McQz

I know that I seem to have more questions than sense, but since everything costs twice as much, we have to approach everything new very circumspectly. This was never more true than when we jumped out of an airplane last year!

Anyhoo, we are currently putting about 50 miles/week on the road bikes, putting some time in on an indoor trainer, and doing the occasional single track on the MTBs. In considering getting bent, we are both concerned that it might be an all or nothing decision - we already understand that we have to plan for both of us to be on the same kind of bikes.

As a bent rider, do you ever ride a diamond frame? either road or MTB? If so, do you find any difficulty in the switch or in maintaining conditioning?

Thanks again,
Fran & Nanette

gnome

I ride all sorts of bikes; recumbents, road bikes, small wheeled bikes, folding bikes, MTBs. I do find that if I haven't ridden a diamond frame for a while that it takes my shoulders, arms and legs a couple of rides to adjust back. If I haven't ridden a recumbent for a while I find that again it takes a bit of time to get used to riding the bent again.

BTW, by while I mean in the vicinity of a month or so.

Would you be using the recumbents to replace the road bikes or tour or use them as a complement to your existing bikes?

McQz

At this point, we're hoping to just add them to the stable. Depending on our experience, they might become our main rides. However, as long as we are able, we intend to ride MTBs.

AngrySaki

I bought a recumbent planning on using it as my main bike, but after a couple of years, I've found i use my road bike as my primary bike, and use my recumbent as a secondary bike. I do like having both though. Especially when my butt gets sore from riding my road bike.

I will say though that I find that unless i ride my recumbent almost exclusively (which I only did one summer), it really burns my quads riding it at even a slow pace, meaning there's no way I can get an aerobic workout on it. I still like it though.

Jeff Wills

No problem for me- I have 5 uprights and 2 'bents. I switch back & forth all the time. The uprights tend to be used for short rides, the recumbents for longer ones. However, several of the uprights aren't getting used much, so I'm selling them.

BlazingPedals

My experience was pretty common. I bought a first 'bent used to save money. Soon, the road bike was gathering dust in the basement. About 3 years later, I finally got around to selling it to a co-worker, who is happily using it to this day. In the meantime, I've acquired several more 'bents. The one upright I own is a hybrid that I used to commute with; I use it in the winter, when the roads are snowy or icy.

shaggyc

I ride both a mtb and a bent and I haven't noticed too much difference going between them, except that I hadn't been on the bent because of the winter months, so I haven't really taken too long of a ride with it yet. But for riding around town it doesn't seem to matter which one I use, depending on which one I want to drag back up the steps to the apartment when i'm done riding...

Shaggy

purplepeople

Yes. Currently 5 bikes. Two tilting trikes, one of which is a low racer, SWB and DF longtail both with cargo wings and FS MTB.

Each bike has it's purpose. The SWB and DF longtail both have integral racks and lower cargo wings so if I know I have to pack, I'll run one of those. The longtail has the edge since it can carry about double the SWB, which itself can carry at least 2 moving boxes of stuff. The MTB gets little use now that I am in a place without mountains, but I keep it because winter here can sometimes require the control that only full suspension and upright handling skills can deal with. One of the tilting trikes I keep for posterity as it once belonged to my mentor. The newer one is the one I ride most of the time when the weather is good. It has an easy to remove rear rack which I found out is both big and strong enough to carry a medium toolbox when I volunteered for a local community bike tune-up session.

:)ensen.

NormanF

I ride crank forwards... not bents'. But I find I prefer them to my DF frame bikes. They're just fun!

gcottay

Hello Fran & Nanette.

Unless you want to maximize your DF or MTN skills and fitness, I don't see it as exactly an all of nothing question. Though almost all my miles are recumbent, put me on a single track and I want to be on a mountain bike. I'm not anywhere near as good as if I rode single track on a DF all the time, but plenty good enough to have great fun.

Road riding for me is a bit different. Last summer I had the loan of a great road bike that fit me perfectly and was so light it wanted to climb hills on its own. I enjoyed riding it, but rather quickly discovered that riding a recumbent does nothing for one's upper body flexibility or ability to cope with a saddle. I have been fair spoiled by recumbents.

Your note seems to assume that one of you riding a DF and the other a recumbent would not work well. That's not been my experience. Unless you are dedicated to riding in a tight two person paceline you find no problem in starting with one recumbent. I often ride with DFs with no problem whatsoever. Type differences do require a bit of adjustment here and there, but nothing unpleasant.

Best wishes for a great riding season.

Artkansas 

I commute on a recumbent and on the weekend, my Hard Rock is my utility bike.

keelbolts

I have both, but not too long after I started riding my recumbent I couldn't find a good reason to abuse my butt, back, wrists, and neck on my DFs. I still like them so I keep them, but if I had to choose, the DFs would have to leave. The trike's more fun and more comfortable and, at this point in my life, I don't have anything to prove to anybody.

McQz

Thanks to all for your input. I think that when Catrike gets the smaller frame Musashi to market, we'll buy one and go from there.
Fran & Nanette

aikigreg

I rode both until I had foot surgery, when it was likely my tri days were over, so I sold the racer. I just bought a single speed bike and am loving it.

lcallday

I got a v-rex over the winter. Yesterday I was riding my DF to the library and found myself wishing I was on my bent. I like my DF for dirt and off road, otherwise I ride the bent.

andychrist

After riding my new LWB bent last season, it immediately felt strange after that to be on a DF. Seemed like I was peddling behind myself, and the height from the road was rather disorienting. But during the colder season I leave my bent up in the country, and just ride my hybrid down here in the city-- a LWB would be impossible in NYC traffic. But the moment I am back on my bent I am comfortable. Still I like to ride my old country DF just to stand on the pedals every now and then and get that late afternoon rush. For some reason, I really enjoy riding the bent at night, watching the meteors streak by, knowing that if I go off the road in the dark I don't have far to fall.

gavtatu

i sold my mtb to finance my lowracer build, and stripped down my road bike for parts, lol !
but i still have two tall bikes...does that count ? !

blamp28

I ride Road, XC MTB and a recumebent tandem. No problems at all switching.

tim24k

+1 I love all kinds of cycling.

Ciao,
O^o

scrapser

I just got my Slipstream this weekend. I already have two DF bikes (touring and road). I plan on riding them all regularly using available time as a driving factor. If I want to go for a long day trip I will use the Slipstream. If it's a weekday and I only have a couple hours of daylight or just want to take a quick spin I take the road bike (it's carbon fibre). My touring DF is more like a hybrid so I can use that when I go where the roads are rough. It has an aluminum frame and I have found bumps can wear on you. It now has a hydraulic seat post to soften the ride. I switched both my DF bike saddles to Brooks so I know I won't have any sore butt or chafing issues (I wear regular clothes while riding). I had a Motobecane years ago (a real Motobecane) which came with a Brooks seat. I didn't know squat about bikes back then; I just wanted the best bike in the store. I later learned the reason I never had problems with soreness was due to the Brooks. I rode that bike for 20 years so I can attest to the Brooks reputation.

Dchiefransom

Sold my last road bike when I realized that the Warfarin wasn't going to ease up on causing problems at the spot that I sit on an upright seat.

rnorris

I ride my flatbar commuter bikes, MTB, and recumbents. I like having the full spectrum of the riding experience. On one end, there's cross country and downhill MTB riding where paying sharp attention to terrain and using your whole body is critical; on the other, there's the recumbent, where the bike almost pilots itself and the miles and scenery seem to flow by. DFs are somewhere in the middle.

Paul Barnard

For those of you who switch back and forth between a DF and a bent, how does your average speed compare? Perhaps a better way to ask the question would be to ask if a person on a fast bent would be able to keep up with riders on fast DF's assuming they are of equal strength?

shoerhino

Depending on the recumbent, I would say that they can be comparable or even slighter faster. For a few months last year, I used a road bike for a couple days and then road the recumbent (Rans V3) for a couple days. I don't think that the Rans V3 is the fastest recumbent but I was able to get slighter higher average speeds than on a road bike or relatively flat terrain.

Paul Barnard

Thanks for the info. That's just the sort of comparison I was interested in.