Review #99 CYCLE GENIUS RDX
Evening Gowns?
Shaved Legs?
By Brian Zupke
Generally, recumbent bicycles fall into two categories: long wheelbase, with the front wheel extending beyond the rider and pedals, and short wheelbase with the pedals extending beyond the front wheel. They each have their advantages. Long wheelbase recumbents are typically easier to learn to ride, more comfortable and better suited for touring. Short wheelbases are a little more difficult to learn but often faster and more nimble. But like most bikes, faster comes with a price tag. Lighter materials and higher-grade components don’t come cheap. For all these reasons picking out a multi-use recumbent can be tough. That’s where the RDX by Cycle Genius fits in. Billed as a racing bike, it’s their top-of-the- line long wheelbase recumbent – built for speed at a reasonable price.
Its frame and fork are crafted from heat treated aluminum and come in Midnight Black or DeLorian Brushed Aluminum. While the frame only comes in one size, it should accommodate most riders 5’1” to 6’5” in height. I was able to adjust the bike for my 10-year-old daughter who is 4’ 9”, but it did look a bit big for her. It’s also fitted with replaceable dropouts and a built-in mounting plate for adding a kickstand, which comes in handy when there are no trees or lamp poles around.
The stock seat is fairly comfy. Its base is made of contoured foam and its back is mesh zip-tied to an aluminum frame. On occasion I noticed the top edge of the seat pressing into my back, but it was only a mild discomfort. I’m 6’1” and a slightly taller seat would have been more comfortable, but changing the angle of the seat helped some. The seat did do a pretty decent job of absorbing bumps and rough roads – even though the bike has no rear suspension. It didn’t do much for large bumps, potholes or very rough roads, but if you’re gutsy enough to go there with no suspension you’ll wear your aches and pains with pride. With the seat only 24 inches from the ground I could easily rest my feet on the ground while sitting on the bike - in fact, it makes a fairly comfortable chair at rest stops.
One thing I really liked about the seat was its adjustability – you can tweak it three different ways. Two quick-release levers on the seat supports change the seatback angle, allowing the seatback to be moved up or down. Two additional quick-release levers on the seat base clamp allow the seat bottom to slide forward or backward. You can also tilt the seat bottom at 8, 16, or 25-degree angles. The 8 degree setting worked best for me but if you find yourself sliding off the seat try a higher setting. It takes a 10mm wrench and Allen wrench to remove and replace the bolt that controls the seat tilt so if you don’t carry tools, make your adjustment before the ride.
The initial setup of the quick releases takes a little time and strength, but once installed they operate smoothly and make adjustments on the road a snap. Since there are no fixed positions for the seat back and seat base, it would be a good idea to mark your settings if the bike’s going to be ridden by different riders. To remove the seat completely the two quick release levers on the seat base must be removed from the clamp, but this only takes about a minute as does putting the seat back on.
Because of the way the seat supports attach to the seat, adding a seat-back storage pouch that slips over the top of the seat may not work well. However, there is room under the seat supports to attach a storage bag to the seat frame. This frame can also be used to mount additional water bottles.
 The front derailleur is a Shimano 105 triple bottom-pull and the rear derailleur is a Sram X-9 with alloy body. Sram X- 7 27 speed twist grip shifters control both derailleurs. Shifting of the rear derailleur was crisp and clean, but it took considerable force to change gears. Shifting of the front derailleur was not quite as crisp (but still reasonable) and also took considerable force.
The SRAM X-7 9-speed cassette (11- 13-15-18-20-22-24-28-32) and the Truvativ Rouleur chain rings (52-42-30) provide a sufficiently wide gear range to handle steep climbs and high-speed descents. I did notice my leg hairs just grazed the chain when I had the bike in the highest gear (largest chain ring and smallest cog), but only when I wore my clipless shoes. They make my heels turn slightly inward and bring my legs closer to the frame, but I think if I adjust my cleats it would take care of the problem. So would shaving my legs but my wife won’t let me near her razor.
The RDX has a 700c rear wheel and a 20” (451) front. Both wheels are Alex DA22 Alloy Double Wall with machined sidewall rims and have Kenda Kwest 100psi tires, making the bike pretty zippy. However, the skinnier tires made me work a little harder riding on soft surfaces such as dirt trails or gravel roads. I performed a series of sharp slalom turns while riding downhill on pavement. On other bikes I was able to regulate the bike’s speed through the turns. But the RDX gained speed so quickly I had to use the brakes to keep my speed down. My turns were fairly sharp and the bike was banked pretty steep, but through it all (with or without brakes being applied), the wheels never lost traction.
The Tektro caliper brakes provide a lot of stopping power without requiring a lot of force. The brakes squealed quite a bit during the first 50 or so miles of riding but after that they were fine.
The shape and position (600mm spacing and the 2” rise and sweep) of the handlebars were quite comfortable for me. The stem has a quick-release for adjusting the height but does not provide much in the way of fore/aft positioning. But with the seat adjusted for my legs the reach to the handlebars was quite comfortable. Riders with long legs and short arms may have more difficulty in adjusting both the seat and handlebars to optimum positions without changing out the stem. The stem has two bottle cage mounts: one on top and one on below. Both bottles are within easy reach and don’t seem to affect the steering when full.
As with many recumbents the RDX was pretty much impossible to ride with no hands. At slow speeds the bike wanted to go in any direction but straight. At higher speeds the bike’s steering was a bit more stable but it felt like I was balancing a chair on two legs – not something I’d want to be doing for more than a few seconds. With both hands on the bars, the bike’s handling seemed self-correcting. It reminded me of riding a jet ski that you stand up on – just relax and you’ll stay balanced and upright.
The RDX frame includes mounts for adding a rear rack. I installed a Burley Moose Rack so I could tow one of my kids on a Piccolo trailer cycle and use rear panniers. The impact to the handling was noticeable with the Piccolo attached – especially when the child was wiggly, but the bike still handled fine with the additional weight.
I ran errands using a trailer hooked to the rear axle (quick release) and panniers on the rear rack. The bike’s handling was great even with the trailer and panniers loaded with groceries. The bike was quite comfortable to ride regardless of what I was wearing. (OK, the evening gown was asking a bit much, but street clothes didn’t pose a problem). The height of the bottom bracket made it less comfortable to ride in regular shoes for longer distances; using my cycling shoes with SPD cleats worked better. The nice thing about the stock pedals is that either can be used – one side of the pedal is a platform, suitable for adding pedal clips and the other side is SPD-compatible clipless.
 To test the bike’s climbing ability I took it on several mountain rides. Not being a strong climber my progress was slow, but the RDX had adequate gearing to keep the climb from hurting my knees and I was able to sit back and enjoy the view. Of course, the best part of riding in the mountains is coming back down. The mountain roads were fairly curvy so I had to use the brakes to keep my speed under 40 mph. At high speeds the bike felt a bit light on its front-end going into and out of those sharp turns but it was easy to control even subtle changes to my path.
Although I’m still developing my recumbent legs the RDX made it pretty easy to ride and keep up with my diamond frame bicycle friends. The recumbent position gave me the added benefit of being able to enjoy the sights more and with less upper-body fatigue. Well, actually I had no upper-body fatigue.
Overall, I’d say that the RDX is a well-designed, comfortable and fun bike to ride. It should serve well for lengthy and fast road rides as well as for light touring. With a suggested retail of $1349.99 it should also leave a little $$$ in your pocket to spend on the necessities of life – like maybe a second RDX in the other color to match your other shoes.
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This Reprint of the Cycle Genius appeared in Recumbent & Tandem Rider Magazine Issue #15 July/August 2004. If you would like to buy that back issue, please send $5.00 (postage & handling included), to:
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