Don't be too jealous, that Bachetta looks like a nice bike too. I
test-road quite a few Bachettas at the local Bike Shop. I've found
that bikes vary greatly in the world of recumbents, similar to the
world of diamond frames. Speed, comfort, hill-climbing, etc. I find
my Bike-E is a little more comfortable than my Optima, with the hard-
shell seat, but for the same effort, I can go about twice as far, and
at least 50% faster with the Optima.

--- In bicyclecommuting@yahoogroups.com, "Scrunge 13" <scrunge13@...>
wrote:
>
> Another recumbent rider here. I have two bikes. My main commuting
> bike is a Bacchetta Cafe that I have customized for commuting
> (http://www.bacchettabikes.com/community/spotlight/sfranzoni.htm) I
> try to do between 60-100 miles a week of commuting. I don't think I
> will ever go back to a diamond frame bike.
>
> My daily commute is a hilly 7 1/2 miles. I do it year round from
> single digits to triple digits and in all kinds of nasty weather.
If
> only the heat would break, I will be happy.
>
> My other bike is a Haluzak Horizon which I love. SWB USS. Matter
of
> fact, I saw the picture of the Optima. I am jealous. I want to get
> an USS Optima for commuting. Tried the Lynxx with OSS but it was
too
> unstable for my liking.
>
> Stephen.
> BICYCLECOMMUTERGROUP Moderator
>