Went to an Auction Today. New Toy!!!!

[ACD]

Came home with this... A Ryan Vanguard. Underseat steering recumbent. To use the code ... I found it on the dump... in reality... I paid reasonable money for it. Never ridden one before. I rode it. I'm a believer in recumbents now. WOW! If you get the chance... try one.

 

[sandalscout]

Cool deal man! I've got 2 mountain bikes I'm chopping up to make a recumbant trike, and I've never ridden any recumbant! haha.

What size wheels are those?

 

[tnt1]

wheels

looks like a 20 on front and 26 on the rear

 

[ACD]

Yup 26 rear and 20 front. It has a Shimano 105 crank, Shimano Deore XT chain throwers and more. Seems to be a very well built bike and it's like riding a magic carpet.

 

[Hugo]

Cool bike! But... can you bunny-hop it? I was a recumbent-lover in a past life, for sure.

Hugo

 

[xddorox]

The Vanguard is the Grand Daddy of modern bents. A lot of people, including myself, that saw their first recumbent and got hooked was by watching Christopher Walken riding one in the movie Scanners. Great buy man, congrats

 

[Firewalker]

Hey you left your lights on!

 

[ACD]

Not only that but the engine was running... I simply unloaded the bike, snapped the pic, and threw it in the garage. Then immediately headed 80 miles to pick up my kids at their grandparents.

 

[bigredddaddy]

Cool ride, just needs white walls!!! No one around here calls them "recumbent", they call 'em "Amo bikes" 'cuz amish have them by the buggy load.

 

[TheDuke]

Hey you left your lights on!

:lol: :lol: That is to funny! Very observant though! You probably can always find Waldo! Nice score ACD! Never ridden one but it looks like fun! Gotta post a video of one of your first rides so we can see how it is to adjust! :wink: L8 EM

 

[sandalscout]

Cool ride, just needs white walls!!! No one around here calls them "recumbent", they call 'em "Amo bikes" 'cuz amish have them by the buggy load.

HAHAHA, No Way!?!?!?! I'll have to keep my eyes open next time I'm up in your neck of the woods.

 

[ACD]

Well upon further mileage and speculation I have determined that the Ryan is a serious distance bike but as such it has no spontaneity. You do not just hop on this bike and go. Thus it would quickly become dedicated to planned trips. This is not the root of the majority of cycling I do. I love the comfort and the ride of the long wheel base recumbant but it is not a town bike or errand bike. So.... I have listed it for sale on Craigslist for $700 as well as my Puch and the Columbia and I intend to buy this...

80% of the comfort of a full recumbent, better at climbing hills, and no learning curve/confidence issues. The long wheelbase recumbents get real squirelly at low speed. On sections of road with no breakdown lane or bike path this is really scary as it is hard to keep a smooth line on the edge of the road. If you drop that 20" front tire off the pavement you are going down..end of story. These bikes have their place and I do like it a lot. That said I would use the RANS much more. Just need to gather nearly $1000 (Ouch!) Fear not I have still have a fine selection of Rat projects available. I actually love bombing around on the Escaped Convict in town. It gets some looks to be sure. The convict is definately not a distance bike though and I toss it in the van in the morning on my way to work and ride her around town after my day is done. Weather is dictating that that has stopped for the year.

 

[Firewalker]

the Duke wrote

You probably can always find Waldo!

oh ya that is my faverite book and others like it! I have my kids into it aswell.

The punch buggy game is alive and well in this house....it gets a little ruff when a suzuki "sidekick" drives by :mrgreen:

sorry ACD that look like a real cool bike to ride! It will be real hard to get off of it :mrgreen:

 

[ACD]

So at the advice of the only RANS dealer in Maine I went to visit a nearby owner of a RANS Fusion. Great guy. He has a URAL patrol 2wd sidecar rig and is also an Autogiro dealer. He let me take his RANS out for a cruise. Huge bike but only 26 pounds. Real comfy and no confidence issues. Go try one! I like it a lot. Great everyday all purpose bike.