Cyclist News! - Steve Briggs

BIKE: StilettoBUILDER: CalfeePRICE: $5,000 - $6,000STYLE: Long wheelbaseCONTACT: www.calfeedesign.comBy Robert LongReader Test: The Calfee StilettoThe Calfee Stiletto is the best recumbentbicycle I have ever owned or ridden. Mywife and I love this bike. I dislike usingthe word “love” when describing inanimateobjects, but this bike is REALLY nice. Thereis currently no other bicycle I am interested inowning or riding.I am 58 years old, and have been riding recumbentsfor more than 10 years. My previousbikes included a RANS V2 and a RANS Stratus,and my wife and I ride a RANS Screamertandem. My wife had a RANS Stratus, but nowshe rides a Stiletto, too (we have two!).I ordered a Calfee Stiletto in November 2003.At that time I dealt with Easy Racers’ FastFreddy Markham, who was part of the CalfeeTeam. After he left Calfee I corresponded withCraig Calfee. Both Freddy and Craig treatedme with the utmost professionalism, courtesyand honesty. They patiently answered all myquestions.USE: The Stiletto is a performance bike. Iuse my Stiletto for recreational rides, time trialsand organized and supported charity rides. It isfast on both hilly terrain and flat land, which iswonderful when riding with upright bike riders.In addition to its ability to go fast, it handlesgreat at slow speeds.SEAT: Calfee uses a modified version of theRANS Zephyr seat. The seat back on the Calfeeversion is six inches shorter than the one RANSuses on its bikes. This saves weight, but it hastwo drawbacks. First, there is no lumbar supportand second, the Zephyr seat bag rubs againstthe rear tire and requires modification to use.I have since replaced the Calfee short backseat with a redesigned RANS Zephyr seat. Iadded two inches of foam between the seat baseand the seat cover because I started getting recumbentbutt after about 20 miles. Comfort forme is now at a perfect level.The seat back on the Stiletto is fairly upright,which is similar to the RANS Stratus and mostLWBs. This provides a great view of the roadand allows me to push against my seat back forextra power. The low bottom bracket allows myfeet to reach the ground easily, which makesstopping a nonevent.RIDE: The ride is outstanding. Craig Calfeehas done an excellent job of eliminating thetiller effect associated with long wheelbase recumbents.His steering design makes the bikevery stable at both high speeds (greater than 40mph) and low speeds (less than 6 mph). Thecarbon fiber absorbs vibration. Hence, the rideis comfortable; the road-feel and handling areexcellent.The Stiletto is outstanding in traffic, especiallyat controlled intersections. When a trafficlight changes to green, I am usually 20-30 feetahead of the other cyclists (both short wheelbaseand uprights) by the time they get acrossthe intersection. In my opinion, the Stilettohandles much better in traffic than either ashort wheelbase or an upright.PERFORMANCE: I am faster climbinghills on the Stiletto than I was on either theStratus or the V2. I monitor my speed going uphills and have speed goals for going up severalhills. The Stiletto is 2+ mph faster going up hillsthan my Stratus, which was 2+ mph faster thanthe V2. For example, one hill that I climbedat 12 mph on my RANS Stratus dropped to10 mph on the V2, but increased to nearly 15mph on the Stiletto. The Stiletto is more than10 pounds lighter than either the Stratus or V2(with fairing and other attachments), which isone reason it climbs hills easier and faster.The Stratus and V2 are both nice bikes, andI enjoyed riding both of them. I “upgraded” tothe V2 because I wanted a faster bike. I assumedthe higher bottom bracket would improve myhill climbing. Neither was the case for me. Myonly complaint with the V2 was it climbed hillslike a one-legged dog (very slowly). The Stilettodoes not appear to be any faster downhill thaneither the Stratus or the V2. However, I feelthe Stiletto is faster on flat terrain as well as onhills.One of my friends rides short wheelbase recumbents.When I rode my Stratus he was unableto keep up with me. He owned several shortwheelbase recumbents — a RANS Rocket, aV-Rex, a Lightning P-38 and finally a BacchettaAero. I could not keep up with him on the Aero- 8 -with my V2. My ego was devastated. Now withthe Stiletto I am now 2-3 mph faster than he isup hill. Life is good again! He may be fasteron level ground or down hill, but I won’t admitit.FRAME: The Stiletto frame is carbon fiberwith titanium drops. The detail and craftsmanshipare superb.WEIGHT: The Stiletto is very light for aLWB. My Stiletto weighs 24 pounds with no accessories.It weighs a little less than 30 poundswith my Carbon Fiber DB fairing/mounts,RANS Zephyr seat bag, two mirrors, Garmincomputer and heart rate monitor. My wife’sStiletto (two sizes smaller) weighs 28 pounds.She has the lighter fairing and the modifiedRANS Zephyr seat.STEERING: The remote linkage steeringon the Stiletto eliminates tiller effect. Thehandlebar turns more like a road bike. It doesnot swing from side to side like the Stratus, V2or other LWB models. The design is similar tolinkage under-seat steering designs.The Stiletto uses a telescoping, hinged foldforwardsteering riser that can be adjusted bothhorizontally and vertically. The handlebars areslightly bent aluminum bars. The steering designof the Stiletto provides a much better feelfor the road and improves stability at all speeds.The steering was one of the main reasons mywife really likes the Stiletto.COMPONENTS: This bike has a mix ofvery high-end components. Most of it hasworked well, but we did end up having somedifficulties:1. My Stiletto has a 175 mm crank whichcan hit the front tire on turns. Most of the time,this is not a problem. I would recommend usingcrank arms of 170 mm or less.2. We had our local bike shop build the bikesbecause we did not want twist grip shifters on