anyone ride a ‘bent’ ?

i may have asked this in the past, but my memory is on holiday.
so, anyone ride a recumbent ? and if so, what kind.

thinking about dipping my toe in, for road based long rides and tours i europe.
recently done a 3 week tour in france, and most of the time i was in pain from my wrist, which a slowly fusing with arthritis.
tried every type of bar and grip, but i aint easing.
so was looking at a mid racer type design. not too low, with the choice of under or over steering.

anyone ?

I’m fairly sure @TiRed has at least one.

Also worth a look is this sub-section of the CUK forum all for recumbentists:
https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewforum.php?f=24

My Dad had one for a while. Thoroughly hateful thing; wildly impractical for carrying in/on a vehicle, near impossible to get on a train, weighed a ton, couldn’t be ridden on any cycle path with anti-motorbike barriers, an absolute nightmare to find spare parts, tyres etc for, expensive, difficult to ride…

dipping my toe in

What’s that thing called when your foot catches the ground and folds backwards under the bike? I saw a drawing of it once, yuck!

I’ve got a Velotechnik grasshopper. That’s a 20″ two wheeled number. Bought it about 10 year ago in the depths of despair with my hip. Still got in in the workshop but not ridden it for about 8 years.

They take a bit of getting used to, especially up hill. I stalled and fell off a couple of times. It’s the whole not being able to use your arms when going uphill (who knew how much you do) or get out of the saddle. Never got past the stage where I avoided big hills, which is a challenge when touring! Trikes are definitely easier.

It’s also surprising how rough it is when you can’t unweight the seat/saddle over bumps and how much you do it without thinking about it. The little shock in my one makes a big difference.

The being low to the ground thing whilst being a bit unnerving to start with, becomes a bit of a non problem.

Not for a long time, but I used to own a short wheel base Radius Hornet. Some observations in no particular order.

Definitely faster on the flat or downhill. An absolute pig going uphill though because no chance of using your bodyweight/ upper body as leverage.

People assume they’re dangerous because your low down and less visible. False because they are weird, so everyone spots you.

I don’t recognise most of crazy legs points. Apart from the frame mostly standard parts, just in an odd configuration. Easy through width restrictions because these are usually wider low down. Zig-zag gates a bit tricky.

I learnt to ride it quickly enough, a bit more prone to falling off because again you can’t catch a slide with body English, but also not far to fall.

Horses are shit scared of them, as are time trial timekeepers.

Mine was like this, not my photo.

I’ve always wanted one of those with a fairing that make them look like rocket cars.

The prices are eye-watering though!

I ride a Catrike villager. It’s quite old, has no suspension but is pretty light (aluminium frame) and reasonably upright. It’s slower than a road bike gets lots of smiles. Could tour on it. Uses different muscles to an upright and HR is lower as it’s easier to get the blood back from the legs. In all the years I’ve ridden it, I’ve only had one moron moan I was holding up the traffic. Most people will assume your are disabled when on it. Electrical assist of the boom and BB is a popular option.

ride

But is it really riding?

You’re sitting on top of it or lying in it rather than in a mounted position on its back.

Well, above 30 mph you feel like a passenger rather than a rider! I have considered a fairing on the front to help with aero because although it’s low, it’s rather wide. Mine is 3×9 speed and I changed to a very narrow spaced rear Ultegra block because spinning is the order of the day. I also changed from marathon plus to Durano tyres as it was very draggy (3x 20” wheels). It also carries a permanent rack top box. Weighs less than 15 kilos. Can be ridden with one arm – which is why I bought it after a serious accident. The flag is not really needed, it has four lights on the back!

The best thing about it is the smiles per mile. But you will get noticed. I’ve had people video me on their phones out of cars.

one thing for sure, i wont be buying one to increase my speed. purely want one for comfort over long road trips.

most of my rides workout at about 10mph over the distance.

over a long day, say 70 to 100 mile, i end the ride in agony from my wrists regardless of whatever bars/grips i use.

i climb slowly anyway, so the slow uphill thing is not a issue.

gone hire one for a weekend ride and see how i go.

Hmmm yonks ago I used to daily commute the bath2Bristol cycle path on a Windcheetah recumbent trike, real hooligan thing tbh once your fit enough and get the hang of it 🙂

Cracking fun Grommit 🙂

As tired said it does use different muscles to an upright and  as tthew has said horses really don’t like them.

If I couldn’t ride a normal bike for any reason I’d be digging out one, the only issue is the size and awkwardness to transporting if it’s not a door to door.

2 wheelers are probably less hassle but going to be longer than a bike.

I had a 5 min go on a two wheel version belonging to a neighbour. It felt faaaaaast down the street.

He had a roof rack for it but had stopped riding it because of most of the nice country side rides where we are ( north Nottingham) involve some steep hills. He said it was great in the flat land towards Lincoln.

It’s the only bike I’ve ridden since I was 13 that was too high for me, he is 6″5 and the seat was set for him.

The trike doesn’t feel fast. But it’s nice to do an F1 wiggle approaching the red lights. Ton, I’d try an ICE trike if you can. Trikes do ride differently to two wheelers. Much more relaxing. Until you have a fast corner. And going uphills, you can’t fall off and can just stop!  Always somewhere to sit too. Mine fits through a doorway and inside the CRV (just).

There’s quite a few for sale on Facebook marketplace…. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1244344380322931/

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2286665125008530/

if you look there, search recumbent trike as recumbent bike just produces loads of crap exercise bikes!

I have an Optimus Orca fitted with non-standard handlebars.  It’s fun to ride, but as others have said, best on the flat. I’ve fitted a Tongsheng BB motor to mine to encourage me to use it more on the local hills (I’m spitting distance from Cwmcarn).

Balancing is a completely different technique to a DF, as you can’t shift your weight, making it a difficult learning curve for some, and pedalling uses different muscles so you need to allow a few hundred km to develop your ‘recumbent legs’.  Oddly, foot pain can be an issue as the high BB reduces circulation (not been a problem for me, but my son has complained of it on long rides using it).

Can’t seem to embed an image… Mines at reply #26 in this thread:

Pictures of your ‘bent(s) (yacf.co.uk)

(On Cwmcarn Forest Drive, before the motor was fitted – so they do climb hills! 🙂 )