Road Test SPECIFICATIONS 11. : Truvativ Firex, GEARING IN INCHES LINEAR LIMO LR 175mm, 26-36-48 12. Brake levers: Avid Single 48 36 26 Price: $2,495 (as reviewed) Digit 11 113.5 85.1 61.5 Sizes available: S, M, L, XL, XXL 13. Shift levers: 12 104.0 78.0 56.3 Size tested: L Shimano Ultegra Bar-Con 14 89.1 66.9 48.3 Weight: 28.5 pounds (without 14. Front derailer: pedals) Shimano Deore 16 78.0 58.5 42.3 15. Rear derailer: 18 69.3 52.0 37.6 TEST BIKE MEASUREMENTS Shimano Deore 21 59.4 44.6 32.2 1. Seat height: 24in 15. Cassette: 24 52.0 39.0 28.2 2. height: 19in SRAM 970, 11-32 28 44.6 33.4 24.1 3. Wheelbase: 63in 16. Brakes: Avid BB7 road cable- 32 39.0 29.3 21.1 actuated discs, Avid G2CS 4. Standover height: 32in LINEAR rotor, 160mm (rear) Avid 5. Frame: Aluminum box Single Digit (front) Contact: 6393 Route 21, Alfred Station, New York, 14803, 607.587.8835 6. Fork: Chromoly 17. Pedals: None linearrecumbent.com LIMO LR 7. Rims: Sun CR-18 32 Hole 18. Handlebar: Linear Custom 8. Hubs: Shimano Deore Disc USS 9. Tires: Schwalbe Marathon 19. Headset: Origin 8 Racer 20. Saddle: RANS recumbent BY BRYAN J. BALL 10. Bottom bracket: Truvativ seat GXP

➺LONG WHEELBASE (LWB) recumbents are becoming increasingly rare these days. Recumbents with Underseat Steering (USS) are even rarer still. Thankfully one company is still proudly carrying the tradition. That company is Linear. Linear has a long history in the recumbent world. It started in the late 1980s and soldiered on with the same boxy aluminum design for many years. When Linear was purchased in 2002 by Peter Stull (also owner of the Man recumbent shop) and moved to upstate New York from its ancestral home in Iowa, the changes and improvements came fast and furious. The aluminum box frame retained its overall but was greatly strengthened and made a bit lighter. The process of adding material where it was needed and removing it where it wasn’t resulted in Linear’s now- signature drilled-out rear frame. Linear produces two models. The short wheelbase (SWB) Roadster and the long wheelbase (LWB) Limo. A new addition is the Limo LR. It has

14 ADVENTURE CYCLIST july 2015 a slightly lower seat height and will be streetlight hits the reflective panels, handy on a LWB recumbent. Putting all taking over as the only LWB model in the Linear Limo LR lights up like a of the heavier items in your touring kit the coming months. The LR is pretty proverbial Christmas tree. I’ve often under the seat at the center of gravity similar to the Limo but has a slightly said that I never felt like a bright frame really helps in the handling department lower seat height that fits more riders. color really improved safety very much, when you’re carrying a large load. If When Linear moved to New York, but I’ll make an exception in this case. you don’t get the midship rack with the their bikes came in any color you liked This baby is bright. My test bike used bike and decide to add it later on, some as long as it was naked aluminum. the purple panels, which are probably drilling will be required. In 2009, Linear introduced several the least bright of all the options, but A few seat options are available for powder-coat color choices. Last year, I still got constant compliments from the Limo LR, but most bikes leave the they changed to a very unique color motorists when I was stopped at lights. factory with the standard RANS seat scheme. All Linear recumbents come Its unique color scheme isn’t the that was on our test bike. I have no from the factory powder-coated gloss Limo LR’s only nod to practicality. complaints. The RANS seat has long black, but you can choose one of eight Linear is all about functionality and been one of the most comfortable out highly reflective and rather large as with all the company’s bikes, this there, and its dual water-bottle cage sticker panels. The sticker coatings are one has many very well-thought-out mounts and integrated pocket are both the kind used on road signs, and they features. Mounting fenders and racks very handy. Dozens of seat-bag options seem to be very durable. on the LR was dead easy with the slip right onto it. The overall look is tasteful if not a manufacturer-provided options. I used The Limo LR’s underseat handlebars bit industrial in the daylight. However, a standard Tubus rear rack with no are adjustable independently from the when the sun goes down and the issues or modifications needed. There is seat and allow riders to dial in their faintest hint of a headlight or even a also a mid-ship rack option that is very desired ergonomic position. Combined with the comfortable seat and low bottom bracket height you wind up with a very pleasant place to spend a few hours. Linear makes the Limo LR in several frame sizes that can accommodate riders from the mid-5-foot range all the way up to 6’8.” My test bike was a large, and fit my leggy 5’11” frame perfectly. Rider weight limit is 275 pounds. The Limo LR’s handling was quite forgiving and predictable. At low speeds, it’s much more nimble than its rather intimidating length would suggest. As I mentioned, the seat height on the LR is a bit lower than the original Limo, making it much easier to get your feet down at stops. High-speed handling was also very good on the LR. The lower seat’s center of gravity gave me a bit more confidence on fast descents. All Linears come with the same standard component spec, and its a good one. The 27-speed setup uses Shimano Deore front and

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 with was the brakeset. The Limo LR middle for a higher-end LWB. ROAD TEST: LINEAR LIMO comes with a rear Avid BB-7 disc I had only minor issues with the brake but uses a standard V-brake up Limo LR. If the handlebars and linkage rear derailers and Shimano bar-con front. The rear disc brake is nice to were anodized black like the rest of shifters. The wheels are Shimano Deore have when you’re carrying a full load the hardware, the bike would look a hubs laced to Sun CR-18 rims and shod down a long descent, but a pair of lot less industrial. Linear has done a with Schwalbe’s excellent Marathon them really isn’t needed. On a LWB good job of eliminating the squeaks Racer tires. The Marathon Racer is a recumbent, there is very little weight and rattles that were common with its perfect blend of speed and reliability on the front wheel and a disc brake is older Iowa-built bikes, but I still heard and slowly seems to becoming the just overkill. Linear does use dual disc a small rattle or two from the steering default OEM choice for recumbent brakes on their SWB models. linkage on really severe bumps. bikes and trikes. Linear hand builds their bikes I’m kind of an old-school guy when Two features that work particularly one at a time and sells them with all it comes to recumbent bikes so I’m well for commuting cyclists and manner of component configurations. very happy that Linear is holding touring riders are the crankset and I think that the standard 27-speed true to its LWB/USS roots. Cruising choice of brakes. First off, all Linears set-up is an excellent blend of through a beautiful landscape on a bike come with a Truvativ 26-36-48 performance and reliability. I’m not with underseat steering in an upright crankset. I think this gearing is much quite there on 30-speed set-ups for recumbent position with nothing more appropriate than the usual touring just yet. in front of you but the trees, grass, 52-42-32 you find on most The entire package weighs in at 28.5 mountains, and blue sky is a fantastic recumbents and is absolutely perfect pounds. which isn’t exactly svelte, but way to see the world. for touring when paired with the Limo is very good for a LWB recumbent. LR’s 11-32 rear cassette. The second The price before options is $2,495. Bryan J. Ball is the managing editor of ’BentRider component choice I was impressed Again, this is pretty much dead in the Online (bentrideronline.com).

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