Recumbent - recumbents and safety

I consider a recumbent to be by far safer than a traditional bike. The other day I got proof of that. I entered a sharp curve at 25 miles per hour. Normally I would have made it without a problem since I commute this way every day of the year. But a fatal heap of leaves made my frontwheel slip and I fell down only scratching my elbow a bit. The bike was entirely undamaged. Had I made this fall from a DF bike I would probably have broken a couple of bones or even my neck. In other words there is still nothing that would prevent me from riding a recumbent, a lowracer in intense traffic. But there are a lot of reasons why I shouldn't use a DF bike in similar circumstances.

In other words there is still nothing that would prevent me from riding a recumbent, a lowracer in intense traffic. But there are a lot of reasons why I shouldn't use a DF bike in similar circumstances.

Lowracers, maybe. But I'm not so sure such a crash on a 26/26 would be so forgiving: there's a lot more falling to do before proceeding to the road-rash phase on a high bent...

You wouldn't fall over at all on a trike. ;)

You wouldn't fall over at all on a trike. ;)

Tell me, I'm curious: I've heard people say you can easily flip over if you turn too hard too fast on a trike, even if you lean in the turn. Is that true? A guy from Optima told me the Rhino FS is hard to overturn, but it's not impossible. Given that the Rhino FS has full suspension, I imagine a bike without front suspension hitting something with the inner wheel in a hard turn would be even more in danger of flipping over. Or is it a matter of riding experience? And what about fishtailing? is it as bad as some say in tight curves?

You may not fall over on a trike. You are in danger if you ride one. You will need a big yellow flag and reflective vest to ride a trike safely. Trikes are very low and dangerous to ride on public highways and big city streets.

Mooky


You wouldn't fall over at all on a trike. ;)

Mooky,

You must mean a tadpole trike. My delta trike sits plenty high. I also am not real sure that a tadpole is hard to see. My only concern with a tadpole is my ablity to see others, not theirs to see me.

Lowracers, maybe. But I'm not so sure such a crash on a 26/26 would be so forgiving: there's a lot more falling to do before proceeding to the road-rash phase on a high bent...I still consider a fall from a highracer to be safer than that from a DF.

You may not fall over on a trike. You are in danger if you ride one. You will need a big yellow flag and reflective vest to ride a trike safely. Trikes are very low and dangerous to ride on public highways and big city streets.

Mooky

Mooky, do you ride a recumbentor a trike for that matter? If you don't please stop with the "recumbents & trikes are more dangerous to ride then wedgie bikes" crap. If you have never ridden one, how the hell would you know?

I've been riding a trike for over 4 years now, riding in all kinds of traffic. I have flipped the trike once - lack of experience - going 35 mph down hill passing a group of roadies during the 2002 Seattle to Portland.

I went down on my LWB bent the other day and was able to plant my left foot, let the bike go, swing around and plant my right foot. My hands never touched the ground and I didn't even have a scratch. I stood there in utter disbelief for a while. A bike that keeps you from gettin hurt. Too much. bk

Dougfoot, Did you flip the Trike just going straight? or when you turned?

Dougfoot, Did you flip the Trike just going straight? or when you turned?

I flipped the trike while turning sharply avoiding the crowd of cyclist my first hour out... I still finished the 2002 STP in 15.5 hours one day (200 + miles)

The only time time I noticed any pain was when I stopped pedalling.

Here is a photo of my finish - http://www.footeco.com/images/stp/2002/portland01.jpg

Notice my right knee...