Cafe speed compared to Giro-20?

This was a question asked on our forum and we thought we’d respond here so we could share some pictures.

The Giro and the Café have about the same speed potential because they share the same wheel set and their seat to bottom bracket differential are virtually the same. Overall speed for both bikes can be improved by upgrading the tires/wheels and reclining the seat a bit more but neither design is optimized for speed like our dual 650c bikes are. That said, the seat to BB relationship on both the Giro-20 and Café are very similar to bikes with reputations for being very fast, such as the P-38 and X-stream. (pictured below with their BB’s lined up) Granted, this one design characteristic alone does not make a speed bike but it does show that the Giro-20 and Cafe have, at their core, the potential for higher performance. Don’t be fooled by the fact that they are great recreational bikes as well.

Hope this helps! Mark Bacchetta Bicycles

Originally posted on bacchettabikes.com on Sep. 9, 2009.

Dana Lieberman|

Dana has been riding recumbents for 25 years. Whether bicycle touring, racing, commuting or just riding with the family, he has ridden almost everything out there and has no problem telling you what he thinks! Owner of Bent Up Cycles and Bacchetta Bikes, Dana is passionate about turning new riders on to the joy of recumbent cycling. He also enjoys reading SciFi, hiking in the SoCal mountains and sipping a Chai Latte at the local coffee shop!