Valoria II: Seats and fitting
I ride my recumbent a lot, and I ride it wrong.
When I’m not doing tight maneuvers, I rest my arms way up on the handlebars. That means I position the handlebars way closer than normal.
To get the same setup on my new bike, I had to get a longer steering riser tube. After much discussion with Zach, we concluded that the easiest thing to do was ask Bacchetta to send us a riser tube meant for their Bella long-wheelbase bike. That worked beautifully except it was too long. So, it was time for another crude do-it-yourself adventure:
Marking how much I need to saw off.
This is a pipe cutting tool. You stick it on a pipe and spin it around. Pretty smart design!
Bacchetta’s handlebars are now really wide, like most other recumbent designs. It’s like steering a plow. Does this mean I have to get used to them?
Nah. I can just swap handlebars.
New bike in front, old bike in back. The alignment is almost the same. Now to swap the handlebars...
New bike, old handlebars. To keep the new shifters and brakes I had to swap them between bars, which meant removing the bar grips. They are very sticky. I'm still struggling with the one on the right!
Bacchetta’s seats no longer include the eyelets for directly attaching an under-seat rack. Does this mean I have to give mine up?
Nah. I can just swap seats and keep using my old one.
New version of recurve seat on the left, old seat on the right. Note the attachment point on the old seat for an under-seat rack.
Look at that crusty old thing! But it’s so comfortable…
The bolts connecting the support struts to the seat of a Bacchetta recumbent, after 20 years of use.
Top set: 20 years old. Bottom set: brand-new.
While I’m moving parts around, I might as well replace that worn out seat clamp on the old bike with a nice new one…
20-year-old seat clamp on the left, brand new seat clamp on the right. The design has evolved!
I can’t transfer the stickers from my old frame, but I can put equivalents on the new one:
Chococat in the lead!
Doin’ a lot of work on this bike… Things are starting to get messy!
You know what? I’m putting my arms on the same bars, and putting my butt on the same seat, so I’m basically riding the same bike. This bike isn’t “Valoria II”, it’s still just “Valoria”, but fancier.
That’s cool.