Recumbent rant
 

OK, here we are all joined together full of peace and love and the brotherhood of the bike. Only one thing - we'll KILL one another over what constitutes an appropriate bike.

I sensed some anti-recumbent sentiment in another thread. I'm a little bit sensitive on that topic. I'll stand up for your right to ride whatever you think is best for you. If you want to take shots at me for riding whatever I think is best for me, you'd better bring your "A" game because Retro can get real Grouchy.

Hey, it has 2 (or maybe 1, 3 or 4) wheels, you sit somewhere and turn the pedal and it goes forward. What more could one want? The similarities in bicycles far outweigh any differences.

And, I have had a bit of grouchiness myself lately over some threads, so I sympathize with you.

I have no objection to any one riding a Bent- or a any other form of bike that I do not wish to ride. It is down to personal choice but the next time someone tells me that I need a brooks saddle to cure the butt ache after my first metric of the year- I will not be responsible for my actions.

It does seem that a few do tend to resent anything other than what they deem to be a proper bike.

I'm with you Mr. Grouch. We all have a right to ride the bike of our choice, even dudes like me who ride several styles.

Just this past Wednesday I was squeezing the last of the Summer Things away in the garage and I just had to step back in awe of my great good fortune. There along the East wall hung my three road bikes, along the North wall were my higher-end LWB & SWB recumbents along with the Tandem. In the other bay is my trike and Cruiser style LWB recumbent and down in the basement I stashed my Hybrid and three speed. The Mountain Bike is out on the porch as it's my foul weather commuter.

I actively use all of my bikes each and every year. How lucky can one guy get?

I love recumbents! If another member of my club hadn't had to switch to them, I wouldn't own his old Litespeed. :)

Seriously, it's all a brotherhood of two wheels to me--although I use the word "tribe" more often. And I'll even include trikes in that too.

And I don't care what you wear or why you ride. I include the guys with trashbags full of cans wobbling along on squeaky old POS bikes in my tribe. And I include kids on Barbie bikes, roadies in lycra, and hipsters on fixies too. One day on the MUP I came across a woman with handcycle trike. She's in my tribe too.

I just can't figure out why people on hybrids don't wave.

You can't let the bias of a few get to you. I mean, if I let that happen, I'd just have to tell every rider on a white bike that my blue bikes are considerably faster, despite the misplaced, delusional, and faulty thinking they hold about their steeds. Just last week my sons pointed out I have a "blue" theme going with my Indy Fab CJ, the S-Works Roubaix, and the Colnago Master XL Deco. Heck, I never thought about it until they mentioned it. Since then, I've realized that I've taken a step closer to becoming truly enlightened through recognizing the superiority of "blue" at a subconscious level. ;)

On a serious note, I've come to believe that everyone has some bias typically based on beliefs that may not be in tune with what is real. Many of us don't know what ours is, but it is there. So, Retro, take a deep breath and know that if you ever pass me on your bent, I'll nod the same way I would if you were on a different bike.

It does seem that to many, "recumbant" means OLD , I don't get it, the ONLY thing that keeps my wife and I off recumbant trikes or a recumbant tandem is the "COSTS!!!!!!" Our bike buget is $500 apiece and that's actually pushing it pretty hard for living on $24,000 a year!! When I look at a recumbant trike, all I see a "comfortable" machine, LOL, I think that's the problem, the Wedgie Riders (yes, I resemble that remark!), just don't want YOU to be comfortable while their complaining of this or that ache or pain, YOU need to suffer with them. If your lucky enought to afford to own a Recumbant, especially a trike, then just smile and give sympathy as you roll by! ;)

If your ever on any of the "MUPS" or roads of Colorado Springs, I WILL wave at you from my "road hybrid", I promise! Ya know maybe it has something to do that your riding the "other style", I've noticed here that it's the full kitted rodies that won't even give you a head nod, much less wave! ;)

As Nick Lowe asked..............
What's so funny about peace, love, understanding and recumbents?
Or any kind of bike, for that matter, except maybe 29er fixies.

I wouldn't take it seriously or personally.

As for myself, I'd love to ride a bent. I've been keeping an eye on the Raptobike midriders for some time now.

But making fun of other bikes is like saying you don't like white/red/black/orange bikes. It's all a matter of taste, over whcih there can be no meaningful argument.

I used to think the same about roadies and MTB's. But the last few weeks I have been doing a few rides with plenty of other bike traffic. Plenty of miles to keep in trim but no pace as I have lost fitness. After the 10th bike that I should wave to on a long drag- I gave up- stuck me head down and worked on the slope.

But the ones I do not get are the faster bikes coming from behind that give no warning. There is a sudden sight in the corner of my eye and they are there- past and gone. If I catch another bike (Very Rare in my case) I give a warning that I am coming past or just sitting to catch my breath.

For those who missed it, there's an implied smiley at the end of that line. Here let me put in a real one.

I just can't figure out why people on hybrids don't wave. :p

The only thing that bugs me about recumbulators is their need to call regular bicycles "diamond frames", as if there are two common types of bikes in the world, diamond frames and recumbants. Uh, no. There are "bicycles" and then there are a few oddly oriented things that need adjectives attached to them to distinguish themselves from what the world thinks of when they hear the word "bicycle". So I say just call "diamond frame bicycles," simply "bicycles" and then call recumbants "recumbant bicycles/tricycles".

A certain amount of innocent ridicule of recumbulators is also to be expected simply because of the body position, which is less, uh... dignified(?) than standing or sitting upright with one's head held high. The same sort of ridicule exists in the downhill skateboarding scene between stand up riders and luge riders, and in surfing between surfers and bodyboarders/kneeboarders.

One of the things I love about bikes is that, unlike cars or motorcycles, they display true diversity of design, and there's room for all sorts of innovation and experimentation. I'm personally not attracted to recumbents, or to tandems, or to road bikes -- instead I've been bitten by the folder/mini-velo and mountain bike bugs. But that's the beauty of it; there's something out there for every taste and riding style. This should be cause for celebrating, not for bickering over which is superior.

Well, I am a pretty confirmed roadie. Anyone's riding something else puzzles me. That being said, I figure that I am far better off with people riding bikes of any shape, manner or form.

The latest issue of Bicycle Quarterly -- which is devoted to non-conventional bikes -- has a really interesting review of a Barchetta recumbent. Same issue has an in-depth review of a Moulton, and a good historical review of recumbents and other non-conventional bikes through the ages.

Personally I'd love to own a recumbent if I had more room in the garage (and if I looked good in a beard...)

I think I know why. The take the hybrids out of the suburban garage two or three times per year. Then it's off the gas station, to have some air put in the tires. Then, it's time to ride, maybe even ten miles today! After five miles of trying to find the right gear, they're just too tired to wave. Please know that I wrote all that with tongue-firmly-in-cheek....:rolleyes:

Mr. Grouch, there is nothing wrong with 'bents. I might even get one myself some day. There used to be a shop called 'Lincoln Guide Service", that specialized in them. That was because the owner, Mike Farney, loved recumbents, and rode one all over the place. It was at that shop where I tried a few. Nice ride. Alas, Lincoln Guide service is no longer with us. Commercial realtors offered Mr. Farney a very large sum of money for his property, an amount he could not refuse. Too bad, as the shop was a great gathering spot for local cyclists.

Around here though, when someone sees someone on a recumbent, they immediately think, "Oh he/she must be an MIT professor!" Yes, I am serious. That is what people think. So, at least in the Boston area, Recumbent equals "Really smart, but weird".

So we are allowed to say "recumbulaters"? I was thinking that was a bad word.

Ride on with what ever you bring. Recumbents would be welcome on my rides, the more riders the better.

Just to be sure that I don't piss someone off, I'll make sure I use a smiley.:love:

Check this out:
http://www.bacchettabikes.com/bikes/...arbon-aero-2.0

As WL posted to a new member - welcome to mamby pamby land - get over it :D

When I read hurtful things about recumbents, makes me want to :cry:

But, hey!, I'm gonna man up and get over it.........:twitchy:

C'mon everybody! Let's ALL go for a bike ride together!:love:

So why don't you ride a recumbent now? Not smart enough or not weird enough?

I don't get this either, but I see it enough.
A couple of years back, my son in law was going to borrow my recumbent to ride in the annual ride for cancer from Toronto to Niagara Falls. When he casually mentioned to some of his team mates what his plan was, they told him in all seriousness that they would not be seen riding with him if he chose to proceed.
Now those people have issues.

Because I like my Fixie. Too Weird, and too much of a rebel at heart. :D

Don't know who is more annoying, the recumbent haters or the recumbent fanatics. Silly people being silly.