Part I: Why a Recumbent?
The main distinction between recumbents and an upright is comfort By Rolf Garthus
About how many miles can you ride in a day? Five? Fifty? One hundred? One hundred and fifty? When you've reached your limit for the day, what makes you want to stop? Are tired legs the reason, or do you get off your bike
because something hurts? If you answered, "Because something hurts," you may want to consider a recumbent.
| Paul and Flo Walker check out a 'bent at the Midwest Recumbent Rally. |
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Recumbents aren't just a little more comfortable; they are totally comfortable. You're sitting on a comfortable seat with no pressure on your wrists, butt, neck or shoulders. Your back is
fully supported and at the end of the ride, nothing hurts. Plus there are some added bonuses. You don't have to sacrifice aerodynamic efficiency to be comfortable, and you have a great view of the scenery. Most people feel it's easy to learn to ride a recumbent and many have increased their riding mileage since switching to a recumbent.
I made the switch to recumbents about nine years ago due to problems with my neck and shoulders. Doctors told me I may
need spinal surgery. I stopped riding regular bikes and switched to recumbents 100% of the time, and two things happened: 1) I started going on longer rides; 2) within one year I was almost totally symptom free from the neck problems without surgery. It's now been almost nine years, and the problems have not returned.
My wife, Barb, on the other hand, has no physical problems. She rides about 3,000 miles a year and didn't
feel she needed or wanted a recumbent. About four years after I switched to recumbents, we took our first recumbent tandem ride on a Double Vision. The ride was a fairly long one, about 80 miles, with a tough headwind for the last 30 miles or so. She couldn't believe biking could be that comfortable – she got her first recumbent two days later and we sold her carbon fiber road bike several months later. Incidentally,
Barb feels she is a little faster in the headwinds and is at least as fast when going up hills. I found the same to be true.
Many people find long rides on upright bikes to be uncomfortable. One problem with upright bikes is that your legs hang down around the seat. Make the seat big enough to be comfortable to sit on and it chafes the inside of your legs. Make it small enough so it doesn't chafe and it's not comfortable to sit on; there is
simply too much pressure per square inch. Of course, you can take weight off your butt by leaning forward onto your hands, but then wrists, hands, shoulders and neck feel the discomfort. Sitting up straighter takes the pressure off the hands, but puts it back on the butt and makes the rider less aerodynamic as well. The conventional bike industry is working hard to try to make an inherently uncomfortable design more
comfortable. Suspension seat posts, suspension stems, padded grips, padded gloves and shorts, gel saddles and even padded underwear are just part of a long list of items that are supposed to make your upright bike more comfortable. But, for most of you, it still hurts, doesn't it?
Recumbents, on the other hand, alleviate these problems by positioning the rider so the legs do not hang
down around the seat. This allows two important things to happen: First, the seat can be made large enough to reduce the pressure per square inch to the point where the rider is totally comfortable with a natural head position and no weight on the hands, arms and shoulders; second, the rider is in a very aerodynamic and comfortable "recumbent tuck." The feet and legs are placed up in front of the torso to achieve great
aerodynamics while in a comfortable position that can be maintained for well over 100 miles. You always have a full view of where you're going and your center of gravity is lower for greater stability.
You can see a long way ahead of you at all times, enabling you to ride more defensively. Recumbents are so stable that I have had two dog encounters and not crashed either time. I hit one broadside at slow speed
and the other was a glancing blow at about 15 mph from a large, playful puppy that actually bent my rear derailleur. I don't think I could have stayed upright on a regular bike in either case.
Many people think recumbent riders sit so low that automobile drivers cannot see them. In fact, overall rider height on a recumbent is not significantly lower than on a road bike. In over 25,000 miles of recumbent riding, I have never had the feeling that automobile drivers could not see me.
First-time recumbent riders frequently feel a little shaky, but most can ride without tipping over almost immediately. An unsteady, wobbly feeling for the first mile or so is normal, and then you will quickly become accustomed to the new position. It usually takes about 40 to 50 miles to feel as confident on a recumbent as you did on your regular bike.
On a good recumbent, you should climb hills about like you did on your regular bike. You have tremendous
leverage against the back of the seat even though you can't "stand" on the pedals. You will be using a slightly different muscle group, so plan on a month or so before your "recumbent muscles" are as strong as your "wedgie muscles." Because of pain-free riding, people tend to increase their bicycling mileage on a recumbent. More riding equals more adventures, more fun, additional exercise and better health.
Not all recumbents are designed to max out the efficiency meter. Some are designed to be easier to learn to ride with a more upright and less aerodynamic position, while others are designed for speed. All the human-powered speed records, including the DuPont Prize for breaking 65 mph, are held by recumbents. Francis Faure set speed records for the mile and kilometer in 1933 on a recumbent. The faster recumbents
either have the crankset elevated to about the height of the seat or have lower crank sets but are designed to work well with a fairing. The Tour Easy by Easy Racers is a good example of a bike with a lower crankset that is very fast when used with a fairing. The Lightning P38 and the Vision Sabre are examples of bikes that are very fast without a fairing. The P38 can be used with a small, lightweight fairing that makes it even faster without adding significant weight.
Recumbents, like people, come in a variety of shapes and sizes. You can choose from bikes with a long wheelbase, a short wheelbase, a compact, long wheelbase, over-seat steering, under-seat steering, suspension frames, rigid frames, small rear wheels, large rear wheels, tricycles and tandems.
Sorting it all out to get the right bike the first time can be tricky. The best bike for urban riding may not be
the best for rural riding. Fast riders value different features than leisure riders. Tall people prefer bikes that shorter people may not be able to ride. When shopping for your first recumbent, find a shop with plenty of demos. You will need to get out of the parking lot and ride a while. Plenty of riding time is helpful in getting past the short-term issues of handling so you can focus on the important long term issues like performance,
seat comfort and ease of transportation. Shop personnel that have experience riding and selling recumbents are invaluable.
Bicycling is a great sport on any type of bike; it's as healthy for the rider as it is for the planet. Today, many are rediscovering the joy of biking by riding recumbents. Also, those who had never enjoyed biking before are now riding many miles on recumbents. Total comfort on a highly efficient bicycle is allowing an
ever-increasing number of people to experience the rewarding adventure of biking.
Next month, we'll take a look at how to pick the right recumbent for you: Sorting out the bottom bracket height, wheel size, steering configuration and wheelbase issues. In future issues we'll explore:
1). Tandems: The fastest-growing recumbent area. We'll compare and contrast the Double Vision, Rans Screamer and BikeE E2.
2.) Road/trail test two new off-road recumbents – the BikeE FX and the Haluzak Traverse – and road test the speedsters – Easy Racers Gold Rush, Lightning P38, Vision Sabre, Haluzak Hybrid Race and Rans Velocity.
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