Originally Posted by konageezer
Thinking of a recumbent for my commute, but have one burning issue.
Here in Vancouver, we get a bit of rain. Okay, a lot of rain.
Currently, I can stay quite dry on my DF with a poncho and booties. The configurations of bents that I have seen all look like it would be difficult to stay dry, especially with respect to having my butt so close to the puddles.
Can bents be ridden in the rain (without getting drenched) or are they fair-weather-only?
Thanks for any information.
konageezer, I live in Victoria and commute to work on my recumbent. I have been riding my bent for a year now and it has been my experience that riding over manholes and sewers when its wet is very dangerous. Since most bents have slicks you could be pedalling and lose traction or on corners lose your traction entirely. I have also been wary of paint lines on pedestrian crossings. Furthermore, I have locked my brakes and lost traction coming to a stop as well.
Despite these winter drawbacks I still enjoy my ride which I have fitted with some fenders that make it a decent ride. I get saturated on my mtn. bike and stay pretty dry on the bent, at least from the road up! From the sky down I get soaked.
