recumbent or upright?

[arallsopp's wifey]

hello


Have a lovely http://www.dahon.com/ Dacon bike, that folds in middle, so can carry on trains etc (although quite big! as just folds in half) but hubby has two recumbents, that can fit me.
Have a feeling that some point in the future, will be doing longish rides, well 100 miles or so in a go eventually, and wondered if it is better to start training on the Dahon, or the 'bent.?

I grip the 'bent bars really tightly even on the flat, let alone uphill! but speed is amazing for little effort on flat or downhill

feel a bit vunerable on the 'bent too,

if anyone has ridden both, please can you give me some pro's and cons?

Evey xo

 

[arallsopp's wifey]

forgot to mention that the Dahon is a Cadenza speed 8.

Think have already decided to use it now, been falling in love with it a bit again today!

 

[dellzeqq]

why not get a real bike? Unless you're thinking of taking the bike in to London during the rush hour, then most trains will take bikes. I realise that your hubby has to have a recumbent because of his totally embarrassing not to say slavish devotion to the use of cable ties, but he does look a bit like the Queen Mum on his 'bent, all sat up. I keep on meaning to get him a flowery hat with a bit of net over the front.

Folders have their virtues - you can take them indoors to meetings, keep them safe, put loads of stuff on the rack and so on - but they're not a lot of fun over distances, and I'm not even sure that the Cadenza will satisfy every SouthEastern guard or ticket collector. Anyway, as there's no substitute for a drop-handlebar bike with decent gears, and, if that's where you're going to end up, why not begin there?

As for your specific question. I ride a Brompton most of the time, and a road bike some of the time. The Brompton needs a different set of muscles, and, while it offers good aerobic exercise, it's not the greatest preparation for riding a road bike.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

I don't understand the question. You should have, nay, need both, of course.

 

[Arch]

Anyway, as there's no substitute for a drop-handlebar bike with decent gears,

Who says?

In answer to the OP - if you think you're going to want to end up on a bogstandard upright, then ride the Dahon. If you think you'd like a recumbent, then ride recumbent as much as you can.

For overall fitness, ride anything as much as you can. If that means the Dahon gets more action, because you can take it places, then so be it. Yes, the recumbent muscles can need to get acclimatised to be top notch on one, but I've twice gone off on a fortnight recumbent tour with very little recumbent prep, and more miles done on an upright. Last year I'd put in more effort to get out on the trike, building up to my first recumbent century, night ride, and 200km, all on the same day! The 'bent muscles might have been in more tune, but I was also fitter than ever before, and doing more miles commuting upright than ever before.

Personally, for any distance, I prefer recumbent. Maybe I've never had the perfect road bike, but after 200km on the trike all that ached was my legs. After my first century, on an upright, I can't think of a bit of me that didn't hurt. Eyelashes perhaps.

Pros and cons for me:

Upright pros: quick and convenient - but that's partly due to the fact that my trike lives at a lock up, not at the flat. Inconspicuous for parking in town.

Upright cons: you get treated like any scumbag cyclist by other roadusers, and it hurts over longer distances

'bent pros: Comfort! Comfort! Also, being a trike, stability and confidence, hence much faster downhill. Eyecatching, and drivers give me more room.

'bent cons: eyecatching - hard to be inconspicuous, you can't be shy on one. Not able to store it at the flat down to space. Difficult, if not impossible to take on trains. Still, it was the need to cycle back from Scarborough that bagged me my 200km.

Pros of both - fitness, fun, economy, all that stuff.

 

[Yorkie Martin]

Have to agree with the above.

I can ride my commuter or MTB around the roads perfectly happily, comfortably and as just part of the overal scenary.

However, on my recumbent (a lovely burnt orange BenTech SWB OSS recumbent bike), I ride equally as comfortably, possibly faster (the gearing is higher at the top end as I have it set up with racing bike gear ratios), but definately not blending into the background!! You have to be prepared for some comments (unfortunately including a few which I am sure the maker finds amusing!?!) but very much in the main they are positive. I even get cars pulling alongside me occassionally so that the kids in the back can wave!!

One major consideration/practicallity, is locking up a recumbent around town. A recumbent bike can be awkward to get parked at an angle to get a D lock around a cycle rack and the frame, especially when the racks are busy.

If arriving with a smile on your face is most important - you have to travel recumbent!! Also, if travelling to customers/clients, a recumbent will mean you have something to talk about straight away.

Hope this helps??

 

[arallsopp]

(Mr Arallsopp's wifey remains discreetly in the background battling the moral maze. Believes recumbent is the way forwards, but knows it carries a pricing consideration that will come out of his pocket. Is it fair to say "you can't have that bike" when he treats himself to whatever bike he fancies? Probably not. Goes to check the prices of recumbents. Ooh. Shiny. Maybe I could get one too...)

 

[GrumpyGregry]

i reckon recumbents are what the victorians would have made to replace ordinaries if the materials and tech were available to them. as hpv's diamond framed bikes are a bit of a throw back. but they are cheap ubiquitous and can be repaired without the use of zip ties, people ride huge distances on them without adverse effects and in traffic i'd argue they are more visible (though the wtf factor can count for a lot on a bent)

which is my way of saying i'd love a bent, or even better still a haze pino, but don't have the bunce.

 

[dellzeqq]

hang about! Surely the Pino is the answer. Aralsopp on the (recumbent) front, Wifey behind? Two for the price of one, and marital bliss guaranteed!

 

[Aperitif]

"You can take the Pino out of the hall...but you can't take the Hall out of the Pino"

As arallsopp does apparently "Lie back and think of England" - allsopp, allsopp- I'm sure I have heard that name somewhere before...

 

[Arch]

s if the materials and tech were available to them. .

But they were, and they did. Recumbents aren't new. But once banned from competition, they became sidelined, as all the tech filters down from sport.

And an upright can be repaired with zip ties, if necessary...

 

[GrumpyGregry]

But they were, and they did. Recumbents aren't new. But once banned from competition, they became sidelined, as all the tech filters down from sport.

And an upright can be repaired with zip ties, if necessary...

they did. well at least they tried. but honestly the tech, especially the materials and the gearing really weren't available to victorian engineers.

whilst in extremis you may fix your diamond framed bike with zip ties it is not obligatory. I don't think I've ever seen a recumbent that didn't have something essential held on place by a zip tie, and that includes some in showrooms.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

hang about! Surely the Pino is the answer. Aralsopp on the (recumbent) front, Wifey behind? Two for the price of one, and marital bliss guaranteed!

please tell this to the lovely Helen.

 

[3tyretrackterry]

commute on a MTB
ride a recumbent for fun
it is more convenient to ride the upright for all the reasons pointed out above but if i wanted to ride any bike for leisure then the trike wins hands down foe me
Each to their own i would say but asking on here for a definitive answer is like asking my kids to wash up ( it aint going to happen)

 

[Arch]

they did. well at least they tried. but honestly the tech, especially the materials and the gearing really weren't available to victorian engineers.

whilst in extremis you may fix your diamond framed bike with zip ties it is not obligatory. I don't think I've ever seen a recumbent that didn't have something essential held on place by a zip tie, and that includes some in showrooms.

Well, unless you count "Computers and the wires thereof" as something essential, my Catrike manages without zipties....