> So, why the extension in the first place? Well, in non-technical terms, I > envision the "balance" envelope as being a large "V" shape (when looking at > the bike from the front or rear) with the point touching the ground at the > tires. If the CoG is very low, the bike doesn't have to tip side to side > very much before the CoG is outside this "V", and you lose control and tip > over. I figured that if the CoG was raised, this would not only allow the > CoG to travel further before it got out of control, but the extra movement > distance would mean you could "feel" the tipping a little easier, and allow > the rider to make less precise corrections to regain balance. Yeah - this is the reason why a (normal) recumbent like a Condor is much easier to ride in rough terrain than others. > How did the extension work? Like a charm! :) I was amazed at how much the > handling changed by raising the seat 2", while leaving everything else the > same. My friend who could already ride it, looked far smoother and he > commented on how much easier it was to keep control. He was practicing > figure 8's and doing very tight turns both with and without clipless pedals. > For me, while I couldn't ride or balance the python at all before, I found > that I could now ride a few feet balancing myself and I could actually > "feel" the balance of the bike now. This was in one ride that lasted under > 2 minutes. Our other friend who could balance it a little bit before, but > still had big stability problems, and could now ride it too. We were all > very pleased and very excited at this "breakthrough". =0 That's amazing. > While lots of theoretical conversation, applications and math are fine from > an engineering standpoint, they don't do me much good, unfortunately. I > need plain information on a particular aspect of the bike, and exactly what > it does, good or bad. IE, I know that angles higher than about 68 degrees > make the front end feel "light" and too easy to steer(some don't like this, > others do). Now I also know that the higher the seat, the easier it is to > feel the balance point and learn to ride. I imagine there is a point where > the seat is now too high, and I also wonder what the BB to seat relation > does as far as control goes. On my python, I'm going to raise the seat > three inches and see if that has a further positive effect, which I think it > will. I'll try to experiment a little and see what it does when I get the > seat at 32 or 33cm. The seat position of the python is similar to that on > high racer recumbents, so, as long as a functional BB to seat measurement is > maintained, has anyone come across any good reasons to have a low python > aside from possible aerodynamic advantages? Well it seems to be really important to be able to touch the ground easily, and it might make a difference when looking at that. But actually I don't really know at what heights this starts to matter. I'd guess somewhere around 35 cm. Sam ============================================================ This is the Python Mailinglist at freelists.org Listmaster: Juergen Mages jmages@xxxxxx ============================================================