WHY GOOD QUALITY IDLERS ARE VERY IMPORTANT FOR YOUR RECUMBENT!
TerraCycle Raises the bar yet again for idlers with our upgraded Elite Power and Over/Under idlers featuring Drilled out Titanium cogs and Hybrid Ceramic Bearings. The Aluminum cogs will still be available on our Sport Series Idler.
Idlers are the bread and butter of TerraCycle, it is the most of what we do and what we think about day in and day out. Years have been spent developing the TerraCycle idlers and based on experience we probably know more about idlers and chain lines for recumbents than anyone in the business. Each idler is made here in Portland, Oregon in our own machine shop with complete dedication to detail and quality.
In most applications the TerraCycle idlers are quieter,
smoother, and allow the chainline to run with less vibration with a difference that you can feel on your very first ride. We believe in a good balance of quality in all aspects of a drivetrain from crank to cogset. Because of the long lengths of
chain that recumbents have, a quality idler system can be a very important part of ensuring that the chain is managed with the least frictional losses. We are the recognized industry leaders for idler production and many manufacturers are using them as original equipment including Catrike, Carbent, Lightfoot, Zockra and others. The industry standard of inexpensive plastic/rubberized idlers with or without plastic teeth doesn't seem to make sense in a total quality component package on bikes and trikes that are rarely inexpensive to purchase. Running a loaded metal chain on a plastic/rubberized surface just isn't smart drivetrain engineering. Running a loaded chain over a non-cogged surface causes friction and power loss as the hour glass shaped chain sideplates bounce or bite into the surface with the motion of every link. The only place that a molded non-cogged idler can be used is on the return side where the chain is only loaded by the spring tension in the rear derailleur and its own weight and often wanders around on the idler bed. We use very high quality urethane material for the beds of our return idler, this is the same material found on warehouse rollers and is very quiet and has exceptional longevity. It costs us more to use this material, but we feel the resulting performance is worth it.
Chain tubes cause friction on a chain. No matter how nice the tube is (and there is a wide range of tube qualities out there) you are still running a chain on or through a surface it isn't
optimally designed for. Chain tubes wear out and it really isn't smart to run a chain on a roller coaster ride from crank to rear wheel through a variety of angles and bends if there are other alternatives using idlers and mounts.
TerraCycle sponsors many solo and team racers who are competing in the most demanding races from Race Across Oregon, Furnace Creek 50 to Race Across America. The very successful 2009 Rans RAAM team used a custom set of TerraCycle idlers on their cross country race, the idlers performed flawlessly and received great praise from the racers.
Our Warranty:
Your TerraCycle idlers are designed to be worry free for years of reliable service and performance given reasonable care. We offer a 90 day full refund on the idlers covering factory defects or your dissatisfaction with the purchase since we feel that you should expect that the idlers are superior to those you are replacing or adding on. We also guarantee the idlers for 2 year parts and labor. We do not offer a longevity warranty beyond this due to the extremely unpredictable nature of care and sometimes abuse that can be found with such a large range of riders and conditions. This warranty is consistant with what other manufacturers of high end bicycle components offer. All of our components are designed to be rebuilt by competent mechanics provided that there is not structural damage to key parts that might entail replacement. This rebuild policy does not apply to the Sport Idler Series which are only factory serviceable after inspection.
Our In house service plan:
We feel that as part of buying the best idlers you should also get the best service. All of our idlers are designed to be as user friendly as possible. However, if you're not a bike mechanic and cannot find a friend or local shop familiar you trust, give us a call. We'll take your product in, inspect it, and service it as necessary to get it back up and running in top form. This service is not free, but about what you'd expect from your local shop. Not quite as convenient as your local shop, but our turn around is usually just a few days from the time we receive it and we're happy to do it without uneccessarily delaying your riding adventures. Considering the relatively small number of parts that we see back in the shop each year, we can confidently say that our components are performing beyond expectation in all respects
"NEW TERRACYCLE SPORT IDLERS AVAILABLE FOR MOST KITS"
We have been making these idlers for a few months now and they are quite wonderful. We wanted to create a price point
somewhat like the Shimano 105 or Tiagra groupos where the idlers would
be exceptionally functional but be enough different cosmetically to allow us to machine them a bit faster and therefore be able
to sell them for less. Every kit we build can use the Sport Idlers in place of our standard Elite Series idler. The Sport idlers have aluminum cog for the power idlers and the same great urethane band on the return idlers. The side plates are made of military spec ballistic nylon, they are quite tough and should prove very durable. BigCat HPV (makers of the Catrike) are using our Sport power idlers as OEM on several models of their trikes. The cost savings of building idler kits with the Sport Series Idlers will help first timers or those with multiple bikes get into TerraCycle iders at a more affordable price point. Contact us by phone or email if you have any other questions about the Sport Series Idlers, or don't see a kit listed with the Sport Idler option, we may not have added it to the website yet but can still build kit.
NOTE THAT MOST OF THE PICTURES OF KITS SHOW ELITE SERIES IDLERS SINCE THESE WERE OUR FIRST TYPE OF IDLERS. EVERY KIT CAN BE BUILT WITH SPORT SERIES IDLERS AND WILL HAVE THE SAME BRACKETS/HARDWARE AS SHOWN.
