Strato-Easy Recumbent Bicycle

Strato-Easy Recumbent

StratoEasy

It was a long process to get this bike built. The frame is all 4130 chromoly steel, most of it recycled from 1970s-era road bikes. The most important pieces are from a Nishiki.

I'd still be working on this bike if it wasn't for all the time and effort put into it by my friend Ray Hrachovec. He did a great amount of brazing and a fair amount of design on the frame, and worked tirelessly and carefully on many other things.

The design goal was to combine the best features of the Tour Easy and Stratus, at the same time making a frame tall/long enough to fit me.

From the Tour Easy comes most of the frame design and the handlebars. The frame has clearance for fat mountain bike tires and fenders, and there are braze-ons for fenders and racks.

From the Stratus comes the seat, wheels, most of the component selection, and miscellaneous details.

Paint is Plasti-Kote spray-can lacquer, white primer followed by blue metalflake followed by clear coat followed by rubbing compound.

The bike rides great. It's hard to give a fair comparison to the Stratus. Subjectively, the Strato-Easy seems to climb easier and be a bit faster than the Stratus. My impression is that the frame transmits power to the rear wheel better. Somehow, it also seems to be more shock- absorbing than the Stratus frame. Steering seems to be more refined than the Stratus also.

Components:

Avocet Cross K 26x1.5 Rear Tire
Easy Racers Idler Pulleys (Rebuilt: ridiculous nylon cartridge bearings replaced with 606 cartridge bearings, pivot redesigned so it would pivot.)
Easy Racers Handlebars (Factory bends are very uneven.)
Easy Racers Stem (1" Quill-Type)
Shimano 105 Front Derailer
Shimano Deore LX Rear Derailer
Shimano Deore LX 9-Speed Cassette
Shimano 105 Triple Crank, 170mm
Shimano Ultegra Headset (1" Quill-Type, Cartridge Bearings)
Shimano Ultegra Bottom Bracket
SRAM 7.0 V-Brakes
SRAM 7.0 Brake Levers
SRAM Attack 9-Speed Shifters
SRAM PC59 Chain
Vredestein Monte Carlo 20x1.5 Front Tire
Wheels: Sun ZR-18 Rims (406mm front, 559mm rear), Shimano Parallax Hubs, Marwi Spokes
Wellgo SPD Pedals

If I ever build another one, I'll definitely build my own idlers rather than buy the factory version from Easy Racers. Maybe also the handlebars; mine are so crooked from uneven factory bends that the stem has to be aligned off-center for the grips to be straight when the front wheel is straight. Maybe most people wouldn't notice this, though.