Originally Posted by
mrfish
Good to see your new bikes.
How does the crank forward position work out? What is the thinking behind it? I can understand that it might be more comfortable, but I would think that you end up almost standing upright, meaning the aerodynamics at over 15mph work against you.
Regarding keeping up with your friend, lots of training is your friend here - it takes a few thousand miles to get bike-fit. After all you wouldn't expect to go to the tennis court a few times and start serving like the williams sisters would you?
As for the crankforward position, it's working out well. As for the thinking behind it, it's probably easier if you visit
www.crankforward.com or
www.ransbikes.com, or the guy I've been getting them from at
www.spincyclz.com. All I know is that after dealing with post ride pain (even after being fit by a pro), I'm not sure I'd go back to a conventional DF or even a 'bent (unless it's a trike - but not unless I lived near a carless place to ride). Yes, the upright position can work against you at times of strong winds, but on the polished aluminum one you see hooked to the trail-a-bike, I'm able to cruise at 20 and tuck down a little. I took that bike on a ride with some roadies. I was wearing jeans. They're all outfitted in road bike gear. They were a B- or wanna-B group of cyclists. They laughed at me. Until we got to the 25 mile mark and they all had lots of questions, and soreness. Me, I was comfy. And happy to answer questions about my 23lb Campy equipped crank forward bike that causes me no pain. By the time we got back to the cars it was a 60 mile ride and I was ready for another 40 at least. They were all happy to be off of their bicycles.
The story above, highly condensed, failed to mention that after I bought my road bike and went riding with my friend, he and I found out that my pedaling a 40lb recumbent all that time meant that when it came to our end of the ride sprints to see who got to my garage first, it was usually me. We rode 25 miles twice a week, and 50 miles on weekends. I got into great shape. Then came our boy, and my hybrid got the bike seat when he was old enough to be in it, and now here I am 5 and a half years later with not a whole lot of time to ride alone, so me and my 44 lb boy, and 45+ lb bicycle are giving me quite the workout.
I should go out now for a ride by myself but I'm a bit wiped out at the moment. A ride would perk me up, I'm sure. We'll see.