My most recent ride in 2021 (part XIV in the series)

Wow, I just found this thread!

My latest ride was a week ago. Now that the time has changed and fall temps and winds have arrived in Central IL, my riding opportunities are considerably curtailed. But it was a beautiful day for a 15 mile ride on my RANS V3-AL!

 

Sweet ride!

 

Wow, pretty crazy headangle..! Isn't it a problem to keep balance in low speed?

 

I wouldn't think so, I see a lot of folks who have them. The thing that always freaks me out is the tiny "hamster handle bars". I've never been able to get used to those.

 

I'm not a big hampster bar fan either. I mounted a Rans B-38 handlebar and dialed it in just right....test ride lasted about 6 feet, when I turned the handlebars jabbed me...
This bike is pretty new to me so only a few rides. So far I have found the steering to be more stable than my Stratus in most cases, especially hill climbing. But when doing super slow maneuvers, like when you try to keep the bike balanced while waiting for a car to pass, I find it particularly unstable. I may just need to learn the bike more, we'll see.
The bike is darn near too tall for me, I may need to cut the bottom third off the wheels. The seat is just right for me when all the way forward. But it's so much fun to ride!!

 

Depending upon how much you want to put into this bike, I have a fairly inexpensive change that might make both low soeed handling better and get your feet closer to the ground.

I had a V2 formula 26 which was extremely similar to the V3. I hanged the front fork for a carbon fiber 26" MTB fork with disc brake mounts. The fork didnt extend the front wheel so far out which decreased the front wheel flop. It also saved a ton of weight.

I purchased the TerraCycle glideflex stem which allows you to raise the handlebars during low speed manoeuvres.

The disc brake fork will allow you to mount a 24" or a 20" wheel on the front significantly lowering the front end.

If you want to try this, I have another fork. If you wanted to try it, I will ship it to you and you can pay me later. I paid $100 but I would take $50. Its never been used.

 

here yiu can see the fork, I hadnt put the glideflex on yet.

 

It looks like you did a great job with that! I'm not quite ready to go down that rabbit hole yet. I really want to give this bike some ride time and master its handling and tendencies before I change too much. Unfortunately I got it on the road at the end of the riding season. I'm still a working stiff, so I'm relegated to weekend rides as daylight allows until spring.

 

I understand, I have always liked trying to change things to work better for me and bikes and riding are my only hobby.

Lots of lighting options for riding at night. Clothing in the winter, layers and winter bike shoes.

 

Nope. I live in Tennessee and he lives in California. He could probably ride here though.

 

Rode Friday night. Chilly quickly became cold as the temp dropped from 55 to 45 degrees during the ride. The Zockra isnt great with rraffic, the headlights are brutal at that angle. We did big gear tempo repeats x3 ending with 24 miles 1000 feet elevation gain and my quads were toast!