What Buggy? Info and Reviews

Reviews always wanted

Reviews

Flexifoil Buggy

Heres a Quick 1 on the flexi bug well its silver   i got mine for a song so great value for money (used ) build quality is good ( not had and problems yet ) seat not the most comfortable but it does the job , quality v good  ( could do with being a little deeper ) side rails don’t really give much lateral support and need to be padded to stop bruising of the legs axle looks the part being nice n chunky, length about a metre or so could do with being wider but can be changed for wide axle at extra cost ….

not really a bug for  tall peeps  (6 ft  n above without modification ) as i find it a little cramped would be great advantage if it came with a swan neck as standard and have a deeper seat …..

Carpman

 

Libre V-Max

• bought Second Hand for £300
• 1 value for money , new this would have been close to £700, so good value S/H
• 2 type and quality of seat, Seat is comfy and fairly deep, good quality, and the straps/buckles work well.
• 3 axle size, length and diameter, 1300mm, 45mm dia
• 4 side rail diameter and width between the rails, 30mm dia,, 490mm
• 5 build quality, good build quality, although my mates has broken the side rails at the down tube at the weld.
• 6 faults, none found, bearings rear 20mm id, front 12mm id.

Shrimpo

 

Parastorm Typhoon

• 1 value for money , new these were about £400,, but getting it s/h was good value, light good freestyle bug.
• 2 type and quality of seat, Seat is very deep, and hugs the pilot well, the straps on mine have worn through, at the buckles,, the design of these are not the best as this happens to all the seats.
• 3 axle size, length and diameter, 50mm dia, 1100mm
• 4 side rail diameter and width between the rails,   32mm dia, 450mm
• 5 build quality,, I have found it very good,, not had a problem at all with this, although the only bug is the SS inserts for the wheels to bolt to, and get stuck as dissimilar metals & salt water don’t mix.   12mm id bearings on front, 15mm id in back..
• 6 faults, none really, althoug the front wheel turning is one of the best,, but this can be a pain if you pick the bug up and the front wheel turns as it can trap your hand..

Shrimpo

 

Peter Lynn Competition ST. #1

I bought this buggy almost 6 years ago and have used it almost continuously since. It is a bog standard model with barrow wheels and the seat with the red padding. Its used on a variety of surfaces, flat football fields, moorland and beaches. As a side note, I weigh in at 110kg so it takes a fair hammering. However I dont jump, I prefer to cruise and go flat out.

Design and build

The PL Comp ST is a simple design with a back axle that just slots onto the side tubes. The

seat is held in place with straps using plastic clips. The buggy came with barrows on front and back, the front using a through bolt 12mm in

diameter and the back wheels held by a 15mm bolt each side. The back axle is 38mm tube, approximately 95cm long. The downtube is straight 38mm box and the headstock has bearings top and

bottom with a captive nut. The side rails are 32mm tube with the maximum space between being 44cm.

The welds all seem to be good with no sign of cracking at all.

The seat is slung, almost hammock like, between the axle and side rails. Its made from fairly robust material with double stitched seams all over. There are double layers of material on main section.

Downsides

1. The ground clearance of the seat is almost nothing, as a result its easy to catch the seat and damage

it. 2. The foot pegs dont feel secure. They are held in place by a spring and catch system but rattle all the time. 3. The back axle doesnt come off the side rails that easily for storage/transportation. 4. The seat gets uncomfortable after a while

Upsides

1. It strips down easily to fit in the back of my car. 2. I havent had to replace the bearings in 6 years 3. It was cheap at the time. 4. I find the steering less subject to speed wobble than a flexi 5. It hasnt failed me yet!

If I could…..

I would fit a seat with some form of back support and strengthened underside (built in belly pan?). Redesign the foot pegs to allow re-positioning and making them more secure. Replace the headstock bearings with PTFE type (ala Flexi- one less thing to be affected by salt water)

Would I buy another?

The resounding cry is YES. Its a fun buggy that has never let me down. I’ve got a flexi bug as well but I still regularly ride the PL. Its neither a free-stylers bug nor a cruiser but as a starter provides what I think is a reasonable buggy for a reasonable price.

Chris Shelley

 

Peter Lynn Competition Standard .#2

It puts together quickly and efficiently into a front section with the front wheels and a rear section of the back axle.   The two sections clips together really quickly and reliably.  The clips have never failed in all the time I have used it, and the two have never parted while flying.   To my mind the best thing about the PL Comp and XR is the fact they are light and the two part construction means that it fits in the car with minimal effort.

It does really as far as I am concerned, need a back rest, even the XR seat, on an XR though better is not comfy enough for me without one.  With one, all day on grass or sand is no problem.  I stop at the end of the day exhausted but not uncomfortable.

The riding position is excellent as the rider is very low.  Much better in this respect than the Flexi bug.

After about 5 years the rear axle (original light weight one) is slightly bowed but not enough to take any action.

Bearings are easy to change and not expensive.    I have replaced the rear wheel bolts a few times as they have failed generally from fatigue but one was bent by 45 degrees when the wheel was hit by another buggy at speed.

Down tube has had no problems.

All I can say on handling as I have mainly ridden this buggy, is that it is acceptable.   When sliding sideways it drifts parallel, so no weird antics if overloaded.     Because of the low riding position it is difficult to roll, by observation it seems less prone to rolling than a standard FLEXI.   In my group a number of flexis have been modified to swan neck the down tube to ride more like the PL.

Its been up to 40+ mph on the sand with no problems.   The seat has been replaced after about 4 years.   The problems I have had that have caused concern are:-  I have replaced the side rails that have cracked through fatigue once.   One side broke, replaced both, new one broke but fortunately not the same one so re-fitted one of the old ones. I was on the second front forks.  The second set was beginning to crack in the same place as the first, that is the join between the spreader bar underneath the down tube. Foot rests tend to fall off as the retaining spring clip fails.  However a bolt will fix it.  They do rattle a bit. Replaced the seat with an XR seat.   The seat was worn through as it tends to scrape on the floor at times as it is set very low. I have had to replace one wheel but that was because I failed to spot a sized bearing and the wheel spun on the bearing melting the wheel.   That one goes down as poor maintenance.

In conclusion a great buggy easy to store and transport because of light weight.

Brian Handley

 

Peter Lynn XR #1

This was my first bug,, bought new for £220

• 1 value for money ,, at the time it was good value for a new bug, as a beginner buggy it was small and light, and fitted in the back of my car without having to be dismantled.
• 2 type and quality of seat, the seat was of reasonable quality, but it sits low around the back, and you feel a little exposed,, (well would now)
• 3 axle size, length and diameter, less than 1m,, small and a bit thin,, think it was about 32mm
• 4 side rail diameter and width between the rails,, can’t remember..
• 5 build quality, this is one thing that people moan abut,, but I found it OK,, it is not the strongest buggy in the world..
• 6 faults, bearings are small 12mm id all round, the seat sits high in the frame and is low, they are known to brake at weld points.

Shrimpo

 

Peter Lynn Competition XR+ #2

This is my first buggy, after trawling the internet I came across this at Kiteworld who had an offer on at the time. At £225 it was a price I couldn’t say no to, and still hard to beat, so for me excellent value for money.

The seat is a fully adjustable version made from strong coated fabric and is equipped with a lower back support. However if you want back support you can’t rely on this at all, sales speak I’m afraid.

It should be noted that this is the competition XR+ version which is a heavy-duty version of the Competition Buggy, and uprated from the original XR. The XR+ now has 20mm wheel bolts at the rear and 12mm at the front. It comes with side rail padding and covers which is a nice touch. The down tube connects to the side rails with 2 bolts and has a good range of adjustment.

The rear axle just slips over the ends of the side rails and then the seat straps wrap around it, it does however hold together well I have had no problems with this arrangement. The rear axle is 95cm long and 38mm diameter, side rails are 31mm diameter. The width between the side rails (with padding, covers and seat fitted) is 46cm, which I find a tight fit and would have preferred a little more. I could always take the padding and covers off but prefer to leave them on.

The build quality is good but not exceptional; welds are good but the down tube to headstock fit seemed not quite right, but not a problem.

As a beginner to buggying it is meeting all of my needs

Chris

 

Predator Race Buggy

Bought for £325 second hand Kadkat Bigfoots on the rear—Midi on the front, Straight Downtube.

Bought This buggy second hand in November of “Racekites” . It has a 135 cm axel and I find this wide enough to hold down power but small enough to have a decent turning circle. The axel diameter I find could do with being a bit thicker, the axel looks slightly bowed I ‘m not sure if that’s something to do with the way I set it up or with just a design fault but I suspect its my doing.

The seat is a very very comfortable seat similar to a libre full race seat and fully adjustable to ride low or high.

The side rails so far I have slightly disappointed with , I understand I bought it second hand but since I’ve had the buggy the side rails have snapped twice on me, now I have them professionally repaired with extra bracing its not a problem but still them snapping twice is not fun at high speeds.

The whole buggy is in Stainless steel which looks cool and stops rusting. The Kadkats on the rear axel make a real different in the soft sand and the midi on the front is good for ease of transport but sink a bit in the softer sand but no real large problems.

The buggy is very light compared to a lot of buggy’s and I find the straight Downtube good as I can get the seat very low without the need of a swan neck. I find the buggy great at high speed s and verycomfortable for those long sessions. As for value for money I payed £325 for it and the wheels alone are worth over £250. The buggy when it was made cost £600 on barrows, so yeah I think I got a bargain.

Phil

 

RS Buggy

After some deliberating as to weather i should get a bug or not i decided that i wanted to stop falling from my board and go for a buggy

i was a first a little stumped due to the different buggies on the market new and second hand and my budget.

however not to be put off i spoke to a few members and nudge kindly let me have a go in his parastorm ll LUSH but due to a restricted kiting budget couldnt really afford the 450 a parastorm sells for. however nudge then sent me a link to an rs bug on ebay albeit an old link that had already sold

however not to be put off i msg the guy to ask if he intended selling anymore throug t’bay. couple of days past and I resigned myself to the fact he wasnt and I would have to buy a rad bug 🙁 have heard the axel tends to smaile at you after a while)

then out of the blue i get a msg from a guy called ralph saying yes he was going to sell another at the end of the month excellent needless to say I snapped it up as soon as he put it on t’bay.

Anyway about the bug :-

After speaking to a few ppl i decided to go for the wide axel and wide wheels (less likely to tip over during the learning curve) I opted for the 1.5m axel and the wide deli wheels at a total cost of DA DA DA £230 delivered a bargain i thought considering the price of the wheels alone.

It arrived within 3 days of purchase excellent service 🙂

I unpacked it and layed out the parts to make sure all was there and it was except instructions

pretty easy to figure it out although for a complete novice instructions would be a benefit.

build was excellent and the welds from what i could make out were sound and strong and the whole thing was powder coated in black although i have to agree with jarv it is a bit heavy but considering some of the mountain bikes I have raced on this isn’t a problem for me.

Took me about an hour to build am impressed I must say for my first attempt

the side rails were padded and covered with a black canvas to match with the buggy and the seat I chose was red and black a different seat to the one i saw in the original link i was sent and from what i can gather an improved version of the last seat and pretty comfy to boot.

the axel as i said was 1.5m in length and with the wide deli wheels makes for a pretty impressive looking beast i must say.

I have taken it out once so far in light wind around 6mph with a 5m blaze (yes a blaze)

not the best of kites but it performed well and had me going at a steady roll albeit slow pace.

i can only really compare to a parastorm as thats all i have the chance to ride and to be honest it doesnt compare in the comfort stakes and the heavier weight ment i probably went slower then i would have in a parastorm so makes it a little harder to really compare.

the only thing i can say i didnt like about it was the rather large Hex bolt holding the forks the the downtube this may be down to the fact that i ended up with a nasty split and some bruising to my nose (this was caused by the bug stopping dead due to a dog chasing and trying to munch the front wheel and me leaning forward to try and shoe it away as the bug stopped (and yes i did have a lid on at the time) Laugh away folks i did and still am everytime i look in the mirror.

i have now remedied this problem by padding out the bolt incase it happens again

Overall :- Great bug Great build and good quality and value for money

and im glad i didnt buy the radsail and cant wait to get out and give it a blast in better winds. my compliments to ralph seeburger on a great buggy and hope he sells more of them

top bloke

LT-FS

 

XXtreme Apexx

I figure its time to write a review here. So today (March 5/08) I finally received my XXtreme ApeXX from Ruudje. It took about a month to build (three buggies where coming to Canada) with all the specs from my body dimensions, and it was shipped here in under 48hrs from Netherlands. I have to say it was totally worth the wait.

30% of the buggy is custom build to your size. Ruudje wants to know your leg length, hip bone and waist measurements to start construction. The rest of the buggy is generally the same on all. Front Fork, Downtube, Seat, Rear Axle. However the XXRacer comes in one size only, but I think you can ask for custom width, since I’ve read that the seat can be a little bit for the smaller riders, i.e. like myself. When I opened the box (no fantasy packaging), but who cares. I couldn’t imagine how big everything was, even the BBS Booster I had before seemed smaller in size. Everything on this buggy looks sleek, and beefy, like its ready to run a long distance race. As I began to assemble everything with my two other buddies that now own ApeXXs as well. Ruudje skyped me and wanted to chat, so its nice to see how the design webcams you through the assembly direction. We laid everything out on my living room floor and started at it, getting directions from Ruudje and everyone working on a part. Finally it was put together, 40mins later. LOL. So much for that 6 minutes on the Peter Lynn XR+.

Seat: We proceed to ask Ruudje custom seat options, and I’ll tell ya’ll there are so many set-ups that you can do, there’s buckles and straps here and there. Tighten and loosening makes the seat up or down, tilt or expand. I have spend the half the day in sitting on it, and still can’t find a comfortable position, since its all sooo comfortable like sitting in your favourite computer chair. The side rails come up just high enough like a sofa but gives a lot of side support. The back of the seat feels nice, with padding inside, it’s like a chair. I like to sit upright, but the other two like to lean back more, personal preference when you’re buggying I guess. I can see why they have so many adjustments, because Ruudje wanted it to be customized to your liking.

Frame: Its stainless steel, but its been powder coated to a dull grey. I think in future my next Xxtreme buggy will be in Blue or Black, or maybe GOLD. LOL. The rear axle is huge, its like thick steel, and heavy too, probably the heaviest part of the buggy than the side rails. I ordered my in 140cm, but you can order it any length you want it in. Most of the European riders that use BF Wheels have 140 to 160cm rears. The side rails are about 120cm in length with 2 curved bends, which keeps you in there tight. Heavy pads on the side rails keep it comfortable again. The side rails connect to the rear axle with joint system, where you have adjustments to increase / decrease rear height. I have dropped mine to second last from the bottom, lower to the ground. On the joint where the sail rails hold the downtube in place has another 3 settings to adjust the rack. I’m still playing around with this setting, cant really tell until my first buggy ride in it.

Extras: When you buy an ApeXX there are a lot of extras that come with it. You get a nice seat protector as they call it. It’s a rubber mat that similar to a buggy bib, and it ties around the front of the downtube to the rear axle. He also throws in buggy plates with your racing number on it, made out of coreplast modded plastic. You get a nice little front wheel fender that mounts to your front fork. If you get the BF version than you get a cool 3-D fender that cover 20% of the wheels. I didn’t want the standard footpegs, so he opted to give me the footpegs that come with straps. However the straps go on the heel side, which seems to work well, since there is no chance of your foot every falling off the peg. You can even steer the buggy with one leg, and yes there is a Dutch buggier who is one-legged. Other things you can request for is a weight set, however the buggy itself is already 77lbs, I didn’t feel I need more weight. There are predrilled holes to place weights in certain spots on the buggy.

Overall: I’m very happy with my new buggy, and being 1 of 3 people to have it here first. I just need to get it out and use it, probably not until NABX. Come by the camp to view my buggy or have a test ride. Since “Pass the ApeXX” might be out of the question.

 

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