to speed the XP still handles very stable. Average speed is a bit lower too, but that's no issue to me, especially not when touring.
It does take a bit more effort to get the bike straight again after taking curves, but that's only natural due to the heavier weight on the front wheel.
Another thing I was curious about were the brakes. I did some emergency stops and to my surprise, they worked okay. Since everything is flat here where I live, I decided to ride over the bridge across the canal to have some kind of elevation and even when I rolled down the bridge, the brakes did what they're supposed to do and stopped the bike just fine. I expected the Rollerbrakes not to be powerful enough, but to my surprise, they are. No need for disc brakes (yet).

So, I'll have to look for a new front pannier rack that'll fit the XP's big fork. Guess I'll be surfing on the internet for the next couple of days ....

The "wrong" kind of front pannier rack

Replacing the rear derailleur

Yesterday I removed the rear derailleur. Since I only use a single chain disc in front, there's no real need for a derailleur. It's only been there for the purpose of tensionning the chain. I replaced it with a single pully chain tensioner, the same I have on my mountain bike (it also has a Shimano Nexus hub). Took me about 15 minutes to install and shorten the chain and another 10 minutes to get my hands clean ;-).
Took a ride afterwards for about 2 hours near the canal, on the tow path. Though most of my rides are near the canal, I never seem to get bored riding there. Since no motorvehicles are allowed on the tow path, it's so nice to ride your bike without the noise and needed attention of motorised traffic and just enjoy the scenery.

When I returned home, I crossed a bike I've never seen on the road before : the PINO from Hase. Although I've seen some in bike shops, I recongnized the bike immediately. In front a woman was sitting very relaxed, her arms crossed on her chest and a big smile on her face, while her boyfriend (husband ?) was riding in the back. Since we were riding opposite directions I have no idea about there speed, but it must about the same as other tandems.

The single pully chain tensioner

My personal 5 seconds of fame ....

My mother in law called me last Monday, to tell me that I had been on TV riding the XP. The local TV-station from Turnhout had an item about how bike-friendly this town is (yeah right, in your dreams !) but since they repeat their program over and over, I decided to take a look. And yep, there I was : cruising near the canal on my Stratus XP, not aware at all that someone was filming me. I did not count the seconds they showed me (it's just a few seconds anyway), but they showed the XP pretty good. A little strange to see yourself on TV, but no big deal, just a few collegues from worked also saw it mentioned it to me.
Last night, I took a ride with my XP near the canal and at one point, I passed 2 fishermen sitting besides the canal. They both saw me coming and when I passed them, I heard one of them say to the other one : "Hey, that's the guy on his weird bike they showed on TV!" It was very weird to hear such a thing coming from a complete stranger !
For those who are interested and wanna watch, you can see the (short) broadcast here (WMP only - I'll cruise by around 1'28") and please, no autographs ;-)
The least you can say, is that you get noticed when riding a bike like the XP !

Test ride

A couple of weeks ago, I received an e-mail from someone who is interested in getting a LWB recumbent. He was not sure whether to go for an Easy Racers or a Stratus XP, so he asked me if it was possible to pay me a visit and test ride my XP. I told him he was more than welcome.
I still remember when I bought my first Stratus back in 1999, there was no possibility at all to testride any LWB RANS bike. There was only one dealer in Germany back then and he only had 2 RANS SWB bikes. So I ordered the Stratus frame set based on reviews I read in the Recumbent Cyclist News , but I never regretted my choice. So it's no problem for me to let anyone who's interested in getting a LWB take a test ride on my XP.
The guy payed me a visit today, together with his wife. Since we're both the same height, no real adjustments were needed (I explained everything in detail though, but he felt comfortable the minute he sat down on the bike). We provided a regular bike for his wife so they could ride together, I showed them the start of the bicycle route nearby and told them to have a nice ride.
After only 20 minutes they both returned and he told me he really liked the XP. Since I still had an extra 2007 catalog, I gave it to him. Most likely he's also going to order a frame set (he told me he'd go for the aluminum frame).
That would make the 4th person in Belgium to ride a Stratus from RANS. My old one is bought by someone close to the seaside, another one ordered a frame set about a month ago and is building it up, me of course and maybe Bruno, who test rode my XP today. Maybe it's about time I ask RANS for a commission ;-)

And then ...

Two weeks after I sent Shimano an e-mail I received an answer telling me that they stopped producing that sensor two years ago. Sent them a mail back to inform them that it is still mentioned on their website, but I don't think think the big S company cares though ....
Strangely enough, the sensor is working again. A couple of nights ago I took my XP to ride to work and the lights switched on automatically when it got dark, so maybe ....
Overall, I'm very happy with the new tires. They are not slower, they produce a nice humming sound and most important : they do not throw up sand and dust like the Big Apples used to do. It must be the thread, which is completely different. With the Big Apples, the seat between my legs was always covered with sand, no matter where I rode the XP. Well, that's history now. Can't tell much about durability yet, only time will tell.
I also received Rans' latest brochure this week (I ordered another handlebar for my Zenetik Pro), so I could start drooling over these nice bikes Rans produces. Man, that Titanium XP .... wow !!! If only it was not so expensive, I'd .... yeah right !

Technical problems ....

I took the XP for a ride last night. I left home around 7 pm so there was still plenty of light. After riding for more than one hour, it started to get dark. I expected the lights of the XP turn on automatically, as they always did but nothing happened. I had to stop and set the sensor switch to the ON position in order to get my lights running. Though I love the automatic function of the
Shimano sensor switch ,this is already the 4th or the 5th unit that breaks down. You can still use the ON and OFF function, but since the automatic function no longer is available, what's the point in using a sensor switch ?! I called my bike shop for a replacement, where they told me that they are no longer in production since most head lights nowadays come with an automatic sensor of their own (the front light of the XP is such an example). But since my rear light is also powered by the hub dynamo, I'll have to look for another light powered by (rechargeable) batteries. Okay, I know it's not a big deal to have to stop to turn on your lights and maybe I am spoiled, but I'm used to having my lights turn on and off automatically (most of my bikes have this function). The switch is still mentioned on SHIMANO's website, so I'll send them a mail and ask them if the sensors are still available or not. To be continued ....

Back on the road again !

Last week, I picked up my "new" wheels with the new and stronger spokes. Since the thread of the rear BIG APPLE tire was almost completely gone, I also asked for a new set of tires. My friend ordered SCHWALBE's latest MARATHON SUPREMES and put them on my bike. Today I finally rode my XP again after months of collecting dust in my garage. Boy, I almost forgot how comfortable that seat is, pure luxury !!! The few first miles I rode the bike, I heard some a buzzing sound coming from the rear, which made me look back a couple of times, thinking there was something or someone riding close behind me. Than I realized that the new tires produced this sound ! It's not much of a bother, just something you should get used to in time. And they only buzz on real smooth surfaces, so it's no real problem at all.

I also replace the single legged kickstand with a double legged one. Last year, I read an article about HUMPERT, a German company that produces all kinds of bike parts. Their latest kickstand, the DOUBLE FLEX has 2 legs which fold inwards when you kick them back. Installation was a piece of cake and now the bike can be parked more stable, even when loaded. Another benefit of this kind of kickstand is that when in use, the bike rests on its front wheel, avoiding it from flopping sideways. I went out for some groceries this morning and even with my bags fully loaded, the bike could be parked firm and stable.

The new kickstand in use ....

and folded back.

Finally finally finally ....

I finally managed to get my hands on the right size of spokes. Not through my regular bike shop, but from someone who can make them any size you want. So last week I took both wheels of my XP and handed them in at my friend's place together with the new spokes. He promised me to have the wheels ready by the end of this week. The condition of the rear tyre was so bad, that I asked him to replace it with a new one. No more Big Apple, this time I'm gonna try out Schwalbe's new MARATHON SUPREMES. I ordered a complete set, both for the front and the back wheel. They come in the same size and should last longer than the Big Apples.
Harldy can believe it's almost been 2 months since I last rode my XP .... Luckily, I got plenty of bikes to choose from. Most of my riding lately has been on the Zenetik Pro, only on the days when it did not rain. Unfortunately, the winter has been very mild so far, but also very wet :-(