The Green, Green, Grasshopper of Home

[a.twiddler]

After an illicit test ride with the Garmin hung from the headrest I wondered if I could use an old reflector mount and some bodging to make a holder for it at the front of the boom, using the same jubilee clip that was holding the light bracket on underneath. The answer seems to be...yes!

View from the driving seat

Would have been better outside, but it's not raining inside the garage. I'm now itching to try it out, if the rain ever stops. The reflector is still on the front of the bracket, but the Garmin is hiding it in this view

 

[a.twiddler]

Some more pics.
Front view

Pilot's eye view

Three quarter front view

 

[a.twiddler]

The Green Green Grasshopper of Home
(And other Bikes)

I’ve had this SWB USS bike for about 6 weeks now, and in the normal course of things I would have done a couple of longer trips to do some evaluation by now. Due to events beyond my control this hasn’t happened, but here are some observations. so far.

First impressions:

Well made, well finished. Despite having the same manufacturer as the Spirit and sharing some of the same transmission components it’s a completely different beast. Looks to have had little use. Folds easily. The USS is a bit unusual being able to pivot under pressure to allow it to move if the bike goes over, to minimise potential damage to controls. Despite the seat itself being low, the frame height rises sharply in front of it then is at a height that is an inch or two higher than the Linear’s. This is not a problem for actually riding or stopping and starting but is not conducive to easy mounting and dismounting, as there is only a small space ahead of the seat where I can easily lift my leg over. This has proved to be more of an obstacle than I’d originally anticipated. It’s possible to lean the bike towards yourself to minimise the height but I’ve not perfected the technique yet. With my other two bikes the seat base is the highest part of the frame. The Linear has a good space in front of it for getting your leg over it. The Spirit’s frame is so low that it’s as good as my Brompton for hopping on and off. Despite the 20” wheels the Grasshopper is not so user friendly in this respect for shorter riders, especially older and not very flexible ones like myself. However, where there's a will, there's a way.

The seat is a bit OTT having scope for a lot of adjustments. Not keen on the recline which despite all this adjustability is a bit too reclined for my taste. Will have to experiment with some brackets, I think. The headrest is obtrusive if the seat is made as upright as it will go, transmitting road shocks to your neck. Fortunately it’s removable, so I took it off. It certainly feels better without. It might be that the other seat adjustments will fall into place without it, and it’s just a matter of acclimatisation.

When I initially rode it, I couldn’t get myself into an upright position to look round at junctions etc very easily. I found if I put the brakes on sharply when stopping, I could use the momentum to get my torso upright. Also found that when stationary if I put my feet as far back beneath the seat as possible I can use the leverage to sit forward. I’ve tried grabbing the frame in front of the seat instead but I, er, can’t reach. I have a long body in proportion to my legs. Different seat settings can make sitting up easier or harder. Some of the reviews refer to the seat recline being uncomfortable for the reviewer. I can’t help wondering if the alternative seat is more user friendly, though you would have to get the right one, since they come in different sizes. Probably a case of adapting, and getting the seat adjustments right.

On the Linear, whose seat is several inches higher than the Grasshopper, the kick stand is easily reachable from a sitting position to ease getting on and off. This Grasshopper didn’t come with one. Must have been an optional extra. There is a mounting plate beneath the frame, and a non standard mounting for one on the chainstay.

Having fitted a kick stand to the frame plate it’s possible to reach it to fold it but not to extend it: thus it’s easy to use it for getting on, but impossible when dismounting, which in my experience is when you need it most. I’ve taken to leaning it against a post or wall when getting on or off. I’ve noticed that the finish of the seat base is rather soft, and prone to scratching if you’re not careful when you do this. The Spirit, which is a bike that it’s easy to get on or off without using a kickstand, has a stand that’s easy to fold or extend while seated, ironically. My last SWB bike had a kickstand which was so easy to use you didn’t even think about it. I can’t help thinking that as well as putting all that development budget into the seat, HP Velo might have spent some effort getting the basics right. After all, it isn’t a cheap bike when new. Perhaps HP Velo’s own kickstand has some design feature which makes it more usable? Though I suspect it’s just a commercially available Pletscher or similar. Perhaps I can devise something using a knob, a cable and a pulley. With panniers fitted, it’s just as easy to lean any bike against a wall or post.

Or even a gate.

I have a B & M 80mm, long stem bar end mirror. It’s certainly more useful than the smaller version I had fitted to the Sinner trike but is just as susceptible to knocks, and vibration gradually changing its setting. It could do with being higher. I’ve now used an offcut of shower rail to do this as it just fits into the handlebar end, and the bar end mirror base fits inside it.

A gratuitous shot of the Linear on the Mercian way (which uses part of the former Whitchurch -Oswestry trackbed here) at Whitchurch. The Saxon Warrior is definitely in better nick than I am.

The Saxon Warrior has a brother in arms at Chester, where the Spirit stands on the Shropshire Union Canal towpath next to the distinctive Mercian Way marker where an access path goes off to join the Chester Greenway.

I just include these pics to show how different these bikes are from each other. Hopefully, in the course of time, the Grasshopper should wander just as far and wide as the other two.

The above sounds like a whinge fest, but once aboard it feels fine. I have no issues starting off even on steep uphills, it has predictable handling, the suspension is great, the USS is nice while riding, the gearing seems about right, and the climbing is much better than I’d been led to believe, at least comparable with my other bikes. If I could just get my seat and kickstand issues resolved...

A solution for most of the above issues could be to fit OSS. It would give something to hold the bike upright while getting on and off, one less thing to trip over while doing that, somewhere to put your mirror, lights, etc. However, I was hoping that the Grasshopper would be something of a Spirit +, with USS, but it has turned out to be something a bit different. It is the USS that is the attraction with this bike, and it’s a big enough one that it’s worth persevering with, to see if given time I can adapt and just hop on and use it like my other bikes.

There is occasional heel strike with the front wheel. It doesn’t affect manoevreing, as it’s just a sensation of my heel transiently brushing the tyre occasionally. Perhaps it’s only to be expected with the shortness of the boom. Something else to adapt to, along with remembering that the front wheel is under my knees rather than having a wheel at each end as with my LWB bikes.

The braking is also more like an upright bike, with the front doing most of the work, making the rear easy to lock up. In fact when braking hard to a stop from low speed, the rear wheel can lift briefly whereas with a LWB the rearward weight bias makes the rear brake the most effective. I would think the extra weight ahead of the front wheel from a taller rider’s legs would make the rear wheel levitation thing even more of an issue. Something to remember if stopping in a hurry, getting the braking balance right for the type of bike you’re on. It’s easier to make the rear wheel slip when going uphill on a greasy surface too, compared with the Spirit for example, which also has a 20” rear wheel but more weight towards the rear, and all the rider’s weight within the wheelbase.

The online manual suggests that due to the full suspension, tyres should be inflated to the max as the suspension reduces the need for the shock absorbing effect of lower tyre pressures. I’m not entirely convinced that the grip is enhanced by this, but I’ll probably experiment with tyre pressures as time goes by.

Jobs done:
Shortened the boom (extremely carefully).
Fitted a budget kickstand.
Fitted a bolt on rear light to rack.
Sorted a secure front light fitting and Garmin bracket.
Taken a smidge more off the boom, while being acutely aware that I couldn’t stick it back on again. Smoothed down and painted the cut end.
Adjusted leg length. Still working on the seat adjustment.
Took some links out of the chain. Put two back as RD arm was a little too far forward on big/big.
Took a couple of inches off the chain tubes.
Lubricated chain, pulled through using old cloth to collect excess and dirt. Originally stiff/ noisy. Now much better.
Fitted a pair of Schwalbe Marathon Greenguard tyres to replace the virtually unused Kojak slicks.
Used an offcut of old shower rail to raise the base of the bar end mirror a little.

On balance, the positives outbalance the negatives. Just because some aspects are "different" doesn't necessarily mean they are negative.
A bit more fine tuning and getting accustomed to it yet before I take the plunge and take an all day trip on it.

 

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Seats can be a troublesome issue for the shorter legged. On paper, the seat height of my PDQ would have been perfect for me but the design in practice meant that the only real practical reach was from the knee downwards, and the side supports meant you couldn‘t swing a leg out sideways. On my hard shell Fuego its much easier and you have a stable tripod to balance on.. I also like the superman bars on my Fuego as I can more easily sit upright even riding along which really helps for balance and confidence in slow speed manoeuvres.

 

[a.twiddler]

The Green Green Grasshopper of Home
or
a. twiddler’s provisional remote kickstand extension contraption thingy Mk 1.

28/10/24

Having been a long time motorcyclist (counts on fingers). Good Grief! 56 years already! I’ve had motor bikes with kickstands, or what we Brits call side stands, and some without, and life has always been simpler when there’s been an accessible side stand, whether it’s been attached to a lightweight or some tarmac crushing behemoth.

For decades I blithely rode upright bicycles without any thought of attaching a stand until I acquired a folding bike. The convenience of the stand on this encouraged me to fit a chainstay mounted one to my tourer, then a similar one to my hybrid of that time. There was no intention for those stands to support my weight, just to hold the bike up after I’d got off, or until I got on again, when they’d be flicked up beforehand. The main advantage to having a stand was that the bikes would stand up unaided in the garage, without having to lean on something or each other, which made it easier to park them or get them out.

I’ve commented before that learning to ride a recumbent bike is often easier if you’re used to motorcycles, as some of the skills are transferable. I hadn’t really thought about the use of side stands.

My use of a side stand relating to motorbikes was to use it as a tool for getting on and off. In the past, most motorcycles had a main stand, useful for chain adjustment, changing tyres, etc which was what I used for parking it. It would be vertical, and so took up less space, eg in the garage. You would put the side stand down, then roll it off the main stand and get aboard before flicking the side stand up ready to ride off. When you stopped, you would put the side stand down and get off.

When I bought the Linear, it didn’t have a side stand fitted, but the mounting block was in place, so I adapted one from my bits box with a longer leg made from scrap tube. It was quite flexy, as a reminder not to put my weight on it, but to use it as a mounting and dismounting aid, or for parking it. The only way I could mount and dismount was by standing up then lifting a leg over the frame. If there was a handy wall or fence I could make use of that too. The previous owner was over six feet tall. Either he could manage without the stand or he’d taken it off to use it elsewhere. It had been parked in his barn for several years since he’d bought a sportier recumbent.

If you've got it, flaunt it. Now that is a side stand!

Anyhow, that became my routine for over four years and it worked for me. The side stand is easily accessible to extend or retract while on the bike. A Dawes Low Rider I had for a while had such a convenient side stand set up that I didn’t really think about it. It was just there. The HP Velo Spirit has an easily accessible side stand but is so easy to get on and off due to the low frame height that I don’t need to use it. It’s very good on dodgy surfaces where you might potentially have to abandon ship in a hurry. I haven’t had to yet. Perhaps it’s a confidence thing.

So we come to the Grasshopper. Once on board, everything feels fine. It feels solid. The seat is low enough. The bottom bracket isn’t uncomfortably high in relation to the seat, I like the USS bars, it steers positively, the gear range feels about right, though I always prefer to have a lower gear or two in hand. The suspension is impressive. It climbs the local short steep hills well enough. Longer hills? Don’t know yet. Seat recline? The jury’s still out on that one.

For me, it’s the getting on and off. There is a low spot in front of the seat that I can get my leg through though it’s not very big. The boom itself is a couple of inches higher than the Linear frame. It’s hard to lift my leg over it even while standing. So my foot has to go over the low point in front of the seat. Not so bad getting on, with a wall or post to lean on, or with the stand down. Once aboard, I can push the stand with my heel until it flicks up. I can’t reach the stand when it’s up to put it down again. Poor design. So I’ve had a go at the following.

An old chainstay bracket clamped to the stand leg. This has a hole in each end. I’ve put a small grommet in one of the holes. I’ve found a bathroom light switch cord with a small knob on one end. I’ve passed this through a length of plastic tube which I’ve attached to an existing frame protrusion under the seat with cable ties. With the knob under the seat and the other end passed through the grommet on the bracket on the stand, the free end comes back a few cm towards the seat to a sliding adjuster. The cord passes through the sliding adjuster with a knot on the other side to keep it in place. I’ve trimmed the cord leaving a bit spare for adjustments, folded inside some duct tape.

Now it's up.

Now it's down.

Stand up, bars straight.

Stand up, full left lock.

The principle works, having tested it in the garden. The old chainstay bracket could do with being longer, as it takes a lot of effort to move the stand the first few degrees as the pull is towards the stand pivot to start with. There has to be some slack in the cord to allow for suspension movement, as the stand is attached to the suspended chain stay, while the knob end (if I can use such a phrase) is attached to the frame. When the stand is down there is some loose cord so the knob swings about in the breeze. Maybe I can sort out something to hide it away under the seat when I park. The bars come close to the frame on full left lock so the cord has to have some slack at that end so the knob doesn’t interfere with the bars -not that full lock is likely to be used unless wheeling it around.

I’ll have to give this some test runs. It might develop into something with steel cable, levers and springs, maybe a pulley or two by the time it’s fully developed. Or I might dispense with the extra ironmongery, just ride it if the weather holds out for the rest of this year and find a way to become friends with this bike. It would be easy enough to remove what’s on there at the moment. There’s something to be said for keepin’ it thimple, thtupid.

 

[FrankCrank]

The Green Green Grasshopper of Home
or
a. twiddler’s provisional remote kickstand extension contraption thingy Mk 1.

28/10/24

Having been a long time motorcyclist (counts on fingers). Good Grief! 56 years already! I’ve had motor bikes with kickstands, or what we Brits call side stands, and some without, and life has always been simpler when there’s been an accessible side stand, whether it’s been attached to a lightweight or some tarmac crushing behemoth.

For decades I blithely rode upright bicycles without any thought of attaching a stand until I acquired a folding bike. The convenience of the stand on this encouraged me to fit a chainstay mounted one to my tourer, then a similar one to my hybrid of that time. There was no intention for those stands to support my weight, just to hold the bike up after I’d got off, or until I got on again, when they’d be flicked up beforehand. The main advantage to having a stand was that the bikes would stand up unaided in the garage, without having to lean on something or each other, which made it easier to park them or get them out.

I’ve commented before that learning to ride a recumbent bike is often easier if you’re used to motorcycles, as some of the skills are transferable. I hadn’t really thought about the use of side stands.

My use of a side stand relating to motorbikes was to use it as a tool for getting on and off. In the past, most motorcycles had a main stand, useful for chain adjustment, changing tyres, etc which was what I used for parking it. It would be vertical, and so took up less space, eg in the garage. You would put the side stand down, then roll it off the main stand and get aboard before flicking the side stand up ready to ride off. When you stopped, you would put the side stand down and get off.

When I bought the Linear, it didn’t have a side stand fitted, but the mounting block was in place, so I adapted one from my bits box with a longer leg made from scrap tube. It was quite flexy, as a reminder not to put my weight on it, but to use it as a mounting and dismounting aid, or for parking it. The only way I could mount and dismount was by standing up then lifting a leg over the frame. If there was a handy wall or fence I could make use of that too. The previous owner was over six feet tall. Either he could manage without the stand or he’d taken it off to use it elsewhere. It had been parked in his barn for several years since he’d bought a sportier recumbent.

If you've got it, flaunt it. Now that is a side stand!
View attachment 750991
Anyhow, that became my routine for over four years and it worked for me. The side stand is easily accessible to extend or retract while on the bike. A Dawes Low Rider I had for a while had such a convenient side stand set up that I didn’t really think about it. It was just there. The HP Velo Spirit has an easily accessible side stand but is so easy to get on and off due to the low frame height that I don’t need to use it. It’s very good on dodgy surfaces where you might potentially have to abandon ship in a hurry. I haven’t had to yet. Perhaps it’s a confidence thing.

So we come to the Grasshopper. Once on board, everything feels fine. It feels solid. The seat is low enough. The bottom bracket isn’t uncomfortably high in relation to the seat, I like the USS bars, it steers positively, the gear range feels about right, though I always prefer to have a lower gear or two in hand. The suspension is impressive. It climbs the local short steep hills well enough. Longer hills? Don’t know yet. Seat recline? The jury’s still out on that one.

For me, it’s the getting on and off. There is a low spot in front of the seat that I can get my leg through though it’s not very big. The boom itself is a couple of inches higher than the Linear frame. It’s hard to lift my leg over it even while standing. So my foot has to go over the low point in front of the seat. Not so bad getting on, with a wall or post to lean on, or with the stand down. Once aboard, I can push the stand with my heel until it flicks up. I can’t reach the stand when it’s up to put it down again. Poor design. So I’ve had a go at the following.

An old chainstay bracket clamped to the stand leg. This has a hole in each end. I’ve put a small grommet in one of the holes. I’ve found a bathroom light switch cord with a small knob on one end. I’ve passed this through a length of plastic tube which I’ve attached to an existing frame protrusion under the seat with cable ties. With the knob under the seat and the other end passed through the grommet on the bracket on the stand, the free end comes back a few cm towards the seat to a sliding adjuster. The cord passes through the sliding adjuster with a knot on the other side to keep it in place. I’ve trimmed the cord leaving a bit spare for adjustments, folded inside some duct tape.

Now it's up.
View attachment 750999
Now it's down.
View attachment 750998
Stand up, bars straight.
View attachment 750995 Stand up, full left lock.
View attachment 750997

The principle works, having tested it in the garden. The old chainstay bracket could do with being longer, as it takes a lot of effort to move the stand the first few degrees as the pull is towards the stand pivot to start with. There has to be some slack in the cord to allow for suspension movement, as the stand is attached to the suspended chain stay, while the knob end (if I can use such a phrase) is attached to the frame. When the stand is down there is some loose cord so the knob swings about in the breeze. Maybe I can sort out something to hide it away under the seat when I park. The bars come close to the frame on full left lock so the cord has to have some slack at that end so the knob doesn’t interfere with the bars -not that full lock is likely to be used unless wheeling it around.

I’ll have to give this some test runs. It might develop into something with steel cable, levers and springs, maybe a pulley or two by the time it’s fully developed. Or I might dispense with the extra ironmongery, just ride it if the weather holds out for the rest of this year and find a way to become friends with this bike. It would be easy enough to remove what’s on there at the moment. There’s something to be said for keepin’ it thimple, thtupid.

Nice, think I'll fit one of those on my trike

 

[404 Not Found Anywhere]

The rear mounted stand on my Fuego has another use: if I stop in too high a gear, I can just prop the bike up and tilt it to lift the back wheel: dead easy then to turn the cranks and drop through the gears. A stand on a trike is not so mad an idea, and it would stop runaways if you park on a hill…

 

[a.twiddler]

The Green Green Grasshopper of Home
or
a. twiddler’s provisional remote kickstand extension contraption Mk 2.

30/10 /24

Having done some more pondering (as I am wont to do), I thought that the Mk 1 version could easily be replicated with a brake cable and outer, making it more durable. I had a length of brake cable and various bits of outer in my cable bits bag. Having narrowly avoided making my previous post into a festival of knob jokes I realised that I had some screw on nipples somewhere too.

I’d found that the Mk 1 cord set up was rather flexy, needing me to retension it every couple of uses. The highest force was needed to get the stand to move the first few degrees, so I’d tried packing the stand hinge with some thin material so that its starting point was causing less strain on the cord. I suppose you could call that the Mk 1a version.

It didn’t take long to whip the old set up off and replace it with some brake cable bits. I retained the knob, stopping it from sliding about with a tiny cable tie. Some more cable ties secured the outer cable in position. This just locates the inner, there is no load on it, so no need for cable stops. The cable ties were attached to an existing frame protrusion, and an adjacent cable. I’d put another tiny grommet in the other hole of the chainstay clamp which I’d previously fitted to the stand. A bit of trial and error allowed me to cut the inner and outer cables to length. I used superglue on the inner before cutting to stop it fraying. I used two screw on nipples, one each side of the forward hole of the clamp on the stand. I tucked the extra length through the remaining hole.
Now it's up

Now it's down

The cable gives a much more direct pull than the cord did. I found that I could remove the packing piece from the stand hinge too as I was able to pull the stand down more easily even from its original retracted position. After a good few trials of the set up I’m more confident that this will keep its settings over time, compared with the cord.

 

[FrankCrank]

Well you won't hear any childish knob or nipple jokes coming from me

On the other hand.......

 

[a.twiddler]

13/11/24
The Green Green Grasshopper of Home
Some More Developments
After my ride on 11/11/24 I decided to do something about the excessive seat recline. I bought a couple of slotted angle brackets. After cutting the angle part off I’m left with two long slotted pieces and two short ones.

My bits box provided some penny washers, aluminium tube, and a spare quick release skewer. After a lot of measuring and sawing and filing and swearing I’ve fitted the longer slotted pieces to the seat back mounting. It might need a bit of work yet, as I don’t want to risk overstressing the frame or seat base mounting.

I’ve tried various positions, but the seat back will need some tweaks to get the length right. I had to take the seat off but putting it back on again… it’s all very well having a folding bike with a quick folding frame but it’s a pain to get the seat back on again even with the standard mounts.

I’ve done a short test ride and it feels better, though the change in position has made the feel a bit different especially at low speeds so I’ll need some practice there. I’ve had to adjust the bars a few degrees and it looks like the boom might need to come out another cm or so.

Small steps...

 

[a.twiddler]

The Green Green Grasshopper of Home
Three months With the Grasshopper.
10/12/24
How it looked when I first saw it

I’ve had this bike for three months now. My expectations had been high, theoretically the best, most highly specced bike I’ve ever owned, certainly the most expensive.

Not so many miles for various reasons but I seem to have spent a lot of time bent over it or crawling about under it in the garage.

Overall, the build quality and finish are impressive. Reviews that I’ve read have been variable, with positive ones taking to the finish and general quality, the negative to the supposedly twitchiness, particularly with USS which I suspect the reviewer in one particular case wasn’t comfortable or familiar with. There are still some issues, though.

Things I like.
Suspension which works with no apparent pedal related movement.
Good brakes, Tektro BB7 cable discs.
USS.
Well made and finished.
Rack.
Bottom bracket not too high relative to the seat.
Low seat.
Remote side stand cable. (My solution to the poor side stand location).
The way the lights are tucked away, now I’ve sorted out the mountings. (Again, down to me).

Things I'm not so keen on
There are some which don’t make for easy everyday use -it’s not a racer, after all!
Such as:-

According to HP Velotechnic this bike is suitable for riders from 5’2” to over 6’. That’s as may be, but there are other factors than the X-seam to take into account.

The high boom relative to the ground interferes with getting on and off for me at 5’5”, so what it’s like at 5’2” I shudder to think. All other things being equal, I’d just learn to live with it but for:-

Seat recline. Not enough angle adjustment. The design doesn’t allow much further upright movement. Might be suitable for lanky Europeans, but I just can’t take to it. If you’re even shorter, it could be difficult.

Finicky seat length adjustment, would have been better to give more angle adjustment range instead.

Over geared as bought.-I have changed that. I was using the low range on the hub gear a lot. The middle gear is more efficient, as it’s direct drive. A smaller chain ring allows that, and gives more useful low gears. Came with a 46T chain wheel, giving 21 -100” range. I’ve changed it for a 38T which gives 17.25 -89”.

Poor side stand location. Originally useless for getting on and off, until I fixed it, dear Henry, dear Henry.

The seat recline affects my ability to pedal effectively, as I discovered with the Sinner. I have fitted a spacer to reduce the recline still further but it’s not enough.

Once aboard, it handles, steers and stops fine. It feels surefooted and I can’t complain about any of that. I’ve done quite a bit to tailor it to suit my needs. Changed from Kojaks to Marathon Greenguards, sorted the lights, gearing, side stand, seat extension bracket. It just seems to need a lot of effort on my part to get speed up, or get up hills.

“It’s not me, it’s you”
After being out on a ride on the Linear, part of which matched my most recent one on the Grasshopper, I found it really easy. I’d convinced myself that I was out of condition after being ill a couple of months ago, which coincided with me buying the Grasshopper. I’ve been concentrating on fettling that one, to the exclusion of riding the others.

I’d had the idea that the Grasshopper would have a better average speed potential than the other two, thinking that I just needed to ride more and get back in condition. Since I was trying to ride it as much as possible, that unwittingly blocked the opportunity to ride the others as a comparison. I was actually beginning to think this was the beginning of the end, feeling a bit depressed, and that I needed to start thinking about some electrical assistance.

A trip to get the car serviced a few days ago made me wonder about that, as after taking it out of the boot the Brompton just flew along without really trying. So the next day I took the Linear for some shopping and that too went well for little effort, and hill climbing was a revelation. If I’d been doing longer trips from the start I’d soon have sussed things out.

The Grasshopper rolls well enough downhill, the boom is not too high in relation to the seat, it’s not really that heavy so why? The only feature that I can’t improve on is the seat recline and, as with my experience with the now -sold Sinner trike, this is the sticking point. I found that once I’d been able to reduce the seat recline beyond a critical point, the Sinner became much better on hills. Something about my size and the geometry of getting the power to the pedals obviously doesn’t work for me with a more than mildly reclined seat.

The bodylink seat is in two parts which can slide to adjust the length, and it can flex to a certain extent to be held in position by the slotted mountings. The top part is curved, so if the back is nearly vertical, the top of that pushes your neck forward.

Due to the Grasshopper’s design and the seat base mounting points it seems unlikely that I will be able to bodge something to be able to set this seat to match my needs. The Grasshopper had an option of a mesh seat, as well as this hard shell seat. Rather than hack a nice bike about, it would be a more straightforward operation to fit one of those. It’s more likely that I might be able to fit one of those, even with the use of home made extension brackets to get the angle the way I want it. The trick will be finding a used one at a reasonable price. They also came in several sizes. Presumably like everything else in my bicycling life, it would have to be the smallest one. Perhaps it’s time to call in the expertise of @Mr Magoo.

It would be a shame to have to sell such a nice bike on without at least an attempt to make the most of it. If it didn't make enough of an improvement, I would just sell it on. And if I sold it on, what could do a better job? Apart from a SWB with similar angles to the Linear or Spirit with an upright mesh seat, I’m at a loss to think of anything. The Linear just feels so great at the moment by comparison, and so does the Spirit. So it’s worth making the effort while I’ve got it.