# Recumbent Bike or Trike, needs to do a few things.



## thewrinklyninja (12 Mar 2009)

I am looking at a getting a recumbent bike or trike, as recenty have benn getting some back problems and am fed up of doing 50 - 100 miles on a standard road bike, getting off and feeling like I have been beaten over the body with a lead pipe.

I have a couple of points though. I live in west yorkshire and it's hilly. It needs (or I need to be able to make it) keep up on club runs. Also I am doing the White Rose Classic sportive again this year which has some killer hills (and awesome descents). So it needs to be able to do them. I am also looking at doing more sportives down the line aswell.

I have been looking at the Trice Q 26 and the Nazca Fuego Sport models and was wondering if any of you good people have any advice for me. The budget is £1500-2000, but obviously lower is better.


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## Redmountduo (12 Mar 2009)

The trice would be a good choice in that price range, you should have no problems speed wise. Hills are no problem at all, but you have to be prepared to take longer getting up them.
The comfort is unbelievable.
Good luck.


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## LeeW (12 Mar 2009)

A trice is unlikely to be able to keep up on a club run. When I had my Trice S I did try a few times but it was very hard work (the run normally averaged about 18mph over 50-60 miles and was sometimes hilly).
For riding with a club run I would recommend a bacchetta or similar type bike with dual 650 or 700c wheels such as the challenge sirian or M5 highracer (although the m5 is beyond your budget). This puts you at a level close to the other riders. If you are short (under about 5' 9") then something like a challenge fujin should work nicely.


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## byegad (12 Mar 2009)

A trike is great fun and I can recommend buying one. However there are differences between DF and recumbent speeds. My moving average on a trike is only marginally lower than my DF average was on the same run. 

BUT!

A club run can work like the Peleton in a race relying for it's speed on the fact that each rider uses less energy in total by taking turn and turn about with the slower riders doing less of a turn. A trike is so low you provide no slipstream help to following riders. I'd say from my limited experience you also get less 'help' when following. 

Also riding in close company with DFs can be difficult as you are 'down' out of sight of the other riders. Add to this the different speed profile of a trike, faster down hill by a good margin also faster into the wind and much slower up hill and you need good understanding from the others to let you rip away down hill and to be prepared to pass you on every hill. I mostly ride alone and when I did 45 hilly miles with a disparate group of Dfers who were mostly used to riding in CTC groups it took nearly the whole ride for them to ride comfortably with me. 

Common problems are the pack spreading out on narrow descents not appriciating that 
you can be coming up behind then at 10+mph more than them. Having a bike running into your back wheel on a steep hill as you drop to a ratio far lower than the bottom gear available to the DF rider. A passing rider pulling in onto your boom having passed your front wheels. I saw someone do this on a York Rally ride a few years back and spokes were broken and harsh words exchanged! 

It can be done and certainly a high or low racer has the ability to beat DFs with equal 'engines' but, in my opinion, a trike is more suited to long days riding in comfort than hard riding.


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## dodgy (12 Mar 2009)

I think byegad has this one summed up nicely!


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## 3tyretrackterry (12 Mar 2009)

totally off topic but i like your user name


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## thewrinklyninja (12 Mar 2009)

ITs not a fast club run, its more like a group of friends pottering along for 80 miles'ish and stopping off at cafe's and stuff


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## Hilldodger (12 Mar 2009)

I don't ride any of our recumbents because they give me a bad back. 

My most comfortable bike is my penny because I sit upright.


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## Mr Magoo (12 Mar 2009)

Give D.TEK a buzz I know they have both of these machines in stock and one  or two or maybe more  other recumbents in stock !
What have you ridden to date ?

.[/quote]
I have been looking at the Trice Q 26 and the Nazca Fuego Sport models and was wondering if any of you good people have any advice for me. The budget is £1500-2000, but obviously lower is better.[/quote]


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## thewrinklyninja (12 Mar 2009)

I have'nt tried any to date. Will give D'tek a ring tomorrow if I get time.




Mr Magoo said:


> Give D.TEK a buzz I know they have both of these machines in stock and one  or two or maybe more  other recumbents in stock !
> What have you ridden to date ?
> 
> .


I have been looking at the Trice Q 26 and the Nazca Fuego Sport models and was wondering if any of you good people have any advice for me. The budget is £1500-2000, but obviously lower is better.[/quote][/quote]


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## Auntie Helen (12 Mar 2009)

I've done a fair bit of riding in groups (nothing particularly fast) and Byegad is right about some of the disadvantages with regard to people not seeing you and not realising how quickly you can go down hills. I would also add that it's a bit harder to hold a conversation with someone on a DF bike as they are so much higher up than you, it's like hollering across a huge chasm.

However it's well worth it for the fact that I can do 60 miles and still feel fresh with no aches and pains from the backside, back, wrists, arms etc. I've got a Trice Q with the 20" back wheel and I love it. I'm not that quick up hills but I do get there eventually.


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## Cullin (12 Mar 2009)

I think you will have great fun with most any trike you buy, modify your choice to suit your personal requirements, The big cheesy grin comes as standard with all models.
I am very happy with my ICE Q.


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## squeaker (13 Mar 2009)

thewrinklyninja said:


> I have a couple of points though. I live in west yorkshire and it's hilly. It needs (or I need to be able to make it) keep up on club runs. Also I am doing the White Rose Classic sportive again this year which has some killer hills (and awesome descents). So it needs to be able to do them. I am also looking at doing more sportives down the line aswell.


IME, hills will be 'the problem' as you can't recruit the wide range of muscle groups that you can on a DF e.g. as you hit the steep bit of a hill a DF rider will tend to stand out of the saddle ('honk') for short periods (in my case, longer for others) pulling on the bars - can't do that on a 'bent. Also, I read somewhere that because of the recumbent position your max power output is about 10% less when just pedalling (not honking). Finally, on a DF you can handle really steep bits by almost trackstanding, IME you can't do that on a 'bent but obviously no problem on a trike, provided you have low enough gear ratios. Downhills are no problem, provided you don't cook your brakes waiting for your DF friends 
As for bike or trike, IME bikes are about 10% faster, which is not to say that you can't get a fast trike 
Have fun choosing - you won't regret it!


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## byegad (13 Mar 2009)

Squeaker, a trike will climb anything a DF can and then some. You need a really low bottom gear, I have 13,14 or15" bottom gears depending on which trike and what size rear tyre is fitted and I know of riders with a sub10" bottom gear. If you are on a really steep hill rather than get off and push it is actually easier to stop, start, stop, start up the hill. 
I have done both Durham Big Rides and there is a steep (1 in 5 I think) section which stops pretty much everyone. Yet I can get up with 3 or 4 stops, in a shorter time than most DFers walk it. Only a very few very fit riders can honk up it and if I were 30 years younger and 4 stones lighter I could well climb it non stop.


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## thewrinklyninja (13 Mar 2009)

Just spoke to Kevin at D'tek. What a nice bloke. He's gonna send me some pic's and I am gonna arrange a visit I think.

I am not too worried about the hill's. I never really tend to honk up hill's on my DF bike. I have pretty always used the Jan Ullrich method of staying the saddle and just pushing up. Usually get there in the same'ish time and less knackered.


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## Arch (13 Mar 2009)

Auntie Helen said:


> I would also add that it's a bit harder to hold a conversation with someone on a DF bike as they are so much higher up than you, it's like hollering across a huge chasm.



The trick is only to bother talking to other people on recumbents...

Although even a Ratcatcher is a bit higher than my trike, although that never stopped Mike Burrows talking to me on holiday </name dropping>. Or pushing me up hills....


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## tyred (13 Mar 2009)

Hilldodger said:


> I don't ride any of our recumbents because they give me a bad back.



I thought this was the whole point of a recumbent - to avoid aches and pains...


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## byegad (13 Mar 2009)

Mine are comfy enough. I can sleep on my QNT seat, although not usually when in motion!


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## thewrinklyninja (13 Mar 2009)

Just confirmed with Kevin. Off for a recumbent testing/riding session next Friday. Excited!


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## Auntie Helen (13 Mar 2009)

You'll have great fun!

Just to confirm, I'm averaging 35-45 miles per day at the moment on my trike and no aches and pains whatsoever – apart from perhaps in the grocery bills as I seem to be eating like a horse (although not grass, fortunately)


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## foggy (14 Mar 2009)

try a hpv scorpion I suffer from post chemo and balance proplems
since getting
the trike I have not looked back


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## PaulM (21 Mar 2009)

*Advantages of a recumbent bike*

I currently have a Catrike Speed and have been doing some hilly social rides with DFs and tandems recently.

The trike has a similar profile to the tandem, ie slower uphills and faster down them. A lot of the rides have been on single-track roads with masses of debris down the middle meaning that one of the 3 wheels must ride in the debris. This has frequently forced me to slow down, losing touch with the group. I have now ordered a Bacchetta Bellandare which is actually slightly heavier than the trike but I anticipate will be faster and more suited to the group rides.


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## thewrinklyninja (23 Mar 2009)

Spent Friday with Kevin at Dtek and had great fun, he tried me on all sorts of recumbents. Even some I was not keen on trying by the look of them (the Linear) but I tried them all and was pleasantly surprised by the stability of them all. Of all I was more shocked by the fact that I thought I would prefer the euro semi low bikes like the Hurricane and that ilk. But I felt more stable and comfy and rolled along nicer ona Bacchetta Giro he had. He has one coming in on second hand this week, so he will check the condition and email me some pic's. Joy!


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## spiro (24 Mar 2009)

I'm going to see Kev on Saturday so it sounds like I am going to have an interesting time trying out all the different styles (weather permitting). At least I'm not too far away if the weather turns out bad (as now forecast) and I can only look and not try.


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## thewrinklyninja (27 Mar 2009)

Well, I have settled on a second hand Bacchetta Giro from Kevin at Dtek. In very good condition and it comes with mud gaurds and a bag aswell. Joy!. I can finally get back out cycling again.


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