looking for a bent.

[scott L R]

Hello, My wife dosen't ride at all, she complains of constant soreness + pain while riding and after riding, even on a 3 mile trip on a flat rail-trail. She stands about 4'10" aprox. 230#. She wants to try a bent, I am thrilled that she wants to ride with me ans our 5 year old girl, 1 problem, none of our local shops cary bents. Any ideas? Thanks for your help.

[bentrox!]

Hello, My wife dosen't ride at all, she complains of constant soreness + pain while riding and after riding, even on a 3 mile trip on a flat rail-trail. She stands about 4'10" aprox. 230#. She wants to try a bent, I am thrilled that she wants to ride with me ans our 5 year old girl, 1 problem, none of our local shops cary bents. Any ideas? Thanks for your help.

I don't have a local bent dealer either. I educated myself on-line and purchased my bent the same way. There are several places on the web to do this. Calhoun Cycles and Hostelshoppe come to mind as well as some of the bent manufacturers like RANS, Easy Racers and others. You can also find used bents listed at places like bentrideronline.com or the recumbent Yahoo Groups. You'll get plenty of input from owners at those sites as well. Good luck.

Eddie

[izgod]

Plan a vacation to Philadelphia, enjoy all the attractions, and while here, visit Jay's Pedal Power. They have a great assortment of bents, including some trikes. They're super friendly and they know recumbents. The store is in a blue collar neighborhood; no snobby trendy chain bike shop here. Enjoy.



Hello, My wife dosen't ride at all, she complains of constant soreness + pain while riding and after riding, even on a 3 mile trip on a flat rail-trail. She stands about 4'10" aprox. 230#. She wants to try a bent, I am thrilled that she wants to ride with me ans our 5 year old girl, 1 problem, none of our local shops cary bents. Any ideas? Thanks for your help.

[nualle]

I think it's great that your wife wants to bike with you. I was in pretty near the same situation two years back when my wife and I were looking at getting rid our our car as a way of saving money. She's always been athletic... I was 5'5", 280#, age 34 and it had been about 10 years since I'd been on a bike.

Bents were the only option for each of us, for different reasons. We got a pair of EZ-1s since they were the cheapest bents we could find. Works fine for my wife but I found that the bottom bracket was too low for me -- I got what's called "recumbent butt."

I found a local homebuilder who had built a trike that looked great for me. Turned out he was willing to swap it for my 2-year old EZ-1. I've put a lot of miles on the trike in the few weeks I've had it and no problem at all with 'bent butt.

So my advice is... don't get the cheapest thing you can find... and look out for low bottom brackets. She may not have a problem... but she may... and pain will discourage her efforts.

BTW: There is a bike shop in Pittsburgh (Kraynick's - 5003 Penn Ave. Pittsburgh PA 15224 621.6160) that according to this site ( http://smokycity.com/jstrait/bikefaq.htm#build ) sells recumbents.

BTW2: I'm now 250# without having changed anything except the biking.

[madpogue]

Bents were the only option for each of us, for different reasons. We got a pair of EZ-1s since they were the cheapest bents we could find. Works fine for my wife but I found that the bottom bracket was too low for me -- I got what's called "recumbent butt." A too-low bottom bracket gave you recum-butt? I woulda guessed it was the other way 'round. I've got about 50 miles on an EZ-1, and feel a bit of recum-butt almost immediately on each ride. My longest ride so far has been 15 miles, and it's very mild, but noticeable. Literally by the seat of my pants, it feels like it would be alleviated by raising the seat, effectively lowering the BB. I've already done this by about 1/4", but I didn't ride enough in the lower position to know what difference it makes.

So should I maybe remove that 1/4 plate, and lower my seat to its original height?

[nualle]

Everything I've read about it and my own experience indicate that recumbent butt is numbness from having your body weight concentrated on the glutes, which are busy trying to help pedal. It's a bad blood flow situation. A more reclined body position (laying back and raising your feet relative to your butt [thus having a higher bb]) alleviates it by distributing the weight across more surface area (the back) and leaving the butt muscles free to work.

I remember the same numbness problem from years back when I rode a cheap Huffy mt. bike. It's part of the reason I quit biking for so long. I don't think raising your seat relative to your bb will help.

OTOH, the position doesn't have to be extreme, like those low racers, to help. My trike has a pretty moderate, lounging seat. It's far enough back to relieve my recumbent butt yet leaves my head high enough to see clearly.

[bentrox!]

Yes, seat recline, not BB height, is the key. Distributing more weight across the back instead of just the gluts will alleviate recumbent butt syndrome. A position more laid back and less upright, is also aerodynamic if increased speed is of interest.

[ChiliDog]

Second to the EZ-1 or other EasyRacers or a nice used (or new is not impossible) BikeE. Though out of business, it still makes a cool beginner bent. I'm not a beginner and I just snatched up a new CT leftover. Read about them on The BikeE Pages, which can be found by using Google. Guy has set up a lot of good BikeE information. It's sort of a "recumbent cult" thingie. Rans Tailwind is a great first bent too and plenty of used ones can be had on Ebay, Hostelshoppe, or Bentrideronline websites if you closely monitor the ads they appear. All easy "learns" and fun bikes.