Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Recumbent
Reload this Page >

Cruzbike

Notices
Recumbent What IS that thing?! Recumbents may be odd looking, but they have many advantages over a "wedgie" bicycle. Discuss the in's and out's recumbent lifestyle in the recumbent forum.

Cruzbike

Old 08-15-21, 12:10 PM
  #1  
ezdoesit
Full Member
Thread Starter
 
ezdoesit's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 313

Bikes: Fuji Touring 2008

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 9 Post(s)
Liked 8 Times in 6 Posts
Cruzbike

Cruzbike bike does anyone know anything about this bike?
I have been looking at it and it seems pretty interesting.
https://cruzbike.com/
anything you can tell me would help about maybe going over to a recumbent.
Thank you for your time.
EZDOESIT
ezdoesit is offline  
Likes For ezdoesit:
Old 08-15-21, 02:20 PM
  #2  
cat0020
Ride more, eat less
 
cat0020's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Philla PA, Hoboken NJ, Brooklyn NY
Posts: 2,069

Bikes: Too many but never enough.

Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 713 Post(s)
Liked 729 Times in 448 Posts
Steering tied to pedal motion is not for every rider.
I prefer my steering separated from pedal action.
If you can get used to that, they are very capable recumbent bikes.
cat0020 is online now  
Likes For cat0020:
Old 08-16-21, 09:03 AM
  #3  
BlazingPedals
Senior Member
 
BlazingPedals's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Middle of da Mitten
Posts: 12,474

Bikes: Trek 7500, RANS V-Rex, Optima Baron, Velokraft NoCom, M-5 Carbon Highracer, Catrike Speed

Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1511 Post(s)
Liked 733 Times in 454 Posts
Cruzbikes seem to be hate-it or love-it, with very little in-between. I borrowed a Stelvio for a few months with the intent of riding it until I got comfortable. Never got used to the pedal steer and eventually found that I was avoiding riding because I hated it so much. I found it to be fairly slow, and exhausting to ride, even after attaining some reasonable degree of stability. Some people take right to them, but I'm not one of them. If you're buying new, they have that guarantee. I suspect a lot of people, upon deciding they don't like it, will either hang it in the garage forever or try to resell it, though.

BTW, I've ridden with a few and was not overly-impressed with their supposed hill-climbing ability. Not that they're bad, they're just over-hyped and the rationalization of why they're so great makes no sense to me.
BlazingPedals is offline  
Likes For BlazingPedals:
Old 08-21-21, 12:07 PM
  #4  
rlordjr
Newbie
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 2
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
ezdoesit I've got a Cruzbike Vendetta I'm going to sell. It is very lightly used as I fall into the "not for me" category. Got it because of lumbar issues and it's great for that, just not really enjoying it. PM me if you're interested. I'm in Atlanta.
rlordjr is offline  
Old 08-21-21, 12:59 PM
  #5  
ezdoesit
Full Member
Thread Starter
 
ezdoesit's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 313

Bikes: Fuji Touring 2008

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 9 Post(s)
Liked 8 Times in 6 Posts
Originally Posted by rlordjr
ezdoesit I've got a Cruzbike Vendetta I'm going to sell. It is very lightly used as I fall into the "not for me" category. Got it because of lumbar issues and it's great for that, just not really enjoying it. PM me if you're interested. I'm in Atlanta.
Thanks I'll keep that in mind
ezdoesit is offline  
Old 08-21-21, 01:13 PM
  #6  
GhostRider62
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2021
Posts: 4,083
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2332 Post(s)
Liked 2,094 Times in 1,311 Posts
Any reclined performance oriented recumbent will take some time and effort to learn how to ride it.

The challenge for the newbie bent rider is the inability to test ride many bents. First, it isn't easy to find one to test ride and a new rider probably can't ride them.

When I test rode my M5 carbon high racer in the Netherlands, I fell many times. The shop owner (Bram) said, you sure you want to do this. I am glad I did but don't expect to just jump onto a Cruz, M5, CA3, Schlitter, etc. and be off into the sunset. It will be like learning to ride all over again.

Tons of riders love the V20 Cruz and it is clearly a fast bike. There is a Cruz dealer in NJ, give them a call.
GhostRider62 is offline  
Likes For GhostRider62:
Old 08-21-21, 05:03 PM
  #7  
ezdoesit
Full Member
Thread Starter
 
ezdoesit's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 313

Bikes: Fuji Touring 2008

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 9 Post(s)
Liked 8 Times in 6 Posts
Originally Posted by GhostRider62
Any reclined performance oriented recumbent will take some time and effort to learn how to ride it.

The challenge for the newbie bent rider is the inability to test ride many bents. First, it isn't easy to find one to test ride and a new rider probably can't ride them.

When I test rode my M5 carbon high racer in the Netherlands, I fell many times. The shop owner (Bram) said, you sure you want to do this. I am glad I did but don't expect to just jump onto a Cruz, M5, CA3, Schlitter, etc. and be off into the sunset. It will be like learning to ride all over again.

Tons of riders love the V20 Cruz and it is clearly a fast bike. There is a Cruz dealer in NJ, give them a call.
Thanks
ezdoesit is offline  
Likes For ezdoesit:
Old 08-22-21, 12:47 PM
  #8  
polyrhythmia
Newbie
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Lee County, IA
Posts: 61

Bikes: Trek 5600 Carbon road bike, Giant Anyroad Comax gravel bike, Cruzbike QX100

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 19 Times in 13 Posts
Until Cruzbike came along, I had given up on recumbent bikes. I have a T50 with pedal assist. I think if you can pedal smoothly, it should be fairly easy to learn. Taking off is the hardest part. With the throttle, taking off is much easier. A more vertical seat angle is easier to learn on.
polyrhythmia is offline  
Likes For polyrhythmia:
Old 09-06-21, 08:10 AM
  #9  
ezdoesit
Full Member
Thread Starter
 
ezdoesit's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 313

Bikes: Fuji Touring 2008

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 9 Post(s)
Liked 8 Times in 6 Posts
Originally Posted by ezdoesit
Thanks
Thanks again and found the dealer in N.J. I will call them to make an appointment as that is what they take.
ezdoesit is offline  
Old 09-12-21, 06:54 AM
  #10  
defjack
Junior Member
 
defjack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Santa Monica,San Diego
Posts: 80

Bikes: Cruzbike Silvio 2.1 T50

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
I just got a T50 e and its one of the best bikes I have had.
defjack is offline  
Likes For defjack:
Old 09-17-21, 03:43 AM
  #11  
pm124
Car free since 1995
 
pm124's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: NYC
Posts: 1,050

Bikes: M5 Carbon High Racer, Trek Emonda SL6

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 14 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 10 Times in 6 Posts
Originally Posted by ezdoesit
Cruzbike bike does anyone know anything about this bike?
I have been looking at it and it seems pretty interesting.
https://cruzbike.com/
anything you can tell me would help about maybe going over to a recumbent.
Thank you for your time.
EZDOESIT
The fastest recumbents are much faster than a TT bike, but very difficult to learn to ride. The Cruzbike V20 and M5 Carbon High Racer are in this category. At 220W I am riding 27MPH. But there is a learning curve. A much easier option is a high racer. It is going to be a little slower because it is less aero, but also lighter. Dana at BentUp (or used bike forums) can set you up.

The bike is faster all around because the CdA is tiny.
pm124 is offline  
Likes For pm124:
Old 10-26-21, 06:38 AM
  #12  
marquisdesod
Newbie
 
Join Date: Feb 2021
Posts: 1
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
I tried an old Cruzbike back in July while looking for a road bike replacement and wondered how anyone could ever ride one. I kept looking and the design intrigued me so I found a nice used Silvio 2.0 a month later with the idea to learn to ride it over a year and if I didn't like it, sell it. I followed the learn to ride videos and threads on the Cruzbike website and within 8 days was tentatively trying it on the roads.. Within 100 miles of riding I was feeling comfortable on a group ride and was falling in love with the speed and increasing comfort . I say increasing because the death grip I had at the beginning lead to sore hands and shoulders. Those have gone away with practice. I have @ 400 miles on the bike and am very comfortable though not as smooth with my pedal stroke as more experienced riders . I got the chance to ride a V20 last week for a 30 miler and , though I was worried the more reclined position would be squirrelly to ride, it was like butter, and FAST. Remember that it IS like learning to ride a bike all over again, and you will be retraining your brain, but , at 65, I thought that was a good exercise and I'm so glad I took the leap.
marquisdesod is offline  
Likes For marquisdesod:
Old 12-10-21, 10:03 PM
  #13  
larryforgy
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 13
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 4 Times in 4 Posts
I have been riding a Cruzbike for about 1.5 years, and really like it. I can feel the increased stiffness in the drive train and the decreased flex in the frame compared to other recumbents I have owned. I am not sure it actually climbs better than other recumbents, but it feels pretty fast to me.

It is true that a lot of people have a hard time getting used to the interaction of the legs and the steering. It came pretty quickly for me. I think you just have to be more conscious of more complex leg movements: the circular motion of pedaling, and the sideways sweeping of the legs when steering. Guys who get really good at it can actually ride the bike with not hands, steering with just the feet.
larryforgy is offline  
Likes For larryforgy:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.