McQz

My bride and I test rode some bents in Phoenix last Saturday. We have ridden road and mountain bikes for a long time (we've been married and ridden together for 34 years).

She has always had a tender tush, so when we saw some ads recently, she was intrigued by the more forgiving seat. I have an iron butt, so that isn't an issue, but due to some birth defects, leaning on the bars has always been a problem.

On our ride this morning we discussed the pros an cons that we saw and wondered what drew others to bents. Hence, this post.

Thoughts?

(If one of us gets something like a new carbon everything bike, so does the other one therefore, all costs double.

benjdm

Mainly the comfort. If I ever get in good shape again, I'll take the aerodynamics too. (Unfortunately there seems to be little chance of that. )

Retro Grouch 

I injured both of my elbows last August. The recovery hasn't gone as well as I had hoped. We made the decision this spring to buy a recumbent single for me to ride and a recumbent tandem for us to ride together.

If you buy a recumbent tandem you'll only have to get one bike but it can still cost as much as two singles.

I'm probably not the best guy to talk about pros and cons. I haven't really gotten the single bike functioning and the tandem isn't due to arrive until next week. Frankly, were it not for the injury, I'd be out riding a diamond frame bike right now. I'm bummed because the weather's beautiful!

teacherbill

Comfort.... no shoulder pain, no butt pain..... after 40 miles grab a bite to eat then ready to go another 40!!

LWB_guy

It's way more comfortable. And the view is better going down the road. You can look other drivers in the eye. You can look straight up at the birds flying overhead.

TXiceman

I started on bents about 10 years ago with a Bike E CT. Put many miles on the little bike. My wife still has her Bike E.

Went to a Cycle Genius Raven 700c and now have a Greenspeed GT 5 trike. I love that trike. it is so comfortable and a blast to ride.

We started riding bents because the little seat and weight on the hands was not so comfortable as we got older. With the bents, we'll ride for many more years. Ken

Jeff Wills

I wish you many more happily married years and many more bike-riding miles.

I was always into bikes- I got hired at the local bike shop a couple weeks short of my 16th birthday and proceeded to soak up everything I could read. About then and there (early '80's, Southern California) the International Human Powered Vehicle Association was getting going with their annual Speed Championships, which is where I started seeing unconventional bicycles. I'm still smitten by the Vectors: https://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/vector/vector.htm . These experiences pushed me into building recumbent trikes seen here: https://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/aerocoupe/index.htm . That particular venture was ultimately unsuccessful, but I'm proud of what I did.

I still wanted a recumbent of my own, and I got a chance to test-ride a Lightning at the NBDA show in Long Beach in 1988. I finally got the resources to buy one in 1990, after I'd started a new job and met a nice girl who also rode bikes. Once I had mine put together, I let her coast around a parking lot on it (she couldn't reach the pedals). She came back smiling and said "get me one". So I did. In July of '92 we got married, with Tim Brummer of Lighting in attendance.

We're still married, still riding together, still going to recumbent events. I started the annual HPV/recumbent races here in Portland: https://www.ohpv.org/HPC/index.html and we help out with the Recumbent Retreat: https://www.recumbentretreat.org/ .

Why recumbents? Why not?

altozwei

I originally bought my trike because I thought it would be an easier way to ride with my son, who already had a trike. Comfort was never a deciding factor but it has been a plus. I can ride anywhere for as long as I want and truly not feel a need to get off the trike at the end. Neck, arm, back and/or butt problems don't exist and the occasional numb foot seems to be a matter of pedaling technique more than anything else. Even better than the comfort factors, however, is the fact that I simply enjoy the ride more than I ever did before. Instead of concentrating on the road in front of me, ever vigilant for potholes, ruts and other hazards, I can look up, look around, and really "see" where I'm going. I still scan the road ahead for hazards but, now, I have the luxury of enjoying the view without working at it. I wouldn't trade that for anything.

layedback1

I migrated to a bent going on 5 years ago. As a life long technician I had looked at bents and thot they looked very logical. After buying one I was disappointed in my self for not doing so sooner. Number one is the lack of pain---being able to ride all day without pain is always mentioned, and is true in my case.

At 72 I admit that I am extreemly opinionated. But really people when DF riders claim that there is no pain if your bike is "adjusted right" simply are blowing smoke. The really sorry state that the racing dictators promote is basically stupid. Todays "racing" bike is an antique design from the 1880's. Time marches on---we no longer have cranks and carbs on our cars, we no longer have firemen on trains, and horror of horrors people now fly on airplanes. The bottom line here is the fact far more people that buy a bike for exercise and recreation would be far better served is they bought a bent. Sitting relaxed with your head upright is fantastic. Just look at all the baby boomers that were talked into a high priced mountain bike by the LBS. After ridding them a dozen times, they hang in the garage for several years and then sold for $50 at a garage sale. However is they would have bought a bent, they probably would still be riding them. End of rant!!!!!!

BlazingPedals

I got into 'bents because of butt and hand pain. Mostly hands. I'd never go back, even if comfort was the only issue. But it's not. The 'bents I have now are way faster than my road bikes ever were, which lets me ride with the fast groups and not knock myself dead trying to keep up.

cyclekarl

I ride a recumbent,because my bollocks hurt on an upright,also I get pains in the wrists and back,but cars give me loads more room and hardly ever cut me up,which is good,and I enjoy all the strange looks I get from pedestrians.

McQz

Thanks to all who replied.
I'm in correspondence with CatTrike regarding the crank/wheel overlap. They tell me that they are working on a shorter frame, since they never recommend shortening the boom to the point that the crank would overlap the front wheel. They indicated that they expected to have the shorter frame in a couple of months. I think we'll invest in one at the end of this season and see how it works out for us.
Thanks again,
Fran & Nan

McQz

Thanks to all who replied.
I'm in correspondence with CatTrike regarding the crank/wheel overlap. They tell me that they are working on a shorter frame, since they never recommend shortening the boom to the point that the crank would overlap the front wheel. They indicated that they expected to have the shorter frame in a couple of months. I think we'll invest in one at the end of this season and see how it works out for us.
Thanks again,
Fran & Nan

kpumpy

Frozen shoulder, which would not allow me to go down to my aerobars on my roadie without significant discomfort and downright pain at times.

I tried a Volae Expedition last June. The Hostel Shoppe owner Rolf Garthus said I looked like I was meant to be on that bike. While my speed isn't what it was on my roadie (takes a while to train the 'Bent muscles, I'm told), I haven't gotten of it since (except to sleep).

yakmurph

Comfort, comfort and comfort (SPEED!)

bobkat

After a couple of back surgeries I was talked into a bent, having not ridden a bike for about 50 years.
Much to my surprise I found I grew to love it, - no back pain, no butt pain, no carpal tunnel or sore shoulders or stiff neck from an upright, which I tried a bit. Also, much fresher at the end of a day or a century. No comparison. I tell my wife I don't need diapers and boxing gloves like whe does! LOL
I truly believe that a lot of upright bike riders would ride bents if they actually got over the 'wierd looking nerdy' aspect of them, and gave therm an honest try. They do tend to be a bit more expensive than the average upright, lwhich might put off a few would be bent riders.
But in terms of comfort, there is simply no comparison. A bit faster on the flats and downhills, a bit slower on hills, so speed is a wash in my opinion.

Big Bad John

I go into bents for the technology and the fact that there were so few around here. Different is good...weird different is glorious. I like the comfort for sure as well speed (I can ride faster for longer due to the comfort - see, they do go hand-in-hand!), but mainly for the technology. Lots parallels between bents and ultralight planes. BBJ

Leo H.

I started back riding a mtb commuting to work 2 years ago after 35 yrs off a bike. I found myself uncomfortable riding it at speed, feeling very conscious of what would happen if I were to get a front flat or, for whatever reason, go over the handlebars. Then, too, there was the discomfort of the seat, sore shoulders and back from lugging a backpack around...I'd stumbled across the idea of a recumbent bike months earlier, but it took 6 months of riding the mtb before a recumbent came available near me at a great price.
It's only a Sun EZ, but I don't regret getting it and am looking forward to getting whatever next 'bent might come my way.
I like the comfortable seat, I like having saddlebags to carry my c*** around(yea, coulda done that on the mtb, but didn't want to invest any more money into it), I like being able to see where I'm going without straining my neck and that bike is the reason I have commuted 48 times to work so far and traveled over 800 miles, just around town this year. I also appreciate not having any excess anxiety about falling off this bike, the main reason I looked for a new bicycle.

Leo H.
Sun Valley, NV

metro2005

Comfort and speed. On a regular bike i always get pain in my wrists and butt. I also have to always fight strong headwinds. On a recumbent those problems are gone and i enjoy riding my bike again. Long fast paced distances are no problem anymore!

Mr. Markets

lower back arthritis, numbing hands, stiffening neck caused the change. i tell ya, this "growing old" business is growing old...

dcrowell

I have a confession. I bought a bent because I hadn't figured out how to be comfortable on an upright yet. I have since managed to make my upright bikes comfortable.

I don't ride the 'bent as much as I used to but I still love that bike. My Surly has become my commuting and touring ride, but there will always be a place for the 'bent.

That said, I have shoulder arthritis, but a diet change and physical therapy helped that tremendously. I'll probably need the 'bent as I age, but for now I can ride pretty much any bike.

Dchiefransom

I could list medical reasons, but the only reason necessary is that I want to. The only reason a person needs for riding an upright, or a trike, or a quad, or any HPV, is that they want to. If turning cranks is what you want to do, go have fun.

JanMM

Four years ago, after 33 years of adult cycling, I kinda spur-of-the-moment (with a lot of internet research) bought a used RANS Tailwind through the local club's website classifieds. The price was right and I didn't fall down on my test ride around the block, so I bought it. Almost immediately stopped my constant searching for the perfect gloves and perfect grips - hand and wrist discomfort and sometimes neck discomfort bothered me riding upright. All gone! (Except when tandem riding with wife/stoker. Not bad, though.)
Have since moved on to RANS SWB and LWB bikes, both of which fit me better.
Really appreciate the 'bent advantages that let me ride farther and faster than if I weren't 'bent.
Really fun to, occasionally and if the conditions are right, ride faster than people fitter than me.
Little kids getting excited and pointing as I ride by is fun, too.
Last week, a grown man in downtown Indy yelled 'cool bike!' as I rode by on the way home from work.

cat0020

I rode DF bicycles from Pacific coast to Atlantic coast, twice; while I was a teenager. I raced road bikes, mt. bikes through my college years. Nowadays i ride for fitness and commute 30+ miles on days that are weather permitting. I started riding recumbent when I first started riding with my GF, she rides slow, casual, leisurely pace.. which is sometimes painful to do on other bikes. She always asked for a bigger bike seat also. So we both started riding recumbents. We rode longer distance without the pain in shoulders, back, neck and wrists as from regular DF bicycles..

scrapser

I love bicycles. I pretty much lived on a bicycle when I was in my teens and twenties. My first serious bike was a 1975 Motobecane Grand Record (a real Motobecane...not the fake ones sold today). Now I have two DF Cannondales (an aluminum T800 touring and a carbon fibre Synapse 3 road bike). I bought a recumbent because I was always fascinated by them and felt the USS style to be the epitomy of a recumbent, so naturally I was attracted to the Slipstream.