Sometimes the God's of cycling smile upon me brightly, sometimes not. If you have read any of my prior posts you know I own an M5 Shockproof Ti 559. I ways pretty psyched at first, but now I'm totally bummed. Why? I had the fortune or misfortune depending on how you look at it to test ride a Carbent (you can see pics at my site
www.recumbentbicyclesource.com or visit the Mfg. at
www.carbent.com). Anyways this bike is FAST, LIGHT, and super sexy. Everything I had hoped my M5 would be, but really isn't. Yes my bike is good looking, yes it's well built, yes it's fast (on the flats and downhill), but compared to the Carbent it's a total slug going uphill. The Carbent really is under 20lbs - AWESOME! Having logged over 300 miles on my M5 Shockproof in the past 6 weeks I can tell you that the handling of both bikes is pretty similar. The steering is more flexy on the Carbent, but that's about it. The braking on the Carbent is vastly superior to my bike. And the looks thing is totally subjective; I think both bikes are good looking. So I'm a bit disappointed I didn't know about Carbent BEFORE I plunked down $4 grand on a mediocre spec'd (Shimano 105, Deore, blah blah) when I could have had a bicycle that is every bit as sexy, and a full 14lbs lighter, spec'd out with at least Shimano Dura Ace for about the same price. IF YOU HAVEN'T HEARD ABOUT THE CARBENT - YOU WILL. This bicycle is going to turn some heads in the recumbent community. If you want one you may want to consider getting your order in soon (No I don't work for them, but coincidently I live in the same state as the owner/designer). I suspect these will sell fast! I'm stuck till spring, but hopefully by then my piggy bank will be fat enough to let me make the plunge once again. Except this time I'm smarter, and I'll be getting a hell of a lot more (or less? ha ha ha) bike for the money. Check it out!