ICE Ergo Mesh Seat & Headrest - Icing on the Cake

The ICE B1 is a great little ride. I was saddened by the news that ICE has decided to discontinue it. A folding recumbent that is very easily adjustable on the fly and ultra comfortable is quite rare. With the absence of the B1 from the market I don't see another easily found commercial recumbent that fits the needs of the "does it all with aplomb" category. That is really a shame. Maybe the future we will see the return of an ICE two wheeler.

Anyway, what better thing to do than make an already awesome bike even more awesome? This is exactly what happened when I swapped my "regular" ICE mesh for the new ICE "ergo mesh"design. Holy smokes it does make a difference - in looks, ride, and utility! To make the seat 100% complete I installed my spare ICE headrest.

The side padding of this new seat mesh truly adds a lot of comfort - it is easy to get centered in the seat and relax. There is a secure feeling that comes from settling into this new seat. You will also note in the image above the holes in the top of the cover - for adding flags. Since this will mainly be going on trikes from now on, that is a nice thing to have. The stress points for the cover where it attaches to the frame are very beefy - I foresee zero issues with wear on this cover.

To add to the awesomeness, the top of the seat has an incorporated pouch, with a waterproof zipper. The pouch is not big enough to swallow the likes of a Road Morph pump, but the smaller Morph pumps would fit for sure - as well as a spare tube, your keys, phone, spare cash, tins of Altoids, energy bar, or other small items. This is a real welcome addition - there are always small things around you need to carry. :)

Throwing the headrest on is a pure bonus - I have been enjoying the seat at the second recline adjustment point, so a headrest is not really necessary. However, when the seat is tipped back it is a welcome addition. Like everything else on ICE recumbents, the headrest is easily adjustable with a simple compact tool. Hard to know what I might try to add or tweak next - this is easily the most comfortable two wheeler I have been on. Full on Zen-cruising comfort - attained.

Time for an American History Lesson

Not directly cycling related - other than related to our ability to buy more recumbet gear and enjoy life.

I present to you a video that I believe is just about the most history lesson you need to understand the dire state of the economy today. Truly eye opening, yet not at all surprising. Required viewing for anyone who wants to understand what the Hell is going on.

Northwave Cycling Sandals

Cycling shoes are a pretty personal thing - the fit needs to be just right, especially if you are looking at long days of riding - and especially for multiple days. For many years I have used sandals, specifically a pair of Nashbar Ragsters and recently a pair of Sette cycling sandals. (The Ragsters and the Sette's are basically the exact same sandal, with the only difference being an adjustable heel strap on the Ragsters)

I recently came across a new pair of cycling shoes on ebay. They are the Northwave "Shark" cycling sandal. I had not heard of this brand before, but had actually been on the lookout for something with a closed toe. These seemed to look OK, though I found very few decent reviews on this specific sandal.

I decided to take a gamble and order a pair. After a handful of weeks using this new footwear I am quite impressed. They have a great fit and are of decent quality. They are comfortable to walk in and are reasonably stiff. They have a bit of odd flash to their appearance but not any stranger than some sneakers out there today. I have not had any point pressure issues using Eggbeater pedals with these, either.

One note is that with the Eggbeater pedal cleats I had to use the shorter length mounting screws.

Now, these things are not meant for the criterium, so we are talking casual riding here, or possibly some decent club riding use. The best thing is that they breathe quite nicely, and as sandals with a lot of open area are nice and cool in the summer. I can see that I will be using these exclusively when that (finally) gets here. Durability will be "too be determined" but so far so good.

Worst Day of the Year Ride

Here is a brief video of the 2011 Worst Day of the Year Ride in Portland - the urban route. This was my first real "ride test" with video of the GoPro HD camera mounted to the trike. Turned out well and I will be tweaking the mounts a bit for better results.

Sadly, my other camera that I used to take stills of all the crazy costumes and helmets decorations, etc on the ride crapped out on my and I lost all of those files. :(

Cycle Oregon - Going Coastal in 2011

Attending the Cycle Oregon route announcement party is always a fun time. Speculation abounds. The rumor mill is at full speed. Once everyone takes their seat the minutes tick by until some initial clue is given and rumors are either dispelled or proven.

The 2011 route is a doozy - an epic loop in southwest Oregon to the coast. Oh, man - this one should fill up fast:

The individual days look incredible. Each one covering quiet roads and epic scenery. Forests. Sand dunes. Pacific Ocean. Tree tunnels. Covered bridges. Incredible sunsets. Mountains. Valleys. Awesome small towns. This one looks to have it all.

Time to start training. 214 days to go... and counting.

Bling review: ICE Computer Mount

I had figured my computer mount on the ICE trike was pretty slick - sitting on top of a NOB mount just inside the left handgrip. Occasionally I would bump it though with my leg, which became a bit annoying on long rides. Then one day I came across the ICE computer mount and I had to have one:

ICE Mount as shown on ICE Website

The mount is designed to go on the front boom bottle mount, and can be used in addition to a cage. I ordered one of these up pronto and it works a treat. I only had to re-drill new holes on my aluminum bottle cage, as the cage design had it sitting too low and it interfered a bit with the computer. A standard cage however would not have this issue. Some of the need to re-drill the cage mount holes comes from the specific design of the Cateye Adventure mount design, which sticks up further from its mount as most computers, which are more centrally located on their mounts.

The computer unit fits perfect, and the view of the computer from the seat is better than I expected even though it is a lot further away than I am used to. There is no interference with the sensor (located on the left kingpin) and no more occasional bumping things with my leg on the pedal stroke!

Adventure perched on ICE super-awesome-mount. Note the Adventure is a bit larger and high-positioned than most computers.

Not all of the ICE trikes (or trikes in general) have the front boom mounts for a cage, but if yours does, this little addition is a perfect way to add a bit of bling and get your computer out of the way and in an ideal location.

New Setup for the New Year!

Well, since my last posting the holidays flew by and it is now 2011. I am not sure what happened to the last month! Whew!


With all the craziness over, I finally had a chance to try the "hamster" bar setup on the ICE B1.


I know there is a longish thread about the superman position versus the hamster bar setup, but now I have had a chance to try out both setups on the B1.

All I can say is that I expected to really dislike the hamster setup (for no apparent reason) but that was not the case. In fact, I think after a few initial rides - before even really dialing in the bars - I actually prefer the hamster over the wider superman bars.

Granted, on the B1 I have not done any really long milage rides - so I cannot say what setup wins the long distance comfort factor, but I was loving all of the following with the hamster:

No leg interference!
Easier to steer the bike around narrow doorways
Slick looking and clean
No "big bars" way up in front of me
Very easy to flip up the bars for entry and exit

The "superman bars" setup

The "hamster bars" setup

The biggest surprise to me though - very neutral handling at any speed - almost "self centering" in a way. I can not say the same for the U bar setup. With the U bars, the bike seems to get twitchier the more the speed drops - which in turn makes issues like leg interference a real hassle. This is the exact same experience I had always had on my old high racers that had U bars. (Corsa SS and RANS F5)

The Hamsters on the B1 are pretty close to the bars on my old Burley Django - which just about had the perfect handlebar setup IMHO. If I could get hold of some genuine Burley handlebars I would be tempted to try that setup out...

Now my final problem - it looks like a different mirror arrangement is in order if I stay hamster. I will need something with some long stalks as having direct bar mounted mirrors is pretty worthless.