VegasTriker

There are still a few under seat steering (USS) long wheelbase recumbent bikes out there - Linear by bentrider sponsor Mr. Bicycleman comes to mind. I own an older 1997 Linear LWB made by the Iowa builder. It came with OSS ape-hanger bars installed and USS parts in a box when I bought it used in 2001. Just for kicks I installed the USS bars while the OSS bars were still on the bike. I liked the USS much better and removed the OSS bars after about 2 weeks. I disliked having my hands up in the air. USS felt much more natural to me. Freaked out a few people as to how I could steer the the bike "no-hands" when they didn't realize it had USS bars. It crashes almost instantly if I really did take both hands off the bars though. It is a reasonably light bike due to the aluminum frame. It gave a very cushy ride but was somewhat like piloting the Queen Mary. I could do a U-turn pretty easily in a very short distance by stopping, planting my feet on the ground and swiveling the bike frame 180 degrees. There were a lot of these made in both LWB and SWB models. I paid $500 for mine and got over 5,000 miles on it before being seduced by my first trike. There are just 3 that show up on CL nationwide, a pair being sold for $375 each (Minneapolis CL) and one for $400 (Austin TX). Two have USS and the third is OSS. The new ones are said to be much improved but cost $$$$. I and a couple friends have a total of 5 Linears, all with USS, some SWB and others LWB. We have all moved on to different recumbents but none of us wishes we hadn't bought an older, used Linear.