Krispy

Yesterday I was talking to bent dealer about different types of bents. He brought up something I had not previously heard. When I told him that I was considering a high racer style bike such as the RANS Force 5 or Bacchetta Corsa he said that body positions on those bents could potentially cause knee and hip problems. He sells EasyRacer and Lightning and said that the body position on either of those bents put a lot less wear and tear on one's body. He said his source of information came from 20 years of experience from selling bents.

Does anyone have any experience in this area or know of some resources that would support or reject what he is telling me? I searched the archives here and didn't find anything related to this.

Thanks,

Trsnrtr

I own 2 high-racers and don't buy his comments at all. I ride a very open position and can't believe there is any more stress on hips or knees - especially hips. I've heard this arguement before and have no idea where it comes from. I asked a guy on another board to back up his opinion and he quickly disappeared from the thread. I doubt your dealer can back it up, either.

dfulton

Sounds like a sales job. The topic has been discussed ad nauseum on bentrideronline.com. It comes down to the fit and the individual. Some people report get bent-butt, hip pointers, and numb feet with higher BB positions. There are too many factors to determining comfort to generalize. "Try before you buy" is the only way to know how you will react.

Darren

meb

I've found when my pedal to seat length adjustment is too long I develop sore hips on my mwb recumbent. Other than that I haven't heard of hip problems. My seat slides for/back on that bent; my other bents don't, so they never slip to an overlength position.

Knees-I've heard two reports that are bent general rather than specific to high racers. 1) That it is possible for riders pushing off the seats to overexert their knees in a way not possible in an upright since the force on the knee is limitted by gravity on an upright. 2) Have also heard that standing with weight on the knees such as on upright is easier on knees than pedalling in the recumbent position. Both sound reasonable but I haven't seen unequivocal reports that merrit treating that as gospel.

Krispy

Thanks for the information everybody. I had a funny feeling it was one of those type of topics.

I'll check out bentrideronline.com