Recumbent - Opinions on $148 Huffy recumbent bicycle?

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000A33AX6/sr=1-20/qid=1128561093/ref=sr_1_20/103-4238621-8742229?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=3403971&s=sporting-goods&v=glance

Has anyone ridden this thing? Just curious about it.

That's a recumbent? Is the only qualification for a bike to be a bent is for the seat to have a back?

I've never ridden one and it looks like a functional little bike and everything....

No, it's not a recumbent. It is a comfort bike or a flat foot bike. It has a slacker seat tube angle then a DF bike that puts the bottom bracket farther forward, and the seat lower then a DF bike.
Many companies offer them including some of the big recumbent builders. Rans, Giant, Re-bike, Vision and Eltrica to name a few.Rans even offers a "crank forward" tandem now. Some of them have a seat back, some don't. I think Vision was one of the first builders to offer them, and Vision being a recumbent builder got them lumped into the recumbent category.

Like most products offered by Huffy, it's heavy and built with low-end parts. It should ride well, but you get what you pay for. If your looking for something to ride around town it should do well. You can always up grade parts when they wear out.

Wow, six speed rear cluster... they must have found a pile of them in a dark dusty forgotten corner of a warehouse someplace :)

Thanks for the opinions. To think of it, if I picture this bike without that back part of the seat, it looks like one of those folding bikes. Also seems the riding position would put all the weight on the back. I personally would like to see a low priced bent in the market.

This is one of the most beautiful recumbents I have seen. Prettier than my ReBike. Its a steal for less than $200.

I am sure you will be as fast or faster than my ReBike with this beauty. I was going 75 mph down the mountain switch backs on my cross state ride today and I passes a lot of packs of riders.

The seat on your bike is the way all recumbent seats should be made. Enjoy!!!

Mooky



http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000A33AX6/sr=1-20/qid=1128561093/ref=sr_1_20/103-4238621-8742229?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=3403971&s=sporting-goods&v=glance

Has anyone ridden this thing? Just curious about it.

The specs are a little sparse, but shipping weight is 40 pounds. That makes it lighter than a Sun Easy Sport LE. I don't know where they get the 26" figure from, because it looks like the wheels are 406 in back and 305 in front. Surprisingly to me, it appears to have a 3-piece crank and aluminum rims. For a few hundred bucks, I bet I could fix one up with a real bent seat and better components, and it'd be great for someone like my wife, who is a 6-8 mph rider and doesn't do hills at all.

I wonder how long that seat tube would last with a 300 pound walmart shopper on it? Seems like it has a high likelyhood of bending if actually ridden anywhere.

I wonder how long that seat tube would last with a 300 pound walmart shopper on it? Seems like it has a high likelyhood of bending if actually ridden anywhere.

:eek: hahaha!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000A33AX6/sr=1-20/qid=1128561093/ref=sr_1_20/103-4238621-8742229?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=3403971&s=sporting-goods&v=glance

Has anyone ridden this thing? Just curious about it.

This is likely a bike you will not enjoy for very long as would be the case with any department store clunker! For scarcely three times the price of this Huffy semi-bent, you could get the Cycle Genius CGX Starling that is a real recumbent and is far better than that stamped-steel huff-dog! Take it from me if you will: I work in a full-fledged bike shop here in Silverdale, Washington! The rear derailleur on the Huffy simply will not stay in adjustment for very long due to its inherantly poor construction, but the CGX has an 8-speed cassette with a SRAM 3.0 ESP rear derailleur that will shift reliably over and beyond the Huffy, so, for just a tad more cash, you can have a real entry-level recumbent that will be mechanically sound and that you'll be happy with!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000A33AX6/sr=1-20/qid=1128561093/ref=sr_1_20/103-4238621-8742229?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=3403971&s=sporting-goods&v=glance

Has anyone ridden this thing? Just curious about it.



It looks like a folder without the hinges.

To think I could have bought 27 of these things for the price of my one Aero. I feel so bad now. :rolleyes:

I wonder how it would have fared on the Death Ride, (129 miles with 15,000 ft of climbing and 50mph decents).

Seen here at the summit of Carson Pass (pass 5).

I wonder how long that seat tube would last with a 300 pound walmart shopper on it? Seems like it has a high likelyhood of bending if actually ridden anywhere.

OMG!! I wouldn't take that thing to a rock fight! (j/k).. Though it does look kind of rickety. :p

A recumbent in style

I don't think $148.00 would even qualify it as a bike. A'mon folks. if you have a decent bike, you will ride more. These Wal-Mart priced contraptions just won't do the job. It's like my friend who always complains about his $18.00 shoes. They never fit right, but he keeps on getting them. bk

Some people don't have a lot of cash to spend on a bike. For a lot of people it would be better than walking. There isn't always a direct correlation between how much you spend on a bike and what you get. Of course in the early part of the price/performance curve you do get gains but later on it is definitely a point of diminishing returns.

Quite honestly I am shocked by the somewhat elitiist attitudes that many bike riders exhibit. It is even worse than car owners. The average person buying a Huffy likely has no intention of taking it on a Death Ride. For someone looking to maybe ride 2-3 miles or so it might be an ideal choice. It sort of looks like a Giant Revive but much worse quality.

I too would spend more money and buy a real 'bent than this Huffy but what is the newbie going to buy if they don't have a lot of disposable income? As someone stated there aren't a lot of affordable recumbents. I can't see spending $3k on my first recumbent yet a lot of the low end ones aren't exactly great either.

Bkaapcke- how do you have to spend to get what you would qualify as a bike? Price is all relative your location and economies of scale. If someone where to seriously produce a high end bent the price would drop dramatically. Since this is still a niche market the prices are high relative to what you get. I would love to buy a velomobile too but the prices are absurd for what you get. Same goes for many bents. I am not trying to start a flame war but you have to spend a lot more to get a decent bent than a decent "normal" bike. I personally don't count someone's enthusiasm for a sport based on what he spent for his equipment. Not everyone can spend $2000+ on a bicycle.

Looks a lot like the Evox/Mikado semi recumbent.

I think this is good news. Maybe recumbent prices will come out of the stratosphere where I can afford one.

Thanks for the opinions. To think of it, if I picture this bike without that back part of the seat, it looks like one of those folding bikes. Also seems the riding position would put all the weight on the back. I personally would like to see a low priced bent in the market.With the typical recumbent trike starting at over $2000, it is great to see this low priced offer for next year.

2006 KMX ST-class $850 (http://www.kmxkarts.de/karts/stpic.html)

If Huffy built and airplane, would you fly in it?
Just curious!

If Huffy built and airplane, would you fly in it?
Just curious!

IF it met the requisite FAA guidelines, had a saitisfactory pre-flight checklist, etc., etc. sure. Building a bicycle is NOT rocket science at this price point. In general most light aircraft employ VERY old low tech materials. My first airplance was fabric covered and had an air cooled opposed 4 cyl motor not unlike an old VW Beetle. It is not like the average general aviation aircraft is filled with carbon fiber and titanium!

Obviously to build a very lightweight bike requires more exotic materials and construction methods. But we aren't talk about the upper echelon of 'bents here. That is not to say a Huffy would be my first choice in bikes but my mom still has an old fixie Huffy she has ridden for the past 30 years and other than tires and tubes its been reliable as heck.

It goes without saying even a good manufacturer can make a *** and a mediocre one can sometimes get lucky too. Just look at Kia and Hyundai 10 years ago. Fair car makers at best and now they are nipping at the heels of Honda and Toyota.

It doesn't have to cost a fortune to build a decent bike. It is all in the scale at which they are produced for the most part. Basic economics are at work here. China mass produces domestic bikes by the hundreds of thousands and they sell them dirt cheap there. If some company thought it was viable to produce bents in sufficient numbers the price would come down immensely but so far it doesn't seem the target market has really reached the numbers necessary for this yet. It seems that there are a few pockets in the US where a lot of people ride bents. I happen to live in one of them but still normal bikes seem to vastly outnumber them on the roads and trails.

Trialwarrior- I just saw one of the KMX's (different model though) in a LBS. It looked pretty cool. Only thing I didn't really like was the little guards to keep your hands from hitting the wheels. It seemed even with the guards you had better be careful.

I bought a department store bike as a poor college student. I thought how could you go wrong with the price?!?!?

Never again. If that bike had any value at all, we would all be buying them. Pay $500 for a low end recumbent and you have a bike for life. Take out a loan, save your pocket change ... do whatever it takes to have a nice bike. Help keep our landfills empty!

Looks like a luxury upgrade of the old ReBike I own. The price tag on that high end recumbent is too much. My used ReBike was $75 on Ebay.

Mooky


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000A33AX6/sr=1-20/qid=1128561093/ref=sr_1_20/103-4238621-8742229?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=3403971&s=sporting-goods&v=glance

Has anyone ridden this thing? Just curious about it.

I'm surprised nobody's made the comparison to Giant's "Revive":
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/030.000.000/030.000.006.asp?year=2005&model=11094

If Huffy built and airplane, would you fly in it?
Just curious!

That put a smile on my face. :)

And to answer your question, No, definitely not, but then again, I actually got a private email one time chastising me for owning too many high-end recumbents when other people could hardly afford any bike at all.

-Dennis

That put a smile on my face. :)

And to answer your question, No, definitely not, but then again, I actually got a private email one time chastising me for owning too many high-end recumbents when other people could hardly afford any bike at all.

-Dennis

Unless you own a ReBike you have never experienced a high end recumbent.:)

god bless all,

Mooky

Unless you own a ReBike you have never experienced a high end recumbent.:)

god bless all,

Mooky

It is without a doubt, one of my goals to own a ReBike and learn to pass pacelines under your tutelage!

ReBike On!