# Guardian blog on recumbent trike



## Arch (30 Apr 2010)

The Guardian discovers recumbents:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2010/apr/30/cycling-recumbent-trike-vortex

Please feel free to pile into the comments, I have...


----------



## gaz (30 Apr 2010)

i saw this at work but forgot to post it 

Some of the comments are stupid. Having ridden with 2 of the south london bent riders on here, i can safely say from my point of view they get noticed! Mostly due to the out of the norm shape and position


----------



## mangaman (30 Apr 2010)

Which one is you then Arch?

I like the Grauniad blogs as they seem to have grasped the concept that the writer reads the responses and responds (as in this case) rather than write off a quick piece and repair to their chaise-longue with a well deserved absinthe and a cambric handkerchief. It often generates proper discussion.


----------



## Arch (1 May 2010)

"Panticle". Arch was already taken.

I'm quite proud of the fact that the writer has acknowledged that he used the wrong word when he wrote 'aghast'.

As I said on Velo Vision (where I saw this mentioned), I've pretty much given up 'evangelising'. I know I love my trike, and I know where I'll ride it (anywhee I'm happy to ride my upright), and anyone who wants to bang on about it being dangerous without trying it is just losing out on the best fun ever.

A couple of guys asked me about it on my first Audax a couple of weeks back, one was really interested in it as a machine, but I'm not sure he was convinced on the safety aspect - presumably I don't know what I'm talking about or I'm making it all up....


----------



## summerdays (1 May 2010)

A question I would like to know about trikes is - does it make your neck ache? since you are holding your head up at an unusual angle. I'm dying to have a go on one... when the lady came around promoting cycling she said we could loan bikes if we wanted to try it out... I asked if they had any trikes and she said No... just folders and normal bikes.


----------



## 3tyretrackterry (1 May 2010)

my neck doesnt ache when i ride mine you just hold your head up straight it takes some getting used to but there are several versions of headrests out there some work better than others


----------



## Fiona N (1 May 2010)

I posted too - a few times actually  - as I get so fed up with the sort of response from one of the posters i.e. I overtook a girl on a trike (not me, I hasten to add) therefore uprights are faster than recumbents  Is it just the scientist in me that reads that and sees 'apples and oranges', as it were? 

I've been contemplating posting about Andy Wilkinson - for my money, our best 'bent rider, in terms of demolishing upright opposition - he beat his own upright LEJOG record by some 8 hours riding a faired Windcheetah (I'm not sure of the exact weight but I would have thought ca. 25kg, or about 3 times the weight of a road bike) and even Gethlin Butler only got within 4 hours a couple of years ago to take the record (40 and 44 hours, respectively). Even more impressive was Andy + faired Windcheetah on the Isle of Man TT circuit where he knocked 5 minutes off Chris Boardman's record for the 37 mile circuit which includes the climb up Goat Fell (which isn't nice done as a TT). 

Admittedly a *faired* trike wasn't what the OP was on about but it's interesting to wonder how much faster Andy could have climbed Goat Fell with a 16kg or so 'naked' trike as the descent, while quick (mind-boggling I would have thought in a fairing), does have bends which need care and braking to get around. I got to about 60mph on the descent on my Windcheetah and the limiting factor for me was having to brake for the corners, so how much faster could the faired 'cheetah go (assuming my trike handling is not that much worse than Andy's)?


----------



## Arch (1 May 2010)

summerdays said:


> A question I would like to know about trikes is - does it make your neck ache?



Does your neck ache when you sit in a comfy chair? Try it. Slump a bit in a chair, and look ahead level all evening - watching telly for example...

Seriously, no, it's a much more natural angle than on an upright, where your head is in effect tilted back (depending, of course, on how much you are bent over). My old trike had a headrest built into the seat, but I never used it on the road - only when reclining in the shade after a good lunch of baguette and fromage. My new trike doesn't have a head rest, and I don't miss it.

Decent recumbent dealers will have plenty for you to try - I guess it's better if you're seriously in the market, but you won't know that until you try one. 

I know you're in Bristol but...

London Recumbents have a wide range of stuff that can be hired for rides round Dulwich Park. D-Tek inear Ely, Cambridgshire, is apparently a veitable toy box of delights (I've not yet been). Westcountry Recumbents are based in Derbyshire, and specialise in Greenspeeds. Laid Back Bikes in Edinburgh organise guided rides on 'bents. Obviously, you need to make an appointment, but if you were ever going to be in the area of any of them. That's just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

Alternatively, keep an eye out for a Get Cycling roadshow in your area, they may well bring a recumbent or two....

http://www.getcycling.org.uk/index.php


----------



## Arch (1 May 2010)

Fiona N said:


> I posted too - a few times actually  - as I get so fed up with the sort of response from one of the posters i.e. I overtook a girl on a trike (not me, I hasten to add) therefore uprights are faster than recumbents  Is it just the scientist in me that reads that and sees 'apples and oranges', as it were?



Also of course, it's all about speed isn't it? Forget comfort, stability etc. Speed is all that matters.

I'd rather take a little longer to do my 60 or 70 miles, and come home with nothing more than pleasantly aching legs, than get back half an hour earlier with stiff shoulders and wrists and a sore bum....

Also, I have a ready made seat for my picnic.


----------



## Riding in Circles (1 May 2010)

Fards has faired in his Catrike 700 and has now managed 72.9 mph downhill and 50mph on the flat, so maybe it is all about speed.


----------



## Arch (1 May 2010)

Catrike UK said:


> Fards has faired in his Catrike 700 and has now managed 72.9 mph downhill and 50mph on the flat, so maybe it is all about speed.



72.9mph! 

Mind you, I've met him, and yes, I expect he's braver than me...

Oh, and I ought to have remembered to say, Summerdays, WheelNV in Kent do Catrikes, among other things...


----------



## summerdays (1 May 2010)

I keep hoping to make it to a show and get a chance to go on one... though I don't think I could justify the cost/space at the moment... but it would be nice to know if I would like to get one in the future - they look fun/different etc... I'm not bothered about the speed element .. 72 mph would have me having to shut my eyes or be heavily drugged.


----------



## Arch (1 May 2010)

summerdays said:


> 72 mph would have me having to shut my eyes or be heavily drugged.



Me too. My max so far is 33 - but I'm hoping to improve that. The road surface and topology makes a lot of difference - a long straight downhill, not too steep, with a nice rise at the end to decellerate you, and nice smooth tarmac, that's the best.

But the most I've ever done, on an ideal road, upright, is 29 - that is my chicken point. On the trike, I've beaten that, and am prepared to go faster...


----------



## n-ick (1 May 2010)

Yo, I've never seen a positive priasing review of a trike by a non user.

The usual question raised is; being low is unsafe. Well, I can't recall the number of times that I've been knocked off/fell off a roadbike. I've seen many sports cars with lower seats.
If the bicycle was to have been reinvented by Da Vinci , he'd have gone the bent route.
Traffic keeps well clear if you're on a trike.
You can move your head and neck around when riding, try that on a road bike and you'll end up in a hedge.
I've done 122 miles in a day and topped 51 mph. Not at all bad for a fat bloke with a 1952 engine.
I love folk who laugh and point, I do it back to them !


----------



## summerdays (1 May 2010)

n-ick said:


> I love folk who laugh and point, I do it back to them !



I would point if I was with my kids or friends - but not making fun of you ... but wanting them to see it, and then tell them I wanted a go on one. Don't think everyone looking at you is laughing at you ... it may be envy in their eyes


----------



## markg0vbr (1 May 2010)

take no notice of the comments they are just trolling. 
1 if trikes are so dangerous why do cars all pass wider than when i had a df?
2 they haven't ridden one so how do they know? when they have done a year of daily riding in all weathers, i might take a bit on notice..... but not a lot as i love my trike.
3 it is not about speed, yes my top speed on the flat is about the same but over 60 miles i am faster. because i only have to stop for a p  not as i just cant go on with the pain and when i get home no pain nothing.
4 if i did not have a trike i just would not ride a df, as being knocked off one five times, twice very badly, i feel a lot safer on the trike.
5 there loss


----------



## PalmerSperry (2 May 2010)

summerdays said:


> 72 mph would have me having to shut my eyes or be heavily drugged.



I generally can't manage to get past ~60_kmh_. At about that speed the turbulence from my glasses makes my eyes water excessively leading to an inability to see. I suppose with a combination of better glasses (so I could see) and a fast trike (more confidence about the corners), I might manage higher speeds?


----------



## Riding in Circles (2 May 2010)

He said it was trying to lift off at 70mph.


----------



## CopperBrompton (2 May 2010)

Fastest I've done on my Q was 54mph (front fairing only) and it still felt rock-solid at that speed.


----------



## Hilldodger (2 May 2010)

n-ick said:


> Yo, I've never seen a positive priasing review of a trike by a non user.
> 
> 
> If the bicycle was to have been reinvented by Da Vinci , he'd have gone the bent route.



I didn't know Da Vinci had invented the bicycle in the first place


----------



## Arch (2 May 2010)

Catrike UK said:


> He said it was trying to lift off at 70mph.



I'm suddenly seeing that chase sequence from the end of The Wrong Trousers in my mind....

Wow, little fold out carbon wings on trikes....


----------



## markg0vbr (3 May 2010)

http://www.recumbentjournal.com/news/sport/item/133-european-cup-trike-race-results.html
yep dam dangerous them trikes.


----------

