HP Velotechnik Street Machine Gte 2008 Operating Manual And Service Instructions

Operating Manual and
Service Instructions

NEW

recumbent-

technology

2008

HPVelotechnik

January 2008

General safety instructions

Intended use – 3
The first miles – 3
Legal requirements – 3
Load capacity – 4
Carrying luggage – 4
Transport in the car – 5
Do not take kids with you – 5
Trailers – 5
Added parts and accessories – 5
Fairings – 5
Replacement of parts – 6
No alteration of parts – 6
Final assembly – 6
Screws and bolts – 6

Adjusting your new bike

Adjusting the leg length – 7
Adjusting the seat position – 11
Adjusting the handlebars – 13
Adjusting the suspension – 16

Handling instructions

Learning the new riding technique – 24
Wear protective clothing – 25
Use clipless pedals, Seat – 25
Slowly increase the strain – 26
Do not ride freehand – 26
How to ride correctly and safely – 26
Quick release levers – 27
Brakes – 28
Gear system – 30
Light system – 31
Prop stand – 32

Table of Contents

-

HP

Velotechnik

Maintenance and care

Wear and Tear – 33
Brakes – 33
Gear system – 35
Chain – 36
Chain tubes – 38
Chain roller – 40
Suspension fork – 41
Rear suspension element – 45
Swing arm pivot – 47
Head set bearing, removing the stem – 48
Seat cushion – 49
Water bottle cage – 50
Mudguards – 50
Wheels – 51
Cleaning and conservation – 52
Storing the bicycle – 54
Screws and bolts – 54
Tightening torques for screws – 55

Warranty Pass

Warranty – 56
Warranty Pass – 57
Service Plan – 58
Proofs of service – 62

Revision January 2008. For latest product in­formation, please check out our website at
www.hpvelotechnik.com. All trademarks be­long to their respective owners.

HP V

ELOTECHNIK

Elisabethenstr. 1
65830 Kriftel / Germany
Tel. ++49 (0) 61 92 - 97 99 2-0
Fax ++49 (0) 61 92 - 91 02 18

thank you for buying a recumbent bike designed by HP VELO-

TECHNIK and congratulations on the purchase of your new

Street Machine Gte! With the Street Machine Gte, a high-quality
touring bike, you will enjoy many years of exhilarating riding
pleasure.

Your safety and your satisfaction are our main concern. On the
following pages, this manual will inform you about important
safety issues as well as maintenance and care instructions.

Even if you have many years of experience with bicycles please
do take your time to read this manual carefully before the first
ride.Your recumbent bike is designed with the latest bicycle
technology by HP V

ELOTECHNIK that partly needs special treat-

ment and care.

In this manual you will find detailed instructions on how to
optimize your Street Machine Gte to meet your demands and
riding style as well as your size and weight.

In addition to this, we have put together a collection of infor­mation on care and maintenance as well as special technical ad­vice from our engineers.

This guide helps you to keep your Street Machine Gte in per­fect condition so that you will always have maximum fun, com­fort and safety.

Enjoy yourselves and have a great ride!

Paul J.W. Hollants, Dipl.-Ing. Daniel Pulvermüller
and the HP V

ELOTECHNIK team

1

HP

Velotechnik

Introduction

Dear customer,

To this user manual also belong the original
manuals of component manufacturers such as
the brake manufacturer, the gear system manu­facturer and the pedal manufacturer.These ma­nuals tell you in detail how to operate and
maintain those specific parts. Please do read
the manuals of the part manufacturers as care­fully as the manual on hand. Please have other
users of your recumbent also read the manu­als before using the bike.

The maintenance and adjustment of this re­cumbent partly require special tools and skills.
Do only work within your limits and, in the
interests of your own safety, do not go be­yond. Should you be uncertain at any point, get
in contact with your local dealer.

The instructions in this manual apply only to a
completely assembled Street Machine Gte with
standard parts from the series production of
HP VELOTECHNIK.

On special demand HP V

ELOTECHNIK delivers

frame kits with which a specialist dealer can
assemble a bicycle individually. In this case the
manuals on the operation and maintenance of
the parts only represent a guideline, please do
read every manual of every part manufacturer.
The specialist dealer is responsible for the ex­pert assembly, please contact him for detailed
advice! A bicycle that has been assembled from
a frame kit must always be tested and appro­ved by a qualified bicycle mechanic before your
first ride.

Introduction

2

HP

Velotechnik

Caution! The texts in the gray boxes are
particularly important for your safety.Texts
that begin with "Danger!" mark an immedi­ate danger for your life and your health.
Please do read them carefully.

General safety instructions

3

HP

Velotechnik

Legal requirements

When you ride your bike on the public road it
must comply with national legislation and gui­delines.These will vary from country to coun­try.

In general, there are minimum standards for
brakes, reflectors and lighting systems, as well
as usually a general duty to ensure that your
vehicle is in roadworthy safe condition.There
will also be a duty to ride in a safe and respon­sible manner. If you ride your HP V

ELOTECHNIK

bike in traffic you should be sure to observe
all the applicable laws and regulations.

In most countries, including Germany and the
UK, two independent braking systems are re­quired. Do not ride with only one brake wor­king!

Please contact your local dealer to find out ab­out your legal obligations.

As an addition, we recommend to mount a flag
on a pole for better visibility in traffic.

The safety equipment on your bike must be
checked before every ride and maintained in
propper condition.

General Safety Instructions

Intended use

Your Street Machine Gte is a bicycle for the
use on streets and surfaced roads.

This bicycle is not designed for the use in ra­cing and off-road riding, for jumping or acroba­tics, and you must not ride across curbs, stairs,
etc.

Damage through inappropriate use, assembly
errors, accidents or similar activities and willful
damage results in the loss of any warranty.

The intended use also includes the precise ob­servation of the prescribed usage and mainte­nance regulations and instructions.

The first miles

The first 300 km (186 miles) are an important
phase in which you break in the bicycle.
During the first use of a new bicycle the
screws may bed in and come loose. Cables and
spokes may stretch. Bearings may show play.
Please be very attentive during that period.

After 300 km or after two months at the la­test you will have to take your bicycle to a bi­cycle mechanic for the first service. Please re­cord this first service and the tasks performed
in the warranty pass on page 57.This first ser­vice is the prerequisite for further use of the
bicycle and for your warranty claims.

4

HP

Velotechnik

Load capacity

The maximum load (rider + luggage) is 130 kg
(286 lbs).The maximum total weight (bicycle +
rider + luggage) is 150 kg (330 lbs).The lower
limit is valid. It is important to adjust the
spring stiffness of the suspension according to
the load, see the chapter about adjusting the
suspension in this manual, page 16.
With an attached trailer, the maximum total
weight must not be higher than 150 kg
(330 lbs)

Carrying luggage

Luggage transport is only allowed with the
special rear racks, lowrider racks and luggage
boxes offered by HP Velotechnik .

Maximum load:
Rear rack 25 kg (57 lbs)
Lowrider under the seat 25 kg (57 lbs)

When a rear rack is mounted you have to ma­ke sure that when the rear suspension is fully
compressed there is at least a 1 cm (

1

/3") di-

stance between the rear tire or mudguard and
the rear rack. If you want to increase this di­stance you have to decrease the suspension
travel of the rear suspension element with
clip-on spacers. For that purpose please con­sult your local dealer.

Additional loading can influence thehandling of
your bike considerably. If you plan on riding
with heavy luggage we advise you to make a
test ride on a street with no traffic to adjust
to the new situation.

The load should be placed as close to the bo­dy of the rider as possible, since this leads to a
more stable performance.You can also impro­ve the handling of the bike by positioning the
center of gravity of the luggage as low as pos-

sible, so pack heavy items in the bottom of
your panniers. Hang heavy panniers on the lo­wrider rack preferably to the rear rack.
Be careful that your luggage on the racks is sa­fely stored. Bags must be tightly fastened to
the rack so they can not move. In no case may
loose parts like straps or belts touch the
wheels, the derailleur or the suspension.

We recommend waterproof bicycle bags by
the German manufacturer O

RTLIEB.You can buy

them with extra large hooks matching the
oversized tubes of the rack.You can also refit
those large hooks later.

Take care that your luggage does not cover
the lighting system and the reflectors of your
bicycle and that they stay fully functional.

In case you want to park your bicycle take ca­re to lean it on a wall or any other solid ob­ject.With the kickstand alone it is not possible
to safely park a bicycle loaded with luggage, it
could fall down and be damaged.

General Safety Instructions

General safety instructions

5

HP

Velotechnik

Transport in the car

The best way of transporting your bicycle is
inside the car. See that it does not lie on the
derailleur.

If you want to transport it outside the car we
recommend a roof-rack or a rear carrier.Take
care to fasten your bicycle at the frame only.

Please remove any part that could come loose
during transport (seat cushion, water bottles,
luggage bags, pumps, pennants, etc.).

Do not take kids with you

The Street Machine Gte is not designed for
the transport of children.You are not allowed
to mount a child's seat. It is only allowed to
transport children in a trailer that has been
specially designed for that purpose.

Trailers

You are allowed to use trailers (double trail)
up to 40 kg (88 lbs) with the Street Machine
Gte.We recommend you to assemble it with
the W

EBER-coupling Type E.Always check that

the suspension and the trailer still work pro­perly after you have mounted the trailer.Take
care that the trailer does not damage the fra­me in case the bicycle falls over.

Added parts and accessories

Additional accessories may impair the function
of your Street Machine Gte.We advise you to
generally ask your dealer before you mount
any special parts or accessories to your bicy­cle.

Take care that the handlebar and the suspen­sion always stay mobile.You may not add any
parts to the handlebar or the seat that might
endanger the rider through sharp edged or
pointed shapes while steering, getting on and
off the bike or bumping against something.

Before you purchase a bell or a lighting system
make sure that these accessories conform to
your national laws and regulations.

Fairings

As front fairing for the Street Machine Gte,
you may use the Streamer offered by HP
V

ELOTECHNIK. Please take care to assure a good

vision over the fairing and sufficient freedom
of movement below.

Please take into account that any fairing makes
the bicycle more prone to crosswind influen­ces. In strong wind or gusts of wind unsafe si­tuations may occur. Please remove the fairing
in such weather conditions before riding.

Caution! Do not fasten your bicycle at the
handlebar or, with disassembled wheels, at
the dropouts.The wind causes violent forces
that can stress the parts and therefore may
cause damage. Such damage may not be no­ticed immediately.

Caution! Mounting additional parts or ac­cessories is at your own risk. It is important
that you carefully read the installation guide
of the manufacturer.Additions to the handle­bar like fairings, handlebar fittings, bottle hol­ders, etc. may impair your safety due to ad­ditional loading or clips with sharp edges.

6

HP

Velotechnik

Replacement of parts

The replacement of parts relevant for safety
(especially brakes, light system, stem, handlebar,
fork, drive train, suspension elements) should
only be done with original parts by a bicycle
mechanic, since it requires a certain degree of
skill, suitable tools and mechanical aptitude.

Any technical change you perform on your
own is at your own risk!

No alteration of parts

Final assembly

Your bike has been delivered to your specialist
dealer only partly assembled.

Your dealer has carefully finished the assembly,
perhaps altered the spefication of your bike to
meet your special requirements and perfor­med a test ride. Please make sure that this
pre-delivery service is recorded in the warran­ty document at the end of this manual.

All screws must be checked and tightened,
especially on the handlebar, stem, fork, swing
arm pivot and wheels. Please follow the tighte­ning torque settings listed in the table on page

55.

Rear derailleur and brakes must be checked
and adjusted. Please follow the instructions in
the manuals of the parts manufacturers that
come with this manual.

Screws and bolts

General Safety Instructions

Danger! If any part is deformed (e.g. due to

an accident or overload), especially frame,
fork, handlebar, seat mounts, pedals, cranks
and brakes, it is not allowed to use it any
further or repair it. Do not try to straighten
bent parts.You must replace them for your
own safety. If you do not replace a damaged
part it can result in a total failure of the part
and you may be seriously injured!

Caution! You are not allowed to perform
any work on the parts of the bicycle, especi­ally frame, fork, handlebar and seat, which
might endanger their solidity.
These works include drilling holes, welding,
brazing, paint methods that add heat or any
other chemical treatment. If any of these
works is done improperly it may result in a
loss of strength through direct damage or
increased susceptibility to corrosion.

Caution! Screws must be tightened with
prescribed tightening torque. In this manual
tightening torques are given in "Nm“
(Newtonmeter).Always use a torque
wrench wherever a torque setting is given in
this manual. Never rely on "feel". Screws
tightened too much or not enough can
break, which can lead to dangerous acci­dents. In case you don't own a torque
wrench have your bicycle mechanic do the
respective work.You will find a table with
the prescribed torque settings on page 55 in
this manual.

Adjusting your new bike

7

HP

Velotechnik

Before the first ride: adjusting your
new Street Machine Gte

The seating position is essential for your riding
comfort, well-being and efficient cycling on the
Street Machine Gte.Therefore you should ad­just the frame, seat, handlebar and suspension
to your individual requirements.

In order to adapt the Street Machine Gte as
closely as possible to your body dimensions
and to find the ideal seating position you need
to adjust the front boom, seat and handlebars.

If your bike is equipped with the optional front
boom-quickadjust, please read the instructions
in the seperate manual in addition to the fol­lowing instructions.

Adjusting the leg length: moving the
front boom

In order to adjust the leg length you have to
move the front boom (the front part of the
frame where the cranks are mounted) within
the main frame. Unscrew the screw M8x35 un­der the main tube with a 6 mm Allen key.Take
a grip on the front changer tube or both
cranks and move the front boom into the fra­me or pull it out while cautiously turning it.

When you pull out the front boom shift the
chain on the smallest chain ring and sprocket
and turn the cranks a little bit backwards whi­le pulling.Thus the chain is not under tension.

Adjusting the leg length

Danger! All procedures described here re-

quire a certain degree of skill, suitable tools
and mechanical aptitude.After any adjust­ment perform a static check and take a test­ride on a quiet street, away from traffic. If
you have any doubts please contact your lo­cal dealer.

Caution! After you have unscrewed the
clamping screws take them off and examine
them for deformation. Lubricate threads and
heads thoroughly.Then re-fit the screws. If
they don't turn easily you will have to repla­ce the screws.

Unscrew the clamping screw to adjust the front boom.

8

HP

Velotechnik

In order to check the adjustments have anot­her person hold the bicycle while you are sit­ting on the recumbent.

Adjust the front boom in such a way that your
leg is fully extended when your heel (wearing
flat shoes) is in the foremost position on the
pedal. Experience shows that the pedal-to-seat
distance on a recumbent can be slightly longer
than on a conventional bike.

While you are pedaling, the ball of your foot
should be positioned over the center of the
pedal axle.

It is important that your leg is not fully straigh­tened when the crank is in the foremost posi­tion. If the distance is too great it is difficult to
overcome this dead point, pedaling becomes
uncomfortable and there is too much strain on
the sinews of your feet and legs. If the distance
is too short you may suffer from knee pain or
your legs bump on the handlebar.

For riders with a short leg length the front
boom has to be cut by a bicycle mechanic, so
that it can be inserted to the maximum. It is
important to trim the end of the tube neatly.
The bare metal of the shortened tube end has
to be protected against corrosion with a paint
stick or wax spray.

Adjust the front boom so that the bottom
bracket axle is horizontal when you look at it
from the front. For that purpose look beyond
the bottom bracket shell at the rear wheel
axle and align the front boom parallel to it.
Align your eyes with the bottom bracket axle
and not the front changer tube above.Then sit
on your bicycle and check the position. (Hint:
When you have the impression that the bot­tom bracket is turned alternately to the left
and then to the right when cycling you will
have found the correct middle position).

Tighten the screw with a torque wrench
(tightening torque 14–16 Nm). On your first
ride check whether there is sufficient clamp­ing.

Adjusting the leg length

Adjust the front boon so that your knee will not be fully straighte­ned when pedaling.

Danger! When you insert the front boom,
the front boom and the inner wall of the
tube must be totally free from grease, other­wise it won’t clamp properly and turn while
you are riding.

Caution! When you move the front boom
take care that its end does not damage any
light cables that possibly come out of the
main frame near the fork. Please inform
yourself about the length of the front boom
on your bike before you do any work.While
moving the front boom you also have to
move the light cables The light cable must
never be stressed by pulling.

Adjusting your new bike

9

HP

Velotechnik

Caution! The minimum insertion depth of
the front boom into the main frame is 8 cm
(3 1/5"). In no case may the end of the front
boom be visible in the clamping slot when
you look at the main frame from below,
since it may result in a damage of the frame.

The rear end of the front boon must never be visible in the
clamping slot.

Danger! In the opening of the main frame
there must be a spacer (a slotted tube of
black plastic with edges to the front and the
clamping slot) that is glued into the frame.
This spacer ensures safe clamping of the
front boom and protects the paint. It is im­portant that you take care that this spacer is
always visible at the front end of the main
frame.The lower slot has to be aligned in
accordance with the slot in the main frame.
If this spacer is missing or is moved to the
back of the tube while inserting the front
boom, secure clamping is no longer guaran­teed, even if it seems to be the case at first
glance. If the front boom is not clamped
properly it may turn and lead to a fall. A
missing or misaligned spacer will lead to a
frame damage.

The plastic spacer between front boom and main frame must be
visible at all time.

Danger! If the screws are tightened too
much or bent, the screw or the frame can
break! If the clamping is insufficient the front
boom can turn during a ride which may
cause your feet to slip from the pedals and
lead to a dangerous fall.

If the spacer is missing or not alligned properly or the screws are
tightened too much, the frame can break.!

10

HP

Velotechnik

Adjusting the leg length

When moving the bottom bracket tube your
dealer has to adjust the chain length. By default
the Street Machien Gte comes with a very
long chain so that the adjustment range of the
bicycle can be fully used without the need to
lengthen the chain.

After the first adjustment of the leg length that
you have done together with your dealer while
handing over the bicycle, the chain has to be
shortened so that the arm of the derailleur is
not fully turned forward while shifting on the
big chain ring in front and the big sprocket be­hind.The derailleur must still be able to com­pensate a length change of the chain of at least
4 cm (1 1/2"). In order to choose the right
chain length, please consult the manual of the
derailleur manufacturer.

After you have adjusted the front boom you
should seal the gap in the clamping slot be­tween the front boom and the main frame
with wax or silicone in order to protect your
frame from the penetration of water and dirt
and hence damage through corrosion which
may lead to a broken frame.

We recommend to slightly readjust the front
boom every 3 months so that knees, muscles
and ankles will be used differently, and you
might find a more comfortable and more effi­cient riding position.

A wrong adjustment may lead to pain in your
knees and inefficient pedalling. In addition we
recommend to ride with a high pedalling ca­dence, which means to pedal fast and with lit­tle pressure. Pedalling with too much pressure
may also lead to pain in the knees.You will find
more information about this on page 26.

Check that there is at least a 5 cm (2") clearance between the
end of the chain tube and other parts of the drive train.

Caution! Take care that the chain tubes
have at least a clearance of 5 cm (2") to the
rear derailleur and the front changer even
under maximum tension of the chain and
that the tubes stay tight in their fastenings.
The front upper tube can be mooved to the
rear for length adjustement. Shorten the
tubes if necessary. If the end of the chain
tube gets into the rotating drive train it
could be locked-up and destroyed.The end
of the chain tubes have to be tightly secured
with a rubber tube over the retention
spring.

Danger! After the chain has been short­ened it has to be closed with a special clos­ing link or a chain riveting tool that expands
the rivet while riveting (i.e. R

OHLOFF-

Revolver).A poorly joined chain may break
and thus lead to a fall. Have adjustments of
the chain length or the changing of the chain
be done by your bicycle mechanic.

Adjusting your new bike

11

HP

Velotechnik

Adjusting the seat position

Adjusting the seat length

Your Street Machine Gte is equipped either
with the ErgoMesh®mesh seat or the ad­justable BodyLink

®

seat from HP VELOTECHNIK.

The following instructions refer to the
BodyLink seat. Length, seat back angle and
lower seat angle are adjustable for this seat.
The adjustment of the seat length and the
proper seat angle is crucial for a comfortable
feeling while riding your recumbent.

The upper curve of the seat back in the area
of the shoulder blades determines the correct
seat length:Through this shape the shoulder
and neck area is lifted from the recumbent po­sition so that the head rests in a natural and
relaxed position. For this reason you shouldn't
need a head rest if you have the right seat po­sition. On long rides, a head rest can increase
your riding comfort as you can relax your
neck for a few seconds by leaning back.You
can mount our custom headrest to your exist­ing seat.
The seat is too small when you have the im­pression that your back is pressed too much
into a "hunchback". It is too large when you
have the impression that the seat angle is too
far back when you are in the most upright po­sition, or when you hit the upper seat edge
with the back of your head when you look up­wards.

Adjusting the seat length

Take off the seat cover (see page 49). Open
the quick release lever for the seat back angle
adjustment, so that the seat is not bent with
inner tension. Loosen the 4 screws at the in­ner side of the seat back with an allen key
SW4 a few turns. Step behind your bike and
hold the seat back with both hands. Pull or
push the seat back to achieve the preferred
seat length.To achieve the smallest possible
seat length, move the 2 upper screws from the
top to the middle holes.

Tighten all 4 screws with 5–6 Nm. Move the
seat back rest to the preferred angle and close
the quick release lever firmly. Reinstall the seat
cover

Length adjustment of the Airflow cushion

The optional Airflow-cushion consits of two
parts, that connect in a V-type shape. Loosen
the velcro mount of the upper part, and place
it in the desired position, than fasten the vel­cro.

Adjusting the seat back angle

A big advantage of the BodyLink® seat on your
recumbent is that you can adjust the seat back
angle very quickly. For beginners or rides in
the city you can choose an upright seat posi­tion for a better view, and for longer rides you
can choose a flat position for better aerody­namics.

The seat back is fastened with a quick release
lever on a slotted aluminum seat mount.You
can adjust the seat back angle by 10 degrees
by simply opening the quick release lever. In
the medium seat position the angle is about
35° from horizontal.

Caution! Do not loosen or tighten the 4
screws in the lower seat part to adjust the
seat length. Maximum tightening torque of
these screws is 3–4 Nm.

Caution! To avoid noise from the seat when
loaded, the contact surfaces between the
two seat halfs need to be seperated by self­adhesive plastic sheets and all contact sur­faces of seat and seat mounts and frame
need to be lubricated with grease.

12

HP

Velotechnik

Adjusting the seat position

Adjusting the seat back angle is easy when you
push the seat closely to the seat mount into
the desired position. By pulling at the upper
seat edge, you would twist the seat, creating
tension and locking up the adjustment mecha­nism.

Because of the flexibility of the BodyLink

®

seat
and the special cam shape of the seat mounts,
the seat effectively pivots around a central ax­is, approximately in the area of the lower lum­bar vertebrae.This is the place where you sup­port the biggest part of your pedalling force
while riding, so this point determines the dis­tance to the pedals.The advantage of this de­sign is that you adjust the distance from the
seat to the bottom bracket only once as de­scribed above, a change in the seat angle does
not require an adjustment of the front boom.

Adjusting the front seat edge

The front seat edge can be slightly lowered to
accommodate smaller riders.With a lower
front seat edge, it is easier to put your feet on
the ground without pressure from the seat
edge on the back of your legs.With a higher
front seat edge, the seat will give more sup­port and avoid the feeling of „sliding down the
seat“ that occurs with upright seat angles.

To adjust the front seat edge, open the quick
release lever at both the lower and the upper
seat half, so that the seat has no inner tension.
Thus you need less force for the adjustment.
Push or pull the seat front edge firmly until
you reach the desired position and close the
quick release lever firmly.Then adjust the seat
back angle as described above.

If the quick release lever pressure is to loose
when closed, open the lever and turn the
screw on the end of the quick release axle
clockwise.The low profile design of the screw
head gives more clearance for the drive train.

Adjusting the lumbar support

The BodyLink®seat is ergonomically shaped
and supports the natural S-curve of your
spine. Forces from pedalling are supported in
the area of your lower back just above your
hips.The amount of support in this area (lum­bar support) is adjustable by moving the seat
back and lower seat opposite to each other.

To get more lumbar support, lower the seat
front edge and put the seat back in a more re­clined position.
To get less lumbar support, rise the front seat
edge and put the seat back more upright.
For more extreme adjustments, loosen the 4
screws for the seat length adjustment in the
seat back.Thus the seat back can expand and
bend into the desired shape.Tighten the
screws and quick releases as described above.

Height adjustment of the head rest

The BodyLink®seat can be fitted with an op­tional head rest.The head rest cushion is at­tached to the flexible mount with velcro tape.
You can adjust its height within an inch, so that
it fits under the edge of your helmet The cush­ion should support your upper neck and lower
head when leaning your head back.

Caution! The two quick releases have to be
closed firmly (tightening force 15-20 kg / 45
lbs) to safely hold the seat.You are not al­lowed to open them while riding.After they
have been closed the imprint "close" must
be visible. If the quick releases are not tight­ened appropriately the seat can move while
riding so that you may no more be able to
control your bicycle.

Caution! Do not push or carry your bike
on the head rest, this could damage the
head rest or your seat!

Adjusting your new bike

13

HP

Velotechnik

Steering options

The Street Machine Gte comes with either un­der seat or above seat steering. In both cases,
the handlebars are connected with the front
fork through a stem.

The stem is clamped onto the steerer tube of
the front fork and at the same time fixes the
steering head bearing (so called "A head
stem")

Adjusting the handlebars

The handlebars are connected to the front frok with an A-Head
stem.The two bolts on the side of the stem clamp it to the stee­rer tube of the front fork.

Alignment of stem and front wheel

Check the parallel alignment of the stem to
the front wheel and looking at both stem and
front wheel.

If you have Above Seat Steering, folding the
stem completely forward makes it easier to
compare the alignement with the front wheel.

To adjust this alignment, loosen both clamp­ingscrews of the stem / fork steerer tube con­nection. Do not loosen the screw in the head­set cap. Sit on the bike, hold the front wheel
with your feet and turn the stem so that it is
aligned to the front wheel.

Then tighten both clamping screws alternately
with 8–10 Nm. Check the clamping by trying
to turn the stem against the front wheel.
Check the play of the steering head bearing,
see page 48.

Danger! Aligning the stem can require ad­justment of the head set bearings. In case of
assembly errors the danger of accidents is
increased. If you are in doubt have your bicy­cle mechanic adjust the stem.

Danger! The hex-headed screw in the cap
adjusts the play of the steering head bearing.
This screw does not help to clamp the stem
tightly to the steerer tube. It does not se­cure it against turning.Take care that both
clamping screws on the side are tightened as
prescribed after you have finished your
works at the stem. Otherwise the stem may
turn while riding and cause an accident.

14

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Velotechnik

Adjusting the handlebars

Above Seat steering

Your Street Machine Gt with above seat steer­ing is equipped with a height adjustable and
foldable stem. It comes with the Glideflex fold­ing pivot from TERRACYCLE.

Height adjustment of the handlebar

s

The stem is height adjustable by telescopically
sliding the stem extension on the lower part.
Loosen the clamping screw of the clamp at the
lower end of stem extension. Move the stem
extension to the desired position.Align the
stem extension parallel to the front wheel, so
that the handlebars are perpendicular to the
front wheel.Tighten the clamping screw with
4–6 Nm.

Angle adjustment of the folding stem

The Glideflex unit is equipped with a backstop
adjustment screw close to the pivot axle.To
adjust the backstop, fold the stem forward and
turn the backstop screw in or out with a 4
mm allen wrench.Turning the bolt in (clock­wise) allows the handlebars to fold further
back; turning the bolt out stops the handlebars
from going as far back.

Danger! The stem extension must not be
positioned higher than the „max“ mark on
the lower stem part. In no case may the end
of the lower stem half become visible in the
slot of the stem extension.The clamp must
be positioned tightly to the lower end of the
stem extension.The clamping slot of the
clamp must be aligned to the slot in the
stem extension.

Caution! Do not turn the screw so far out
that it contacts the top of the stem when it
is folded back.The bolt must contact the
sloping surface.

Adjusting the folding friction

To adjust the folding friction, tighten or loosen
the pivot bolt with a 5 mm allen wrench.
Tightening the bolt will increase friction; loos­ening will decrease friction.

The friction adjustment should not need fre­quent readjustment in normal use. Sometimes,
rain will cause the friction to drop slightly, but
things should go back to normal when dried
out.

Danger! Do not loosen the bolt past the
minimum friction point. If you do, retighten
the bolt until you can feel the friction in­crease.The bolt must be secured with Loctite.

Adjusting your new bike

15

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Velotechnik

Adjusting the cable length

You can make smaller adjustments by moving
the cables in their guides at the frame and the
stem, so that there is enough room at all mo­bile parts. If this proves not to be sufficient
you will have to have your specialist dealer
shorten the cables or replace them by longer
cables.

Cover all contact areas where cables move
and touch the frame with sturdy transparent
tape.This protects the paint against scratching
and wear.

Handlebar grips

The grips on the handlebar are susceptible to
wear and tear. Have your grips replaced by
your bike shop once they don't feel comfort­able anymore.The grips always need to be at­tached firmly to the handlebar.

Adjusting the handlebar angle

By changing the angle of the handlebars you
can adjust the position of the grip to the
length of your upper body and your arms.

Above seat steering: Turn the handlebars so
that the grips point downward or slightly for­wards.Your wrists should be in a relaxed posi­tion perpendicular to your arms.

Under seat steering: Most riders are com­fortable with a 45° angle so that the grip
points diagonally to the front and up. The more
upright the grip position the lesser is the max­imum possible cramp of the handlebars, since
it touches your legs earlier.

In order to change the angle, loosen the
screws of the handlebar clamping.Turn the
handlebars until they are in your favourite po­sition. Check that the stem clamps the handle­bars exactly in the middle.Tighten the clamp­ing screws with 8–10 Nm. Check the correct
clamping of the handlebars by mounting your
bike and pulling the handlebars. In doing so the
handlebar grips must not turn.

Please take care that the clamping area of the
stem is thoroughly trimmed and does not have
any sharp edges which may lead to a rupture
of the handlebars.

While riding you should allow your arms to
rest in a relaxed position on the handlebars.
Do not pull on the handlebars. If the handle­bars turn in the stem clamping during the ride
stop immediately and tighten the clamping
screw of the handlebars. If the handlebars turn
in a stem that is not sufficiently clamped the
handlebars or the stem might be damaged or
deformed. In that case a secure clamping can
no longer be guaranteed, even with the cor­rect tightening torque, and handlebars and
stem have to be exchanged.

Caution! After you have adjusted the han­dlebar position you have to adjust the length
of the brake cables and shifter cables.The
cables have to run smoothly without any
sharp turns and they may not be bent
sharply or stretched when the handlebar is
at maximum cramping or the above seat
steering stem is folded forwards. Also avoid
large arches that could be caught up in oth­er parts.

16

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Velotechnik

Purpose of the adjustment of the su­spension

Your Street Machine Gte is fitted with a su­spension fork for the front wheel and a rear
swing arm for the suspension of the rear
wheel.This system compensates slight bumps
on the road so that riding is comfortable and
the strain on your bicycle is reduced.

A well-adjusted suspension improves the trac­tion of your bicycle on uneven roads.
Especially when riding in a bend this allows a
higher speed and also improves the safety.

In order to achieve maximum riding comfort,
the suspension settings have to match your
weight as well as the road condition.

The goals of the adjustment are:

● maximum use of the available suspension

travel without the suspension frequently
bottoming out

● quick reaction of the suspension without

obvious oscillation after having passed
a bump

● avoiding self inforcing oscillations, that means

increasing oscillations of the suspension
system due to pedaling influence, rhythmic
body movements or permanent wavy
underground

Suspension and damping

The suspension systems of the suspension fork
and the rear swing arm are fitted with the ac­tual springs and dampers, which are mounted
separately.

Often, the terms suspension and damping are
used inappropriately in everyday language.

The spring is the elastic element that com­presses and decompresses through the load,
which occurs on bumpy roads.While decom­pressing the spring releases the same energy it
has saved during compression.

The front fork of your SMGT is fitted with
steel coil springs and springs made of micro­cellular foam elastomers. (MCU).The rear
swing arm is suspended with steel coil springs
in the standard version.The optional rear
shock DT-S

WISS XM180 uses air as spring me-

dium.

The damper slows down the process of com­pression and decompression.That means that
the bicycle after having passed a bump does
not immediately "spring" back to the initial po­sition or even further than that.The damper
converts spring energy into friction and finally
into heat, and thus takes away energy from the
suspension system.That way the damper pre­vents that the spring swings uncontrolled after
an initial stimulation. In addition the damper
helps to avoid self inforcing oscillations of the
suspension that may be caused by reoccurring
stimulation like pedaling forces within a crank
revolution or the rhythmic up and down mo­vement of the legs.

The hydraulic damping of the rear suspension
is adjustable, in case you have mounted the op­tional suspension element DT-S

WISS XM180.

Adjusting the suspension

Adjusting to load

The luggage carriers of the Street Machine Gte
are mounted to the suspended part of the fra­me.That way your luggage is also fully suspen­ded and it spares the material. Most notably,
even under heavy load the suspension will
compensate an uneven road much better and
quicker compared to a design where the lugga­ge carrier would be mounted to the unsuspen­ded parts, e.g. the rear swing arm.

Additional luggage changes the load of the
wheels and their suspension.The suspensions
are more compressed through the load.That
way, there is less suspension travel for bumps
while riding.Your suspension could seize up
more often.

The suspension of the front wheel is less affec­ted since luggage at the rear rack almost only
puts weight on the rear wheel. Only in case of
heavy luggage on the lowrider under the seat
is there an influence on the front wheel.

In order to compensate the variations in the
load you can change the pre-load. For details
see the following chapter.

Theoretically this can compensate for a load
change of approx. 10 kg (23 lbs) at the rear
wheel. In case of higher variations in the load
you would have to exchange the spring for an­other spring with another spring stiffness. In
practice you can often do without it: the
Street Machine Gte offers with 90 mm (3

1

/2") a
lot of suspension travel for a touring bike.
When you choose the spring stiffness so that
the full 90 mm are at your disposal when your
recumbent is under maximum load, you will
have a somewhat smaller but still very comfor­table suspension travel when you ride without
luggage.
The optional air shock DT-S

WISS XM180 can

be easily pumped up to compensate load incre­ases.

Adjusting your new bike

17

HP

Velotechnik

You should always set the damping as low as
possible to give the bicycle the possibility to
quickly react even to several bumps in a row.

You can ride the Street Machine Gte with a
considerably lower damping than for example
a MTB: due to the relaxed and steady position
of the body the recumbent does not experien­ce extreme variations in the load as it is
known from dancing on the pedals while riding
uphill on a mountain bike.

In addition to this, varying pedaling forces have
very little influence on the suspension of the
bicycle due to the No Squat design of the su­spension system of the Street Machine Gte. So
when you adjust the damping, always start with
a low damping.

It is necessary to choose the correct spring
stiffness to have a well operating suspension
system.The spring stiffness is a measure for
the compression of a spring at a certain load.
It is either given in "N/mm" (Newton per
Millimeters) or "lbs./inch" (Pounds per Inch).
Sometimes you only find "lbs." printed on the
springs.

The spring stiffness of the optional air shock
DT-S

WISS XM180 is set by adjusting the air

pressure.

The suspension is designed in a way that the
spring compresses considerably when you
mount your bicycle.This is called negative su­spension travel (or "sag") and it enables the bi­cycle to decompress on bumpy roads. (Which
is in fact a definitely positive feature.) You
should choose a spring stiffness with which
this negative suspension travel takes up around
30% of the overall suspension travel.This value
usually provides a very comfortable ride on
your fully suspended recumbent bike designed
by HP V

ELOTECHNIK.

The knob must turn easily. If a knob does not
turn any further you have reached the final po­sition. In that case turn the knob again in the
other direction about half a turn.

Do not turn the knob by force beyond the fi­nal position since this will damage the plastic
thread inside.

18

HP

Velotechnik

Adjusting the suspension

Adjusting the suspension fork

The front fork of the Street Machine Gte co­mes with telescopic suspension forks from
SPINNER or MEKS.

At your request different types of suspension
forks can be mounted to your Street Machine
Gte, please notice the manuals of the suspen­sion fork manufacturer that are possibly enclo­sed.

The suspension travel of the S

PINNER fork is 45

mm, of the M

EKS fork approx. 50 mm (2").

The suspension fork should compress by 30%
while mounting the bike, which corresponds to
12-15 mm (1/2")

You set this value by adjusting the pre-load of
the spring, provided you chose the correct
spring stiffness (page. 19).

Every model has a turning knob on the fork
legs that allows a simple adjustment of the
pre-load.

The suspension fork M

EKS Carbon All has

springs in both fork legs, the suspension fork
M

EKS Carbon AC has springs only in the left

fork leg since the other fork leg contains a hy­draulic damping cartridge.

By turning the knobs clockwise you increase
the pre-load, by turning them anti clockwise
you decrease the pre-load.

It is sufficient to set the pre-load in the two
fork legs to approximately the same level. It is
not necessary to match them exactly.

Adjusting your new bike

19

HP

Velotechnik

Choosing the spring stiffness of the
suspension fork

Your suspension fork comes by default with a
standard spring that covers a wide range of lo­ad and riding styles.

If the spring stiffness should not meet your re­quirements after adjusting the pre-load or if
the suspension bottoms out too much, you
can order a spring with another spring stiff­ness through your dealer and have it mounted
there. For more information see page 41.

It is not important to exactly follow the re­commended values for the negative travel, rat­her follow your feeling how the bicycle beha­ves during a ride, depending on the road situa­tion.

While riding you should only seldom feel the
suspension bottoming out. However, in case
this never occurs the spring might be to hard
which means you don't use the total suspen­sion travel.

The suspension fork MEKS Carbon AC is fitted
with a hydraulic damping unit. On the right
fork leg is a turning knob to adjust the dam­ping.

You increase the damping by turning the knob
clockwise.

We recommend you to start with the lowest
possible damping. Only when the fork oscilla­tes more than once after you have gone over a
bump should you increase the damping.

When the fork works fine when passing a sin­gle bump but stiffens distinctly when passing
several bumps that come quickly in a row, the
damping is too high. However, when the fork
"jumps" during the rebound movement the
damping has to be increased.

20

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Velotechnik

Adjusting the rear suspension ele­ment

For the rear suspension of the Street Machine
Gte a spring element is combined with a hy­draulic damping unit in a suspension element.
The damping results from fluid friction of an
oil flow through thin holes of a throttle valve
in between two chambers inside the damper. A
slightly noticeable sound that may occur from
this oil flow is normal. Due to the fluid friction
the spring element may heat up, therefore
touch the spring element after a ride very ca­refully.

The Street Machine Gte comes standard with
a steel spring rear shock D

NM DV-22. As an

option you can get the air shock DT-SWISS
XM180 that uses air as spring medium.

Steel spring rear shock

The pre-load determines how far the suspen­sion compresses when you are sitting on the
bicycle while standing still.

For the rear wheel the same guidelines as for
the suspension fork are valid: for maximum ri­ding comfort the suspension should compress
by about 30% of the total suspension travel
while you mount the bicycle in driving posi­tion.

For that purpose measure (similar to the me­thod described for the suspension fork) the di­stance between the two suspension element
bolts or between rear rack and rear wheel
while the bike is unloaded as well as while sit­ting on the bicycle in riding position.Also take
into account possible luggage. Find out the to­tal suspension travel possible for your bicycle
with the method described above, depending
on the mounted add-on-parts and clips on the
piston rod.The static compression should
amount to about one third of the overall su­spension travel.

You can affect this negative suspension travel
depending on how much you weigh and how
much you load your bike either by adjusting
the suspension pre-load for fine tuning or by
replacing the spring with a spring with a diffe­rent stiffness in the rough tuning.

In order to adjust the suspension pre-load
turn the knobby adjustment ring on the threa­ded part of the suspension element by hand.
Turning the adjustment ring clockwise (looking
at it from behind) reduces the preload, turning
it anti-clockwise you screw the adjustment
ring towards the spring and increase the su­spension pre-load. It is helpful to turn the
spring together with the adjustment ring.

Adjusting the suspension

Danger! While adjusting the rear suspen-

sion element never load the bicycle e.g.
through resting on the seat or loading the
rear rack when your hands or tools are clo­se to the suspension element. Otherwise
your hands may get caught and squeezed
when the suspension compresses.

Danger! The suspension elements are filled
with gas under high pressure. Never try to
open the damper or to remove the screw at
the gas tank. Inside the damper there are no
user serviceable parts. In case of damage
you will have to take the complete suspen­sion element to your dealer.