Best ladies bike ?

[flecc]

Nice one Nick! Amazing someone still does something like this. The old wooden blocks were put both sides of the pedals making them easier to use than these, you just had to watch out not to bank too much on corners while pedalling to avoid an aviation experience.

 

[Nick]

Hi Flecc, it was Russ who originally posted a link to that site as they do crank adapters similar to mine.
Highpath Engineering : Cycle products : Swing Cranks

 

[flecc]

I thought I'd seen that before Nick. Looking at those swing cranks, they also have the potential of coping with a short leg length, merely by inverting them so the arc of travel is above instead of below crank centre. Í wonder if they've realised that.

There's a fully enclosed car like motorcycle design, I think Swiss, which has auto stabilisers that flip down as the speed drops to cope with stopping. Something like that on an electric bike combined with a high crank would enable shorter people to ride full size models.

 

[Nick]

Flecc, the site says the modified cranks won't work on a recumbent, which is what I was thinking anyway, but haven't been able to try - any thoughts on that? I like the look of the Cougar, Condor and Rhino here Optima Ligfietsen

 

[flecc]

Yes, I love the style of those bikes, a pity about the inability of that crank mechanism to work on them.

I'd investigate using much shorter cranks. Many competitive riders, the designer Mike Burrows amongst them, think shorter cranks and higher cadences are superior for power, or at least equal.
.

 

[Miles]

Re. short cranks:

Highpath Engineering can shorten your existing cranks for you.

Bulletproof make cranks down to 140mm length.

I've settled on 150mm cranks.

 

[Nick]

Unfortunately, my knee flexion sets a limit of about 100mm for a fixed length crank. Still, cheaper that way.

 

[Miles]

I'm sure Highpath could adapt something for you, Nick.

 

[Nick]

It's certainly worth a shot! A couple of engineer friends (one a cycling engineer) have come up with the crank that I use - maybe I should push them a bit harder for something that would work with a recumbent.

Cheers
Nick

 

[brigaf]

The Synergie Mistral is built in Scotland. It offers an amazing specification for £400. its well worth looking up their forum synergieusergroup, where the Pedelec forum is well recommended. I am considering a change of bike so would be interested in any feedback.

 

[halfmedley]

I've just bought a Mistral and have succeeded in assembling it, but owing to weather conditions haven't ridden it yet, but will let you know what it's performance is like as soon as possible. I intend to use it to commute on. Feel free to ask any questions about it and I'll do my best to answer them.

 

[brigaf]

update

? any news on the Mistral.

 

[halfmedley]

Hi, this is the first week that I've been using the Mistral for commuting and can report that it really does take the pain out of the hills, I tackle gradients of around 10 per cent here in Birmingham, with some very much steeper (but shorter). I'm 5 foot 8 inches tall, weigh 65 kilos and the bike fits me fine.

I'm having to adjust my riding technique; at first I was getting carried away with the electrical assistance and reaching quite high speeds (25mph is my best yet) but this negated the point of arriving at work not hot and bothered, so now I'm letting the battery provide more of the effort. With regards to the battery, the twelve mile hilly round trip I make barely touches it (down from five lit LED's on the meter to four!) so a recharge in the evening takes about 1-2 hours.

The bike is pedelec only and has three modes: Off/Economy/Sport. To be honest the bike is a bit heavy to ride far without assistance, I stay in economy mode. Sport gives more oomph, but I don't know what it does to the battery. You have to use the gears like a car and change down at junctions otherwise it's quite hard to pull away in anything above third. A quick dab on the brakes gives an amusing affect: you seem to get an extra bit of propulsion momentarily when you let go, useful when negotiating traffic islands.

With regards to quality, everything seems well enough made for the price, similar in fact to my unassisted Dawes hybrid languishing in the shed which cost me £350 about five years ago. Assembling the bike requires a bit of heft though. I've replaced the knobbly tyres (quite a job with the rear wheel, but not impossible) with puncture resistant road tyres (much better) and the saddle too, which was more suited to female anatomy.

The front forks judder slightly if you use the front brakes only, but this doesn't happen if you use both front and rear brakes simultaneously.
The only problem I've had so far is with the dynamo for the lights, I think I might replace that with one of better quality.

Customer service? Synergie have always been helpful when I've given them a call, so no complaints there.

It's still early days, but so far so good for the Mistral. Lots of fellow cyclists seem to be intrigued by it and I get quizzed about it frequently!

 

[brigaf]

hi halfmedley pleased to read your update on the mistral

 

[brookesy]

izip

i tried one yesterday, very uncomfortable and felt cheap,