Venom update

The Venom is now almost complete. I have replaced the stock 9 LBS seat with a Velokraft Carbon Fiber seat which knocked right at 6 lbs off the weight. The SRAM Rival compact double crank is gone with a Schlumph High Speed Drive in its place.

Took her out yesterday for 42 miles. We parked at a local marina on a lake and you have a nice climb right off the bat just getting out of the parking lot. Previous rides I climbed pretty much at the same rate at my DF riding friend. I was 75 feet ahead of him at the main road. Having the 27t on the Schlump was great vs the 34t and the loss of 6 lbs is HUGE.

We set off down the MUP and every hill the story was the same. I was running about 2 mph faster than before. I can't help but feel some of this is from the stiffness of the CF seat as well.

The downhills were great too, instead of wearing myself out spinning like a madman I kept my cadence around 70. I did find that 29 or 30 was fast enough until I get more comfortable with the handling. Along that note, on one 3/4 mile 4-5% downhill the trike developed sort of a sine wave weave. I think its my weight making minute shifts from side to side as I was pedaling. Freaked me out a bit at first until I got it under control.

25 miles in and he hit a rock that bent his rim so we took the shortest route home. On the way back we were passed by a 5 man paceline of guys mostly in their 30's on really nice CF bikes. I couldn't pass up the opportunilty, I picked up my speed and grabbed their wheel at about 20 mph. They were slowing for a short uphill, only a few hundred yards with a grade about 3%. As we made the 90 degree turn I jumped on the juice and with a loud "passing on your left" I kicked it. I hit and carried 23 miles to the top, hit the Schlump into overdrive and prayed I could hold on. It only took them about 1/4 mile to begin passing me but the last guy was only 50 feet ahead of me when we ran out of trail about 2 miles later. No way could I have done that before!

I waited for my friend and we passed the group as they were loading their bikes. I stopped and they were all laughing. "dude, you were grinning like a maniac when you came buy". I asked them who would admit to being passed by a 50 year old guy on a his trike while riding uphill. It was unanimous, they all said they couldn't wait to.

So, final impressions. Faster, mostly on the climbs but nice having the gear inches on the downhills. The seat is like home except being narrow and on a trike it will take a little getting used to when cornering. I also need to keep a nice spin if I am going to power down steep hills in order to keep a steady line.
__________________
Ward

 

Ward that is really interesting. I'm so glad to hear about folks who find ways to modify their KMX trikes to make them better. If I could have found anyone at ANY LBS in my area that was willing to help me make changes to my son's trike, he would probably still have it instead of the Cat Pocket I bought for him. Most of the shops around town turned me down cold, while others claimed it was not possible to upgrade or modify anything on his trike. Not having enough expertise myself, I finally threw in the towel. He is really happy with the Cat but loved the ruggedness of his KMX. The Cat seems "delicate" by comparison but with its triple ring, 9 speed cassette, and disc brakes, it is eminently more rideable than his stock KMX.
He just can't ride it off-road or over curbs like the KMX.
Happy Riding!

 

What can I say, the grin on my face is so huge you can't see my eyes. That is just awesome. It is so much fun to tweak ones ride for he better but still passing DF on a hill is just the icing on the cake.

although I am curious though what made you decide to go with a carbon fiber seat instead of a frame/mesh style seat? Is CF that much lighter? Did I miss that comment somewhere???

 

Much lighter. I'm still waiting for the chance to ride something with a carbon seat just to see if my back can take it. That could infuence my decision on a new bike.

 

Aah! I see...

 

I have a Velokraft carbon fiber seat on my Sea Dragon and I love it. The plastic seat on the KMX was okay. When I mashed really hard I pressed into a support bar that was right in the middle of my back. Sooo, when I spotted a used VK seat for a great price on BROL I jumped on it.

I was extremely amazed and pleased when I took the old seat off and found that it and the hardware weighted 9 lbs. So, with the VK seat weighing less than a pound it was a no-brainer what to do. Now, how?

My bike shop guys is an old hippie who loves recycling things. He has a trike that he made out of old Murry and Huffy parts, its actually a FWD, leaning trike. Its so fast that he made a rollbar for it out of an old Volkswagon chrome motor roll bar. Anyway, he took one look at the bottom of the seat and said I got it, went into the cavernous basement of his shop, and came back with a galvanized steel bracket. It fit like a glove!
Some double sided tape for protection, a few holes drilled and Voila. For the seat struts he used PVC PIPE, yep PVC. The original aluminum struts that come up from the rear axle fit up inside the PVC and he bolted them together. Some aluminum plates on the inside of the seat to protect the carbon and we were in business for about 3 lbs shaving 6 off the total weight.

 

Ward,

I can tell you I never passed by a paceline going up a hill on my trike. Heck I am lucky if I passed ANYTHING on my trike. But I still loved to ride it!!!