Recumbent - Rans Xstream

I am somewhat new to biking and expecially recumbents. I have a Lightfoot lwb bike. I had them build the bike with a small engine. The engine makes the bike heavy and very hard to push much faster than 12mph without using the engine. Now that I am interested in riding with groups and organized rides I find I will need a different bike. I am trying to figure out how I could use the Xstream for century rides and possibly supported tours. How would I carry stuff on this bike like food and water? For touring how would I carry other things like sleeping bags and a small tent? Would this be a good bike selection or should I go with the Rans Stratus?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

well, just by the name of the bike : P it's not a touring bike, but it does have wheels, and you could probably rig up a rack. I doubt it would be very comfy or convenient for long tours, but if you're credit card touring, i don't see why not, see what other people say, but that looks like a century ride bike to me. keep in mind that a stratus is not a slow bike either ^^;

I ride with someone who has one of those X-Streams. It's built for speed, speed and speed in that order :thumb:

He has a waterbottle mounted on the right of the seat and a fastback bag on the left. There is an aeropod on the rear to hold more stuff but nothing like a sleeping bag or other camping gear. It'll get you through a century and maybe a double without any problems or stopping.

Fastback (http://www.terracycle.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=T&Product_Code=FB_70LS&Category_Code=FB_HydPack)

Aeropod (http://www.angletechcycles.com/notsausage/angletech_AeroPod.htm)


Tents and sleeping equipment though that I'm not sure of. I wonder if you could pull a trailer since it does have a pretty sturdy frame. You might check with RANs on what they would think of that. Would make a realy long bike. You might be able to force a rear rack on it. Not sure an underseat rack would fit because it is pretty low to the ground at the seat.

And I was one of the original prototypers of this bike. You're not putting a rack on the x-stream. You can get the stuff thet EVblazer shoed you and that's it. It's too low for a underseat rack.

...though thinking again, you COULD probably work those lowracer sodft sided panniers onto the bike somehow. Maybe.

But truthfully, it's meant to be a go-fast bike. Not meant for touring at all. The stratus xp is your best bet I think.