[IanHighfield]

Do you bent riders give it up in the winter or do you somehow fasten your bikes to a trainer as a DF is used indoors?

I miss the bent crowd. Oneway, where the heck are you?

 

[Engyo]

Both. See this thread...........

 

[IanHighfield]

Both. See this thread...........

There are some nice photos on that forum. I didn't know you had your own bent site. It's all I can do not to join. Imagine how much fun I'd have over there!

There is picture of a lady on a trike with a huge chain wrapped around the drive wheel for traction. I liked that.

As you know I'm not convinced of any superior speed advantage of the bent but there sure is one hell of a lot of frame and style variation. The recumbent is more interesting if experimenting is your thing. I happen to like the clear plastic fairings with the flowing lines. But I wonder when you crash if the authorities don't look at the wreck and think a small plane just augered in. What with the plexiglass bubble debris and alloy tubing and nylon seat material and all.

 

[lowracer1]

this is my winter bent coldest ride was 32 miles in 10 degree weather with 30 mph wind. I stayed warm....... not a fast vehicle but you can ride in nasty conditions.

 

[IanHighfield]

Lowracer1, somewhere online I read an article by a man who made a glass pod for his trike and he included good pictures of the foam positive mold he shaped. The article had good photos. The biggest problem he encountered was moisture buildup in winter freezing on the viewing ports. The thing was nicely faired and he went on to say it actually got so warm inside he had to ride with the top slightly open in the coldest weather. Said he traveled in temps below zero somewhere in your upper midwest.

Not my thing but it sure was interesting and the man was very neat about his work. The pod looked very professional.

 

[lowracer1]

I wasn't too concerned about how the vehicle looked, just needed to be functional for a first attempt to see if it would even work and I be comfortable in cold temperatures. The next enclosure will probably be more streamlined and be geared for more speed in mind. I also train and do online racing in the winter. I have a tacx imagic with the fortius software. You can view my race times on the imagic archive. Otherwise there is live racing through the fortius software link.

 

[IanHighfield]

I wasn't too concerned about how the vehicle looked, just needed to be functional for a first attempt to see if it would even work and I be comfortable in cold temperatures. The next enclosure will probably be more streamlined and be geared for more speed in mind. I also train and do online racing in the winter. I have a tacx imagic with the fortius software. You can view my race times on the imagic archive. Otherwise there is live racing through the fortius software link.

I didn't mean to suggest your prototype was not clean. I recognized what it was: a test run. The guy whom I read about did not enclose his rear wheel so that he'd have less space to heat inside and so that fixing a tyre might be easier. He learned staying warm was not an issue but repairs were.

About your online racing: I'm not a computer techno type. E-mail and turning this site on is my limit. But last year I was in France at a cycling expo and had a chance to mount a bike they had on a trainer and set in front of a large HD TV. I rode the bike and watched the scene change relative to how fast I worked. On a smaller window off in the corner was an overview map of the course I was riding with a red line representing my progress. As you traveled the red line traced the road. The attendant told me another person could link up and show his progress with a blue line next to my red line on the overview map.

To some this is probably nothing new. To me it was magic. I did not grow up with a computer. I actually found myself as absorbed watching the road ahead of me on the TV and the progress red line as I would have been actually riding. This is not something I could afford but I can certainly see the wintertime appeal.

Is this the kind of device you are talking about?

 

[lowracer1]

yes it is probably something similiar to what you rode. here is a link to the archive

I-Magic Route Archive (imagic.e-cycling.se)

VR trainers intro | tacxvr.com

 

[IanHighfield]

The tacx looks more like what I experienced. You had a view behind a bike that represented you. Not an off angle view like in the I-magic image in the website. I really don't remember any brand names. There must be a lot of software versions along with different trainers you can use.

 

[craisin]

nice pics on that other site:thumbsup:

 

[digitalmouse]

Do you bent riders give it up in the winter or do you somehow fasten your bikes to a trainer as a DF is used indoors?

Personally, I ride all year around in any weather, since I have a Leitra fairing on my trike. It's so nice, with all the snow/ice/cold we've had the past 2 months in Denmark, to be able to ride back-n-forth to work or out to the Leitra shop on my weekly rides (25km one way) in only a thick shirt or light sweater and jeans or sweatpants.

Unfortunately fairings do add weight but the comfort outweighs that, for me at least.

 

[BlazingPedals]

My bike club used to have designated fat-tire rides in the winter, which would go as scheduled as long as roads weren't icy. Then, I attended the now-almost-famous Ed Gin seminar on Coroplast fairings and built one for my V-Rex. We didn't have much snow that year, and I got to ride it a lot. Which was 'legal,' since I had a 24x2 tire on the rear. It made the rides much more pleasant, but nobody could keep up with me anymore. As a result, everyone started riding their road bikes on winter rides, which meant no rides at all unless the roads were completely clear.