bear38

Anyone over 50 ride one?

stapfam

Naah--No-one here with any sense would be seen dead riding one.

rydabent

Actually anyone of any age would ride a recumbent if they had any sense. The only reason to ride a DF bike is in catagory races where they are stupidly required, or riding off road.

The comfort safety being able to sit up and look around serves 90+% of cyclist better. The pain of a DF is for fools.

DnvrFox

I tried a bent for about 6 months. Nothing wrong with it, it just wasn't for me. YMMV.

BTW, I think I DO have sense.

Dudelsack 

Recumbents? There's the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The good: much easier on the back, shoulders, neck, arms and wrists. Some will say if you get a proper bike fitting these issues vanish. They're wrong. It puts you in a more aerodynamic position and you'll go a bit faster.

The bad: most are heavy and expensive. They DO hurt some. Bent butt is a problem. For me, they're nightmarish to get up very steep hills.

The ugly: they're ugly. I weep bitter tears ( not really) when I look on my beautiful full carbon 18 pound road bike. Also, they look weird. I seek obscurity like a courtesan of the night, but you won't get any on a bent.

bear38

Ryabent. I rode a DF for years and had such neck pain that I thought I would try a bent. I ride for fun and exercise and done care that "real" bikers laugh at me.

bear38

My neck and back and arse and hips and arms and hands hurt on a DF. Even when properly fit. I reall think lots of people can't get past the looks and the thought of riding an old mans bike.

vic303

I sold my beautiful Masi Gran Corsa (late 70's early 80's steel lugged frame....) and got Bent. The arthritis in my hands makes any upright an exercise in pain management. I ride pain free on my Giro 700 (formerly a Giro 26). Do I wish it was lighter? Yeah, but I cannot afford a TiAero or a CA2, plus this is one of the few bents that can take 559, 650c, or 700c wheelsets without any changes, provided they are disk brake hubs. I can run fenders if I wish, I can run up to 1.75 fat tires for sure, and maybe up to 2.0's even. On the 700c wheels I can run x25's and still have clearance. The only change I can think of making now, would be to consider swapping my 30T granny for a 28T, but where I ride, it really isn't necessary.

Altamont

well I guess 99 per cent or more of the BF members are fools then. aren't all recumbent operators (they are not riders) over 50 with unkempt beards?

bear38

Why are they not riders? Because they hate pain?

David Bierbaum

Really? Even the female ones? The only thing keeping me away from a 'bent (over 50, and not the most kempt of beards) is the same thing that keeps me from any bike other than the one I already have; expense! That said, my upright hybrid has actually been helping with my sciatica, so I'm not going to complain about non-recumbent bikes just yet...

Retro Grouch 

Yeah, but everybody THINKS they have sense.

Retro Grouch 

That's what I think too.

Can we argue those points minus the (fools, not real riders, unkempt beards and lacking sense) name calling? This is, after all, 50+.

Dudelsack 

1. I trim my beard.
2. I was losing weight until the past week when I had to stop riding for "non-cycling" issues and promptly put the weight back on.
3. I bathe.
4. I have no engineering background, and anything that can't be fixed with Allen wrenches, duct tape and a rubber mallet is beyond my capabilities.
5. I love numbered lists. Its the old grad student in me. I guess.
6. There really is no more sublime moment than passing a DF going uphill.

DnvrFox

I think I am smart, too!

Dudelsack 

As long as you bring it up, would you remind me what wheelset and tires you got? Do you have disc brakes? I don't think I'd be willing to part with mine.

Dudelsack 

You is smart. You is kind. You is special. Now run along.

gcottay

I don't ride one but rather two recumbents; so far, though, just one at a time. As stapfam suggests they are fine rides while a person is still alive but likely not appropriate afterwards.

In the world according to me a recumbent is likely not appropriate for riders who are perfectly happy with their conventional bikes but, for the rest of us, can lead to many thousands of miles of happy riding.

A few recumbent riders, often noobs, get all knicker twisted defending their choice as right for everyone. Please cut them a little slack just as we do the few conventional riders whose twist goes in the other direction.

stapfam

A Recumbent is a bike- so is a mountain bike- Road Bike- BMX and others that I can't think of. You choose your style of bike to suit your riding and you. Whatever you choose is not the best bike around but it "MAY" be the best bike for you.

Until 7 years ago I rode Mountain bikes and no other. Could not see the sense in other types of bike but that was for me and the type of riding I did. Road bikes don't work well on Offroad and that includes CX bikes on the aggressive stuff I was doing. But When I changed to road for a change I tried all sorts of bikes- Comfort- Hybrids- Road and even recumbent's. I chose the type of bike I wanted and that was Road. Still have the MTB- and a Hybrid city bike that fell my way.

But it is not the bikes that are a problem. As gcottay pointed out-it is the riders that get up my nose. Get over it- It is a bike. Just make certain it is the best one for you but realise that one type of bike is not for everyone.

Mobile 155

I have often thought when I get old enough that I can't ride a DF bike I will more than likely get a bent. I tried one in fact a few months ago and guickly discovered while the seat was pretty darn comfortable it took a whole different group of muscles to ride. And contrary to what my good friend Dudelsack might say I can't imagine passing a good DF climbing a good hill. I am not saying it couldn't happen just that it would be unlikely with me on one. During the Palm Springs Century this year I was past by one or two bents on the flats but caught them on the climbs. And because it was so windy for the first time they didn't pass me going down hill.

However like people have mentioned they are expensive and a PTA to load and move if you happen to be driving somewhere for a big group ride like a century. Most of the ones I have seen will not fit on a bike rack and they are heavy. Still someday I want to get one because of the N+1 rule. But I am thinking a Cat-Trike.

flatlander_48

No, I don't laugh at anyone, on anything. Well, plumber's crack, but that's it...

cranky old dude

"Can we argue those points minus the (fools, not real riders, unkempt beards and lacking sense) name calling? This is, after all, 50+."

Great idea.....

"The good: much easier on the back, shoulders, neck, arms and wrists. Some will say if you get a proper bike fitting these issues vanish. They're wrong. It puts you in a more aerodynamic position and you'll go a bit faster."

I agree ... I have had the same results. Of course everyone's body, strength, and cycling skills vary which makes the statement somewhat a genralization in my opinion.

"The bad: most are heavy and expensive. They DO hurt some. Bent butt is a problem. For me, they're nightmarish to get up very steep hills. "

I dis-agree...The used recumbent market is very much alive and well. My two favorite bikes, a Volae Tour and an Easy Racers Tour Easy, were purchased as used bikes. The total cost for the pair was less than $2,000. I consider both bikes to be good quality machines, they are plenty fast enough for me, and I have no issues what so ever climbing with either one of them. I've never experienced "Recumbutt" so I can offer no opinion on that subject.

"The ugly: they're ugly. I weep bitter tears ( not really) when I look on my beautiful full carbon 18 pound road bike. Also, they look weird. I seek obscurity like a courtesan of the night, but you won't get any on a bent."

I dis-agree...Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!! I don't guess I've ever seen a bicycle that I would consider ugly. This is strictly an opinion point, in my opinion.


For what it's worth, I ride and maintain my own personal fleet of various bikes both upright and recumbent.

VegasTriker

"My neck and back and arse and hips and arms and hands hurt on a DF. Even when properly fit. I reall think lots of people can't get past the looks and the thought of riding an old mans bike."

I got a real chuckle out of the last 8 words in the above quote. I can give you even worse. I ride what you would probably call a geezer mobile (trike). It happens to be a very fine Greenspeed GTO, a tadpole trike that would cost around $6K to replace these days but it has served me very well for the past 8 years and over many thousands of miles. We have a lot of slick, wet surfaces in my area due to lawn irrigation runoff and I managed to crash a few times on both regular and two-wheeled recumbents. So, I got my first trike and then an even better one. Nothing hurts when I get up out of it after a 2 hour ride. I no longer worry about the possibility of breaking a hip in a crash. It's been a death sentence for a lot of older people and even if you recover, it can be a long slow recovery. Read the posting in the 50+ section about the "minor crash" that resulted in a $96K hospital bill. Frankly I don't give a darn about what people think. To be honest, most are pretty positive when I talk to them.

cranky old dude

I consider your first paragraph to be an expresion of personal preferences and everyone has preferences. I can't argue personal preferences.

I disagree with some points about transporting recumbents though. I have a Hollywood recumbent specific rack designed for hitch mount. It adapts to both 1 1/4" and 2" receivers and is stable and very easy to load. Hitches can be installed on most vehicles and generally only cost about $150. I easily haul my 67 1/2" wheelbase Tour Easy all over the county on the back of my S-10 and Camry with my Hollywood rack.

big john

Don't encourage him. He just loves to insult people here.

In my road club all riders are welcome whatever machine they choose.