# My Very Last Bent Bike Optima Highbaron



## neil earley (14 Aug 2014)

Just purchased frameset High baron off David at Laid Back Bikes, Its a Green metallic colour. Need some advice on a few bits,bobs
1. Where can I buy chain tubing from. [PVC}
2. Don't like the seat cover and foam { like Nazca much better} where can I buy ventist replacement pad and can they come in different thickness for my problematic back! [ HAD FUSION TOP & BOTTOM OF SPINE] mm do miss my trike sometimes but no room to keep one anymore.
3. What would you fit with 9-10 speed with double prob shimano ultegra groupset. what type of twisters { model no if possible and why}
Appreciate all you help and comments from the Darkside community on this forum, which has helped me.


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## classic33 (14 Aug 2014)

Black PVC tubing, agricultural water pipe. Grey, can be bought at nearly every DIY outlet.


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## neil earley (15 Aug 2014)

Thanks classic off to my DIY tomorrow


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## Scoosh (20 Aug 2014)

Twistgrip shifters seen to be less popular now than they were - as clicky things have become more efficient/effective or whatever has been done to improve their popularity.


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## neil earley (20 Aug 2014)

Yep thumbies are all the rage lol , do like them as when I used to ride a mountain bike they were good clean shifts.


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## fixedfixer (8 Sep 2014)

"My very last bike...." How many times have I said that.


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## neil earley (8 Sep 2014)

Yep I have a confession to make sold the HB and bought a Toxy


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## hurri (8 Sep 2014)

neil earley said:


> Yep I have a confession to make sold the HB and bought a Toxy


 So... why the Toxy, what was wrong with the HB? Just curious as that seems a pretty quick change


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## fixedfixer (9 Sep 2014)

neil earley said:


> Yep I have a confession to make sold the HB and bought a Toxy



Ha ha. Thought that might be the case but not so soon.


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## neil earley (9 Sep 2014)

Ok will come clean, sold my vendetta and had Performer Highracer in part ex. So had to try it out went for a ride down hill just topping 35MPH and just as I was approaching bottom and a right hand bend , heard a loud bang and the next thing was me sliding across the road. Suffered severe bruising to my left hip cuts along my arm and twisted my ankle which had swollen up like balloon in a matter of minutes. On inspection to the Performer a shard of metal had pierced the sidewall of front tyre causing me to lose control. Off to A&E and nothing broken apart from the bruising thank goodness. I have lost total confidence in riding Highracers and was lucky not to damage my spine anymore{ fusion top and bottom 7 implants later!!] So sold the Highbaron quickly and a Toxy ZR came up for sale quick google and put a winning bid on it. Its as low as you can go easier to get on and off or should I say fall off lol, will do a review at a later date, pic of Toxy ZR


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## Scoosh (9 Sep 2014)

I'd 'Like' your post - if it weren't for the very painful experience you recount  - and it must have been pretty frightening, as I am no doubt you are all too aware of your back issues. 

I haven't heard of Toxy before - but rather like the look of that. 

Happy riding and many _safe_ miles together !


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## hurri (9 Sep 2014)

Have always liked the elegance of the Toxy design, no large chain run. Will be interesting to see how you get on with the bike - looking forward to the review 

To me, high racers are somewhat of a curiousity,, why go high when you can go low, and take advantage of the lower wind speed near the ground.. so I think you made a wise choice


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## BlackPanther (20 Sep 2014)

hurri said:


> why go high when you can go low, and take advantage of the lower wind speed near the ground.. so I think you made a wise choice



In my experience high racers are far easier to balance, especially whilst setting off, filtering, and going uphill. As for Aerodynamics, the difference is negligible, the
bike beneath you is only tyre/cassette wide. I've owned a high, low and midracer and if I ever felt the need for an addition to the trike, it'd be another high racer. That said, when I'm recumbing, it's solely for commuting, so maybe a low racer makes more sense for rides where filtering etc isn't so important.

My high racer Bacchetta Strada was far faster than the low racer Optima Baron, which may have been partly due to the weight, but I believe it was mainly down to the ease of riding/accelerating. I miss my Strada. Will but another when funds permit.


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## PloddinPedro (21 Sep 2014)

BlackPanther said:


> In my experience high racers are far easier to balance, especially whilst setting off, filtering, and going uphill. ................


That's interesting, as I thought I'd read elsewhere (but can't remember where!) that it's the other way around ............

Would anyone else with experience of both high and low racers care to share their observations on this subject?


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## neil earley (21 Sep 2014)

Look at David Mc CRAW,S BLOG { CANT FIND LINK} he has rode numerous high and low racers and very informative, my observation is its the engine which makes it go fast or in my case SLOOOWWW ! as for comfort it depends on seat, tiller , healstrike etc . One good thing about the Toxy is you can put your hand down at rest, which aids starting off and FWD very short chain length as opposed to RWD. will sort out short revue this week with some pics.


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## StuAff (21 Sep 2014)

http://mccraw.co.uk


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## Scoosh (21 Sep 2014)

Dave McCraw's blog should be here:
http://mccraw.co.uk/laid-back/
(sorry no direct link - on a mobile thingy ...)

He has some good and interesting reviews.


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## PloddinPedro (22 Sep 2014)

Ah yes, you've reminded me - it was indeed Dave McCraw's blog where I had read: “As with all high recumbents, you’ll face a greater learning curve than a low bike if you’re a novice, and that’s definitely something to be aware of .."
Hence my curiosity when BlackP opined above that his experience appears to be the other around. Nothing wrong with that, we're all individuals, but I'm curious as to which way other people with experience of both types find it.


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## BlackPanther (25 Sep 2014)

PloddinPedro said:


> Ah yes, you've reminded me - it was indeed Dave McCraw's blog where I had read: “As with all high recumbents, you’ll face a greater learning curve than a low bike if you’re a novice, and that’s definitely something to be aware of .."
> Hence my curiosity when BlackP opined above that his experience appears to be the other around. Nothing wrong with that, we're all individuals, but I'm curious as to which way other people with experience of both types find it.




Not just me. My mate and my Brother couldn't ride the Baron at all, but they lost the wobble on the Strada within a few minutes. Plus I could filter comfortably at walking pace on the Strada, and set off without wobbling. I dreaded coming to a stop on the Baron!


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## hurri (5 Oct 2014)

Agreed, generally the higher the bicycle the easier to balance. It is basic physics. You can more easily balance something with a high centre of gravity simply because it takes longer for it to fall over (... try a broom handle versus a pencil on your hand if you want to demonstrate this.)

I'm sure your Strada would be a much better bike to handle than a Baron or similar lowracer, and probably a lot lighter as well. One technique for low racers that I've found works well is if you have a folding handlebar is to sit upright and steer with the handlebar more vertically. The higher centre of gravity means you can go really slowly although this is a bit of a workout for your sixpack as you have to hold a 'crunch' position! 

Personally I find a low recumbent in town to be a bit stressful. I'd want the highest high racer possible... which is a diamond frame mountain bike.. and has the advantage that you can easily hop kerbs with it and get the best vision possible over upcoming hazards. Guess I'm not hardcore enough.....


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## neil earley (7 Oct 2014)

MM not every highracer is easy to ride, learning to ride a Vendetta with MBB was a challenge but with practise you get there. Everyone's learning curve is different ,so far so good with my Toxy ZR low as you can go and easy to ride.


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