Recumbent

[Rhythm Thief]

You really should, you know - I bet it would revive your flagging cycling career

Possibly, although I'd bet good money that within two weeks it would be gathering dust in the lounge with all the others. Maybe when I get a job closer to home I'll start cycling again.

 

[ufkacbln]

The recumbent unicycle

 

[bobg]

It is funny though, how people react. I've had people ask if a trike is hard to ride. I say "can you sit down". "er yes, I can". "Can you turn your legs?" "Er yes...". "Then you can ride this!" - but somehow they think it's going to require some difficult additional skill. Some of them seem amazed that it has brakes and gears and so on...

Probably a silly question Arch but is steep camber on roads a problem for trikes etc, I'd always presumed it might be ??

 

[wafflycat]

Probably a silly question Arch but is steep camber on roads a problem for trikes etc, I'd always presumed it might be ??

No problems experienced on my IceT

 

[byegad]

Why? I mean they are not really bikes are they.
Whats the appeal?
Seeing them on the road they look bloody vulnerable, due to the low profile.
Enlighten me.

I have just dold my 2 wheel 'bent (due to Vertigo) and am in the process of selling my DFs (Diamond Frames aka uprights aka upwrongs.

Before the vertigo struck I was riding, not all at the same time!) three diffeent uprights a recumbent bike and a recumbent trike. I had another upright folder reserved for holidays an a Touring bike on permanent lone to my older son.

The two wheel 'bent would go anywhere a DF would go. A bit slower up hill but way, way faster down hill and a bit faster into the wind on the flat. The trike is just plain fun, it's already been said but it can't be said loud enough. The trike grin is a well known phenomena, I let a guy who had ridden up on a Trek Madone (I think that's the name) try it and his smile nearly split his head in half. It's like riding a go-cart.

The WTF? factor means I get a lot more room on a 'bent than I ever did on a DF.

Did we mention comfort. I can stop and take a nap on my trike. The two wheel 'bent was such a revelation as I could do a 30 mile run and NOT have a pain in my backside, numb fingers or a pain in the neck.

Seriously, I feel if 'bents had been invented first no one would have made a DF.

 

[Arch]

Probably a silly question Arch but is steep camber on roads a problem for trikes etc, I'd always presumed it might be ??

Not especially on a recumbent trike no. Much more so on an upright trike. On a recumbent, either it's something to do with the low centre of gravity, or maybe its that the steering is so relaxed and instinctive, you compensate automatically. Yes, if you just pedal with your hands off the bars, you'll end up in the gutter eventually (although some can steer a little bit with their body wieght, not a trick I've mastered), but as long as you have your hands on the bars, it's fine.

I did just wonder if it's to do with the two wheels steering on a tadpole trike, but in my limited experience of delta (one wheel at front, two at back) recumbents, I don't remember the camber affecting it then, so maybe it's not that...

 

[NickM]

...Seriously, I feel if 'bents had been invented first no one would have made a DF.

Well, maybe some dour masochist...

 

[Auntie Helen]

Ok, where in Sussex would I find one to test ride/pilot.
I have never come accros any bike shops stocking them.

Someone else mentioned Futurecycles in Forest Row (near East Grinstead). You can hire a recumbent trike (A Trice QNT, narrow track) for £35 for 4 hours.

WARNING: I did this and then had to buy my own trike (came to about 2k) and then 14 weeks later my husband realised he really had to have one too. A quick visit to Futurecycles can hammer your bank balance in the future.

Seriously, though, it's well worth a visit to have a go. You can cycle along to Groombridge on a disused railway and it's great fun. My only comment about the narrow track version of the Trice is that if, like me, you have wide hips (I'm a gal of course) the narrow track is pretty narrow and it's hard to turn sharp corners because the handlebars are too tight to your hips. But I am a bit of a lardarse so that could account for it too.