April 2008:
The time it took to build my own bike is certainly a factor of four bigger then my best estimation. Especially the research, the design-fase, the finetuning of details, the search for the easiest way to produce it, the construction of the molds, the preparations before the welding and finally adding the finishing touches, took quite a bit of time.
Thanks to the in-depth pre-production, the full-scale model and the molds derived from it, the resulting frame was built to fit.
Driving the bike: After half an hour, I was able to drive straight lines and to make light turns. ( Remember that at that point in time my steer wasn't welded to the frame.) But soon after, I felt safe enough to try a lot more.
After a couple of days I started testing the construction: Making emergency-stops, riding faster then 50 km / h (31 miles / h) and also I rode over country-roads. It did, however, take a while before I felt completely safe to drive on a regular road with a lot of traffic.
The thing I noticed first was that I was using completely different muscles, certainly when riding uphill. After 1500 km I started riding with clickpedals, which was a big help while driving uphill, because they allow you to pull the pedals as well. I noticed that clickpedals made me a bit more carefull. When I drive towards a crossing, I usually un-click one of my shoes, to be able to put a foot on the ground, should something cause me to stop abruptly. Being unable to peek over my shoulder is a big miss. ( Especially when you are wearing glasses, like I do, you can't just look behind you by looking through the corner of your eye; you need to be able to turn your head even further. ) That is why I installed a small mirror on my steer. I already noticed that it is a tad too small, but making it bigger also means that you can bent it easily out of place or shape. Luckely it is no problem to get it into the right position while driving.
The bike is very stable in all situations. No problems to report at low or high speeds, speedsbumps or holes in the road don't cause any unexpected behaviour. I can drive without hands on the steer, but prefer not to do it ( I'm getting too old for this kind of thing ). The turning circle is, especially a left turn, quite small, which is easy when you want to turn on a small road. The right-turn is a larger circle because of the way the controller arms are connected.
I like the fact that I can control the bike with relaxed arms and hands. Also comfortable is the Ventisit seat pad, which looks new even after 2000 km. The only thing I need to get used to is the attention of other roadusers, recumbents still stand out of the crowd.
The aluminum-seat is very strong and could have been made from thinner plate material, which also would reduce the weight. Further weight-reduction could have been achieved if the derailleur-hangers were made from thinner material and installing race-wheels.
Costs: about € 1000,- of which € 700,- was spend on regular bikeparts. The rest of the costs are material for the frame and seat, seatpod and welder-pay. Working hours are not included, since most of it are hobby-hours and voluntary work.
To the back of the seat I attached a small backpack. In it I have all tools that I can possibly need, a cable-lock and an emergency-kit. There is still enough room for other stuff. I can attach a LED-light to the backpack. Even after 2000 km the tools are still unused, I even haven't had to replace a tire. I am very happy with my current tires, there isn't even a sign of wear and tear.
The same tires are also on my touring bike, and in comparison to the Swalbe Marathons ( previous tires I used ) they were less likely to catch pieces of glass or small pieces of rock. Untill now the recumbent was only used as a nice-weather-bike, but now I am thinking of installing fenders and even a small luggage-rack. The steering-bar could be a bit smaller ( 4 cm less on both sides ). The seat-angle will be changed to 30˚ sometime in the future.
The designing and building of the LIQFITS-bike was a timeconsuming business, but it gives a lot of satisfaction to see something that you have thought up, to be built to your personal wishes. I am very happy with the way this bike turned out and it's a pleasure to ride, especially on long distances on quiet roads.
December 2008:
After about 3500 km riding without any need for repairs ( not even a flat tire ) I´m still very satisfied with my design and it´s execution.
The small mirror has been replaced by a somewhat larger one. I've also added an additional layer of Ventisit under the part of the Ventisit seatpad I sit on, because that spot had become a tad flat, though the entire Ventisit seatpad still looks new.
I don´t use the largest chainring ( 52 teeth ) at all. The middle chainring with 42 is the one I use almost constantly. The smallest one I use riding uphill, but I still don´t like doing that: I tend to avoid slopes now, I prefer a small detour. With my regular bikes I rather do the opposite; riding no more than I have to.
Even after 3500 km I notice I´m much more carefull in traffic as I would be riding my other bikes. I think this is partly because of the fact I don´t have much overview, especially peeking over your shoulder quickly remains a problem. Looking into a small mirror doen´t help a lot, in my opinion. I also don´t like riding my bike in a crowded city, 'cause of the constant stopping and starting. Starting just isn't as easy as it is on a regular bike. On one of those you simply put your foot on a pedal and your 80 kg of bodyweight does the rest. With a recumbent you have to push hard and change down to make things easy. This also differs from a regular bike; on which I use 3 speeds at the most and hardly ever use all of them, whilst I use a lot of speeds on my recumbent and change very often. On my LIQFITS it is much more apparent if I'm going somewhat uphill compared to on a regular bike.
I still have plans to shorten my handlebar. Compared to my regular bike and my racing bike I've noticed I never use my recumbent for short distances. The LIQFITS is for longer distances ( 10 - 80 km ) in nice weather. I hardly ever use the racing bike nowadays. If I´d ride my regular bike for hours on end, I notice the difference in comfort very well. Riding on the recumbent is painless, while riding a regular bike will - in time - cause back-, butt- and handache. The great thing about a recumbent is that you can relax when you got wind in your back or go downhill. I notice that while riding a recumbent one uses different muscles compared to riding a regular bike, certainly when going uphill.
I really like the position of the handelbar; the arms are relaxed and you don't have to hold on to anything. I therefor think it's odd that so many recumbents with underseat have the handlebar bend upwards.
This website already welcomed more then 1,600 visitors. The amount of interest inspired us ( the builder and the webmaster, both recumbent-riders) to translate all Dutch text to English.
The LIQFITS was present in the DIY- corner at Cyclovision ( the world largest recumbent-event ), on the twenty-first of june, 2008 - which was a nice experience. I also recieved a lot of positive reactions about the LIQFITS and about this site, for which I would like to thank you all.