More Than a Decade Buying Performer Recumbents
Have had a great relationship with Performer ever since my first order in October 2006, a gorgeous white 700c High Racer ...
This was a fast, comfortable bike.
Unfortunately, I was a novice regarding recumbents & eager to try different offerings.
When a Cruzbike Vendetta was offered in part exchange, I snapped it up.
I regretted the exchange soon after as the Cruzbike proved to be a death trap.
I sold it within 6 months and bought my second High Racer, a blue one this time with an updated frame:
I was getting fairly confident at assembling these bikes and would just order the frames from Taiwan, acquiring other components locally.
The cost of these frames is less than half the European counterparts with also shorter delivery times.
The frame updates on the latest high racer included thru-frame cabling and smoothed joints which really gave the bike a high class finish.
Also featured a tapered steering bearing system and new tiller.
One of my friends was so stunned by this bike he asked me to build him a green one.
He spared no expense with Ultegra components. The finished bike weighed in at 11.2 kg, and that was with fibreglass seat!
About this time I was looking for a travel bike.
Again, I ordered from Christine, a split-frame FWD bike with small wheels.
I was not sure how I would fare with small wheels & FWD, but I needn’t have worried. I fell in love with the format and ended up with 3!
The small wheels make the bike more manoeuvrable compared to the big wheels and fatter tyres were more comfortable on rough roads. I also liked being closer to the ground.
Finally, last year I ordered a Tandem for my partner & I to enjoy together.
I wanted to make something special here and asked Christine if she could incorporate some mods….namely OS Steering, small wheels & FWD.
The boss made a special bracket to convert to FWD. This bike with carbon seats weighed in at 23kg!
The small wheels make it easy to get my feet on the ground.
The frame splits apart easy for transport and none of the chains need to be removed as they are all contained on the front section.
I have also developed a love of the yellow colour with red highlights!
