Originally Posted by
Roopull
There are two reasons I do not own one.
1st, I live in a very hilly area and am concerned about climbing hills. I am naturally a pretty good hill climber. That's probably my biggest cycling strength. Would that transfer to a recumbent?
The FWD MBB design used by Cruzbikes are allegedly good for climbing due to the shorter drive-train and confined power triangle. Many reviewers on the internet seem to agree with this anyway.
I ride a Cruzbike conversion and find that my climbing power is not compromised compared to what I used to ride. However I used to ride a dorky 20" folding bike, and I have never owned or tried another recumbent to compare the Cruzbike with either.
Originally Posted by
Roopull
2nd... price. I can get very good traditional road bikes for $400 all day long. I haven't seen a decent recumbent anywhere near that. Spending that kind of cash on something I consider to be a gamble is a bit much.
Alas, the lust is there.
Alas Cruzbikes are not cheap. If you don't mind DIY, you could try going through the conversion kit route to mitigate that cost.