Err, how does this work?! (extra low dropbars…)

Popped up when I was searching for something unrelated – was intrigued enough to look. For when normal dropbars aren’t low enough?!

“Titanium race bicycle fork titanium drop handle bar Titanium track bike forks”

Has Brant been on the herbal cigarettes again! 🙂

Maybe it’s for a 36er

I’d fear for my back. And my teeth.

lol, £800 shipping, but if it’s delayed you get a voucher for… a quid.

On the positive side, the intolerable ergonomics will help reduce the chances of a catastrophic failure where the bars are welded to the fork legs.

brace for chest impact. Some low profile TT bikes used to have the flat base bars welded to the fork crown, but I’ve never seen anything quite that low. Could it be for a recumbent with under seat steering?

Make a load of random stuff and see what sticks.

“Oh you want that but with a testing certificate?”

Yeah, thankfully they are for a recumbent

https://www.ti-bikes.com/titanium-fork/titanium-prone-bicycle-fork.html

Phew! Was trying to find a pic of an actual bike with them installed (where would your face go?!), but there are none (not even recumbents!)

You’ll want a frame with that…

Stupid. Your handlebar tassels would get caught in your spokes.

It looks like a 20″ wheel too

Stupid. Your nipple tassels would get caught in your spokes.

A prone recumbent? Über-niche!

A pronecumbent?

How comfortable actually are recumbents?

I’m imagining that you’d end up with a lot of chaffing from the constant moving in the seat (or lying down on your belly)?

OTOH that’d be an absolute rocketship on a nice open descent. You’d needs some grippy tyres and good brakes!

Is this what you get when you ask ChatGPT to design bicycle components?

Ah I presumed as the word Prone meant lying down, that a recumbent was the same thing as a prone bike. I now see how totally wrong I was. A prone is a face down thing as scotroutes has shown. Completely different, of course. Silly ol me

Unless you get this Prone bike to put your dropbar/fork combo on… https://octane-one.com/bike/prone-hardtail-trail-29/

How comfortable actually are recumbents?

Good ones are *very* comfortable. Bad ones are as good as very good uprights. I’ve done some riding on a few over the years, and one of my old clubs (part of the CTC) had a recumbent group. Some of the guys would happily do 150 miles in a day, over multiple days, fully loaded. And they weren’t young either!

Bloody terrible for steep climbing though. Had to pick your routes. Or get lower gears and better balance.

Never ridden a prone recumbent though.

Or get lower gears and better balance.

or get an extra wheel! My trike is comfortable and has no issue on the steep stuff

There was a Cool Breeze Prone bike made in the 90’s. I recall it being reviewed in Encycleopedia. It provided padded support at the hips and shoulders. The bike and the magazine both sank without trace.

Not far off some of the more extreme cibelli laser low pros.

I had a go on a procumbent about 30 years ago that was custom built by Matt Norman of Venom Cycles. It had a small front wheel with wee stubby bars welded to the forks so you could get your head right over the front. It was a novel experience, but the steering was very  twitchy, and I don’t think they offer any real advantages over a recumbent. Obree famously came up with a prone design for his HPV speed record attempt.

My trike is comfortable and has no issue on the steep stuff

Scary when they lift a wheel though!

Did a few rides on an early windcheetah in my teens and a speedy, then a peer gynt. Very different experiences!