tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313390692009-05-16T21:25:47.817+08:00Cruzbike Product BlogJohn Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-350314095131549372007-12-28T12:30:00.000+09:002007-12-28T12:34:25.566+09:00

{This was a post I made on the Cruzbike yahoogroup and some suggested I move a copy to this blog for general reference. -Jim}I will leave the technical/gearing aspects of hill-climbing to Doug and others who know a lot more about that than me. Here is my take on the Cruzbike rider and hill-climbing: The first point I'd like to make is that everyone in this yahoogroup is on the cutting edge of

JIM PARKER, MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10278036763560099523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-84251453504678567352007-10-04T08:01:00.001+08:002007-10-22T09:45:38.126+08:00

I'm happy the first lot of Silvios are now in customers hands and on the road. We promised to track frame numbers, so for the record, here they are: 001 JP (display bike)002 MP (demonstration bike)003 HC004 DI005 JL006 RL007 KL008 MH009 DS010 DC011 JR012 LGWe were going to put actual individual numbers on each frame, but in the end settled for a Certificate of Authenticy:which reads: Manufactured

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-15413163772009240002007-09-15T09:29:00.000+08:002007-09-15T09:38:28.117+08:00

People are asking about a rear rack for the Silvio. I included an M5 hole near the rear axle (left and right), and on the seat stay near the rear brake (left and right). I will design a special rack but until then it might be possible to find a rack that can be adapted. The other question people raise is for a tail box. This is a little tricky, there are some interesting design concepts I am

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-34531291666260786442007-09-14T12:50:00.000+08:002007-09-14T13:54:16.331+08:00

This week Silvio began shipping. Silvio is a significant step in the evolution of the bicycle. For the first time, a moving bottom bracket bicycle with full body ergonomics has been designed from scratch for commercial production, encompassing all the learning and experience of building hundreds of mtb derivative cruzbikes. The mtb derivative bikes perform exceptionally well, no question, and

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-1966265231446003812007-08-21T07:29:00.000+08:002007-08-21T07:31:38.615+08:00

Hereis a link to the fenders/mudguards I have sometimes used on the Silvio. They work well and are nice and narrow.

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-53908467790047057692007-07-08T15:59:00.000+08:002007-07-08T16:11:57.344+08:00

The blood sugar level plunged after 70 kms, but apart from that a fantastic ride, completing 100 km in under 4 hours. Its a mild winter's day in Perth with showers passing over. The chosen bike path runs 45 km south of Perth beside the Kwinana Freeway. The last 30 kms out and first 30 kms back are without any traffic hazards at all so must rate as one of the best bike paths for this kind of

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-74880524174591799222007-07-07T13:49:00.000+08:002007-07-07T13:51:25.681+08:00

All road bikes have components that follow a very strict formula. There is very little variance between components in terms of their form and function.The Silvio strategy is to keep ALL the standard road bike components/wheels and merely mount them on a different frame that solves the ergonomic issues. We take this purist approach because we can. No other form of recumbent can achieve this in

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-70535150123378073682007-07-06T15:03:00.000+08:002007-07-06T15:09:40.214+08:00

The Silvio is in the jig being welded up, all the other parts are ready including the fork, the pictures tell the story.

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-2730783026604233872007-06-20T23:10:00.000+08:002007-06-20T23:15:50.955+08:00

The Robesonian Online published this article when our business plan [or should that be my business plan ;-)] took the top prize during the inaugural Business Plan Competition of the School of Business at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-21803944532307744672007-06-20T23:06:00.000+08:002007-06-20T23:09:46.365+08:00

A recent article in the Fayetteville Observer can be read here.Jim Parker emailed me about the line that says: “A 13-year-old won’t want anything to do with it. It’s not cool." He said: "I just spent 2.5 days at a Boy Scout camp packed with 13 year old boys and there were too many to count "way coool bike!" exclamations as I rode by. There were many "I want one of those" "How much does that

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-33746781007192186252007-06-20T16:05:00.000+08:002007-06-20T16:23:18.114+08:00

I know there are a bunch of people out there anxiously waiting delivery of their Silvio. The anticipation, the excitement, choosing components, tires, I'm sure some of you are even selecting the handlebar tape in readiness.As mentioned, the main production challenge in this bike is the unique front fork. The first production run of forks is not yet completed (sigh) but we are promised it will be

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-90565370854428554872007-05-28T12:39:00.002+08:002009-05-14T19:39:20.577+08:00

We noted yesterday that we have risen up to 4th spot on Google for the search term: recumbent bike. These rankings change according to the location google things you are.While we're on the subject, we have been number one over at Yahoo for the term: front wheel drive bike, for some time. We are 21 for this term at Google.

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-61489574191706456752007-04-06T11:34:00.000+08:002007-04-06T11:52:42.531+08:00

I'd like to annouce that the prototyping phrase is complete and we are commencing production. Looks like final weight is under 10.5kg / 23lbsI'd like to do a straw poll if I may request you assistance. Attached is one picture of Silvio with a fairing and one without. If you bought a Silvio, would you fit a fairing, or not?I'm tossing up whether to include mounting plates that would make the

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-24642617501653315592007-03-08T21:35:00.000+09:002007-03-08T21:46:30.918+09:00

This past four months have been a journey of design and discovery. We embarked on a redesign of the front triangle, which might not sound like much but involved a number of design challenges. The principle of the design is that the pivoting front elements actually pivot around the BB shell and the front axle, rather than on seperate pivots. And that the chainstay is carbon fibre, designed to

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-66242547816539766282007-02-17T08:58:00.000+09:002007-02-17T17:10:51.931+09:00

Here is a corrected transcript of the article published on page 40 of The West Australian on Saturday February 17 2007.Reclined for comfortTony StephensIf you have seen someone pedalling along a road or path on something that looks a bit like a mobile rowing machine, they were almost certainly riding a recumbent bicycle.There are several types of recumbent bikes and these tend to be classified

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-1167809669601146642007-01-03T15:28:00.000+09:002007-01-08T11:30:23.290+09:00

Its traditional at New Year to make a resolution, or at least to reflect. To help that process, its become traditional for my wife to give me a book or two at Christmas! :) I've just finished reading Heat by George Monbiot, a book about Global Warming and how we are able to respond to the challenge of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Or at least, how the UK could respond to the challenge there.

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-1162645408990658312006-11-04T20:29:00.000+08:002006-11-06T11:26:44.670+08:00

After some toing and froing with interested customers, we have decided to open an order book for Silvio. The target price for this high end fully ergonomic racing bike frame is around USD2,400, but for the first 8 customers who pay a 50% deposit, there will be a reasonable discount on that figure. So, the specifications are as follows.Silvio is sold as a frame set, including front triangle, main

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-1162550802652438292006-11-03T18:27:00.000+08:002006-11-06T11:51:12.530+08:00

Many recumbent enthusiasts bemoan the fiat that disqualified recumbent bicycles from competition in the 1930s, but considering the context of the times may bring a new appreciation of what that decision was about.At that time, automobiles were rapidly altering community structure and bicycles as a means of transport were already on the way to becoming marginalised. The only realm where bicycles

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-1162025117343742872006-10-28T16:12:00.000+08:002007-01-03T17:47:54.116+09:00

This interesting question on the Silvio came in via the yahoo group "I was wondering if you could save even more weight by putting a 451 wheel back there. Lots of fast recumbents push a small wheel out front, and I think pulling a small wheel behind you is fundamentally more stable than pushing one in front."Thanks Mark for that question and for the general appreciation of what's been achieved

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-1160999114220168132006-10-16T15:49:00.000+08:002006-10-16T19:47:49.016+08:00

Bryan Ball from Bentrideronline came by our stand at Interbike and mentioned us here: article at bentrideronline.com (Thanks Bryan)Like many, Bryan liked the Silvio particularly and put some pictures of it up there.The goal for the weight of Silvio is to be under 10 kg (22 lbs) At the moment, it weighs 11.5 kg, give or take a little. I can see a little more weight to come out of the front

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-1160568523822351032006-10-11T20:00:00.000+08:002006-10-11T20:08:43.846+08:00

Wow, there were so many people buzzing around the stand during Interbike! It was a good vibe to be part of. Out of the hundreds of people that came past, two in particular have stuck in my mind.One was a bike retailer that during the demo day, rode the cruzbike uphill at speed past our stand calling out 'buy a cruzbike'. He was quite a sight for his first ride. He came part the stand later durig

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-1153362418198116992006-07-20T10:23:00.000+08:002006-07-20T19:10:30.780+08:00

I just updated the medical references on the cruzbike health page. If you needed a few more reasons to climb off your saddle and get on a comfortable Cruzbike seat, check this page out. Just think of the money you'll save from never having to buy Viagra.

JIM PARKER, MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10278036763560099523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-1153287141504033512006-07-19T13:24:00.000+08:002006-11-28T19:20:08.216+08:00

We are particularly excited about the all new front wheel drive fork. This is a headshock fork with 40mm travel. I replaced the steel telescopic forks and FWD brackets off my cruzbike (goodbye 6.2lbs) and fitted the new fork (hello 3.1lbs). It looks very smooth and slender and more bike-like. It also makes it feel more bike-like in the way it handles. It handles more quickly, with less effort and

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31339069.post-1153285568025637102006-07-19T12:59:00.000+08:002006-07-19T18:29:53.223+08:00

With more and more enquiries on the cruzbike, its time to use a blog.Its a very exciting time here at Cruzbike Inc as we put together our first full production bike. I'll make postings about specific new parts of the bike and how they are turning out and that way it will be possible for everybody to keep track of what they want to know about the new bikes - and the new kits too.

John Tolhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05902369635518932308noreply@blogger.com0