Originally Posted by
Bud Bent
The best comparisons I've seen between recumbents and road bikes have come from guys that own both, and have power meters on both. They always say that they can't generate as much power when they're reclined on the recumbent.
Recumbents do end up being slower going uphill, but faster on flats and downhills. Whether or not that ends up being faster overall for you depends on the ride. In hilly terrain, they don't usually gain enough on flats and downhills to make up for what they lose uphill, so on a very hilly ride, the road bike is likely to be faster. On the other hand, if it's a fairly flat ride, the recumbent will be faster.
That's a pretty good summation. I don't ride both anymore (not enough to say so anyway,) so I can't compare power production. I live in fairly flat country, and the only thing that can keep up with me when I get happy feet, is another recumbent. But the hillier it gets, the harder it is to ride with uprights. They can't match me anywhere except on long climbs, where I can't match them. So riding together means one is always waiting for the other.