Fifty Plus (50+) - Made up my mind

"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do".

After years of making fun of bent riders, I have decided to join the Forces of Darkness and buy a 'bent.

I have not been able to ride much this year because of persistent neck/shoulder pain. I've done the usual stuff (meds, manipulation, votive candles, evil spells, etc) to little avail. When it comes to back pain I'm in the anti-surgery faction until loss of function or persistent numbness becomes an issue.

A friend lent me a Bacchetta Strada and I've put on about 70 miles on it. There is a bit of a learning curve dealing with low speed twitchiness and getting the fool thing rolling in the first place. Going up hills is no big deal (I've always been horrible at hills anyway) until your speed drops into the twitchy zone, then it gets a bit like mountain biking with all the stalls and stuff.

I rode a 23 mile loop yesterday that involves some climbing, about 40-45 ft/mile sort of thing.

Heading home my legs were tired and my knees just a bit sore from grinding up hills, but the rest of me was ready for another 25 miles: no stiff neck or shoulders, no wrist or hand discomfort, no sore butt, none of it.

I talked about it with my wife. She wants a sewing table that costs about as much as a new bent (the owner doesn't want to sell it, darn it). The bikes are on sale this month. A LBS has a LBG who is an expert on bents and will sell and fit them.

We may have to fish through dumpsters for left-over dog food if we buy these things. I figure it will be good practice for my retirement years.

As I said, sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

BTW, here's the bike:
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x40/TWLBA/07e9ba4e.jpg

My unsolicited advice:

If you enjoyed the Short Wheel Base Bacchetta, you'll love a Long Wheel Base recumbent. If you haven't already, you would be doing yourself a big favor by looking for a place to test-ride some more recumbents..both SWB and LWB versions.

Unless you are determined to buy new, you can purchase very good bikes used at close to 50% of retail cost. I purchased a slightly used Volae Tour for only $700 and have logged over 3500 trouble free miles on it. My Tour Easy was also purchased used. I paid $1400 for it complete with several already installed accessories and have logged over 5000 trouble free miles on it.

http://www.bentrideronline.com/ is a great information source and they have a very active Classified section for purchasing and selling everything recumbent.

You really owe it to yourself to get the bike that best fits your needs and desires for the best price possible, and that may turn out to be SWB Baccchetta which is fine as they are very high quality machines.

Good hunting, and keep us posted.

As much as I love my Gunnar Street Dog Fixie, one thing I will not do is rule out the possibility of returning to multi-gear, or getting a 'bent someday. I'm betting that 'bent sales will increase as more of us aging boomers slide into retirement years. Hey, beats a freakin' rocking chair, right? :eek:

Off topic: I miss the Lincoln Guide Service shop. This was a bike/canoe/hiking shop, located in beautiful, blink-and-you-miss-it Lincoln center, in the upscale Boston 'burb of Lincoln. The owner,
Mike Farney, loved 'bents, and could fit anyone to a 'bent. The shop was a great stopover for cyclists on their weekend rides.

Alas, it is gone, and I'm told Mr. Farney has long since retired. I can accept the passage of time, but some things do sting a little.

I don't ride a bent, yet! My wife has a tadpole racing trike that I ride every now and then when she lets me. I really enjoy riding it and if the day comes when I can no longer ride my road bike, I can see a similar trike in my future. I don't think that you will regret buying a recumbent. All of the bent riders that I know will not give them up for anything.

On the plus for us in Florida, we don't have hills to climb and what hills we do have are not a problem on bents. I have done many charity rides in our so called hilly area of the state and bents don't seem to have any difficulty on those at all. Even the very steep bridges that we have an abundance of appear to be an easy task by bents. Tadpoles are a different story. They are a bit harder to climb than their two wheeled cousins.

My wife & I started riding again. Our old mountain bikes needed a little TLC. Then I spotted a Catrike. Tried one out, ended up with an Expedition. Wife wasn't sure about a trike at the time; now she's ready for one.

Riding is what you make it. Hills can be conquered just fine, better on the trike from a standpoint of enjoyment. If I needed to climb the hill faster I would have just drove my car. No matter what someone rides as long as they enjoy it, thats all that really matters.

We aren't getting any younger. Enjoy your toys.

My unsolicited advice:


That's quite alright. I'm soliciting advice, so your advice is solicited.

I guess that my wife and I are different, we bought and rode CLWB/LWB bent's for several months and just couldn't get "comfortable" so we sold them and went back to hybrid road bikes and for now we are quite happy to switch back. Still as we get older and the "balance" isn't as good, I can see us giving "Recumbent Trikes" a try! Have FUN!

I was already looking to recumbent trikes for fun before I screwed up my back this past summer, now a 'bent trike is almost in my garage. I hope to ride the regular bike come spring, but the trike will also have rear suspension.

Richardson Bike Mart happened to have a Scorpion FX model with full suspension to try out. Very impressive trike, although it lacked the sharp control of the Catrike. If I needed a softer ride, thats what I would have purchased. I believe they still have the Scorpion FX. Not cheap, its priced about $4500.