Second ride on my Pashley PDQ went well.

[Phil-W-]

Right, after being hit my a stone thrown by a local idiot on my first ever recumbent ride I decided to press on and have another go this morning. I'm quite pleased; did a 15 mile route mainly urban and A roads half way to my work and back with a couple of medium hills. Tackled the M57/M62 junction roundabout which was the part of my journey I was most worried about, and it all went great, the bike now goes where I want it to go without me thinking and I can drop a hand off the bar to signal etc without squirrelling all over the road.
I wasn't fit before so I was unsure as to whether I would be quicker or slower on a bent because I didn't have bent legs or upright legs previously for that matter!
My average speed was 12mph, and for my 14 mile commute I'd be happy if I could get it down to 1hr eventually (am nearly 5st overweight so plenty of room to improve the engine)
Overall I'm delighted! - when the bike first showed up I thought 'what the hell have I gone and done' as I am 5'6" and the PDQ has a high seat meaning that I'm on tippy toes to reach the floor.
However I am really amazed at just how comfortable i am already in light traffic, I wouldn't want to be stop-starting all the time but I have learned to approach lights slowly and anticipate the change.
If anyone else out there picks up on this thread wondering whether to take the plunge so far from me it's an outstanding YES, despite the yobbo who launched a small rock at me, thank goodness it hit my ample man boob and not my face!

 

[arallsopp]

Well done. Glad to hear you're back on the bike.

 

[Amanda P]

Well done. Riding a 'bent for the first time in traffic can be a bit interesting.

Mrs Uncle Phil has a PDQ and loves it. It took her 1000 miles to Norway last year. She's 4'11" and finds the ground slightly further away than convenenient too.

 

[Phil-W-]

Well done. Riding a 'bent for the first time in traffic can be a bit interesting.

Mrs Uncle Phil has a PDQ and loves it. It took her 1000 miles to Norway last year. She's 4'11" and finds the ground slightly further away than convenenient too.

Hi Uncle Phil, I'm presuming you are the very same whose journey I read about on crazyguy and who features on the bentech website?
When I was considering the pdq I nearly contacted you as I had been looking for information on how tall a person needed to be to ride one.
Had been trying to work out Mrs Uncle Phil's height from the photos! - Now I have the bike I am amazed she gets by at 4'11" - she must have proportionally much longer legs than me!

 

[Amanda P]

Yep, that's me. I built the Bentech up quite a while ago, and Mrs Uncle Phil was, understandably envious. We found there was no way she could ride it, so I watched for PDQs or other 'bents with two 20" wheels for sale and we found one.

She may have proportionally longer legs than you - assuming you're male. Women tend to have longer legs in proportion to their height than men (et vive la difference!). When stopped, she's pretty much on tiptoe, so with a loaded bike it is something of a balancing act. A few times she's gone over as a result, usually from slipping on a loose surface (and I think this is mentioned in the CrazyGuy account).

The bike is lightly modified for her. The boom normally will only telescope in so far before its inner end reaches the curve of the main tube and will go in no further. We cut the inner end of the boom down so that it telescopes all the way in. We also fitted 160 mm cranks - the shortest we could easily get, to reduce the leg stretch. And she uses a bit of foam to bring her slightly further forward on the seat. With all these things done, the bike fits - just! She uses SPD pedals, which I'd strongly recommend on any 'bent. A bit scary at first, but they make a huge difference to pedalling comfort because your feet won't slip off the pedals.

We've also improved the chain management on the bike - without tubes, ones legs or trousers don't stay clean long, and the original idler is a bit clumsy. The brakes tend to be a bit stiff because of the tight curve required in the cable straight out of the levers; we fitted noodles to improve them, as Mrs Uncle Phil's little hands struggled before. What else... mudguards are a big plus, and a mirror is pretty much essential on a 'bent.

I like the PDQ. It's a tough and quick little bike, and surprisingly light and agile for a steel 'bent. Enjoy yours!

 

[MartinG]

Have had the Fuego for 3 weeks now, and am starting to feel reasonably at home on it - starting to ride in traffic etc. Today went out for a ride en famille, for the first time. I was extremely grateful for the rests waiting for my five year old daughter to catch up. A bit galling to see how much fresher than me she was when we got home, though! Mind you, I've got the biggest grin - it was brilliant

It's also worth bearing in mind that I had surgery (under general anaesthetic) on Friday and now have an open wound on my arse - but I can ride the Fuego in complete comfort! 'Bents are truly amazing.

 

[zoxed]

We've also improved the chain management on the bike - without tubes, ones legs or trousers don't stay clean long, and the original idler is a bit clumsy.

I am interested in improving my PDQ's chain management: did you use a commercial pulley set ? (I can not tell from your photos.)

 

[Amanda P]

I got a pulley and a handy aluminium thingy which both holds the pulley and provides attachment points for chain tube from Optima. I also got some chain tube from them. I've also had chain tube from BikeFix in the past.

I'll try to remember to take and post some photos of the modifications if you like.

 

[zoxed]

I got a pulley and a handy aluminium thingy which both holds the pulley and provides attachment points for chain tube from Optima...

Thanks: these parts look useful: are these what you used and did you have to modify any of them ?

http://www.recumbent...ey-bracket.html
http://www.recumbent...m-complete.html

Thanks, Simon

 

[Amanda P]

Those are the very ones, plus some chain tube and a few cable ties.

Rather than tie myself in knots remembering (probably wrongly) exactly what I did, I'll get a photo or two and post them - tomorrow with a bit of luck. A picture will probably make it all abundantly clear.

 

[Amanda P]

OK; here are the pictures.

Here's the idler and the mounting cage thingy that also holds the chain tubes.

The top run of the chain needs to run beneath the idler pulley. The tabs on the mounting cage have notches to allow cable ties to be used to secure the chain tubing. I've learned from experience that chain tube is slippery stuff and will slip through cable ties. I also learned from looking at Hase bikes that adhesive-lined heat-shrink tubing is the solution: you can see where I've used some to secure the cable tie to the tube, and the tube to the mounting cage tab.

Here's the idler seen from above. I think I just re-used the nut and bolt that held Pashley's original roller skate wheel to secure the pulley - it has a bearing built-in.

Here's the return run of the chain, in its chain tube, and how it's secured to the seat frame, with two more crossed cable ties. Not particularly elegant, but it works well.

Here's the whole bike, so you can see how the whole arrangement works.

And finally, because the handlebars are so short, the brake cables are forced to make a tight curve immediately on leaving the levers. That tends to make them stiff. So we fitted an extra pair of noodles to take the cable round the tight curve:

Incidentally, cables on 'bents generally tend to have long horizontal runs and downward loops. Rain will get inside and pool at the bottom of the loops and cause both inners and outers corrode, making the brakes and gears perform poorly. There's no easy way to prevent this happening, so I think you just have to plan to replace all the cables at least annually.

 

[zoxed]

OK; here are the pictures...

Thanks for the pics Uncle Phil: that clarifies how it can work, and I think I will order these parts now (esp. as they are relatively cheap !!)
One question: I imagined the return tube could be fitted *under* the pulley, using the same tabs. Was there a particular reason for your choosing the 'high' route ?

 

[Amanda P]

The return chain tube could go under the pulley, and Optima do a bracket to support it very neatly. I never thought of using the tabs on the pulley bracket to support both chain runs.

The return run does need to be fairly high to clear the front wheel when steering tightly to the right, though. It may be that it just wasn't quite high enough when supported at the same height as the pulley; I don't remember.