Originally Posted by GeezerGeek
Re #1. Do you have eyes behind your head or do you have some secret that you can share about seeing cars behind you? Visibility above me is better on my bent than on a wedgie but that is about the only place.
I have rear view mirrors on my trike. My line of sight is better on the trike in all directions.
I live in a smallish city, Salt Lake City. I can not speak to NY, LA or London.
When I moved here I had a touring bike, Miata 615, that was great on the open road. But, you had to be in a forward leaning position to use either the brakes or the shifters. It was hard to keep my head up enough to see what was happening on the road.
I bought a Specialized Rock Hopper with street tires for city riding. My head was up, brakes and twist shifters in easy reach. Unfortunately, the carpal tunnel nerve damage was the price that I paid.
Since, I have ridden the trike for 2-1/2 years, about 7500 miles, I have felt the safest. The trike is dangerous in that it is so low that it can hidden behind parked cars. But, balance is not an issue so you can slow down at risky intersections and take your time to get it right. You can not easily catch your wheel in some road obstacle and be thrown to the ground. (A hair brush in a wheel once caused me to do a flip into the pavement on my ATB.) You can slam on your brakes in an emergency and not go down.
All that said, I do not ride at rush hour on major streets. For my kind of riding, the recumbent trike has proven to be the best and safest urban vehicle.
Regards
Gary,
Greenspeed GTO