Vision R40 mods

Got his Vision R40, been working on it for a while. Taken out the 16" suspension forks/wheel and initially replaced with a found set of BMX 20" forks/wheel. The 20" forks are too long and the offset too great and it's thrown the steering off. Got another (kindly donated) set of 27" road forks on the way which I'm going to cut down and attach new dropouts.

So I'll probably try and replicate the geometry from the 16" setup but can't decide whether to use the 16" ISO 349 or the 20" wheel, what do you think? Ride quality? Tyre choice (big choice of Brompton tryes)?

Was also tempted to put on some temporary long slot dropouts to have a play with the fork offset, worth it? Anyone done this? Images?

Any thoughts gratefully received, cheers, Sean









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Hi Sean,

I love my VR-40 -- it still has everything stock from when I bought it in 2001, including the 20" (406) front wheel. When it was new, I remember feeling that the steering was very responsive, almost twitchy. Now, it doesn't feel that way; it's almost stodgy now. Part of that is, I think, I hit too many potholes and have bent the fork enough to change the trail. The other part is I just put on Schwalbe Marathon GreenGuard 40mm tires. They feel much more secure and solid but less responsive to steering input. All that to say, if you're tall enough to reach the ground with the 406 wheel, that probably would work better.

Also, I recall reading another rider doing several experiments with 16", 20", and 24" front wheels and writing extensively on his experience. I'm sorry I haven't found that thread yet -- I can't remember if it was on here or recumbents.com or bentrideronline.com. If I find it, I'll repost the link here. Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

 

I miss my SWB R-40 with underseat steering!!! There is one for sale not far from me with overseat steering that is tempting, but I'm out of storage space and having no luck trying to sell my RANS V3...

 

Followup (not to hijack post), I bought the R40 near me, it has a 20" suspended fork. Would love to change it to a rigid 20"/406 fork if anyone has one to sell that supports underseat steering.

OP - I would stick with 20" if the geometry works out okay. I don't know how it is in UK, but here in US the availability of any variety or quantity of tires and tubes in 349 is not very good.

 

Thanks A.D. for that advice -- I'll jump on that . I want to put a eurostyle FRP seat on my R40, like Irv Jamison did. The shell seems easy enough to get, but it looks like the job will require custom brackets and new seat stays. Does anyone have sources or advice on this? Also, Irv put the FRP seat on an OSS R40 and I want to keep mine USS -- I think it will still work, but if anyone has advice on that, I'd be grateful.

 

I was looking at Hostel Shoppe to see if their Volae seat brackets might work for me (I'm thinking not, based on an old thread on this message board), and looked to see if they had forks for you, Mark...they didn't show any, but you might call and ask. You might try asking folks on the Vision Riders Facebook Group. Also, Power On Cycling has RAW 20" forks -- it looks like maybe he makes them, and thus might be able to help. Also, you might check in with A.D. Carson at Recycled Recumbents -- he collects, restores, and builds (and sells) recumbents -- he might have what you need on his parts rack. There's also Bicycle Man, who sells Vision parts; like Hostel Shoppe, they don't have any Vision forks showing on their website but you might call or email and see if they can help.

Sean, I've been combing the message boards here and on bentrider.com and recumbents.com for that post about experiments with various front wheel sizes. I know it's there, I just can't seem to find it. If I come across it in the future, I'll link it here.

 

I will probably reach out for a used one because I'm....frugal. I have time, the R40 is going to be my trainer bike over the winter. If you have to ride indoors, make it convenient!!

 

Frugal...yeah, me too. But I can't help but think that's a euphemism for something...

 

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Hi Sean,
I found one rider's experiments with wheel size here. Hope your project is coming along well.