HITDOG

Hope to get some honest opinions,pros and cons ,of your bike. I'm considering moving to a recumbent for touring,multi-day and longer. have been to most of the builders sites but figure they a bit biased.

N_C

First, I have a Vision R40 Short Wheel Base Recumbent with Over Seat Steering. I have been riding it for 5 years now, traded in my road bike for it. After I bought it I wondered why I didn't do so sooner. Vision is no longer in business but it is a great bike.

Second, after reading the pros & cons I highly suggest you test ride as many as you can. Differant brands, wheel sizes, frame styles, steering & handle bar styles, frame sizes & lenghts.


Pros:
1. No strain on back, hands, arms, neck.
2. You can ride a century on a recumbent & still feel like riding more while your riding buddies will be sore, worn out, exhausted & feel like they have been beat up.
3. Fun to ride!
4. Very comfortable.
5. Some are very versatle, you can choose long or short wheel base, & depending on the model possibly switch from one to the other with out switching bikes.
6. Large selection to choose from. I think more of a selection of styles, brands, etc then wedgie bikes.
7. Uses the same components as a wedgie bike.
8. Cost about the same as a wedgie bike.
9. Variety of frame materials, same that wedgie bikes have to offer, from carbon fiber to titanium, all depends on how much you want to spend.
10. Make excellent touring bikes. You can tow a trailer with them, put a rack & saddle bags on both the front & back as well as on the back of the seat.
11. Better aerodynamics, especially in head winds.
12. Rolling hills are more fun to ride on a recumbent vs. a wedgie.
13. Can add both front & rear fairings for better aerodynamics & to keep bad weather elements off of you. Fairings come in a variety of materials, including spandex type material.
14. Depending on the model you can choose under or over seat steering & switch if you wish to on the same bike.
15. Still holds the land speed record for bicycles.
16. Virtually impossible to do an end over on a recumbent, not that it can't be done, just very, very difficult.

Cons:
1. Slower on hills. If you're a big gear masher on a wedgie bike you'll have to change that habit. On hills you'll have to gear down & spin or you'll hurt your knees. Otherwise you're fine.
2. Tend to weight more then a wedgie bike. If you're a "weight weenie" then this can be an issue, if not won't be a problem.
3. Replacing the chain can be more expensive.
4. If you have 2 differant wheel sizes you'll need to carry 2 differant size spare tubes.
5. On some no easy place to put a water bottle, but water paks like camel bak are pretty easy to carry & use on most models.
6. Need a place with plenty of lenght to store when not riding, they are longer then wedgie bikes.
7. May not be able to be transported with a roof style bike carrier. Tray style receiver hitch carriers work great though.
8. Can not be transported on a trunk mount bike carrier because of frame style & lenght.
9. Can be a bit tricky to ship a recumbent via UPS or FED EX, etc. Need a special style container to ship it in. Can be more expensive as a result.
10. After breaking land speed record for bicycles that has yet to be broken recumbents are not recognised by the the governing body that officiates these records.
11. Can not do a track stand on one.
12. Can become squirrly when at fast speeds & can become easy to lose control & fish tail. Needs extra concentration when controlling bike.

Welcome to the forums I hope this helps.

aikigreg

depending on your personal preferences, you may want to look at a LWB bike, a coimfortable swb such as rans rocket or vrex, or even a trike. Way too much room to help you narrow it down. Have you test ridden any?

Doug5150

Well, in general:
--how high are the pedals, compared to the seat? ...low bottom-bracket bikes are less-aerodynamic, but have fewer reports of numb/burning feet. Higher ones are more-aero but cause more burning feet.
--SWB bikes are lighter and easier to get up hills, but they have edgy steering that some find tiresome (some like me).
--Seats are a personal thing, there's good bikes and good seats and you can't always buy them at the same time, and may people's "favorite seat" isn't available on their "favorite bike". You just gotta try a few.
--People tour on everything there's racks for, or that they can get racks made for. Pretty much ANY bent will be more comfortable than any upright you could choose.
------
One definite piece of advice I say is to get a bike that is long enough for you. You should be able to sit on the bike and straighten one knee fully, while keeping the ball of that foot on the pedal. I bought a SWB first [a Sun EZ-Speedster], and (due to my recumbent-fit shopping inexperience) it wasn't quite long enough, and I kept getting knee pain at 20-25 miles every ride. I also didn't like the touchy steering the SWB had. Next I bought a LWB [a Cycle Genius Falcon] and I like it a lot more overall, it's heavier but I don't notice that often. It's steering is much-more stable and it's more than long enough for me (6'2").

Critiquing these two bikes:
-the EZ-Speedster SWB had no place handy I could mount a water bottle; I don't do camelbacks. Also I found the EZ-Speedster's chain tubes are rather excessive, much of them can be removed to efficiency's benefit (I got a web page up showing my mods).
-the CG Falcon seat bottom is not-quite-perfect, but it's pretty good. I can ride 4-5 hours without any problems. The Falcon has two water-bottle cages right on the bars.
~

MaxBender

Pros: Just did the Bicycle Ride Across Georgia on a Rans Rocket.
353 Miles over 6 days of riding, with NO PAIN.

Tired? Yes. Painful? No.

BikeZen.org

I ride my bent for tours and my wedgie in rush hour traffic. Both are wonderful bikes that serve their purposes. But nothing beats a bent for distance and comfort. I rode 450 miles in a week with no pain on my bent, including two consecutive centuries in record time (for me).

My bike is a short wheelbase high racer with underseat steering. It fits just fine on the same carrier I use for my wedgie. (The carrier was a cheap $40 job I got a WalMart that attaches to my trunk.) I've gone over 50mph with no steering instability -- in fact, the underseat steering feels like I'm flying at high speeds.

Life on a bent is wonderful. Try as many models as you can -- on terrain that resembles what you will actually ride -- and go for it! Consider shopping on ebay after you find a model you like.

oilfreeandhappy

You may want to look around locally for a used one. I was lucky enough to find a used Bike E, and I love it. I'll probably move up to a Faster, newer bent some day, but this is a great starter, and it didn't set me back much.

World Tour

LWB w/pedals lower than the seat, low CG, semi-reclined is what I wanted. This was a very inexpensive way to get into a bent for me. I added all my own stuff from found bikes. It's a pleasure to ride and I put 100psi tires on it and it goes pretty fast. 3 months into it, but 20.7mph is my top speed so far. Don't laugh, I don't have bent legs yet I don't think. The photo shows it with the beach cruiser tires, the 100psi Kenda Kwests are 26x1.5 and 20x1.5

I got it from this guy https://www.radiks.net/~ladue/