Why a Bent?

[zebee]

I went for a ride with the St George BUG and I got asked the inevitable question.. Why a recumbent?

I like the comfort. No saddle trying to divide me in two, no wrist pain, no neck pain, no back pain.

For me this is enough to overcome the vision problems when coming out of side streets with parked cars blocking vision, and the weight and the hard work up hills. I don't count things like curb hopping cos I never did those on an upright.

What keeps you bent?

[brumby33]

I can Understand the comfort level of a recumbent trike but because they are so low slung and despite many but not all recumbents are trikes, that they are actually had to notice until you're nearly right up on them even though many have flags which i think are a necessity for these types of cycles.
I've never ridden one, never had the opportunity as they are not all that common, however I've heard that it's hard to get the power to the pedals due to them being right out front.....am I right?

Love to have a crack at one some day.

Cheers

brumby33

[TrikeTragic]

.......snip snip however I've heard that it's hard to get the power to the pedals due to them being right out front.....am I right? ....snip some more

Yes, on a bent you can't get the power you might from a regular bike, bum off the saddle and with the full use of your hips. On a recumbent, you are pushing back against the seat and your hips are (compared to a bike) a fixed pivot point. It only really becomes apparent on climbs. Typically you might be in a lower gear "keeping the revs up" when upright bike riders are starting to stand on the pedals and exert more power.

You learn to keep the pedals turning, enjoy the view and the payback on the descent, though.

Cheers

[skyblot]

I can Understand the comfort level of a recumbent trike but because they are so low slung and despite many but not all recumbents are trikes, that they are actually had to notice until you're nearly right up on them even though many have flags which i think are a necessity for these types of cycles.
I've never ridden one, never had the opportunity as they are not all that common, however I've heard that it's hard to get the power to the pedals due to them being right out front.....am I right?

Love to have a crack at one some day.

Cheers

brumby33

I think much of what you have said is put out by people who have never tried a recumbent, never mind ridden one any distance. There are of course areas of concern, the most dangerous place to ride a 'bent is through a shopping centre car park! Out on the road I find the recumbent is more noticed than an upright bike - it is very different and drivers notice "different". It's almost impossible to travel anywhere unobserved...

Being low (on a trike) you would think visibility as a rider would be an issue, but I find it's rarely a concern. I feel it's better than the visibility from a standard car when surrounded by a sea of SUV's and pretend trucks.

I'm in two minds re flags. Absolutely important in shopping center car parks, but of limited use on road - I've noted no difference in driver behaviour whether I have a flag or not. They are excellent at deterring magpies, and keeping away people who insist on telling me I need a flag.

Power... Riders transitioning to a recumbent (from a road bike) typically report a power drop of 25% (ish), but this is often recovered after the muscles are re-trained to the new position. Never-the-less, a slight power loss is common (5%?) as a result of issues like perfusion pressure due to the reclined positioning. Peak power can be higher than an upright simply because you can leg press using the seat back to push against. Unfortunately this will result in knee injury in time...

Of course it's not all milk and honey, the riding position while very comfortable is also quite static with limited scope for moving around. The muscle groups for pedaling remain the same with little variation, there's no relief by standing up for a short burst. Recumbent bikes need the rider to "re-learn" to balance as there is little scope for shifting the body weight around to assist balance. It's not hard, merely different. Trikes have near zero learning curve, though are often slower but reward with a very different ride and handling package (simply great fun). Almost no chance of falling off, and the clip-stack becomes a thing of the past!

Definitely try one if you get the chance, it might not be for you, but it will certainly give a different view of the world on wheels.

[Thoglette]

Oh, and bents don’t need to be low: a chap I worked with had “a few” and at least one had a saddle almost as high as an upright.

I imagine that a long bent could (like my old tandem) present some challenges getting past certain “car & motorcycle blocking” traffic furniture. Fortunately that stuff seems to be out-of-fashion these days

[find_bruce]

Most bent riders are distinctly non-conformist - probably why I like em

[zebee]

Oh, and bents don’t need to be low: a chap I worked with had “a few” and at least one had a saddle almost as high as an upright.

My Encore's seat height is 26" , the Speedmachine is 19".

I don't have trouble in traffic with either one. It's a bit easier to see into a cross street from a side street on the Encore if there are parked cars.

Zebee

[zebee]

Of course it's not all milk and honey, the riding position while very comfortable is also quite static with limited scope for moving around. The muscle groups for pedaling remain the same with little variation, there's no relief by standing up for a short burst.

I've spent a fair few hours at a time on both 2 wheel and 3 wheel 'bents and haven't really noticed that. But I have been touring so not pushing hard all the time.

What I did find when two wheel touring was that if you have to stop on a hill when fully loaded, getting started again can be a problem! Low gearing means getting a heavy rig going up hill fast enough to get the other foot on the pedal is hard and one footed pedalling isn't the most stable of methods.

Zebee