After the Linear

[deejayen]

It looks good! Hopefully it will sell quickly - if that's what you want!

Your Stratus XP looks a great replacement, though! I'd spoken with Paul about it over the years, and would have been tempted to add it to my recumbent collection, but (thankfully?) it wasn't my size!

 

[grldtnr]

The Linear is finally up for sale on the Bay of e after much heart searching. It's taken a while to find a bike that can replace it after the ups and downs of of other bikes owned and found wanting over recent years. Of course I might have it for a while yet, such are the vagaries of that auction site. I'd hoped to list it during August, but it's September now, and the Christmas stuff is already in some shops! It's always later than you think.

A gratuitous pic of the Linear, just because.
View attachment 785690

Surprised to see that offered on the Bay of E, thought xou'd rather liked it but In truth it's getting on a bit now and parts might be getting scarce, tho most are standard bits.
Something I should have realized when I bought the PG, in truth I haven't no ded with it, but that's more a case I haven't got to grips with riding it. A legacy of riding the trike with built in staberlizers.
It might happen yet, but I reckon it's time to .ove it on,I've yet to solve the front tyre problem , not something I am prepared to fling money at, but for now the outsize 20 " shopper tyre makes it ridable, although I still have the original tyre, which I will put back on ,if I ever move it on.

 

[a.twiddler]

It couldn't be said that I haven't bonded with the Linear. There are a lot of things that I like about it, and there have been no issues getting parts. I've upgraded and modernised it a bit over the years, done a bit of "bodgineering" too. It's expanded my horizons a lot, after finding I could do less and less miles on a conventional bike before the aches and pains set in.

After the high hopes with the Grasshopper, and the eventual disappointment when its expectations didn't work out, I'd have been content to have just the Linear and the Spirit in my garage for the forseeable future, as they complemented each other.

Then along came the Rans Stratus XP. After the cosy familiarity of the Linear it came as a bit of a shock. I'd wondered if it might be just a bit too high end for someone with my modest aspirations, so I put it through the same on and off road local routes as I'd done with the Linear, and it coped very well. Where it stood out was on longer rides, with the first longish ride being 0.05 miles short of 90 miles.

I knew when I bought it that there wouldn't be room in the garage for two LWB bikes long term, and thought long and hard about which one would stay and which would go. I did wonder if the Linear would shrug off this one too. If there was the space, I'd keep them both.

So soon, after five years with the Linear, it'll be just the Rans and the Spirit.

 

[a.twiddler]

So, the deed is done. The nondescript, trusty Linear has gone to a new home in Wales. As I gaze glumly at the empty space in the garage where it once stood I wonder if the shiny Rans will grow to fill its boots. There's something about having a non shiny, weatherbeaten bike that makes you more likely to take it to mucky, unlikely places. When you have a nice bike there's a reluctance to get it dirty. I'm sure I'll overcome that with time, as my relationship with it develops.

At least the Linear has gone to someone who has an idea about bikes, and might make the most of it, maybe even more than I have.

 

[404 Not Found Anywhere]

It’s the end of an era 😢

 

[a.twiddler]

It’s the end of an era 😢

It certainly feels like it at the moment. It felt like part of me went with it. But if not for the Linear, I wouldn't have been motivated to try other recumbents, with their strengths and weaknesses, and learned what works for me or not.

I started riding recumbents in 2020, which was a bit of a magic time for cycling anyway, what with lockdown, permitted exercise and very little traffic. I'm glad I experienced that while getting to grips with the Linear.

 

[recumbentpanda]

You sound sad . . .
. . . This why I can’t let go of my Linear. Something about their weird combination of fragility and ruggedness. Bit like an old Landy. Nothing in recumbent world is even similar unless it be an old Peer Gynt or similar. Mine is still in the shed, will I ever be able to let go . . . ? 😧🥺