Comparison of crank forward bikes
I had a chance today to take test rides on three crank forward bikes, and a recumbent. Here's my thoughts on them - with the emphasis on the crank forwards
The bikes: Trek Sole 200, Trek Pure, Raleigh Gruv 1, Sun EZ-1
First up the 2006 Trek Sole 200 3-speed: This bike was reasonably comfortable. The seat was a fairly traditional bike seat with a back rest. The back rest makes it difficult to get on the men's bike as you can't swing your leg over it. The back rest comes into play as you pedal for you can push off from it. The Nexus 3-speed shifter worked flawlessly. Handling was okay, good enough for a cruiser but it needed a lot of room to make a turn, but it did feel a little heavy, sluggish. The ride was smooth, with a front suspension fork and big 2.125" tires. The riding position wasn't quite as nice as many other crank forwards, the reach to the handlebars felt like it was about a half-inch too far.
2007 Trek Pure Deluxe, 3-spd. Trek made some changes to the Sole and renamed it to the Pure. The seat was much improved, going to design more like the Rans crank forward seats, wide with a "cupping" center and raised rear lip. The back support was gone. I found it far more comfortable and never missed the back support. The geometry of the bike was altered, again to the better as far as I was concerned. When sitting at the most comfortable position, the handlebars were right where I wanted them. The bike felt more responsive than the Sole. But then there is the braking system. Trek has brought back the coaster brake on this model, marrying it to a 3-spd gear box and supplementing it with a front hand brake. The combination of having both a coaster and a hand brake played tricks with my mind as I rode it. The bike was a joy to ride. Highly recommended if you can deal with the braking system. Price is $459, which is $70 higher than last year's Sole. It comes in both men's and women's frames.
Trek offers a 7-speed Pure, without front suspension and without the coaster brake for $369.
2006 Raleigh Gruv 1, 7-speed with rear derailleur. This is a lower end bike, list is $305, without a lot of frills. It uses a single front crank with a lower-end Shimano 7-speed derailleur, standard hand brakes, and rigid fork. The seat is pretty good, kindof like a smaller version of the Trek Pure. Better than the Sole, not quite as nice as the Pure. This bike rode very nice, maybe not quite as nice as the Pure but close. It shifted nicely, not as smoothly as the Nexus 3-spd, but it was fine. There was an incline behind the store that was a couple of hundred yards long, powering up in 3rd gear was quite easy. Handling was good, the bike felt on the light side of a hybrid. It was a very fun ride.
Unfortately Raleigh has discontinued the Gruv 1 and Gruv 2 (21-spd) in their 2007 lineup.
Sun EZ-1. There are a lot of reviews of this bent around, I only rode it to see how it compared to the crank forwards. I rode it between rides on the Gruv. The Gruv (and Pure) captured more of the bent ride experience than I expected it too. Most notably you did push forward while riding very upright. Obviously the EZ-1 has a much lower riding position, with the cranks much further forward, and has a very comfortable seat.
I found both the Pure and the Gruv to be a lot of fun to ride. Very comfortable, easy to pedal, and with a great riding position to view your surroundings. A really nice and easy to adapt to mixture of a standard diamond frame bike and a recumbent. I'd like to see this format catch on, which I think it would if more recreational riders would give these bikes a test ride.