BikeE
Hi All,
I have run into several bentriders and am curious about bents. I have ridden with a friend that has a bent and he really likes it. I might consider trying a bent and the BikeE is in my price range at around 500 bucks. I have heard that the bike is slow but on a ride the other day I ran down a BikeE and he was doing an avg of 19 or 20 without too much effort. Any feedback on this bike or others in this price range would be helpful. Thanks in advance *S* Ride Safe....Dudley |
Hi dudley,
I don't ride a bikee but they are good recumbents if you are looking for good value for your biking dollar. Keep in mind that the bikee you saw may be one of their high end models so that means it will be faster and also more expensive.The best thing you can do is to test ride one and compare it with other entry level recumbents. An excellent website to help you do research is www.bentrideronline.com Andre ps-i ride a rans wave and love it:D |
Hi Andre,
Thanks for the reply. I think the bikee rider said he was on a discontinued model but it looked the same all all of the bikee. My question is that if a rider is strong say a 20mph avg on a road bike and given some time on the bikee could he be fairly fast on that basic model also? I am looking for a bike I can get on and ride 100 plus miles at a time. I love my road bike but after 60 miles or so get a bit tired and the ole bones ache a bit. Ride safe.....Dudley |
Hi again Dudley,
From my experience with the rans wave,which is rans entry-level bike,i find i am not as fast as i was on my mountain bike. I am however getting faster on it as time goes by and i feel that i will get up to speed eventually.:D Having said that i must add that the main reason i switched to riding a recumbent was the comfort factor. I have various aches and pains that will not accept being on an upright for longer than an hour so the recumbent is very important to me because i commute to work on it which is a 34 mile roundtrip.One final thing i would like to mention is that riding the bent to work only adds 8 minutes to my commute time. |
Originally posted by Andre From my experience with the rans wave,which is rans entry-level bike,i find i am not as fast as i was on my mountain bike. I am however getting faster on it as time goes by and i feel that i will get up to speed eventually.:D |
The LBS in town sells BikeE's and I have considered buying one. I have not test rode one and BikeE is the only brand sold in town, so if I do buy one, it would probably be a BikeE. I would use one mainly for around town/commuting. I thing bents are the wave of the future, so I had better get one while I am young.
I'm going to be a pioneer!!! |
Originally posted by Steele-Bike I'm going to be a pioneer!!! |
At the Rapid Transit bike shop in Chicago, they had several recumbants outside today, so that people could test-ride them. It's like a drug dealer offering free samples. Once you've tried it, you're hooked.....
At a lot of bike shops I've been to, the recumbants are hanging in some odd display that makes it really difficult for anyone to actually test-ride them, etc. So many people never get a chance to experience what a great ride that recumbants offer. |
It takes a while to learn how to ride a bent, and the Bike E is the easiest. However, it has a more upright seating position, with the bottom bracket lower than the seat, which sort of defeats the aerodynamic advantage of bents, but give you good visibility, which is important if you are gonna ride in the city. It is also very manueverable, another plus for city riding. But if you want speed, and plan to do distance rides, then I would recommend you keep looking, and test riding. I rented a CT BikeE model for a day, and was not satisfied with it. I ended up getting a CLWB Rans Velocity Squared, which is easy to master, and much faster. I am very satisfied with it, except the Sram grip shifters could be better. Keep us up to date on what you decide. BTW Bents are very addictive, so much that I bought a high dollar light so I can ride even at nite.
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Originally posted by Bikinguy My question is that if a rider is strong say a 20mph avg on a road bike and given some time on the bikee could he be fairly fast on that basic model also? BikeEs are the most prolific bents around and are among the easiest and most comfortable bents to ride. Centuries are attainable, I'm just not sure how long it would take on a basic model BikeE. The impression I get is that most BikeEs are suited for shorter commutes and recreational rides, where avg speed is not significant. I've read forum posts from first-time bent owners who started with BikeE and then moved on to other brands when higher performance was desired. Their BikeE was either sold or handed off to a family member. This is not a slam on BikeE, which is a fine product. Just be sure your ride is commensurate to your ultimate expection of average speed. BTW, Pete's point about muscle group development is true. Herein lies a dilemna. For any first-time bent, it takes several weeks of riding it to achieve optimal performance, so how is one to make a final judgement based on a short test ride? :( I'd answer my own question, but I might come off sounding like a shill for one company, so I instead suggest finding a recumbent club so you can hopefully ride several models and get feedback from owners. I didn't have this opportunity myself but was still able to find my ideal bent, though. |
Bentrox! What bike do you have? And what would be your dream bike?
Regarding muscle groups, I have been riding about three weeks, nearly every day, and Ican feel the difference, especially in my butt. Also the abs on the sides. I'm not learned in anatomy, but what I mean is the side abs, just in front and below the "love handles". These muscles work with the upper thigh, like when you do stomach crunches, where you try to put your left elbow up to your right knee. Anybody know some specific exercises for us bent riders? |
Sorry, Pat, I'm not trying to interrupt you, but I was wondering about these Bike E's. I saw some today in the bike shop and got curious. I lifted one up a little, and it seemed heavy. Is this right about them, are they heavy?
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Hi GH,
You will find that recumbents, in general, are heavier than an upright and that like any roadbike the lighter the bike, the more money it will cost. |
I knew a Local Bentrider near me that rode a Bike-E and he had only one arm so he had all the braking and shifting on one handle. I could not keep up to him on my Haluzak Horizon as he was too fast. That changed when I got a Challenge.
He did have problems in that the small wheel up front caused him severe instability when he got into loose gravel more so than it did me. He purchased the bike used but paid about the same price as a new bike ( approx. $900) as he did not know what recumbents orginally cost. If you plan to only commute short distances with light loads it is not a bad bent for the price. If your looking for speed as the main reason of purchasing a bent look to low racers; Reynolds Wishbone, Optima, Challenge. If youhave the roads for such bikes than you can be way out in front of everyone but they don't offer good view of potholes at 30km/hr. Speed is not the only thing to look for in a bent, think of what you plan to use it for in the long scheme of things. |
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