Welcome to the Bacchetta Blog!

Here you'll find news, events, articles and more about Bacchetta Recumbent Bikes. Hope you enjoy!

On the road and Clavin's

By: John Schlitter

 Finally hit the road, had plans of going up to the Appalachians to train after the Music City Double but was not ready to leave St. Pete so canceled out of the double and stayed in St. Pete trying to get everything ready for RAAM before I headed to Calvin’s then on to Kansas

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Rediscovering the Giro 26

By: Mike Wilkerson

 

Back in late 2004 there was a split in the Bacchetta lineup which turned the Strada into the preimeir  "budget" dual 26 performance recumbent on the market.  Along with that came a new model, the Giro 26, a bike that we built to "do it all".

The original Strada in 2002-2004 was a great bike and allowed people a lot of options when it came to running fatter tires and  larger wheels (700c).  The problem with larger wheels was the money and time that now had to be put back in the bike, in the form of a 700c fork and Paul rear brake.  When you wanted to go fatter tires, you had plenty of room in the rear, but the fork was a limiting factor.   While the Original Giro 26 solved some of these problems with tire clearance, it left other issues unsolved.

Fast forward to 2006.  The Giro 26 had been a great seller but the Bugatti Blue was beginning to wear and we just weren't satisfied that we had taken this frame as far as it could go, so Mark Colliton here at Bacchetta went back  to the drawing board in early 2006.  But there was a problem: by June 2006, we were sold out of Giro 26 and the new design wasn't finalized.  Rather than just order in more of the original 26's, we sold out and fielded a ton of calls from Dealers and customers wanting to order this bike.  Now, when you're a small company and you have a bike in demand with people wanting to buy it, it's pretty damn hard to clamp down and say, "we're re-designing it and it's going to be a lot better, it will be worth the wait...half a year from now.  But that's exactly what we did and after almost 8 months, the new Giro 26 was released.

The change was fairly dramatic.  The new bike was now designed around a 700c wheel size, rather than a 26" wheel. This allowed the geometry to be consistent if you were running 700c, 650c,26" (559), 24" or 20".  To make it even easier, we even included a 700c fork to take larger wheels and fatter tires, along with a rear road brake tab if someone wanted to build up a true road machine (see 700c bike photo accompanying this article). 

However, the core of what this bike is really all about, never changed: The Giro 26 should be built to do it all and that's why it comes with 26" wheels, disc brakes and a little fatter tire right out of the box.  For the person who wants a dual 26" recumbent that they can ride on the trails or rough roads one day and on the road ride the next then this is the bike.  In most cases, if you have a set of disc road wheels, it's as simple as swapping out wheels which takes all of a couple of minutes.  And did I mention that you can get this bike with arguably the most praised, recumbent seat on the market for the last 3 years, the EuroMesh, at no extra cost? 

The Giro 26 has been a great platform and we're very happy to see others out there following its lead.   Since the  current design came out over a year ago,  it's been one of our top two selling bikes without fail and because of this, you will see some new things on the horizon based on this model's design.   So in the meantime, check out the Giro 26 if you're looking for a bike that can truly "do it all".

Bacchetta Recumbent Bicycles-http://www.bacchettabikes.com/recumbents/bikes/giro26.htm

 

 

  • Article Posted: 04/18/2008 12:08:44
  • In: News
  • Comments: 0

Heart of the South

By: John Schlitter

Coach Kellie, has been slowly ramping me up with time and intensity on the bike for the Heart of the South with a two week taper. I was really happy to see the tapering come up on my training log. Of course the week of the Heart of the South (what I now fondly call Hell of the South) was the usual pre race hell week in itself. It is not like I don’t know when these events are and you would think I would have bikes ready to race but spring has sprung and Bacchetta has been hopping and I was waiting for parts to get here so I could get bikes done.

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Ride for Gerry "Chief" Frierdich and your chance to Win a Bacchetta

By: Mike Wilkerson

Friends and family of Gerry Frierdich are teaming up with The Touring Cyclist bicycle shop and the Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society of Belleville, Illinois to put on a benefit ride for Gerry “Chief” Frierdich.
Gerry “Chief” Frierdich was critically injured on August, 19th 2007, when he was struck by a pickup truck while riding his Bacchetta Giro 26. As a result of the accident, Gerry is now a quadriplegic. Having overcome the initial hurdles, Gerry continues to work hard in physical and occupational therapy with inspiring achievements thus far.
While Gerry has continued to make progress, the reality is that his life will never be the same. His medical costs and day-to-day living expenses are astronomical, but you can help!
On June 1st 2008 a benefit ride will be sponsored by the Touring Cyclist Bicycle Shop, the Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society and the friends and family of Gerry. All proceeds from the ride will go towards paying for Gerry’s medical and living expenses.
Bacchetta is proud to play a small part in this event, by donating two Bacchetta Bellandare’s that will be raffled off the day of the event.
For more information on the ride, go to: http://www.chiefgetwell.com/roadtorecovery.htm
 
  • Article Posted: 03/24/2008 12:26:53
  • In: News
  • Comments: 0

Ray's Ride for Melanoma and Spina Bifida

By: Mike Wilkerson

You hear a lot from Bacchetta about ultra distance events; Sebring, RAAM, etc.  These events have proven to be a great promotional tool over the years, not only for Bacchetta, but for recumbents in general.  While competitive events, they also have a large dose of fun involved also.

On Sunday, March 30th 2008, Ray Taylor is undertaking an ultra distance event of his own; a cross country trip that starts in San Diego, CA and ends in St. Augustine, FL.  But Ray isn't doing this for himself, his agenda is quite different.  Below is an excerpt from Ray's website: http://www.raysride.org

Ray’s Ride is dedicated to the effort of raising money for the medical research of Melanoma Cancer and the birth defect, Spina Bifida.   This effort is a tribute to my daughter, Kristen Taylor-Cameron who has fought melanoma since 2003, and to my granddaughter Grace Glaros, born February 14th, 2008, with spina bifida.  So... this challenge might aptly be named, “The Great Race for Kristen and Grace".

So take the time and check out Ray's website and support him in any way you can.  Even if it's only an email saying; we're rooting for you, I'm sure that Ray and his family would appreciate it.

  • Article Posted: 03/04/2008 11:06:31
  • In: News
  • Comments: 0

12 Hour Training ride starts

By: John Schlitter

the first Ultra Marathon Cycling event of the 2008 season, Sebring 12/24 Hour Race. http://www.ultracycling.com/

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Bacchetta Model Comparison Page

By: Mike Wilkerson

We get a lot of questions about the differences in our various models here at Bacchetta.  When you're plunking down your hard earned money, you obvious that you want to know exactly what your getting.  Now, with the addition of several new models for 2008 you'll probably have more questions leading to the ultimate decision: Which Bacchetta is right for me?

To help out, we've added a model comparison page at http://www.bacchettabikes.com/recumbents/compare.htm. 

This will allow you to look at the bikes side by side, rather than clicking back and forth between pages.  You'll not only find bike specs, but also links to our always important frame design page http://www.bacchettabikes.com/company/framedesign.htm as well as a link to our fitting and x-seam measurement page http://www.bacchettabikes.com/support/fitting.htm#xseam

So, if you're having a tough time trying to decide between the various models, check out our model comparison page, it could prove to be a big help in your decision!

  • Article Posted: 02/20/2008 11:35:08
  • In: General

Roller coaster of training:

By: John Schlitter

Last time I talked about how intervals and recovery. There seems to be a pattern developing. After a fairly intense week I spoke about in my last post the next was a light week of intervals and a little less time on the bike. The next week, last week, was more tempo intervals but of longer duration early in the week with a following day of tempo shorter tempo intervals and then a couple days of recovery rides.

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Tour de Cape Century Ride

By: John Schlitter

Very foggy morning, delaying the start from 7:30a.m to 7:45a.m.  Five Bacchetta riders lined up with the forty to fifty other century riders,

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Training continues

By: John Schlitter

With the office back in full swing after the Holiday break and the training hours slowly increasing I have slow down posting on the road to Solo RAAM 2008 let’s bring it back up to date.

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