HP Velotechnik Spirit - Manual (Page 19)

Adjusting y
our ne
w bik
e
HP
Velotechnik
Adjusting to load
The luggage carriers of the Spirit are mounted
to the suspended part of the frame.That way
your luggage is also fully suspended and it spa-
res the material. Most notably, even under hea-
vy load the suspension will compensate an un-
even road much better and quicker compared
to a design where the luggage carrier would
be mounted to the unsuspended parts, e.g. the
rear swing arm.
Additional luggage changes the load of the
wheels and their suspension.The suspensions
are more compressed through the load.That
way, there is less suspension travel for bumps
while riding.Your suspension could seize up
more often.
The suspension of the front wheel is less affec-
ted since luggage at the rear rack almost only
puts weight on the rear wheel.
The distribution of the load also differs with a
change of the seat position.The more you mo-
ve the seat to tha back the more you have to
increase the spring stiffness.
In order to compensate the variations in the
load you can change the pre-load.
This can compensate for a load of approx. 10
kg (23 lbs.) at the rear wheel. In case of higher
variations in the load you would have to ex-
change the spring for another spring with an-
other spring stiffness.
17
You can ride the Spirit with a considerably lo-
wer damping than for example a MTB: due to
the relaxed and steady position of the body,
the recumbent does not experience extreme
variations in the load as it is known from the
dancing on the pedals while riding uphill on a
mountain bike.
In addition to this, varying pedaling forces have
very little influence on the suspension of the
bicycle due to the No Squat design of the su-
spension system of the Spirit.
It is necessary to choose the correct spring
stiffness to have a well operating suspension
system.The spring stiffness is a measure for
the compression of a spring at a certain load.
It is either given in "N/mm" (Newton per
Millimeters) or "lbs/inch" (Pounds per Inch).
Sometimes you only find "lbs." printed on the
springs.
The suspension is designed in a way that the
spring compresses considerably when you
mount your bicycle.This is called negative su-
spension travel and it enables the bicycle to
decompress on bumpy roads.You should choo-
se a spring stiffness with which this negative
suspension travel takes up around 20-30% of
the overall suspension travel.This value usually
provides a very comfortable ride on your fully
suspended recumbent bike designed by HP
V
ELOTECHNIK
.