Anybody here ride a recumbent bike now or in past or thinking about getting one? What was/is your rationale for getting one and how was the overall experience?
by Academic-Pattern-228
Anybody here ride a recumbent bike now or in past or thinking about getting one? What was/is your rationale for getting one and how was the overall experience?
by Academic-Pattern-228
9 Comments
I had one after I had not ridden in a couple of years, it was a little squirrelly at first, and after I got used to it it was a fun ride
I have seriously considered getting one. It seemed like fun, but after a week of testing it, I still didn’t manage to ride it without a constant fear of falling. I also kept requiring assistance with starting my ride. I’m glad I tested it, and didn’t follow my impulses to just buy one.
I did like that I didn’t have pain or numbness anywhere on my Seiran SL. Comfort. Speed. Attention.
Don’t like being a bit nervous on a two wheel recumbent. You can’t bunny hop potholes. You have to keep to hands on the steering. You can’t ride where it’s slippery/icy.
If you have a budget for one bike, get a do-all cyclocross or hybrid mtb. But if you don’t mind selling it, give it a try.
Lifelong cyclist. Have done cross-country self-contained tours. Was member of a race team long ago.
Got my first recumbent 24 years ago when I was in my mid 40’s. Had been curious about recumbents for many years because the design makes ergonomic sense.
Riding my first recumbent helped me rediscover the joy of riding. I wish that I had started riding recumbents much earlier in my life.
My first recumbent was a short wheelbase over seat steering model. I now ride a long wheelbase under seat steering bike.
Eventually gave away all my old wedgie bikes because I had no desire to ride them anymore.
Yes but 3 wheels which is rly cool. Dont see the apeal of a e wheel recumbent even if i drive them from time to time at my job.
3 wheel recumbent is perfect as a winter bike and a bike to walk the dog + lazy mornings when i dont want to get up until iam at work.
https://preview.redd.it/adjva919ffid1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=56c4eb07f6e50b609c2d5735e4a71857ce3738ee
Here is my current ride. I’ve started 10 years ago, when I’ve had intractable hands/butt/back problems on brevets above 400km.
Unfortunately, turns out I have circulation problems that make me allergic to typical (and fastest) designs of SWB (short wheelbase) recumbents with BB considerably higher than lowest point of your seat. Not terribly common, but not exactly rare either. While butt comfort massively impoved, speed took a nosedive, constant numb feet were not comfortale by any stretch.
I’ve tried pretty much every design by now, including moving bottom bracket types that can have low BB (going as far as designing my own), but I’ve found that doing all-day rides really tire out my arms.
Now I’m experimenting with LWBs. Not terribly light and fast, but at least faster than “racier hybrid bike” I used for my brevets and comfort and control (unlike highly reclined bikes!) is impeccable, especially on bad roads/slippery conditions – reclined bents MUST have rear suspencion of some kind or your back will be beaten severely on bad roads, which my bad back didn’t like one bit.
I’ve not managed to ride more than 400km brevets on bents, but that’s partly due to me aging and decling in health (but not weight, eh). I’m planning on making a “racier” LWB, using GLP-1 agonists to lose some weight over the winter and doind a brevet season again.
I’ve bought one mainly because I was curious about it, rode it for 15 min on a test ride and was hooked. It was like 75€, so a reasonable price for a quick and fun little toy.
Back then I’ve only had 2 city bikes, so that was by far my fastest bike.
Today it awaits it’s yearly 5-10 usages in the summer in the family holiday home at the sea, its perfect for windy conditions, and it got panniers, so you can easily shop for a week+ with one ride.
I regret nothing about it, neither the riding at home at the start, nor the longer rides on the coast.
make it fixed gear and then we’re talking
I’ve been riding one for 3 years now. I had one in the past but never really got into it. My wife got me one last year and I love it. Comfort and speed are the main reasons. It is the best riding experience I’ve had.