Is anyone else excited about the possibilities of the Cruzbike T50? It is a new Front Wheel Drive (FWD) Movable Bottom Bracket (MBB) recumbent--or at least semi-recumbent--that has just been financed through a successful Kickstarter project (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...om-on-the-open).

It looks like the project will go ahead and that T50 framesets, and probably completes, will be available in the future, for a couple of hundred dollars more than the Kickstarter prices. Due to a couple of emerging health issues, I have been looking around for a reasonably priced recumbent but have been put off by some of the mechanical issues like the seriously long chain. The T50 seems to eliminate those concerns, though, as the FWD layout allows you to use freely available parts for upright bikes.

My only real concern with a recumbent is climbing, as it seems to be orthodoxy that recumbents can't climb. I have a feeling it is probably coming from road riders used to 53-39 cranksets with 11-28 cassettes who jump to their feet at the merest hint of an incline, but is there any other reason why recumbents can't climb very well?

I currently ride a touring bike with 23 to 116 gear inches (1.85-9.25 development) and would be looking for roughly the same or slightly lower gearing in a recumbent. I can spin up a hill/mountain of about 1700 feet with grades up to 12% without dangerous/crazy amounts of exertion on my current bike, but does anyone know if it is possible to comfortably spin up a hill like that on a recumbent with that sort of gear range?

I really have no experience with recumbents and am only going on what I have picked up in comment sections , etc. Thanks for any input you might have.