Originally Posted by
skilsaw
Beware of recumbent riders. They are a cult. If they suck you in, and
you buy a recumbent, you will get a fuzzy little white thing called a dog.
And you will name him "Shakespear", or maybe "Galileo".
You will never eat red meat again, preferring spinach quiche instead.
You and all your friends will attend "anti-pipeline rallies".
You will begin to think you run the world, just like Mac users.
Well, to be fair...
* We are a cult, but you can leave anytime you want (there are a lot of recumbent riders who also ride "regular" bikes).
* I do have a dog and I don't eat red meat (but I don't really like spinach quiche).
* I work at a hedge fund, so I don't go to (many) anti-pipeline rallies
* I definitely ain't no mac user (although some of us are).
Come to the dark side.... We have cookies!
In all seriousness, you should pick a bike that works for you. If you can find a diamond frame (DF for short, meaning regular bicycle) on which you are comfortable for long rides, then ride it. That's the most important thing. If you find that DF bikes aren't comfortable, or are just 'bent-curious, try something new out.
32 km (20 miles) one way is quite a long commute. I sometimes take the long way to work which ends up being just under 16 km, but I only live 6 km from work, so I only do that sometimes. Being able to catch a ride home with your wife if you want means that it's not crazy.
I'd head to an LBS and try out different bikes for fit/comfort. This isn't perfect, but will at least give you a better idea of which bikes you don't want.
Good luck!
Charles