My Recumbent Days

Y esterday I received the new Polar Water Bottle and was surprised the design had changed.  The tops of the Polar Bottles were interchangeable, now this is not the case.  The new design has a wider mouth so tops can't be interchanged.  The new bottle also comes with a hanger, which I will use as a grab loop making removing the bottle from behind my seat easier. Otherwise the quality is as good as before. Now will I need to replace my other 24 oz bottle chances are I will not, but I might just do it for appearance sake. I was informed by Nashbar that my Cage Rocket was shipped via FedEx SmartPost, but the tracking number still reports that it wasn't picked up yet. I contacted Nashbar and they said that it was shipped yesterday. Well if it doesn't show up in the system tomorrow I will call again. Niagra Cycle Works informed me that my Brake Lever Covers were going to ship yesterday and that I would receive an email to the fact. Well you guessed it I didn't receive an e...

I sit here and get depressed as this weather keeps me cooped up in the house with no place to go.  I am so looking forward to some better weather so that I can get on the trike and head out for a nice leisurely ride.  The weather over the last number of years has been horrible to say the least. We have had major snow and rain storms with very cold winter temperatures, and just plain unpredictable weather. I think all the trike upgrades will be complete as soon as the two remaining items get delivered. The Lizard Skin Brake Lever Covers and the Cage Rocket are both getting shipped today at least that is what I have been told. The Cage Rocket was shipped via USPS and I am not sure how the Lever covers are going to be shipped. Either way they both should be here no later than Saturday as one comes from NY and the other from Ohio, which are normally a three day zone. T he Black Widow will need the tires pumped up to pressure and the frame polished once again as it has dust ...

T his morning after taking care various chores I continued on the Cage Rocket project.  I needed to mount a third Carbon Bottle Cage on the back of the seat about 8" from the top down.  I drilled the holes, but ran into a problem with one of the Nylock nuts.  The nut went on cross threaded and I had  to cut it off using the Dremal tool.  After that things went a lot easier. Below is a photo of the mount installed. Please forgive me for the quality of the photo it was dark and hard to focus. The bottle cage is mounted on 1/4" Aluminum spacers to allow for the Cage Rocket to have room to clear the seat support ribs.

W hen I installed the GaleForce Blaster I used the pack that I carry my phone and wallet for the battery.  I now ended up needing an easy and safe place for these goodies.  I decided to order the Cage Rocket in Black/Black with the clip and waterproof Class III seals.  I bought it from Nashbar .  I am hoping it will be here this week sometime, but Nashbar is sometimes slow in shipping.  I will call their office tomorrow to check on status.

I received the Topeak BarXtender today and adapted it to the new neckrest. This should work out better than prior mount. A test ride will be in order.  I also received the new jersey and it looks great.

Y esterday afternoon I received the new Spenco innersoles for my biking shoes. They were easy to cut and replace my existing innersoles. My next ride I will test these out.  I also received the BikeBrake which I must say I am not impressed as it is very hard to get it over the brake lever, and I will need to use another method as a parking brake, maybe Velcro.  I also received the two missing screws for my Mountain Mirror extensions and installed them.  At my LBS yesterday I bought some Lemon/Lime Nuun to use as my primary hydration source.  I bought at 12 tablet container that is 24 servings.  The instructions say 1 tablet for 16 oz of water, which isn't correct as 8 oz and 1/2 tablet is really a serving.  I hate to waste these. I contacted the company but haven't gotten an answer as of yet. T oday UPS dropped off my Kucharik Recumbent shorts.  They look nice, but I am not so sure the double material on the seat that they call a pad will be any bett...

A fter installing the twin Carbon Fiber water bottle cages yesterday, I didn't have a chance to sit in the seat and try them out.  Well this morning I realized that I had made them parallel to the sides of the seat which make it hard to access.  The fix for that was to loosen the cage mount screws and angle the cage mount at the top away from the seat.  Once I did the angling of the mount I tightened the screws and nuts and replaced the bottles. I again sat in the seat and tried out this position.  Well the change made a big difference, and I am happy with this position.  I had even toyed with the idea of moving both cages toward the top back of the seat and quickly changed my mind as the look was horrible.  One thing I found out after purchasing the trike, is that accessories come and go and arrangements change as the seasons.  I am always experimenting with different things and that is the fun of it. S ome time this morning I am going over to the ...

Today I received the twin Carbon Fiber Bottle Cages and installed them on there mounts located behind the seat. I also installed the Camera/Light mount on the left accessory mount. I am going to change the screws on the left cage as I feel they are a little short.

As a person with a high arch I am sometimes plagued with foot pain. Cycling does not help as I am putting constant pressure on the pedals. Normal Orthotics  are to large for use in cycling shoes as they are tight fitting. I did some research and have seen forum posts about Spenco RX Thin sole Orthotics. The retail price for these heat shaped innersoles is $29.99 plus shipping, and I bought my size on EBay for $15.00 including shipping.  I am hopping I can mold these using the oven or boiling water as I do not have a heat gun. Below is a photo of the innersoles.   Today I was looking over my neckrest mount after having a conversation with krispysteve from BentRiderOnline . I have decided I wanted a little stronger mount system, as there seems to be a little lateral movement at certain times.  Steve recommended that I buy a Topeak BarXtender as it has a solid center bar. I took a chance and ordered one, but I am hoping that the tubular bar that supports the neckrest w...

T his morning I went to my favorite LBS to see if they had padded MTB shorts.  They had standard pads in all the shorts which means it is useless for recumbent riding.  I then called  Kucharik Clothing a manufacturer of recumbent clothing.  I asked a few questions and felt these shorts will chances are be perfect for my purposes.  There is double material in the seat of the shorts, which will give me a little extra padding. Also the material might be able to be opened to form a pocket to hold some sailing pads, used in technical sailing shorts. Below are two photos of the shorts and the pad. A fter I receive these shorts I will do a mini review and let you all know my thoughts.

Yesterday I completed painting the motion alarm black so it doesn't stand out like a sore thumb. I am still waiting for the two carbon water bottle cages and the camera mount. It has been 12 days since shipped for the bottle cages, but both the cages and the mount are coming from HongKong.

T his morning I looked out at the beautiful sky and decided today is going to be great. I had breakfast and headed out for my ride. I put the Garmin on the instrument pod and headed out. First thing I noticed was that the regular computer not the Garmin had no speed readout. I stopped and looked at the sensor alignment and that was in order. I then pressed the battery test button and found that the battery was dead. Not a big deal as I keep a stock of 2032 batteries at home. I continued to ride and then noticed the top frame bag kept flapping over, nothing that tightening the straps would not fix. I continued the ride and at about 5 miles in I started to get toe cramps on my left foot. I pedaled through the pain and it subsided, then I realized I didn't have my shoe inserts installed. The pain continued for the remainder of the ride, but not to be a total loss I started to get calve pain. I know the calve pain is from not riding for a year my muscles became limp to sa...

T his afternoon I put a final coat of Color Wax on the frame and rechecked everything. As of now I think she is ready for the road. All that is left to do is the Carbon Bottle Cages and the camera mount. Both items are in transit and I have no idea how long before they arrive.  Below are two photos taken today showing the new steering and neckrest with the Black Widow logo. A s you can see from the above photo there is very little that has not changed on the Black Widow.  I have even lowered the seat for a more reclined riding position.  The lowering of the seat is something I have wanted to do for a while, but never had the guts to drill the seat in 7 places. UPDATE: After posting this I received the suggestion that I paint the horn cone black and that is what I did. photo below.

T his morning I headed over to my local Home Depot for an M8 lock-nut to replace the one I lost when moving the seat to a more reclined position. Let me not jump ahead without giving you all some background.  For a while I have felt that I would like to get my seat to be in a more reclined position. I haven't attempted this do to the amount of drilling needed to the seat.  Well I got up enough nerve this morning to attempt the modification. First I measured 1" from each existing hole up higher on the seat and marked the positions. That done I drilled the seven holes needed. Four holes for the actual seat mounts, one hole for the fender and two more holes for the neckrest and rack mounting. After drilling all the holes but the two for the neckrest while the seat was still attached to the frame, I then removed the seat and drilled the remaining two holes for the neckrest. Next I remounted the seat using the original bolts and the new holes, moving the seat forward at the front a...

O n Saturday I received the Minoura BH-95X Bottle Cage Holder add found out that it has changed in design.  Since it is no longer the same as the one on the right side I had to modify the new holder to make it uniform with the original.  The holder could not be mounted in its present form and I had to get nylon spacers to raise it off the seat back.  I am now in the process of painting the spacers so they will blend in with the trike. The weather has been horrible of the last 4 days, so the paint is taking longer to dry. I hope by this afternoon I can continue with the install. Below is a photo of the modified Cage Mount.

Y esterday I started and completed a 1" extension for each of my two Mirrycle mirrors. The 1" extensions bring the mirrors out away from the trike making the new field of vision unobstructed by my arms. All the parts were available from my local Home Depot. I got the idea from Utah Trikes blog article. Below is a photo of the completed extension. I think it came out real nice. Y esterday I also completed or should I say modified my two handlebar accessory mounts.  I felt the use of Ty-Wraps wasn't a professional method of mounting the mounts to the handlebars.  What I did was purchase four Stainless Steel hose clamps and some heat shrink tubing from Home Depot.  I then carefully put the hose clamps around the handlebar and accessory mount trying not to scratch the paint. Once on I marked the hose clamp with a marker behind the screw.  I removed the clamps and cut heat shrink from the screw to the mark. I proceeded to slip on the cut heat shrink and heat over the gas...

I wanted to add a Carbon Fiber water bottle cage to the opposite side of the trike and ran into a problem. The original Carbon Fiber cage is made by Ascent and I couldn't find a matching cage.  I searched the high and low all over the web and local shops with no luck. I then decided last evening to order two new cages from Hong Kong which have already shipped.  I also needed a mount to be able to add the cage onto the seat with a minimal amount of drilling. I ordered a duplicate Minoura handlebar/seat mount that I modified for the right side of the trike. That also was shipped. The cages will not be here for a good week or two, the mount should be here in four or five days. Below is a photo of the cages. Photo Property of Carbonbicycle99. The company I ordered this from http://www.flyxii.com is a manufacturer of Carbon Bike parts. I will post a photo of the completed installation as soon as I have completed them.

T his morning I went to Halters to have the modified handlebars installed. The job took around three hours as the brakes and shifters had to be redone. All that is left now is to clean up the trike which seems real dirty.  I will work on it tomorrow. The photo below is the left handlebar and instrument pod. I added another photo taken from the seat view. A note to others attempting this upgrade: You have to drill the handlebar out to accept bar-end shifters. Keep that in mind, if you want these. Utah Trikes sells them and they are made to fit the Performer Carbon trike with a 1 1/8" stem.

A s of yesterday I completed one mount and the layout looks good. I won't know for sure until the handles are installed. The two handles were going to be drilled yesterday, so I am hoping they are returned to me this weekend. A s you can see by the above photos I changed the right mount to include the mounting stub as I did on the left mount. This method brings the pod closer to the wheel, giving me more cockpit space. UPDATE: I spoke to Chris this morning and he told me that the handlebars were drilled out and they now fit the bar-end shifters.  Monday I will trike the trike to Halters Cycle to have the work completed. I will install the mounts by myself and finish the wiring needed for the horn button. The handlebars need end caps so I asked Chris if he has the stem caps in 1" I figure they will do the job. They might need 1 1/8" star nuts as I think 1" will be to small in diameter.  After that is done I will have one more thing left to do on the trike. O ne...

T his morning I continued building and fabricating the new right and left computer mounts. They came out real nice and they should be easy to install. The only question will be if they should be mounted on the inside or outside of the cockpit. I am also not sure if the alarm will stay where it is, or in another location. B elow is a photo of both left and right mounts. T he mount on the right of the photo is the left mount and the other is the right. UPDATE: I heard from Chris at my LBS and he informed me that the drilling of the handlebars to accept the bar-end shifters will be done by the weekend.  That was a pleasant surprise that it can be done and done so fast. I will be glad when this is over with.  I don't remember having so hard a job on a Black Widow upgrade. T his morning I checked with Firetiki to see if my Black Widow patch was shipped and he told me it went out in the morning post.  So I guess at least five days to the right coast from the left coas...

A s you know I was supposed to receive my handlebars yesterday but UPS in their ultimate wisdom delayed it for weather reasons. Weather reasons what a laugh, as the mail wasn't delayed, nor any other service got screwed up. Well I write this as I wait for delivery today, and as usual they are very late.  During the waiting I gave the chain another try and I had it opened and the new chain tube installed. One less thing for the LBS to do.  I will be purchasing a Park Master Link tool at the LBS if it is in stock, if not off to the Internet I will go. I still have other projects to do, but they all take cash which I have allocated for my new MacBook Pro.  I hope Apple refreshes the MacBook Pro very soon as it is overdue. I am hoping that we get some warmer weather moving in to the area soon as I am getting cabin fever. I am ready to get my daily workouts in and get out of the house for a few hours a day as I am getting pale from lack of sunlight. I will go back to my doi...

A s we all know the best laid plans sometimes don't work as well as we hoped. I had made an appointment with my LBS to install the handlebars on the trike tomorrow. They were supposed to be delivered by UPS today, but they never made it to my local UPS installation, so now the delivery is for tomorrow. The next day I can get this done is Thursday unless they come early tomorrow.  Coming early is highly doubtful as UPS never shows up until late afternoon. T he replacement chain tubes came Monday and I tried to install them, but I was unable open the master link so that also will have to wait also until Thursday. I ordered a embroidered patch of a Black Widow to place on the front of the neckrest.  I think if the patch adheres properly it will give the neckrest a finished professional look. I purchased tow beautiful Henley riding shirts from  Steve Sussman Below is a photo from Steve's site showing the shirts I ordered. I already received the orange shirt and have ordere...