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Modern and Future Clelands?
This is a forum in which to discuss the design of Geoff Apps' Cleland Cross Country Cycles. Both modern and old. It is also intended that anyone interested will be able to follow and contribute to the development of future Cleland designs.
What is a Cleland?
A Cleland is the bicycle equivalent of a trials motorbike. They are not however intended for 'Trials Riding' but for cross-country touring. The general idea is to design a reliable machine that can be ridden comfortably for extended periods of time. The 'Trials' bit is that you should not need to get off and walk if the going gets tough.
Clelands are not really mountain bikes at all, as they were developed independently of US style mountain bikes and so any similarities are coincidental. The fact that many of the features of the 1970/80's Clelands are to be found on modern mountain bikes is simply because Geoff Apps' design solutions were so ahead of their time.
What is it that distinguishes a Cleland from a mountain bike?
The long answer is, many subtle design details and engineering features.
However the most crucial are that like a trials motorbikes:
*Clelands use very low tyre pressures as a form of high frequency suspension. And a way of: reducing rolling resistance, increasing grip, and improving handling.
*Clelands are designed to be ridden in a style that motorbike trials riders call "on the pegs". This means that the rider stands bolt upright on the pedals, with no body weight on the handlebars at all. The bike is then allowed to articulate under the rider, as the rider's arms move in a rowing like motion as the handlebars rise and fall. This is a more efficient, alternative to low frequency suspension. No damping, no springs and the only mechanism is the bottom bracket axle . With practice the rider can even do this whilst pedaling hard. And by pushing and pulling the handle bars and utilising the pedaling reaction forces, the bike can be made to preempt, and not just react to the rise and fall of the trail.
In these two respects alone, riding a Cleland is a a very different experience to that of a mountain bike. And that's before we consider the differences in the braking and transmission systems etc.
This is a forum in which to discuss the design of Geoff Apps' Cleland Cross Country Cycles. Both modern and old. It is also intended that anyone interested will be able to follow and contribute to the development of future Cleland designs.
What is a Cleland?
A Cleland is the bicycle equivalent of a trials motorbike. They are not however intended for 'Trials Riding' but for cross-country touring. The general idea is to design a reliable machine that can be ridden comfortably for extended periods of time. The 'Trials' bit is that you should not need to get off and walk if the going gets tough.
Clelands are not really mountain bikes at all, as they were developed independently of US style mountain bikes and so any similarities are coincidental. The fact that many of the features of the 1970/80's Clelands are to be found on modern mountain bikes is simply because Geoff Apps' design solutions were so ahead of their time.
What is it that distinguishes a Cleland from a mountain bike?
The long answer is, many subtle design details and engineering features.
However the most crucial are that like a trials motorbikes:
*Clelands use very low tyre pressures as a form of high frequency suspension. And a way of: reducing rolling resistance, increasing grip, and improving handling.
*Clelands are designed to be ridden in a style that motorbike trials riders call "on the pegs". This means that the rider stands bolt upright on the pedals, with no body weight on the handlebars at all. The bike is then allowed to articulate under the rider, as the rider's arms move in a rowing like motion as the handlebars rise and fall. This is a more efficient, alternative to low frequency suspension. No damping, no springs and the only mechanism is the bottom bracket axle . With practice the rider can even do this whilst pedaling hard. And by pushing and pulling the handle bars and utilising the pedaling reaction forces, the bike can be made to preempt, and not just react to the rise and fall of the trail.
In these two respects alone, riding a Cleland is a a very different experience to that of a mountain bike. And that's before we consider the differences in the braking and transmission systems etc.