Originally Posted by
operator
If by pedal brakes you mean, coaster brake. Then no- it'll take you forever to stop. And recumbents you'll probably looking at a trike. I have no idea how you would get around the gear shifting/braking problem though.
Cheapest trikes with disc brakes start out at around $1000. Fairly cheap in the 'bent world. Perhaps you might get a better response in that forum as well.
A modified trike. Perhaps something like a coaster brake for braking and internally geared hub for simplified shifting. It would have a modified shift lever to be operated by the knee or whatever. These are just some "out of the box" ideas for an individual bike.