| RECUMBENTS REVISITED
New dual 26-inch-wheel bikes
By Rolf Garthus
You're a dedicated road bike rider, but you're starting to cut back a little on the long rides. Too many things start to hurt after about 40 miles. You've been considering a recumbent for several years now, but you can't get past the look of that little front wheel and wheel technology that is reminiscent of the 1980s. These hot new recumbents may just push you over the edge.
Several revolutionary dual 650c wheel recumbent speed demons are slated to hit the market this spring. Industry veteran, Advanced Transportation Products, has increased the wheel size on their Vision Sabre from dual 24" to dual 650c wheels. Bacchetta Bicycles is introducing a dual 26" wheel model (Strada) and a dual 650c model (Aero). The Strada comes stock with 26" (559mm) wheels, but is designed to accommodate 650c wheels as well. Bacchetta Bicycles is a
newcomer to the recumbent industry, but fear not – well–known recumbent industry veterans John Schlitter, Mark Colliton and Rich Pinto are at the helm.
So why are dual 26" wheel recumbents so exciting? Dual 650c wheels means you can, for the first time, have a recumbent with state–of–the–art road bike forks and wheels. As an added bonus, a 26" or 650c front wheel rolls noticeably better than the 16" and 20" front wheels on other
recumbents. These bikes are designed to place the rider in an extremely aerodynamic, yet supremely comfortable, riding position. The superior aerodynamics, combined with unbeatable rolling efficiency, gives you an advantage that is not found on uprights.
There's something about a dual 26" wheel recumbent: The same size wheels are more visually appealing to experienced road riders. In addition, the handling seems to be more like a road bike than other recumbents you may have ridden.
"Our other goals," says Bacchetta's Rich Pinto, "with the dual 26" Bacchetta bikes (besides better rolling resistance) are to allow the rider to lay back as far as possible, use a higher bottom bracket position to keep the spinning leg circle frontal area completely inside the reclined rider shadow, and keep the arms in the minimum frontal area position. The arm position also keeps the hands and arms out of the riders sightline
while reclined, minimizes any tiller effects in the steering, and gives the same type of arm–width spread that road and mountain bikes use. It is also very important to us to have a normal road bike turning radius and a higher rider height for better visibility."
The smaller front wheel, used on virtually all previous recumbent designs, kept recumbent riders from enjoying the benefits of the latest technological improvements in road bike forks and wheels. In 2001, the
best recumbents on the market used wheel and fork technology that was reminiscent of the top road bikes prior to 1980. This is not the way to win the heart of experienced road bike riders. Like some earlier recumbent designs, these dual 650c models offer an aerodynamic position equal to or better than a full tuck on an upright bike. The difference, on these rockets, is that you always ride in this ultra–aerodynamic position and nothing hurts.
Vision president and veteran recumbent designer, Joel Smith, introduced the Sabre with dual 24" wheels two years ago and has increased the wheel size to dual 650c wheels for 2002.
"The essence of the Saber is speed," says Smith. "The aerodynamic advantages of the design are irrefutable, and the efficiency and excellent handling characteristics of the standard bicycle wheels are undeniable."
The Vision Sabre is available in three models (R64, R65 and R68)
ranging from $1,995 to $5,000. The R64 and R65 are built with the best CroMoly tubing and very good components. The R68 is the titanium frame flagship model with top–of–the–line components.
Smith received a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Michigan and worked for Boeing as a structural engineer prior to his involvement with Vision. In the early 1990s, Smith designed, built and sold his own recumbent design (the R20), participated in HPV (Human
Powered Vehicle) events and eventually decided to quit his day job and make a living designing and manufacturing recumbents.
Bacchetta offers three recumbent models: Giro – $1,549, Strada – $1,799 and Aero – $3,799. The Giro is a touring model which uses a more traditional recumbent 26"/20" wheel combination. Available in three frame sizes, the Giro fits a wide range of rider size and may be the best short wheel base touring model I've ridden. The Giro and Strada
models are available now, and the Aero is scheduled to be in the shops around the end of May.
The first dual 650C recumbents that were produced with time trial forks (Kinesis Airfoil), aero wheels (HED discs rear wheels, HED 3 and HED deep front wheels) and the ultra aero, straight horizontal arm position, were the limited production 1998–2001 Aerocycles. The dual 26" Strada and Aero models have almost identical rider geometries to those
original dual 650C Aerocycles, with many improvements to ergonomics and equipment.
Strada means "street" or "road" in Italian, and that's just what this bike is: A bike that fits well with your roadie friends, but with all the comfort and aerodynamic advantages of a recumbent. The Strada is equipped with dual 26" (559mm) wheels, Shimano 105 hubs, a Shimano 105 rear derailleur, an Avid Speed Dial Seven rear brake and a custom left–pull
front brake designed specifically for recumbents by Bacchetta Bicycles. (The Hostel Shoppe in Stevens Point, Wis., will be offering special Shimano Dura Ace 16–spoke wheels as upgrades on both the Bacchetta Strada and the Vision Sabre.)
The Aero combines a lightweight titanium frame, carbon seat and a Kinesis carbon fork with the Strada frame design to give you a 21.5–pound recumbent that will stay with or beat the best uprights.
Components include Shimano Ultegra derailleurs and rear brake, American Classic Micro hubs, Velocity Deep section rims, bladed spokes and a Wheelsmith certified Gold wheel build.
Mark Colliton, Bacchetta Bicycles president, has been building, riding and racing recumbents since the early 1990s. Other companies in the industry, including RANS, Angletech and Barcroft, have used his previous designs. An avid recumbent cyclist, he has been a regular
contributor to Recumbent Cyclist News, the leading recumbent bicycle publication for more than a decade.
John Schlitter, vice president, has more than 20 years experience in designing, manufacturing and riding recumbents. During his 20 years at RANS, Schlitter was instrumental in bringing to market the V–Rex, Gliss, Vivo, Tailwind and Screamer recumbents, as well as the RANS mesh–back seat. Schlitter is a lifelong cyclist who has been riding, racing
and building all kinds of bikes since the early 1970s.
Rich Pinto has a background in civil and electronic engineering and was a homebuilder and developer up until this year. Pinto has been riding "high end" uprights since 1970 and recumbents since 1989. After a few years of struggling to stay with his upright–riding buddies on his first recumbents, both LWB USS, he came upon a 1980s Scientific American article written by HPV pioneer, Chet Kyle. It discussed the
basic physics behind what made some bikes go faster than others. Using that article as a guide, he soon had a recumbent design on paper, then on the road in the form of the first aluminum Aerocycle in the spring of 1995. Requests started coming in from his riding buddies, who were now having problems keeping up with him on the recumbent! Aerocycle Inc. was formed in 1996 to fill these initial requests.
Small batches of CroMoly recumbents followed in the years to come.
There were design improvements coming in a continuous stream. They had lighter CroMoly frames, carbon seats and larger diameter aero wheels and forks that were being used on upright time trial bikes. After much research and consulting with the top prototype titanium builder in the country, the Aerocycle titanium prototype, now called the Bacchetta Aero, was produced in 2001. It has an even lighter weight at 21 pounds, a longer 47–inch wheelbase, and cleaner aerodynamics than the original
Aerocycles.
Pinto feels this is his best bike yet, and is very excited to join the team assembled at Bacchetta Bicycles to produce the titanium Aero for the 2002 season.
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