Zox26 purchased from Bill Volk – 2004

I bought this bike from Bill Volk at the same time that I bought a high Zox 20" (end of 2004).  It's a 26" high racer style.  Bill says it's fast and has TT records to prove it.  I've been using it for my 40-50 mile  WV hill country commute when the weather allows, which is most of the time. (2005)

This thing is a BLAST!  Although it carries a minimal amount of cargo, it cut 30 min off my 2 hour commute time.  The rear suspension smoothes out the bumps on WV trails and secondary roads.  The riding position gives a very low aerodynamic drag.  I kept up with the Sunday club riders on this one.  Typical cruising speed on level blacktop (unpaced) is about 22 mph.

Dahon Boardwalk – 2003

Not a recumbent, but a pretty nice travel bike.  I've put more miles on this so far this in the Winter than any other bike.  I had originally purchased it with the intent to convert it to recumbent, not sure if I will now that I have the low Zox20 since it packs up pretty well for travel.

Merida Electric-Assist Bike (2002)

This is an excellent electric-assisted bike that I've had for a few years. I originally bought it to sell in a shop. It is wonderfully set up for all-weather commuting with suspension fork, fenders, rack, lights, dual kickstand and a NiMH battery. I recently sold it to a friend.

Sun Speedster – 2004

This is the bike that I commuted on during Summer 2004, and took my 500 mile Summer vacation on in both 2004 and 2005.

(see journals and photos)

It's a real rugged cruiser, great for local commuting and loaded touring on mild hills and flat terrain, but a little too heavy for the hills here in West Virginia.

I sold this bike to Ed Quigley in August 2005. It's his first factory recumbent.

Zox20 Dual Suspension (2005)

This is the 20" compact Zox.  It comes apart in about 5 minutes with 2 bolts so you can fold it in half and stick it inside the car trunk.  I purchased this from Bill Volk in 2005.  It was a little short for me so I was intending to fix that by making a new center frame section that's a few inches longer.   I sold it to a rider from Oklahoma who did the frame extension, brazed on a front shifter post and disc brake mounts the first weekend he had it.  I haven't heard anything from him since so I assume he's enjoying it.

Original 1998 EZ-1 (1999-2005)

 This was an original Easy Racers EZ-1.  This was given to us by a very generous gentleman from Washington when his daughter outgrew it.  The bike dates from about 1995.  We sold it in 2005 to buy him an upright touring MTB.  It is now owned by Mark Crabtree, a local recumbent rider who has added it to his collection of fixies, and other uprights.

Blue Cloud (~1992-2005)

and other uprights.Dave Cloud of Seattle built this USS LWB for his wife back in the late 80's. At one of our early Seawheels meetings in the early 90's he was fixing it up to sell and I purchased it for a very reasonable price. Over the years I gradually upgraded it and used it for year-round commuting, utility riding and hauling up to 4 toddlers at a time behind it in a trailer. In 2005 I sold it to a Ed Quigley of Pittsburgh who wanted an inexpensive entry-level recumbent.

Raincloud (1995-2005)

At Christmas 1994 I had a little extra cash, so I asked Dave Cloud to build me this OSS LWB for Winter commuting. I asked him to get it done quick so I would have it for commuting starting on Jan 4, 1995. He did it, for an original cost of $400. The left picture shows its final faired configuration. This thing was like a 60 lb car. I used it for 6 months of Seattle Winter commuting, after which it experienced a failure in a frame weld and I was no longer comfortable traveling at the speeds (>50 mph) I would typically reach on my hilly commute. I rode this in the Seattle-Portland ride (STP) for my first one-day double century at age 40.

In 1996 I gave it to Rod Miner of Lightfoot Cycles because he was considering going into production with something similar. He returned it to me in 2002 (without the fairing, seen on right). In 2005 I sold it to someone in Washington DC who was going to rebuild the fairing and use it for all weather local riding in his (mostly flat) area.

It has full suspension, Arai drum brake rear/V-brake front.  Vision seat (not adjustable). Built by Dave Cloud of Seattle. Frame without Fairing - Coroplast fairing bulkheads.Triple crank (63T big ring) and shifter,  6 sp rear. Honest wt:  Approx 48 lb.  Read more about it at at:  bikelist.org/seawheels/NicksBikes/NicksBikes.htm

Optima Trike (2004-2005)

I had purchased this trike at the 2004 BROL rally for $1000 with the intent of putting a coroplast fairing on, but that didn't work out so I sold it after only a year  (It was a little spooky on downhills because of excessive friction in the USS steering.) to a rider from Washington DC.

EZ Sport Aluminum (2003-2004)

EZ Sport Steel (2002-2003)

 I had both of these bikes from my shop and kept them to ride as personal bikes. They were pretty fun to ride, but a little too heavy to be fun on the WV hills. I sold the steel one before moving from Seattle. I traded the Aluminum one in for my Speedster in 2004.

The Hammock FWD (2001-2004)

My first homebuilt.  I put alot of miles on this one and it held up well.  I built it originally for my 25 mile bike/bus commute from Renton to Redmond WA. I didn't want to spend $1000 for something that was going to get banged around on a bus rack so I did this for a minimal investment (about $200 total). I ended up doing the entire commute on bike. In 2004 I gave it away free to an enthusiastic young artbiker in DC named Jake when I no longer had use for it.  Reportedly he is no longer using it either so I'm trying to get it back to give to someone else.

The Stormcloud (1998-2003)

See this link for more details.

Easy Racers Tour Easy (1992-1995)

Joe Kochanowski loaned me this one to commute on for several seasons, for which I am eternally grateful. I also rode it on the 200 mile Seattle to Portland (STP) two different years, in both cases doing it in 2 days.

S&B Kids’ Bent (1994-2003)

This was the bike my son Peter rode from age 7-10. I purchased it new from S&B. Although he enjoyed the challenge of being able to ride it, the handlebars were so far back that it was hard to be steady enough to take it on anything but neighborhood streets. I sold it before moving from Seattle.

Rans Stratus (1993)

(1991-1998)  Various creations from the Monster Works at Kochanowski Productions