I will tell you right up front that I ride bents.

My question is how-------------can roadies with their seats jacked clear up and their handlebars clear down possibly think that their lungs can completely fill. Some are bent over so far it appears their legs and knees almost hammer their chests. Contrast that with bent riders that are reclined, and their chest and lungs are not compressed at all. Just asking. I however dont want to start another DF vs bent thread.

There is a compromise between aerodynamics and effective respiration, but since the UCI (the governing body for professional bicycle racing) does not allow recumbents in sanctioned events, you won't find bike racers (and wanna-bes) on those bikes.

You think I don't dream of winning a stage of the TDF????

Yeah. Right.

+1 Exactly what I was thinking.

Um...

If I had to guess, I'd guess there's no difference in ventilation capacity between the two. If I were told there was a small difference, I'd guess it was lesser on the bent as the seat is pressing against the lower back, whereas the entire torso is unconstrained on the diamond frame.

My former 3 pack a day habit probably hurts my lung function more than my road bike. Also, an unfortunate lack of facial hair precludes me from riding bents.

I can fill my lungs pretty darn well myself. Regardless, when you are breathing heavily you don't fill your lungs to capacity anyways, so it seems like a non issue.

Maybe you should try a road bike some time. They're not that bad.

By the way, how do you get up steep hills on a bent since you can't get your body weight on the pedals ?

Here's an interesting study.

aero bars? I think that's different than drops. They say that with trained cyclists, the results are inconsistent, which says to me that it's training

Aero position, i.e., "in the drops."

The results suggest that, with training, one can overcome some of the limitations of riding in an aero position, not that the aero position doesn't have inherent physiological limitations.

if you read the abstract at the link, you will see that they are talking about performance using clip-on aero bars
Not surprising that people don't do well in those, I don't do well at all and don't care to practice

I read the whole study, but missed the clip-on bar description.

Nonetheless, I would expect similar results comparing an upright position with riding in the drops (though only an experiment would confirm such an expectation).

I rode a bent (Rans Stratus) for 7 years, and I've been a "roadie" for 5 years. Filling the lungs with either kind of bike for me was and is a total non-issue. Your lungs are not really "compressed" while riding a road bike, unless you have the world's worst fitting.

I have no problem filling my lungs or breathing. The discomfort of drop bar road bikes is highly over exaggerated. I am very comfortable and at ease in the drops, love it there and my bars tops are typically set three to four inches below my saddle top. And I am 59 yo.

J

How can you see anything in front of you with your feet in front of your face?

So you're saying that recumbent riders' lungs are completely filled with air? And here all along I thought it was just their bellies.

In rydabent's case, it's his head. But this is a very poor effort at a troll on his part...

You could ask silly questions about any type of cycling really. How do bent riders keep from getting run over every time they go out?

I consider myself a "roadie" as I ride on the road, but my handlebars and seat are level with one another. The only time I use the drops is going downhill and then it's just to get more aerodynamic and get some free speed. Most other times, I'm on the hoods and I have no issue with breathing. Don't have any issues with breathing in the drops either though.

No way?!?!

I use a complex system of mirrors and cameras/monitors.

My buddy who has ridden both and sells both in his shop says he gave up the recumbent because when riding it he felt about as motivated and energetic as when he was in his La Z Boy at home.

But I'm not intending to start a roadie vs recumbent debate

/thread.