Archive for July, 2007

Bacchetta visits Gold Country

Published by
ricksteele
at July 30, 2007 in Recumbent. Closed

Rick and John
Rick Steele (me) and John Schlitter

This past Saturday Bacchetta’s John Schlitter and Sara Kay Carrell dropped by on their way home from Race Across Oregon.  One of the main purposes of the visit was to show off Bacchetta’s new LWB recumbent, the “Bellandare” and to let me get a quick test ride.  Having ridden and sold Burley Koosah and Jett Creek LWB’s when they were still being produced, I must say riding this new Bacchetta reminded me very much of those bikes that I liked, as well as having had good sales with them.  Handling was very similar in that the Bellandare was extremely easy and stable from a slow start.  The “Tweener” bars work very well much like Burley’s “OC” bar.  One of the biggest differences I found was in the area of comfort.  The Bacchetta Recurve meshback seat works so well with this design and is way more comfortable than any of the Burley seats. 

The Bellandare is priced at 1300.00 and we have several on order now.  I believe this new model will become quite popular and I hope that it becomes a platform for an additional, but more spec’d up model in the future.  Alan Barnard brought his camera and took plenty of images which are featured on his blog: “The Recumbent Blog”.   He had an opportunity to ride it and gives his own impressions.

Rick

Surly LHT’s Due Late September

Published by
ricksteele
at July 20, 2007 in Road & Touring. Closed

 

These new entry level touring bicycles caught on so fast Surly underestimated the demand.  I have been checking distributor stock nearly everyday and finally wrote to Surly management.  They promise to have a good supply in all sizes by end of September or early October.   These will retail for only $930.00 well equiped.  

GS GT3 Series II Trike built & ready for Test Rides!

Published by
ricksteele
at July 12, 2007 in Recumbent. Closed

I was very anxious to get the new trike out of the carton and get it built-up for my own first impressions.  First I like the new look!  The metallic red is stunning along with the new black painted AL boom.  Tiagra cranks look just like their new 105 /Ultegra 10 spd brothers.  The zip cord for the seat back fabric is all yellow vs. the mix of yellow and blue. Small detail, but I like that as well. 

I’ve not had much time to ride it, but thus far one handed stops take no effort.  Despite the changes in steering geometry, the turning radius hasn’t been affected.  Some high speed descending is next on my testing agenda.  Come on up and give the new Greenspeed trike a spin.  We have good distributor stock in red and metallic blue.

Greenspeed GT3’s have been updated

Published by
ricksteele
at July 2, 2007 in Recumbent. Closed

GT3Just got in what we might call a 2008 GT3 folder trike. Haven’t gotten it outta the box yet, but the most significant update is the steering. Some people have complained about brake steer as a pull on just the left or right hand brake lever would pull the trike to that corresponding side. With the revised steering one can now grab left or right brake lever and the trike will continue to go straight ahead. This is really important when one wants to look back over their shoulder and still remain in control of the trike.

Along with this change comes a price increase. Was 2595.00 and has increased to 2749.00. For the added safety I believe it’s worth the added cost and consider we hadn’t had a price increase since the GT3 was introduced.

Rick