There’s been a few people curious about the new color of the 700c Corsa’s arriving starting in May with large frames and then following in June with medium frames.  This will be a color we’ll be running on 700c and 650c bikes, however, currently all 650c Corsa’s are still black with red decals and we consider these 2011 frames.

Below is the Corsa’s new metallic brushed titanium color on a Bella frame (example only, we will not have a Bella in this color!)

Metallic Titanium color for Corsa

The metallic in this paint job is very subtle.  As a comparison, below is a picture of the old Titanium Aero frame.  Fairly similar.

Brushed Titanium Aero frame

Dave on his Strada

When I was a kid, my bike was the main mode of transportation; we went everywhere on our bikes.  Fast forward forty years and some of my co-workers ride every Saturday.  Now, I thought at one time I could have been a competitive bike rider, I just never took that road.

So, I thought I would take them up on the invitation to ride with them and they even had a bike I could ride. Now, I’m not in bad shape- I walk, work out and rode a bike a lot all those years ago.  What could go wrong?

My first ride with the group was 25 miles.  My butt and wrists were some kind of sore. Padded bike shorts, gloves and a gel pad seat cover later and I still have a sore butt, wrist, neck and back.  I was getting worse.

I talked with one of the high mileage riders the local bike store, and we discussed trikes, other recumbents and of course, DF’s.  I decided to go recumbent against the advice of most of the riders, and found a deal on an old Burly.  Lots less pain 1000 miles later I think that this recumbent  bike stuff is going to stick around, only now I want a faster bike! Having tried a Bacchetta Corsa that was fast, and talking with its owner who had upgraded to a C/A 2.0, I decided to look for a Bacchetta that would fit my budget and found a new Strada in Florida.  It fits great and I even like the color. I could not be happier.

David Witte

Get a lot of people asking about this, so here you go.  What I’ve done is packed up a C/A 2.0 in a Crateworks Tandem box.  This is being sent to upper New England and then flying over to Denmark.  I’m new to Crateworks and this was my virgin voyage, but it worked out great for this bike and Crateworks has definitely done their homework on this great product.  (Keep in mind that I’m anal, and wrapped then zip tied the crap out of it.  Less movement when shipping equals less damage.)

I’ve also done my best keeping the bike as complete as possible.  This bike was built up complete and tested initially before going in the box so with maybe some minor adjustments it should be ready to ride. 

Frame in the box. Wrapped, strapped down and secure.

At the stage above, all that is removed are the wheels, rear derailleur hanger, rear derailleur and the top stem of the two-piece riser system, of which I also folded the bars down on.  I’ve also reclined the seat quite a bit.  Fork, bottom riser assembley, seat, brakes, crank- all still attached, set up and ready to go. 

Frame with rear wheel

Normally, there is a specific piece of the system which goes over the bike and then you put the wheels on top of it.  If I would have had the bike flipped around, I probably could have done this.  But she was strapped down and I didn’t have the energy to undo it.  So, I put the rear wheel in with the bike and it worked out great!

Frame cover on and front wheel strapped on

Here it is with the front wheel strapped on.  The hole on the right is usually for the rear wheel.  Notice the straps provided to keep everything in place.

Top on, strapped up and ready to ship!

Here is the final package.  It’s sizeable, but easy to carry and not nearly that heavy.  Crateworks gives you a ton of strapping options on the inside, so everything is super secure and the outside straps are one piece and not four seperate bands.

I’m sure this could be greatly improved upon with practice.  However, this bike only needs the rear derailleur hanger screwed back on, then the rear derailleur itself, seat back inclined to a comfortable level (the bottom should be very close to the owner’s x-seam), top riser inserted, clamped and adjusted, then add the wheels.  A good multi-tool should get it done lickety split. 

The hardest part will be removing all the zip ties…

Scott Lenoir and his C/A 2

Another one of our favorite types of feedback here at Bacchetta…doesn’t get any better than this!

Dear friends,   

 I’m 55 years old and rode a hybrid mountain bike on and off for a few years.  My first recumbent was a trike and I rode a good bit, but wanted to go faster and longer. So I traded it in and bought a CA2 in August of 2010 from Ride South in Brandon.  It was comfortable from the beginning.  My idea was to put 100 miles a week on the bike and I did that until just recently.  Work and the weather have interfered with riding lately and I’m logging fewer miles, but I’m hoping that will end soon.  

    I began riding because I can’t walk more than a couple of miles due an ankle problem and running is out of the question.  Also, I began riding to relieve stress and maybe lose some weight while having a little fun too.  Since August, I’ve lost 20 pounds, but the best news health-wise is my A1C diabetes level dropped in an October test from 7.5 to 6.5.  Anything below 7 is out of the danger zone.   I’m Type II. The test reaches back over three months, and I took the test after riding only two months.  I’m thinking my next test, may yield even better results, “normal” results.   

    In summary, I feel better, having fun exercising, and my golf game has improved. I don’t know how that happened, but I’m thankful.  I love the CA2- wonderful bike- it has helped me enjoy life with better health all round.  I like zipping around the landscape of the Natchez Trace and other bike trails in my area too- it’s a fast bike and when I get more fit, it’ll be faster!

 The Rev. Scott Lenoir
Priest Associate, Chapel of the Cross, Madison
Editor, The Mississippi Episcopalian

There’s been a ton of discussions/confusion over this one.  This *should* help to clear things up a bit.  I’ll keep this short and sweet.

Measuring technique: I placed the bar down flat on a uhm…flat surface.  This is virtually the same as it is installed on your bike.  I am measuring from the edge of the bar, just to the side of where it attaches to the riser and measuring to the bar end, which is the edge of the bench.  You should be able to get a similar measurement by putting a straight edge at the end of your bars.  Just take into account your bars will have tape and grips or bar end shifters.

First, here is the Standard Aero bar, or what served as the standard Aero bar for the past 5+ years.  This is being usurped by a longer version but more on that later. 

The Old "Standard" Aero bar, now the new "Short" Aero bar

It’s a little hard to see, but the length is right at 280 mm or 11″. 

Now below we have the New long bar which is what we began stocking on all C/A 2.0 bikes for 2010 this year and will phase into the Corsa for 2011.

The New Long Aero bar introduced in 2010

The measurement you’re seeing here is 300mm or just over 11 5/8″.

What I didn’t include here is the Old long Aero bar, which were approx. 330mm or 13″.  I didn’t measure them because we have been out of stock for quite some time.

Keep in mind these measurements are for the Aero bars only, which measure 18 3/4″ center to center at the bar ends.  If you have the wide bars which are around 22 1/2″, then this post does not apply: we only make one width of the wide bars.  Thank God.

My First Half Century!

Just look at that picture.  I’m not the kind of person who will ever be seen wearing one of those “Life is Good” smiley faced stick guy t-shirts, but something about the above photo just makes me feel all gushy inside.  Could be because we helped a person with a little direction.  Could be satisfaction taken in building a good product.

Could be this dude just looks like he’s lovin’ life.

Yeah, that’s it.

But enough of my mumbling, stumbling and bumbling.  Kitties and cats it’s time to hear it straight from the man of the hour, our good friend and new Bacchetta family member, Mr. Jim Peoples.

###

I’m 64 years old and started mountain biking after Katrina in 2005; I loved the trails and kept a spare bike with street tires for Saturday’s when the trails were too wet.  Finally decided I wanted a real bike, tried a high end Trek Hybrid (7500) and it was OK but no love.  Tried a Trek road bike- fast but too uncomfortable.  Tried a new 29er, added cyclocross tires and found I really loved this setup the most, but rides over fifteen miles were really starting to hurt me.  

One day I saw a couple of recumbents on the River Levee Trail here in New Orleans, talked to a couple of the riders and they sounded really satisfied.  Bought a ten year old RANS Rocket off of Craigslist in August, totally rebuilt it and have loved it except that it’s too rough on the New Orleans roads; it’s great on the paved trail but not on the streets.  On smooth roads it was the most fun on a bike I’ve ever had but the spooky handling began to scare me.  I then tried a Bacchetta Giro 26 at a dealer and found it much better.  I also tried a Bella but it wasn’t as much fun as the high racer. 

More research, more riding the Rocket. 

I was becoming convinced that no one should be riding a regular bike, as comfortable as these recumbents are.  Decided at my age I should go for the pure comfort rather than the high bottom bracket and ordered a Bella from Bacchetta.  Now, 64 year old men shouldn’t get so excited over a bicycle, but when I received it, which was only four days after I ordered it, I couldn’t believe the beauty and quality of this bike; from the wheels to the exotic looking brake noodle, to the exquisite Mango paint!  I work in a large mechanic/machine shop and everyone that looked in the huge box had nothing but good things to say about it, even though most didn’t know what it was. That night I played with it, fitted it, put on the lights and rode it a few miles.  It was outstanding.  Went to the local bike store on Saturday, bought red lights, computer, carbon bottle holder, etc. had to help the wife at a church affair that day but still rode it 18 miles at dark.  I just couldn’t stay off of it. 

The next day, Sunday, I rode my first half century in my life- 52 miles and I’m not lying!  My butt had a little stinging but no pain, and the old legs were a little tired, but I have never felt like this after a 30 mile ride, much less a 50.  I look forward to upgrading and riding this beast, it is beautiful, smooth, and comfortable and I can’t thank you and Jeremy (Massey) for all the help in picking the right bike with the right parts: Thank you.  

By the way; I’ve already allowed two total strangers to test drive it, they couldn’t believe how easy it was to just get on it and ride. 

Jim Peoples- Destrehan, La.

Okay you Bacchetta kitties and cats, if you’re even anywhere near this part of the country you better come see us.  Saturday we’ll be giving tons of test rides and Sunday, there’ll be a tour of southern New England.  All hosted by Wheelworks and their top cycling/recumbent dog, Scott Chamberlain.

For more information and some absolutely beautiful photography, check out Scott’s blog: Wheelworks/Bacchetta Weekend 

We’ll see you there!

Here is a cool ride that a couple of the Bacchetta hive members are involved in:

http://www.sammyrides.com
Grandparents Ride for the Health of Grandchildren.

We know times are tough out there but if you can help out, please do!

TIA,
Mark

Here’s a nice little note from two members of the ever-growing Bacchetta family.  The Gustafson’s were nice enough to share it with us and we’re returning the favor- Thanks Paul and Brenda!

Hey guys,

Paul Gustafson, PhD, RKT

Paul and Brenda Gustafson along the Erie Canal

 

We’ve been slowly relaunching the X-Eyed line, first with our X-Eyed high end brakes and now with our Hi-Viz and new, Red jersey’s.  The idea was to tone these jersey’s down from our Bacchetta label jersey’s, so every recumbent rider can enjoy the benefits of this cutting edge design, but with the super-cool X-Eyed label. 

Below are some pictures of the new jersey and logo, which should be available around June 21st.  Also, look for the expansion of this logo into other products in the very near future.

X-Eyed Red- Front

X-Eyed Red- Rear