Bike-E Tandem
 

Hello you crazy bent riders you,

I have been looking for a recumbent tandem for a while now(and as a native to Oregon), have long been a fan of the long discontinued Bike-E recumbent. So to that end, I am looking at a used Bike-E E2; and more specifically to you, bent riders, to find out what is known about this bike, and what are the issues that should be reviewed prior to a used purchase?

Thank you for your time and advice!

The Captain

P.S. this is cross-posted in the tandem section where I spend most of my time.

I saw one being ridden at Killingsworth & 72nd a couple days ago. Maybe that was the one?

Here's what I can remember about the BikeE E2 tandem:

BikeE seats were known to break
Rear air shocks were prone to leak
Lots of weight on that 16" front wheel
1 1/4" threaded headset is pretty rare
Drivetrain parts are a bit weird, but not too hard to replace. A friend has a set or two of unused BikeE tandem cranks.

Another friend brokers used recumbents for people. He's also in NE Portland- I can put you in touch with him if you want an evaluation from a "recumbent" perspective.

I question if that 16" front wheel is up to tandem duty. I sold one to a customer who wasn't happy when his front tire blew out. He researched the BikE tandem and found blown front tires to be a trend. I contacted BikE and they sent me a replacement tire that had a lower pressure sticker over the molded pressure rating on the sidewall.

I went to CABDA with a friend the year the E2 was introduced, and I got to test ride one. Handling was, let's say, unique. With the vertical head tube and negative fork rake, it did not behave like a normal bike, or even a normal 'bent. I could barely ride it, but it took all my concentration. I suspect if I'd had to make any avoidance maneuvers I'd have gone down. My friend could barely ride it solo, but had no chance with me on the back. At the time, I made the observation that lawsuits over the bike would break the company. 'Luckily' they went out of business before that happened.

My recommendation is to stay far away from the E2. The BikeE handles very well, but its big brother E2 does not.

http://www.rans.com/bicycles/screamer.html

Or This one:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=322246

A couple was racing one at the HPRA event at Waterford MI. The were having a good time but man, those things are Really Slow. Unless you're looking for a novelty, or really don't care about making time, I'd suggest a Rans or a Longbikes Gulfstream.

I love my BikeE tandem!
 

I've had one for many years, and overall, have been very happy with it. It's big and heavy, but fun and easy to ride. There is a slight learning curve in learning to steer the reversed front fork, but I figured it out in maybe 30 minutes of riding. (Solo at first, then with a stoker.) It's a good bicycle theft deterrent since anyone who jumped on the bike without a little bit of practice would probably crash in about 10 feet.:)

I haven't had any problems with front tires blowing, I have 100 psi Hookworms on both front and back. The shock is still going strong after almost 10 years and really the bike has been fairly maintenance-free. My partner and I don't ride long distances, we usually go out for about a 10 to 15 mile ride. I have to disagree with blazing pedals, as I've done plenty of avoidance maneuvers and can even do fairly tight U-turns on it.


There are couple of caveats though. It is definitely a relatively slow bike, although this might be because of the fairly heavy hookworms on it. It is extremely comfortable, and has a very good upright position that makes it very easy to be seen and to see other cars. It gets tremendous amount of attention wherever we go. I haven't had any problems with the seat supports breaking, although on my other BikeE RX, one of the aluminum seat supports will need to be re-welded before long. I am a 200 pound 5'8" guy, I have typically ridden the bike with women in the back who weigh less than 130 pounds. There is a limit of how tall the back rider can be, it works fine with my brother about the same size as I, but does not work with a friend who is 6' 1".


I have no other tandem recumbent to compare it to, but have been quite happy with it. I bought it around the time when BikeE was going out of business, from one of the owners of the company. It has dual disk brakes, and a front kickstand. I paid about $1400 for it at the time, which seemed like a great deal back then. It is also very helpful to have the shock, as otherwise the person in the back really suffers when you hit a bump.


If you have any questions feel free to ask me.

A little late to the thread but my wife and I also have the Bike E E2. The wife and I have not had any issues the the bike. Slow but comfortable.

My E2 is very comfortable. Love riding on weekends with wife.http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=337270

To my absolute untrained eye I see ALOT of force on that front fork and tire if sudden strong braking was needed
and a bump was encountered.

one loose spoke,,,,,, Just one..

I so wanted to ride this one last week. I stopped at a bike shop and this was a customers in for repairs.

First ride we did a spoke broke on front wheel. I had a new wheel built Sun Ryno rim higher spoke count. Problem solved. We have not had any problem with brakes not stopping the bike but we don't ride that fast.

An even better (imho) option than the Screamer is the Seavo. Mine's being built now.

No issues EVER Bike E E2 tandem
 

My wife and I have ridden in many bike club tours. Never had a issue with the BikeE E2 . The bike definitely is not a speed demon. However when touring around in the Hampton's on Long Island I did find a issue with motorists gawking at us an not focusing on their driving . We both have back issues. We have had standard tandems and they were never as easy on the body as this bike. I imagine if one keeps up with normal maintenance and treats the bike correctly, not like some short exhibition bike doing drops off curbs etc, then the bike lasts accordingly . But then again you can abuse anything to the point of failure.. not sure why this is the manufacturers fault. With a decent bike pack, we have had some pleasant trips. Looking forward to the spring to ride once again.

Welcome to Bike Forums and the Recumbent section. Just a note to someone new to the site. It is OK to start a new thread rather than bring up one that is five and a half years old. The thread starter for this thread hasn't posted on Bike Forums since 2014 and didn't list an E2 among his bikes when he stopped posting. I would guess he never bought one

It is not quite true that there were never any issues with the BikeE E2. If you go to the Bicycleman website (major recumbent dealer in Alfred, NY) you can read about the CPSC recall on 700 of the E2 bikes made between March 2000 and the close of the company in 2002. In addition you should take great care with the 3 speed hub on your BikeE. I bought a BikeE AT in 2000. It was never abused but the SACHS 7 hub failed a couple of years later when it was only being used as a loaner and with not many total miles on it. Even back then parts were not available so the bike sat for years until I found a spare hub cheaply. I threw the repaired bike away after a year or two a it never really met my needs. I later learned that it was a part of a bad batch of hubs purchased by BikeE and of course when they began to fail, the company was gone.E2 tandem recall:

BikeE Corp. voluntarily recalled 700 recumbent tandem bicycles. The steerer tube on the front forks can separate, causing the rider to lose control of the bicycle, fall, and possibly suffer serious injuries. BikeE dealers sold these bicycles beginning March 2000.The CPSC says:

“Consumers should stop using these bicycles immediately. The firm, BikeE, is out of business and cannot be contacted. As the firm is no longer involved with this recall, consumers can take a recalled bicycle to the dealer from which purchased, but it is up to the dealer as to whether the repair can be performed, and whether there is a charge.”

Thanks for the Public Service Announcement. :thumb:

Regarding the rear hub, I believe Shimano and Sturmey-Archer both make internally-geared hubs that take cassettes. The Sturmey-Archer offering takes 8 and 9 speed cassettes. I don't know what the durability is on either offering; but at least if an old hub breaks, there is a replacement path.

I wonder if the E2 handles any better with the fork turned around, or by replacing the recall fork with ANYTHING else? Probably not, considering that 90 degree steerer tube.

Yes; the question would be, does it make the handling any worse than it already is?

There are several SUN EZ Tandems out there on Craigslist. We really like ours wich we've had about three years with no problems. At one time we rode a Ryan Duplex (now Longbikes makes the same tandem = Gulfstream) with the under seat steering. As the Capt. I like the EZ way better. Seats are way more comfortable as well. EZ's go for around a thousand bucks now days as well.
I haven't see a Bike E tandem in ages.

Well, there are two E2 tandems for sale on eBay right now. One for $500 in Katy TX and the other in San Francisco $800 equipped with a Nuvinci 360 hub (maybe the SACHS 7 broke?) Neither one says anything about a recall and the repairs necessary to make the bike safe.

I was able to ride an BikeE2 solo perfectly as soon as I started pedaling. That was on a sidewalk around the Oregon State campus. The slow speed handling was incredible. (It might have helped that I was already an experienced recumbent rider.) I saw several on that year's Bridge Pedal, ridden by company employees and family. One team appeared to be a couple kids, maybe 10 and 6 years old. They looked like they were having a ton of fun.

There's one for sale here right now.

https://images.craigslist.org/00X0X_...ad_600x450.jpg
https://sacramento.craigslist.org/bi...809909739.html

The headset does have an angle. I bet it wouldn't mind too much if you could jam a bigger fork into it and run it with a 20in tire.
https://images.craigslist.org/00C0C_...vE_600x450.jpg

This bike is so clever it's really appealing, whether or not it's good.

From the pic, I bet if you put a normal 20" fork and wheel on it, it would change the steerer angle enough to significantly improve the ride.

The reverse-rake fork setup might technically result in the correct trail; but it messes up other parameters like headtube lift and fork flop. It's almost like nobody test-rode the design before putting it into production.

Hmmm... the other bike I rode with a "reverse" fork didn't have any bad handling characteristics either. The Cal Poly "Velox Solium" streamliner had a similar "reversed" fork and I was ride it at low speed with no problems. The team then put the rest of the body on and it went 60 mph at Battle Mountain.