Gosh...it's hard to believe I haven't made an entry in 6 weeks.  But then lots has happened.


We had an arrival who's caused us to pretty much re-order everything in our lives.  Travis was described on Petfinder.com as "Urgent!"   Turns out he was in a high-kill animal shelter in eastern Washington.  Now he's home safe with us.  He's about 16 months old, half German Shepherd, half Australian Cattle Dog, the most incredibly loving dog, eager to please, always ready to play, constantly in search of something or someone to herd or a ball to fetch, and totally unwilling to believe that Gomez, our large black Maine Coon cat, might think of anything better to do than play with him.  Unfortunately what's tops on Travis' list is bottom on Gomez'.

Of course we can't leave Travis home on the days we're out riding, so now we this residing in our kitchen...without its wheels and tow bar.  We're hoping he'll just take to it like one more part of his domain, will be comfortable climbing in and out, and so putting the wheels on and towing it won't be any big deal for him.  So far so good.  We've fed him in it a couple of times and he's happy in it searching for the treats we've hidden inside.  Maybe this weekend I'll put the wheels on it, and in a couple of days then it'll go outside and I'll hook it to the trike.  I've got a funny feeling he'll ride in it just fine, but only after he's run along with the trikes until he's totally exhausted.

And then there's Penni's birthday present.  What do you do when work's slow-to-non-existent and money's tight?  Well I briefly subscribed to the theory that if I gave a chunk away of the little I have then I'd simply make room for more.  So when this brand new Greenspeed GT3 II showed up on BROL at a great price...and only about 20 miles away, I grabbed it.  It folds, has the perfect seat angle for her, has neat little 16" wheels, and best of all according to Penni, it's purple.  So most likely she'll get to tow the BOB and I get to tow you-know-who.


The really sad news is that shortly after Travis arrived, Penni put Frankie down.  He was our 20 old orange tabby retired barn cat.  The past year he'd settled into a life of mostly sleeping days away.  But finally he was in so much pain it became really awful just watching him trying to get around.  Neither Pen nor I can feel his presence so we figure his spirit has gone back to his cozy spot in that barn south of here where he spent so much of his life.


Then there's been a brief thaw in the governor's freeze on state personal service contracts.  So all of a sudden I got five really interesting consulting contracts...real work after I was thinking I was retired.  It feels great to be wanted and even better to be earning a living, but of course everyone has wanted everything done right away.  Its gone from famine to feast.  And that's meant that I've had to let The finer recliner gear, TOT gear and the neck rests just sit in idle for a bit.   With Zubin laid up after knee surgery and Cara from embroidery central command traveling for a while, my work distractions weren't the only things putting sand into our production gears.

So...some good news.  Zubin has done a great job with the covers for the new CURVE model neck rests and  they're starting to sell.  Same cover material, latex fill, but with a velco closure instead of the poly cord  on the ROLL model.  It makes for a nice tailored finish.   So I'll be using it on Msafiri for a while, but first impressions are that I like it a lot.  Is it better than the ROLL model?  In the end I honestly think it's a matter of personal preference.  The ROLL easily conforms to the shape of our necks.  And the choice of open pore foam or latex fill should satisfy anyone.  The CURVE, filled with latex, also conforms nicely, and it offers some side to side support as well.  In truth I really like them both.
Isn't it nice to have a choice?

Something else exciting is this neck rest, shown without the cover.  It'll fit on a horizontal tube like the older Catrike model.  I have different diameter brackets to accommodate different size horizontal tubes.

Here's an inexpensive neck rest assembly for any Catrikes without the towers or any other trike with a horizontal seat top tube.

Can I make any one of these for you?

Gear for us non-lycra bikers, Part 2.   Return to "The finer recliner."

This blog isn't a good place for lots of pictures...the columns are just too narrow.  So for anyone wanting to check out "Finer recliner" gear, this site is really impossible.  The long term solution is to create a website.  Because I'm really excited about the gear (it looks even better in person than in pictures!) and I'm a web design cretin I've come up with an interim plan by posting everything in a Picasa album.  http://picasaweb.google.com/shag1941/TheFinerReclinerRecumbentGear#  Everything's there - all the gear, sizes, colors, prices, and how to order.

What is "The finer recliner" gear? It's a growing collection of personalizable wickable riding jerseys, tee shirts, caps and other cool gear for us non-lycra recumbent cyclists who like comfortable clothes for riding or just hanging out with friends, and who like to share our enthusiasm with others for our own rides and recumbent trikes in general.

How's it special?  For starters, everything is personalized.  It's gear that's uniquely yours, or it makes a very special gift.  Choose your gear from a rainbow of colors.  Then choose your logo - tadpole or delta trike.  We'll embroider the logo in the frame color of your choice so you can match your trike.  I think the embroidered logos look terrific.  Then add the name or nickname you want to create a comfortable garment you'll love to wear or give to someone special.

These clothes look great, perform well, are comfortable, AND they're not skin tight.  And we're offering unique clothing for women including a cap sleeve riding jersey that Penni loves.  Even the ball caps are cut differently for men and women. It's a growing

It was a great holiday season and I'm excited about the new year.  One of the best and most unexpected gifts from this little enterprise has been the way its brought so many nice folks into my life from all over the US, Canada and even overseas.  Email exchanges that began about neck rests evolved into much more, and I feel so enriched by the many delightful people I've met because of this small item.  Thanks.

I posted Kirk's feedback about the new curved prototype neck rest on BROL and the Catrike forum so I won't repeat it here.  He said he's not gonna return it, and that's endorsement enough so I'm tooling up to offer this curved version along with the current model.  I've heard from Dave about the "half-wrap" neck rest we made him that will hopefully help with his arthritis.  He said he hasn't tried it out on the road yet because of 12 degree weather and snow...a cheesy excuse, but according to Dave, the "Garage test is dreamy comfortable."  If nothing else it should make a comfy recliner in front of the fire.

I got an email from Paul saying he'd noticed that the glue binding the latex to the base hadn't held in several places around the edges on his new neck rest, wondered whether the extreme cold in my shop had played havoc with the binding, and asked about a fix.  The hallucinations from the fumes alone should have been enough to get me to switch adhesives.  Paul's feedback was the clincher.  I bag each neck rest in plastic and bind it tightly with tape for at least 12 hours after gluing the fill to the base, so the binding should be secure.  So I've switched adhesives to one recommended by my foam supplier and it seems to working just fine.  I'm kinda missing the visions though.  

As for Paul's neck rest, I offered to replace it immediately.  He decided to try his own fix first.  And here's what else he had to say.  "That being said, I mounted it and took it for a spin to see if it was worth considering some sort of remedy, and must say it is light years more comfortable than the catrike version!  I love it and hope you can offer some suggestions on what to do about the glue situation."  Anyone else with this or any other issue, please let me know so I can make it right.  The world's a complicated place, and in most instances there's little over which any of us has total control.  Making you happy with your neck rest is about as close to total control as I can ever have.  We just began making these toward the end of last summer, so each new batch has been an opportunity to learn, and to find ways to make what we think is a good product even better. 

Things in the works for the coming months include the new curved neck rests, and new brackets so our neck rests will fit on older Catrike models and other models with horizontal bars.  And since Msafiri (my Expedition) is still fitted with prototype #1, I think it's time I made myself a new neck rest.

Have a wonderful new year, and stay tuned.

This one's really exciting.  Sure the jury's still out because this won't be shipped until tomorrow, but still this is the neck rest I'm most proud of so far.  A few months ago someone who'd bought one of my standard neck rests asked if I could make him a special one.  Because of arthritis in his neck he needs a rest that stabilizes his neck side-to-side as well as fore and aft.  Once I had the measurements from his chiropractor the real challenge was finding something to use as a curved base.  That 8" PVC high pressure coupling I showed in an earlier post turned out to be the perfect dimension and it's rigid enough not to flex.

The inside diameter of the base is 8", and it's lined with 2" latex.  The support brackets have 5 mounting adjustments so it can be tilted up and down, and then secured.  Zubin did a great job of tailoring a cover for this uniquely shaped neck rest.  We are both really proud of our product and hope it exceeds our patient customer's expectations.

Last post of the day.  It seems like this has become a clothing store lately.  It's true I'm really excited about the gear and logos, and I'm hoping people will like it enough so we can add more choices when we come across something interesting.  But this began as a neck rest blog, or at least a trike parts blog, and there's a bunch of interesting stuff happening with these as well. 


Tomorrow the new curved neck rest prototype goes off to Kirk.  I mounted it on Msafiri this morning intending to go for a ride and try it before mailing it off.  The sun was out and it was in the 50's...until I was ready to leave.  Then the temperature dropped and it rained the rest of the day.  So I'm sending the neck rest to Kirk completely untried.  Frankly I have no idea how this will turn out.  Will he like it?  Will it be better or worse...a toss-up?  I guess I'll see.  I think I may make another one for me to try as well.  After all, I'm still riding with the first prototype on Msafiri.  I ought to at least try one made with latex.


Last week, totally by surprise, I got an email, a gift, from Pat Franz, the owner of TerraCycle.  He packed it so full of helpful suggestions and resources I felt like a kid turned loose in a candy store.  His kindness epitomizes my experience with recumbent folks.   My very first experience with incredibly generous and knowledgeable recumbent people was more than 20 years ago.  I'd bought Gardner Martin's how-to book on how to build an Easy Racer and before long I had a bunch of first-timer questions that had me totally stuck.  So I called him.  I wasn't buying an Easy Racer.  Maybe he'd made a buck or two from the sale of the book I'd bought.  And yet he stayed on the phone with me until he was sure I had all my questions answered.  He even answered questions I wasn't smart enough to have asked.  I built that bike, named it the Load Warrior, and rode it first from Minneapolis to Seattle, the next summer from Minneapolis to Maine via Ottawa, and a couple of years later spent a month on it touring New Zealand.  I doubt I could have finished it without his help, and I've never forgotten his kindness. 


I had the same experience with Pat last week.  I've never met him, either in person or through the web, and his friendly email was totally out of the blue.  I know him just by the quality of what he makes.  Our Screamer has one of his stems and under-seat racks.  And Msafiri has a Terracycle idler. 

His taking the time to share some of his manufacturing knowledge and experience so perhaps I might move out of the production dark ages couldn't have come at a more perfect time for me.  No wonder TerraCycle makes such high quality goods.  Consider the source.  Thanks, Pat.

More nice "Finer recliner" wickable gear to ride in, or to wear just about anytime.  I found these two shirts doing some research for a special request.  Both the Polo and the Henley have "The finer recliner" embroidered logos, your choice of the tadpole or delta trike color-matched to your trike, and your name or nickname embroidered on the sleeve.  They both look great. 

The price for the Polo is $38 with the logo of your choice.  Add $3 if you'd like your name or nickname added.  The Henley is $36, also with the logo of your choice.  Add $3 for your name or nickname.


Now if I can just find a nice pair of riding knickers.

Gear for us non-lycra bikers.

In October, Penni and I spent two weeks in Germany and Prague visiting my son, daughter-in-law and new granddaughter.  Every day we saw hundreds of people on bicycles going to and from work, running errands and some just getting exercise.  Everyone person we saw was in street clothes.  We didn’t see anyone in lycra, and it got me thinking. 

Oh I like the jerseys with the brilliant colors and designs, but I feel kind of foolish dressing up like a peacock to run errands with my bike.  And frankly, being pretty snug, they reveal a bit more about my upper body shape than I’m interested in sharing.  And I’m always on the lookout for a t-shirt or jersey that lets me share my excitement for recumbents.  I’m guessing I may not be the only one. 

So this was our thinking when we were picking gear to offer to folks coming to TOT next June – choose a comfortable wickable short or long sleeve jersey to ride in, a good quality t-shirt to wear for fun, a nice cap to cover hat hair (or hat scalp in my case), and gear in womens’ as well as mens’ styles and colors. 

Since not everyone will be coming to TOT we decided to offer similar gear for everyone else, but with some really neat differences.  The gear’s called “The finer recliner.”  Andie has designed some great logos…with a velo on the way.  If folks like this gear we'll try to add to the selection over time.

Just like the TOT gear, the logos are embroidered, not screened, by Cara at embroidery central command.  And here’s what’s especially neat. 

• No minimum order.   
• Your choice of tadpole or delta logo.
• The tees, jerseys and caps all come in a rainbow of colors.  
• Your name or nickname embroidered on the sleeve or back of your cap. 
• You can match the trike logo with the color of your trike.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Here are the color choices, and the prices are at the bottom.  If you'd like to order something just email your choices to me at stevesussman@earthlink.net.  Don't forget to include:
  
  Your size, 
  
  Color choice (and a 2nd just in case), 
  
  Whether you want the delta or tadpole logo,
  
  The color of your trike, 
  
  And your name or nickname if you want that embroidered.