I have been looking into buying a recumbent...have ridden the BikeE, and the Vision 32, 40, 44...favorite so far has been the 44 but think I would get the 45 due to the Ultegra groupo. Have tried both the above and below steering...below is more comfortable but think I might like the control factor of the above better. Any recommendations from other, more experienced riders?

The choice is not so much the type of bike ... err recumbent you make, but the type of riding that you will be doing. A comact long wheel base will give you agile turms (the ability to turn on a dime) ... but you can also do an endo on this same model; a long wheel base model will give you the driving tendancy of a Limo ... er stationwagon ...(you have to think before you can do anything) the advantage here is that you cannot do an endo. the predicament here is that "Vision" makes a convertible model (I think it's the VR40) that you can either leave as is a Compact Short Wheelbase Recumbent with Under Seat Steering, or alter it, into whatever you want to.
Till The Next
Artfully1

[Edited by Arthur L. Foley on 07-29-2000 at 01:35 PM]

You might want to ask your question on a recumbent forum like the ihpva mailing list "hpv". it has lots of knowledgeable members (hundreds).