Any BikeE AT recumbent owners ?

[biggs682]

Thinking about getting one and just wanted some feedback from owners past and present please

 

[plantfit]

Got mine nine years ago after a lifetime of riding road bikes and mountain bikes, no regrets at all, would'nt want to go back to D/F bikes now, one bit of advice though, try as many different types/makes before you buy and see what suits you best, mines an ICE Trice,fantastic machine and ICE's service is second to none

 

[Gravity Aided]

I have one. Bike E was a good brand, innovative and extraordinary for their time, the 1990's to early 2000s. They kept cuttting prices to sell more units, and worked themselves into insolvency, IIRC. Good well featured bike. The AT is the best model to own, because of the rear suspension. That is a Cane Creek (Dia Compe?) unit that is an air shock. I filled mine with a tire pump, although you should use an air shock pump. I'm also thinking about getting a 20" fork and taking that 14" wheel to 20". I might also suggest casting about for a converter stem, a unit made for this bike, so you can use any old handlebars as the gerbil bars welded to the original stem are simply too short for the sort of handling you would want on such a cycle. It has a threadless headset (Ahead), so check that plastic bushing that comes down atop the stack. Very few proprietary parts on this, so it is easy to service. This bike is no speed demon, nor would you want it to be, with that 14" front wheel. It is heavy, but not inordinately so. Worth the trouble at a bargain price. Let me know if anything comes up.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Riding through many towns that seems to spring from the pages of a book by Bill Bryson, I sometimes am the center of attention on this thing.

 

[plantfit]

Sorry for my post,I thought we were on about recumbents in general,(senior moment,all too frequent these days)

 

[Gravity Aided]

https://midlifecyclistblog.wordpres...e-with-the-bike-e-mlcb-post-302-july-22-2018/

https://midlifecyclistblog.wordpres...ther-longer-trips-mlcb-post-294-june-24-2018/

https://midlifecyclistblog.wordpress.com/2018/06/20/a-part-of-the-whole-mlcb-post-293-june-20-2018/

https://midlifecyclistblog.wordpress.com/2018/05/23/re-learning-cycling-mlcb-post-285-may-23-2018/

https://midlifecyclistblog.wordpres...-and-my-recumbancy-mlcb-post-284-may-20-2018/

Here's some shameless self-promotion of my blog. My answer to this question is yes, buy one, well worth the money they fetch nowadays, just be prepared to re-learn cycling. My cousin, also into cycling, has the model without suspension, and I prefer the AT. That rear shock is a lifesaver with those high pressure tires!

 

[bobcolover]

Bike E AT; the first recumbent i bought. I had ridden one for a day in San Francisco, crossing Golden Gate Bridge to Sausolito with the family and we caught the ferry back past Alcatraz. Summer 2000. Came back and bought one from Bikefix.
I had the AT for seven years commuting in London daily and touring in France. Not fast; great fun.....until it was stolen in central London [ I dont suppose you might have been offered my bike e as it never turned up!!! PM me if you can give me more details about this one you are interested in]. Check the back seat supports which are prone to go but can be re welded; the cane creek shock can leak after a time [ say 5 years] but there are overhaul kits that can be fitted by a good lbs.
The bike is a really good introduction to semi/ full recumbent riding. I think i got quite a complicated rear wheel set up made as the original rear wheel wears away with the rim brake and london grit of a winter. I managed to get the hub gear rebuilt around a 20 inch bmx wheel [ i did carry a lot of weight when touring] and the bmx wheel had a ' decoupled' braking surface which was separate from the inner rim which the spokes were attached to.
Any other concerns let me know. I would get one for pottering around but have 3 recumbents now and cant really justify another!!!
I rode one this summer in the USA for a day or two. It brought back very good memories and was a delight.

 

[bobcolover]

ps the front wheel is 16 inch not 14 inch;
and i looked into a 20inch wheel fork but i dont think its possible;

the early bike e's had an offset front fork a bit like the moulton but without suspension

this is on the net
http://www.plunk.org/eben/Albums/BikeE/
but if you read the blurb underneath its both difficult to do
AND doesnt sound safe going uphill!!!

 

[Gravity Aided]

I think I'll just live with the stock front wheel set up for now. A light front end doesn't sound attractive for this bike.

 

[404 Not Found Anywhere]

Dual 20/20 is perfectly posssible... see second last post on this page...

http://www.bentrideronline.com/messageboard/showthread.php?t=91180&highlight=BikeE+20/20&page=6

The critical issues are size of rider, size of frame, and forks with enough rake.

If the rider is too big or the frame is too small (or even worse, both!) you’re going to get a very light front end when riding uphill. But if you have a short to medium rider on an XL frame you should be OK. As a rough rule of thumb, on the AT model if your seat is approximately level or forward of the rear suspension arm, you’re ok.

A standard off the shelf 20” fork from a normal geometry upright bike is going to have too much wheel flop and will be pretty much unridiable (I’ve been there...). A long trail version such as RANS use in their LWB bikes will be fine. Or you can bend and adjust a 26” fork to suit as described in AD Carson's Recycled Recumbent pages.

The end result if you can meet these criteria is much quicker than the original BikeE and not a bad ride at all.

And yes, the blue one on the linked page is mine... a project that got a bit out of hand but it was good fun and provided much in the way of problem solving.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Yes, I'm too big.