Fredwina gets bent?

[Tokie]

Wow! Looks fast and fun! My DH went 'bent for about 15 yrs while his back and neck got better. He rode a Lightning (you can visit Tim in Lompoc for a trial ride when you are up there for Solvang) but you'd need to call ahead, he's mostly M-Fri. His office/production warehouse are right off of the Lompoc rest stop on the Solvang Century (the first feed zone at the old packing house). If you are familiar with riding Figueroa Mountain...DH could do that on his Lightning (the steepest side too)! And descending was stable, crazy fun and fast. And you will zoom on the flats! Have fun! We saw lots and lots of Bachettas on the RAGBRAI - their owners loved them! Tokie

[evangundy]

You will like this one, Fredwina. I have a blue Giro 20 that is my commuter (when I bike commute). It is a great workhorse the way mine is set up; wider tires, big bag off the back of the seat, headlight mounted up front. I thought I had a picture but I don't - I'll have to do that and post it.

I like the Giro because with the smaller front wheel, you can actually put your foot down at a stop (not just a tipey-toe) without having to sit up completely.

You'll want to get yourself a mirror too - doesn't matter where you put it, helmet or glasses, but you can't just turn your head to see what's behind you - without a mirror you have to sit up and turn your head and body to look back. A mirror means you just turn your head so slightly, either left or right, and you can see everything back there.

If you have any bent related questions, I'll be happy to answer if I can. A very good resource is www.bentrideronline.com - the people on their message board/forums are very much like the people here on TE. Once you post and say hi and ask your first question or make your first comment, you are part of the family.

Edna
ps: my vote is for Baton Rouge

[Fredwina]

Actually, I found the Bacchetta forums pretty helpful , too. (I'm registered on BROL, but have never quite got the "vibe" there.)
I'm tall enough that I can flat foot a dual 650(a bike with 650C wheels front and back, versus the giro's 20 Front/ 26 Rear) at a stop. It's just that 4 inch higher bottom bracket that gave me the Heebie Jeebies Maybe if like the giro, I'll spring for a Corsa or a Carbent(the guy who owns Bentup(the shop where I'm buying it from) also owns CarBent)
Tokie, I did test ride a lightning Phantom. I wanted to love the bike, since it is locally made, but found it to too be quick handling to my tastes, plus I had problems with getting it started vis a vie the Giro and the RANS V-Rex. Plus the dealer yelled at me for doing the "Flintstones" start. Which is sad, since the shop is a lot closer to me than Van Nuys.
will report more when I get some rides in.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

That Giro-20 looks way cool.

[lunacycles]

'bents make a lot of sense for a lot of folks, imo. I think they are going to get ever more popular over time.

[Fredwina]

I picked it up yesterday and did a brief ride around Van Nuys airport:

still need to take some getting used to. Now, if the weather would cooperate

[OakLeaf]

Yay!

Is that satellite dish mounted on the flag pole? DVR in the backpack, little blue display on the handlebars?