# Orbit crystal recumbent



## windmiller (6 Sep 2009)

After many weeks with messing/fighting and swearing at the crappy plastic piece of junk that was the old idler, I have received and fitted a new twin idler ordered from terra-cycles. What a difference the bike rides much better now, although the sneaky £




17 impo



rt duty was a bit of a con.


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## windmiller (6 Sep 2009)

hmmm.... tried to insert an image of the bike and it didn't work..


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## dataretriever (6 Sep 2009)

windmiller said:


> hmmm.... tried to insert an image of the bike and it didn't work..



You have to publish the pic online with facebook,flickr,picasa, etc then paste the link into between your


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## windmiller (6 Sep 2009)

thanks for the advice dataretriever. looks like the pics are out then.


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## dataretriever (6 Sep 2009)

you can email them to me and i'll post them and send you the links if you like...


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## Arch (7 Sep 2009)

You can also attach them. Click on the papercilp icon when replying, a box comes up for attachments, you browse for the pic, upload it, and then click the clip again and attach the image...


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## windmiller (7 Sep 2009)

ok thanks dataretriever and arch


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## windmiller (19 Sep 2009)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42670508@N07/3935012082/


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## windmiller (19 Sep 2009)

the above is the old crappy idler


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## Alf (19 Sep 2009)

Can I ask what the symptoms were with the old one - wobble, squeak, fall off, etc?

Just curious because idlers seem to be a problem on some recumbents. Touch wood, mine has been trouble free for 15000 miles despite complete absence of interference from me. I was going to say maintenance, but I don't know how you would maintain an idler so I have left it completely alone.

Alf


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## windmiller (20 Sep 2009)

old one had no actual bearings, wobbled quite a bit and looked very homemade. 15000 is some mileage, I think you would soon know if the idler started playing up. What type of bike/trike is it on?


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## Alf (21 Sep 2009)

windmiller said:


> old one had no actual bearings, wobbled quite a bit and looked very homemade. 15000 is some mileage, I think you would soon know if the idler started playing up. What type of bike/trike is it on?


A grasshopper. The idler is a plastic wheel with a channel that the chain runs in. It looks like a sealed bearing in the centre of the wheel. No worries at present but sealed bearings can go without much warning. Should be a picture attached if this works.

Alf


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## windmiller (21 Sep 2009)

That idler looks much better quality than the old one on my orbit.
Had a brief ride on a Grasshopper a few years ago, I liked the low down very comfortable sporty handling. Noticed there is a Grasshopper on ebay right now.


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## windmiller (26 Sep 2009)

Still putting together the B3. been fighting with the Sram X-9 twist grip shifters. Not impressed with them at all. The supplied gear cable was about 2 inches too short. frayed a spare one trying to thread it through.

Used this technicality as an excuse to visit a bike shop 20 miles away to stock up on some cables. Took the orbit crystal, even though my current fitness is only firing on 2 out of six cylinders i still managed to put all the have a go mountain bikers to the sword. Short sharp twisting hills are the Achilles heel of the orbit and its ultra short 39 inch wheelbase. I like the way recumbents only seem to tire the legs and not the whole body after a fast ride.

Back to fitting the gear cable. the secrets of this black art appear to be:

1. buy a good quality cable, these tend to slightly narrower and hence easier to thread through.
2. remove the unit from the handlebars, makes access much easier, don't dismantle the thing unless absolutely necessary, unless you're a masochist.
3. feed the cable through with twist in the direction that the wires are are wound.

note, the Orbit has old fashioned STX quick fire shifters that work really well, I don't know why manufacturers persist with rubbish twist shifters. Although with hamster bars there may be no alternative.


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## stevew (5 Oct 2009)

I have SRAM twist shifters on my Bacchetta Cafe and they work really well with quick, precise changes. I like SRAM 'cos it pulls roughly twice as much cable per gear so it's far less fussy compared to the big "S"


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## arallsopp (2 Nov 2009)

yup. Same here. SRAM twist shifters on the SMGTe (and the same idler as Alf's grasshopper) . Pretty much maintenance free. Its the only bike I've ever owned where I spend more time fettling the brakes (once every 500 miles) than the gears (never, in 3.5k).


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