Gear: Chris' Bike

I've had a couple of questions about Chris' bike. While the man himself is best able to answer them, this is my blog, and I'll take a shot.

Chris rides a Day Six Dream, a pedal forward designed bike that puts the rider in a position like that of a chair. Complete technical specifications are available on the Day Six website.Like many super obese men, including myself, he has a bad back, and being seated upright is the difference between riding and not riding. My friend is two hundred pounds over the weight limit for the bike, and has a history of problems with the rear wheel and seat. In the photo below, you might notice the seat contains wood. This isn't a historical tribute to the draisine, the two century old prototype of the modern bike, but instead a do it yourself fix for a seat that snapped under his weight. The wooded repair is stronger than the resin Day Six used, and the fix allows Chris to extend his seat backward, giving him a bigger platform. In addition he's added bar ends to the handlebar, and a basket for his beverages. 

 As I wrote in my post about our ride last week, Chris has struggled with the fit of his bike. He's stubborn, which has helped him not give up, and hurt him as he's insisted he can find a way himself. He also doesn't ride enough; restricting his long rides to my visits means he's not working through his problems when he needs to. But, as I wrote, Chris thinks he's made a breakthrough, getting the seat to move back without raising him up. If you compare the two photos in this post, you'll see the seat is further back by a couple of inches, and lower. This gives Chris a better leg extension without causing him to strain. The improved fit gave him an increase in average speed, as he didn't need to stop as often. Chris will be fine-tuning his fit in the next week.

Chris received a lot of incorrect advice from riders of conventional bicycles, including me, that he had to raise the seat to improve his leg extension. This shows the dangers of crowdsourcing; even a message board full of experienced cyclists can be wrong if they don't have experience with the type of bike they are talking about. Fortunately Chris is finding his way and with his customary good cheer will succeed.