a.twiddler
Veteran
The perils of buying without a test ride.
I'm even shorter than I thought!
I recently acquired a Dawes Low Rider with a view to trying out a SWB recumbent which is reputedly easy to learn to ride. I’d had some thoughts about maybe buying a recumbent that could be taken on a train as easily (or uneasily) as a “normal” DF.
The seat is nice and low with an easy step over and the seller in all good faith stated that it should fit someone with a 29” inside leg. It is a mesh seat with a triangular cushion similar to the Linear. Following my good experience with the Linear I bought it sight unseen as it is very hard to find any sort of recumbent within travelling distance, and I had to courier it. I assumed that a low seat height gave a good chance of a boom which would adjust down well.
The bike is in very nice original condition, the bronze green paintwork is very good apart from some minor scrapes. It doesn’t look as if it’s been ridden much. Even the plastic pedals and front chainguard look new. The nexus 7 hub gears work fine on the stand. It even has the original dynamo lights but the dynamo seems stuck in the off position -lack of use? So I haven’t been able to try it. The roller brakes work OK. Both have slight fore and aft play, which I assume is normal. The cranks are 170mm. A neat touch is a built in rear wheel lock with 2 keys and traditional pump pegs under the frame tube. It has mudguards which are in good condition.
A big however! follows. The boom was adjusted to within 2cm of the shortest setting to suit the previous owner. Nevertheless I can just reach the pedal at its furthest point with my toe while seated normally, with no chance of reaching it with my heel. I measured my Linear and came up with a pedal to seat back dimension of 37 inches. I measured the Dawes and came up with a dimension of 43 inches. Even if I were to move the boom back to its minimum I would only gain 2cm or about ¾ inch. I pondered about this for a long time. Even with 160mm cranks I would only gain 1cm, gaining 3cm in total. If I were to take a hacksaw to the boom (which I don’t want to do -the frame is too nice) there is only one cm between the end of the frame and the clamping bolt. This would make the reach a total of 4 cm shorter, less than 2 inches.
Plan B. Make up a seat rail to bring the seat forward. I found some perforated angle strip and a suitable exhaust clamp which with some old inner tube protected the frame. I experimented with several versions and lengths to get some idea but came to the following conclusions.
Moving the seat forward would work so far as pedal reach was concerned. However it has the following undesirable effects.
1. As the seat moves forward it increases in height, due to the frame sloping upwards to the front, losing the benefit of its main attraction, ie low seat height.
2. The gap between the seat nose and the steerer is reduced, making it awkward to get a foot over to mount and dismount.
3. The original seat position is well balanced between the wheels. With the seat forward more weight is on the front wheel possibly upsetting the handling, making the rear wheel more prone to skidding and probably more likelihood of inadvertent stoppies.
4. It just doesn’t feel right. The steerer is too close.
It’s in too nice a condition to maul about.
It looks as though I will have to return it to standard and sell it. It’s a shame as it’s a well thought out package. Someone of more average height would get the benefit of it, while I will have to do more research, though I’ve been finding it hard to find information on max and min dimensions for recumbents. It would seem that used smaller SWB recumbents are rare, with models having adjustability of both boom and seat likely to be beyond my budget.
Any suggestions welcome!
I’ve been spoilt by the adaptability of the Linear!
I'm even shorter than I thought!
I recently acquired a Dawes Low Rider with a view to trying out a SWB recumbent which is reputedly easy to learn to ride. I’d had some thoughts about maybe buying a recumbent that could be taken on a train as easily (or uneasily) as a “normal” DF.
The seat is nice and low with an easy step over and the seller in all good faith stated that it should fit someone with a 29” inside leg. It is a mesh seat with a triangular cushion similar to the Linear. Following my good experience with the Linear I bought it sight unseen as it is very hard to find any sort of recumbent within travelling distance, and I had to courier it. I assumed that a low seat height gave a good chance of a boom which would adjust down well.
The bike is in very nice original condition, the bronze green paintwork is very good apart from some minor scrapes. It doesn’t look as if it’s been ridden much. Even the plastic pedals and front chainguard look new. The nexus 7 hub gears work fine on the stand. It even has the original dynamo lights but the dynamo seems stuck in the off position -lack of use? So I haven’t been able to try it. The roller brakes work OK. Both have slight fore and aft play, which I assume is normal. The cranks are 170mm. A neat touch is a built in rear wheel lock with 2 keys and traditional pump pegs under the frame tube. It has mudguards which are in good condition.
A big however! follows. The boom was adjusted to within 2cm of the shortest setting to suit the previous owner. Nevertheless I can just reach the pedal at its furthest point with my toe while seated normally, with no chance of reaching it with my heel. I measured my Linear and came up with a pedal to seat back dimension of 37 inches. I measured the Dawes and came up with a dimension of 43 inches. Even if I were to move the boom back to its minimum I would only gain 2cm or about ¾ inch. I pondered about this for a long time. Even with 160mm cranks I would only gain 1cm, gaining 3cm in total. If I were to take a hacksaw to the boom (which I don’t want to do -the frame is too nice) there is only one cm between the end of the frame and the clamping bolt. This would make the reach a total of 4 cm shorter, less than 2 inches.
Plan B. Make up a seat rail to bring the seat forward. I found some perforated angle strip and a suitable exhaust clamp which with some old inner tube protected the frame. I experimented with several versions and lengths to get some idea but came to the following conclusions.
Moving the seat forward would work so far as pedal reach was concerned. However it has the following undesirable effects.
1. As the seat moves forward it increases in height, due to the frame sloping upwards to the front, losing the benefit of its main attraction, ie low seat height.
2. The gap between the seat nose and the steerer is reduced, making it awkward to get a foot over to mount and dismount.
3. The original seat position is well balanced between the wheels. With the seat forward more weight is on the front wheel possibly upsetting the handling, making the rear wheel more prone to skidding and probably more likelihood of inadvertent stoppies.
4. It just doesn’t feel right. The steerer is too close.
It’s in too nice a condition to maul about.
It looks as though I will have to return it to standard and sell it. It’s a shame as it’s a well thought out package. Someone of more average height would get the benefit of it, while I will have to do more research, though I’ve been finding it hard to find information on max and min dimensions for recumbents. It would seem that used smaller SWB recumbents are rare, with models having adjustability of both boom and seat likely to be beyond my budget.
Any suggestions welcome!
I’ve been spoilt by the adaptability of the Linear!
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