Tag Archives: Bent Up Cycles

Karl Calls Reply

accesories/equipment, cycling • Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Today Karl Abbe, of Zzip Designs, returned my call. We spent near 1 1/2 hours on the phone discussing various aspects of the fairings he manufactures and sells. He was very patient, taking the time to ensure I had complete answers to my questions. I am comfortable that the Zzipper fairing will work well with my RANS Stratus XP. He took the time to visit this blog to see how my lighting is set up. We think we can make the setup work without having to relocate my front lighting.

My order has now been placed. I expect to receive the fairing on Friday.

My dialogue with Bill continues…

Hello Bill,

I took the big plunge today. After speaking with Karl for an hour and 24 minutes on 2 telephone calls, I purchased a Zzipper faring for my RANS. I expect to receive it Friday and hopefully install it over the weekend. I’ll soon know for myself what I think of the Zzipper on my RANS. Your input has been helpful. Again THANKS!

I do not know that I’ve presented my bent to any real challenging hills. I recently road my DF in the NC mountains and now know what hills are. I have ridden the Stratus over rollers and several bridges–Charleston, SC; Savannah and Brunswick, GA; and many intercoastal waterway bridges. I do OK. I’m able to keep fairly good RPM. I do not think I ride my bents frequently enough to keep peak bent legs though. I’ll see if a fairing makes a difference.

Do you have a photo from a distance of your Stratus with the fairing in place?

Jim

Jim –

Here are some shots.

The first three are from two years ago, the next is me riding in Bike Florida, and the next is me riding in the rain at Bike Virginia.

Bill rides his Stratus in the rain at Bike Virginia and bikes dry in Bike Florida

Photographs furnished by Bill

I assume you ordered the heavier Zipper. I will be interested in how it works out. I would think it will be a good unit.

Bill

Good Evening Bill,

The pictures are illustrative. Thanks! I see you have a light mounted both behind and at the top of your fairing. How did the light work through the fairing? Did the fairing keep you somewhat dry in the rain?

Yes, I ordered the thicker fairing. I will let you know how it works out. Hopefully, I’ll experience it this weekend.

I’ve posted our dialogue in my blog. Please review and let me know if you have a problem with any of my post. I’ve included two of your first batch of pictures in my blog.

May I include some of the pictures from this batch in my post of today?

Here is the BROL link to my post today:

Jim

Hi Jim –

I don’t have a problem with you posting whatever you like of all this. Re the light – a couple of years ago I was mounting my light behind the fairing as you could see. Having the light shine through the fairing was not too much of an issue glare wise, but having it mounted out front like that did not give the option of adjusting it on the go. That light was one of the Cateye LED models, maybe the EL-500. I have since gone to more powerful lights and the mount above the fairing. The light you could see in the Bike Virginia rainy day picture is a Light & Motion Vega LED that I use in blinking mode as a “see me” light. It is one of the more powerful LED light available. The light I use to see where I am going at night is a Light & Motion HID which is really bright. I have had cars flash their bright lights at me trying to get me to dim it. Both of these lights use the same bracket and I can adjust their aim while riding.

The fairing does do a good job of keeping your shoes somewhat dry in the rain. Of course it does not help with your shorts or other upper garments. You will want to have fenders installed if you are riding in the rain or even on wet roads. I will attach a picture of my bike about a week ago when I was on a ride in a very light sprinkle of a rain with wet roads and I did not have my fenders installed. You will note how the rear wheel threw mud through the seat back which then just covered the back of my jacket. [photo by Bill]

If you would like to see how my friend attached his fork attaching board to his Windstar van, I can have him take a picture and send it to you.

BK

Bill,

Noted on your permission. I must ask, rather than just do it. You are kind and thanks again. I understand your lighting decisions. I’ll have to see how my system works. I do not think I will need to make any changes. I just want to ensure my lights illuminate my path. I have rain gear and fenders. I should be fine. Please have your Windstar friend send me a picture of his setup. Have a good night. Until… –jim

Which Fairing To Buy??? 1

accesories/equipment, cycling • Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Several days ago I posted a question on BROL asking for thoughts on the better fairing for a RANS Stratus XP, the Muller or Zzipper Fairing. I received two responses–one posted on BROL and one reply by e-mail from a non-BROL member [posted below]. His replies have been very helpful. Following is our dialogue over the last few days.

Jim –

I saw your question re fairings on a RANS Stratus on the BentRider Online. I am not signed up for the Forum so could not send a reply there. I have the Windwrap fairing on my Stratus. I also have friends who have the Zipper on their Tour Easy and Gold Rushes. The difference seems to be that the Windwrap is quieter as it is a little thicker; the Zipper is a little wider so you may get slightly less wind on the feet; and the Zipper may have a more secure mounting system. I was having trouble with keeping the rubber grommets in the cross tubes, but the last time I replaced my fairing a few months ago they sent me longer ones from their new design and I have not had the problem since. Bottom line – I prefer the Windwrap, mainly because of less vibration/noise.

Similar to you, I am retired with a keen interest in riding my bicycle. I am 63 and started riding four years ago when I retired and bought my Stratus. I am coming up on 4900 miles for the year so we ride a similar amount. However I am not as versatile as you as I have only one bike. I live in Royal Oak, MI (just north of Detroit) do most of my riding with club groups locally. This year, however, I did my first touring with Bike Florida, Bike Virginia and the Dalmac in Michigan.

Good luck on picking out your fairing. If you need opinions on other Stratus items let me know. I have opinions on many items. How good they are may be up for question, but they are available.

Bill

Hello Bill,

Thanks for your response. Your information is useful. I have read the very points you are making. Given the wider coverage of the Zzipper fairing, if it is mounted securely, it seems the noise problem would be taken care of. I understand they have a thicker fairing that produces less noise. It is difficult to make this selection. Can you send me pictures or a link to pictures of your Stratus with the fairing mounted? Do you ride with it all year? How does it affect handling & speed?

I’ll be 61 in December. You are ahead of me in miles. I’m just over 4,600 documented (GPS) miles since March. My goal is 5K for this year. Yet, I did not ride last week. How did you get your Stratus to Florida and Virginia? I hope to travel to other states to ride later. I operate a small computer company and will probably do so for the next couple of years. So, I’m not totally free to travel.

I’d like to post your reply to the forum for others to read. Is that OK with you? Why not join BROL? It just takes a few minutes.

Thanks again!!!

Jim

Jim -I have no problem with you posting my reply. Maybe I should sign up for BROL. I don’t typically read it, but was just killing time last week and your question caught my eye as I do have experience with the subject.

You mentioned that you thought a secure mounting would take care of the noise issue. I believe the noise is from the flexing of the fairing and not a function of the mounting. Were you saying that Zipper offers a thicker fairing? If so, I was not aware of that.

I hope the pictures come through. The first shows how I transport my Stratus in my Mazda MPV minivan.

Photographs below provided to this blog by BK–Thanks Bill!

I leave the bike in the van all the time as I drive to the start point of most of the club rides. It only takes 2 or 3 minutes to take the bike in or out.

I made the mounting board so that it attaches uniquely to the Mazda van’s rear seat latch. I have friends who have made a similar system for the Chrysler van and the Ford Windstar/Freestar. They of course have different attaching systems. The other pictures show the attaching system for the Windwrap fairing.

I leave my fairing on all the time. As for speed, I believe it starts making a difference at about 17 mph and higher. I really can’t say how much, but I need all the help I can get. I am not aware that it makes any difference in handling.

I looked at my mileage for the year after this morning’s ride and it is now 4905 miles. This would be undocumented miles in your terms as it is from my computer. For the fun of it I put my GPS on the bike for today’s ride to check the mileage difference with the bike computer. The computer was 1% igh compared to the GPS, even thought I had very carefully calibrated itinitially with three rotations of the wheel several times. So I guess mymileage total is about 50 miles lower relative to yours. My goal is not to attain a certain mileage, it is to go riding every time I have a good groupto join, which really means one with which I can keep up. I am good for about 20 mph for a fair distance in a pace line on flat road/no wind conditions. On hills the upright bikes just leave me right behind.

On your web site I noticed that you are also into photography and obviously computers as that is you business. I also fool around a bit with digital photography and simple manipulations with Photoshop.

Good luck with your evaluations.

Bill

Hi Bill,

Thank you for the photographs. I like your van setup. I’m currently using a Winstar cargo van. So, I can do something similar.

On the fairing, I have 2 links for you.

1) This forum has some discussion. The extreme bodyskin caught my eye.

2) This order form shows the various thicknesses.

Whether this makes any difference, I do not know. I’m waiting for a return call from Karl of Zzip Designs.

At least I now understand isolating the fairing from vibration apparently will not reduce unwanted noise. If I do not want this noise, buy a Mueller fairing.

I accept computer mileage a “documented” mileage. In my case, I did not record my mileage on my road bike and my VK2 before March. After that, I have a digest on Motion Based that is a journal of my rides, thus easily accessed for me to see

where I am. I just set 5K as a goal last year for this year. During the year, I just ride. Most of my DF rides are club and event rides.

Like you, I also need all the help I can get. I’ve not ridden my bents in my cycling club rides. There are no other bent riders in the club. In a pace line, we frequent ride at 25+ mph, averaging 19-20 mph over 30+ miles. Sometimes, I’m a “B-Group” rider. Other times, a C+ to B-. I just enjoy cycling.

Thanks for visiting my blog and thank for your comments.

Do you miss the wind in your face in warm/hot weather?

Again, thanks for your time in responding to my questions and for the pictures.

Jim

Jim –

Thanks for the additional info. That guy Perry Butler should know what he is talking about since he has used all the different fairings you have discussed. I was not aware there were so many different choices from Zipper. It sounds like both Zipper and Windwrap have excellent personalized customer support. That certainly is my experience with the Mueller folks.

Regarding your question about missing the wind in my face in warm/hot weather, I believe you get more wind in the face with a fairing. I don’t know if that is a good or bad thing.

I am usually the only recumbent rider on our club rides as you would be. You are a stronger rider than I as can not hold 25 mph for any time much longer than a sprint. Can you maintain that on your Stratus? How are you doing on your bent on hills?

Take care.

Bill

The Mods 12

cycling, RANS Stratus XP • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I am now within 2 weeks of the Cycle NC Tour. Since my return from the Fayetteville, NC to Key West, FL tour, I have made several modifications to the RANS Stratus.

The modifications begin with the items in this post. My plan is to ride the Stratus on days 5 & 6 of the tour and to benefit from these enhancements. Further, should I do brevets next year or tour for that matter, the Stratus will be ready to go. The two photographs below give an overview of the changes. Gone is the RANS Chopper Bar Fairing Bag–giving better road visibility. I replaced the Pletscher Kickstand with a Greenfield Kickstand from Bentup Cycles of Van Nuys, CA [the dealer from whom I purchased the Stratus]. I’ve elected to use the Angletech Aerotrunk versus the smaller RANS Streamline Tailpack. As I see it, these are not significant modification, just choices of convenience or durability, in the case of the kickstand. I also replaced the RANS Idler with a TerraCycle Idler for the Stratus. The tires are Specialized Fatboys for better puncture protection, with low rolling resistance. I am now using silver SKS Fenders (scroll down the page to see them ~ purchased from Peter White) rather than the Planet Bike Fenders (see other photographs in this blog). The Planet Bike hardware did not hold up. I modified the SKS Fenders by putting the Planet Bike Mud Flaps on them. The mud flaps are attached with silicon. Replaced the original handlebar grips (which continued to slip toward the ends of the bar) with Ergon MP1 Men’s Grips from Performance Bicycle. I had to shorten them to fit my handlebars. They tighten onto the handlebar, and therefore do not slip. I moved the AirZound Air Bottle from the seat-back to the left rear pannier, which also houses my sports drink bottle. The right rear pannier has an Nalgene insulated quick-release bottle from FastBack System. Insulated CamelBak Drink Tubes are within easy reach, attached to the seat-back frame and along side the seat, sport drink–left and water–right.

Modified RANS Stratus XP

The most significant change is the lighting system, which I changed for greater redundancy.

During the Florida tour, I had one night that I rode with only the LightSpin Dynamo. If it had failed, I would have been in the dark. I had used up the NiteRider Flight Li-Ion battery earlier in the day. The LightSpin wheel cover also wore out on the 1,062 mile trip. I now have spare wheel covers.

I have a 3-tier, plus [side lights using EL-wire, hand-cranked light & aerotrunk light] system.

  1. Tier One: The new primary system is a Schmidt SON28S Disc 36-Hole Hub powered DIWA Lighting System (scroll down) from Peter White Cycles [both head (Lumotec Oval DIWA Plus) & tail (Dtoplight) lights are stand]. The new Distance Warning, or DIWA System from Busch&Müller senses when the bike slows down. When riding at night with your lights on, the taillight will glow brighter. In the daytime, with the lights off, the taillight will come on just as a car’s brake lights would. Mr. White built the two Velocity Wheels you see photographed above.
  2. Tier Two: NiteRider Flight with dual 16-led taillights [not a current NiteRider product, 04/09] that operate on a dedicated Li-Ion battery. For some reason, with the taillights wired in parallel, they no longer flash. I do not see this as a problem because the North Carolina Bicycle Club rules state: at a minimum, a steady burning front and rear lights and reflective gear are required for the 300k through the 600k brevet. Vista tail lights must be steady burning and a spare bulb and batteries are required for all lights. When I want or need extreme brightness, I can turn on the HID, in addition to the SON DIWA Lighting System. For more light, I can also turn on the LightSpin System described above. I’ll certainly be able to see all before me–and be seen. One note: My NiteRider Flight light had to be returned to NiteRider for repair. Apparently, water got into the case. There was no charge for the repair.
  3. Tier Three:
    A LightSpin Dynamo powers twin headlights & a stand taillight [emergency backup system] I have toggle switches for both lights to control dynamo load. If I ever want more lighting, then this system can also be used.

Why all the lights and batteries–for my safety as I stated above. On a recent tour [with a 2-tier system], I found myself down to the LightSpin. If something had happened to it, I’d been in total darkness. I’m setting the bike to travel with 12+ hours of darkness. The NiteRider Taillight remained lit for over 7 days on their Li-Ion Battery. The NiteRider site has the following description for the Flight System: Want HID power without the weight of Nickel Metal Hydride batteries? Then look no further than the NiteRider Flight system. Using Lithium Ion powered cells, the Flight lighting system offers the greatest power to weight ratio of any lighting system available, with burn times ranging from 2:15 up to 3:30. Want to extend burn times? Switch over to the power saving LEDs. [They show 100 hrs. in LED mode.] Never before has so much power come in so small of a package. Mounting options are virtually limitless with a battery pack no larger than a cell phone and weighing only 227g/8oz.

Control Panel/Dashboard
Other CP/DB Shots

You may wonder why there are two Garmin Edge 305s. Here’s why–I have a Cateye Wireless (purchased for my Velokraft VK2) that I had working on the Stratus. I had planned to use it to report kilometers to aid in brevets. For some reason, it stopped working properly as a wireless device. I replaced the batteries; but, I still had the problem. I would like the Edge to be able to report statute and metric measurement simultaneously (statute on one the bike pages/screens and metric on the other, or share fields on the same screen. It will only give one or the other, not a combination of the two. I spoke with Garmin technical support on this and they think the concept is worth consideration. Having this capability is a software as opposed to a hardware solution. In the meantime, I had the option of buying a wired bicycle computer or using my second Edge (with no additional cost) thus the two 305s. Both record my heart rate and cadence. One reports statute, and the other metric measurements. Another benefit of the Garmin Edge is that its backlight can remain on for lowlight/night visibility. Had I used the Cateye, I would not have been able to read its display without a light shinning on the display. The silver device on the right is a digital voice recorder. I’ve used it on several bikes, as well as my Florida tour. It allows me to take verbal notes as I ride. You also see a RAM mount for a camera. I find it easier to leave it in place than to position it each time I’m ready to use the camera. I may remove it at some point.

Back to lighting. In addition, I will use my EL Wire [powered by a Socket Mobile Power Pack (link below)] for “running lights” in towns [toggle controlled] to ensure I’m seen from the side.

Note the small blue wire the runs along the left and
right side of the bottom tube. It is the EL Wire.


I also have a flashing light on the flag.

In addition to the lights described above, the front of the bike has four reflectors and the rear two.

The DIWA light, which has one of the two rear reflectors,
is shown in its mounting position behind my neck rest.

One final [I hope] light–The Safe Turn Bicycle Indicator. This is a amber flasher that uses a tilt switch to more clearly show the hand position to indicate turns and slowing signals. In this case, where I can, this will supplement the brake light.

I have a small Radio Shack LED Task Light [no longer available, 04/09] to more easily see into the Aerotrunk and panniers at night.

I will use a hand-cranked flashlight [to be purchased] for night-time repair. So far, I’ve been fortunate in that breakdowns [flats] have occurred in daylight.

Of course, TerraCycle has the Firefire Light for its Tailsok</A>. I do not plan to add a tailsock now–maybe at some point in the future. I am considering a Mueller Fairing for cold-weather riding.

Now for the nice to have–or is it a safety item–Tao XM2Go Satellite Radio.

Again, during the Florida tour, I found myself on the road up to 15-hours and no awareness of world events. XM takes care of that. We were almost ambushed by Tropical Storm Alberto. XM to the rescue. In my setup, I have a third Socket Mobile Power Pack to power the radio. The XM2Go Radio plays about 5 hours on its Li-Ion battery. I have not yet timed the radio with the Socket. I expect over 20 hours of play time. I’ll advise later. The radio is played through Radio Shack speakers [unnecessary items removed], also powered by a Socket Li-Ion battery. Since the radio is not water resistant, I have to get a waterproof bag [probably Aquapaq] for it.

I‘m sure you noticed a telephone, actually a Motorol V555. It is my bluetooth fair weather friend. On the Florida tour, its predecessor, a V551, failed due to rain. I plan to replace it with a

Motorola i580 from Nextel. You will note it is bluetooth enabled and rain-resistant certified to Military Standard 810 F for blowing rain, humidity, and salt fog. It is designed to withstand exposure to rain, sleet, and snow. Rubber encasing, interior linings and seals protect the phone.
I’m currently using a Cardo Scala Rider Bluetooth Headset placed on the straps of my bicycle helmet, which replaced the bluetooth headset I lost during a rain storm in Palm Beach, FL. In preliminary testing, the sound quality and volume are excellent. My son reports my volume level is low and I’m difficult to hear. There is, however, no wind noise. This is an improvement over what I used on the Florida tour.

Another reason for this phone is the ability for me to be located while cycling. Nextel offers a Mobile Locator Service which facilitates this with any of its GPS enabled telephones. During the Florida tour, my able assistant, Michael–my son, was always there to support. Support from miles away is very helpful and deeply appreciated. Sometimes, we spent about 10 minutes pinpointing my location. With this setup, he’ll know where I am in an instant. The safety factors are obvious. I plan to place the phone at the same location as my V555.

Weight distribution: As loaded for the Florida tour, I thought that most of the bike’s weight was on the rear wheel. Now, with 2 NiteRider and 2 Socket batteries, the EL wire inverter & the bags to hold these items, plus the SON hub, there is more weight toward the front of the bike. The Socket battery for the XM2Go Radio is beneath the seat.

Additional Cycle Photographs