A Comfortable Ride
Whether around the block or to and from work, one of the critical elements of bicycle riding is enjoying yourself. And a large part of enjoying yourself is how comfortable you are. If you haven’t thrown your leg over a saddle in a while, getting on a bike can be a daunting task. So what do you do? You want to save gas, you want to protect the environment, but the thought of a bicycle seat makes you clench in all the wrong places.
Enter the RANS Crank Forward
The best way I can think of to describe the crank forward riding experience is to compare it to an exercise bike. Your body position is very much like sitting in a chair. Your feet are in front of your seat, not below you as on a conventional bike. You are sitting upright with no pressure on your hands, no pain in the back. The seat is wide and comfortable. The seat height is lower than a conventional bike, so it is easy to have your feet flat on the ground when stopped. Longer wheelbase so a more stable ride. The easiest ride you will ever experience. Even if you haven’t seen a bike in years you will be able to quickly get used to the different feel of these bikes.
I am more of a bike rider than my wife. I have been looking for any way to get her to enjoy bike riding more so we can ride more often.. Then I found Rans bikes. We went on a test ride and instantly fell in love with the easy going ride. After riding mountian bikes for many years, it almost felt like cheating to ride the crank forward models, it was just too easy. That first ride we went an estimated 25 miles, probably our longest ride together. So we purchased a pair of Rans bikes for our Christmas present to each other. Our average ride is around 20 miles now. In fact it is my wife who is wanting to go further and she finds different rides around the Bay area. Our longest ride to date was 30 miles, with hills. A feat we would have never accomplished on our old bikes.
One benefit of not having any weight on your hands is you discover your bike has gears. Rather than worrying about how you can no longer feel parts of your body, you get to play with the shifters and have a look around at the scenery. Going up hills is no longer a painful task. My wife has made it up hills that she would have walked her old bike. With the pedals ahead of you, there is no standing on the pedals and churning up a hill. Instead you press forward with your feet as you pull back on the handle bars. You can generate more power than by gravity cranking alone. Plus you get a bit of an upper body workout.
We love our new bikes. In the month of good riding weather since December we have put about 100 miles on our bikes. That is probably more distance than we rode all last summer. We are continually looking for new trails both on and off road. Biking has been made fun again.
