Henrius

So many two-wheeled American makers have folded! We have way less choices than we used to for two-wheeled recumbents. Plus, overseas Optima is out and Nazca is closing.

Performer in Taiwan has some interesting designs that look like copycats and the prices are reasonable. And they ship to the US! Tempted to add one to my recumbent collection. One is for sale on E-Bay, but is a high racer, which I have no interest in.

Anyone out there ever owned a Performer recumbent? What did you think of the design and build quality?

TennBent

Performers are actually good bikes. Many folks on BROL over the years, myself included, have owned one or more. I had a Performer Saki which was pretty much one of their high racers except it was a dual 26 bike with USS that I eventually converted to OSS. Performer's quality is quite good and they are solidly built. They are also very easy to deal with and purchase from. The only difficulty in that part of it would be the time difference between countries which means it can take a few days of back and forth emails to complete your transaction. They take payment with PayPal. Once the money is transferred, they ship you the bike and it arrives at your door. Easy peasy.

This may not pertain to you individually but the one caveat that I will mention is bottom bracket height. Most of their bikes have a high bottom bracket in relation to the seat, placing your feet up high. The only real exception to this would be the Goal 26/20 model. Otherwise, their other bikes run about 8" higher than your butt. That's why I eventually got rid of mine. Over time, I realized that my body just wouldn't work with my feet in that position. Otherwise, the bike was fast.

Henrius

Thanks! From experience, high bottom brackets do not bother me. I do fine on a low racer. I wonder if they will sell me bikes without components, so I can spec my own? I always use shorter crank arms, typically 160s.

Most bike frames come from Taiwan these days. I think both the Cruzbike and Schlitter Freestyle do. Might as well get recumbents right from the source. International shipping is so easy these days. Did you pay any customs when you got it?

Leisesturm

I had the option of getting Saki as a frameset but chose the complete bike as it is an excellent value if you don't need to swap too much out. All of the shipping, customs, etc. is worked into the price you pay, which as you know is quite reasonable. Part of that is because, even when you order the complete bike, about all that is installed is the brake calipers. But that doesn't sound like a problem in this case. The 2010 female winner of the RAAM (Race Across America) did the entire ride on a Performer Lowracer. That says a lot for the build quality, and the weight! I'm obviously not a weight weenie, but iffn I was ... oh man, the fun that could be had ...

Steamer

Performer makes the Freestyle and the last couple versions of Metabikes. Not sure who builds the CBs.

Henrius

Wow, just saw the Titanium version of the Metabike Mystique. Sure would like to have one of these, but production was limited. Wonder if the frame was built in the US instead of at the Performer factory in Taiwan.

Steamer

The Ti version was also made by Performer. Performer has offered Ti bikes in the past as well.

cat0020

I bought my Performer Family semi- recumbent tandem from Christine back in 2007.
It still gets used few times a year for charity events when I carry legally blind patients on bike rides.
Over the years, I’m glad to see Performer still is around, provide good customer service and improving their products.
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