claire

Last sunday I completed my first 200 on a recumbent trike! I've always wanted to try recumbents, and last january a friend of mine gave me the opportunity to try one. I liked it, rode about 300 km on it (longest ride about 130 km) and next thing I knew I was signing in for a 200 Brevet... Given the difficulties on hills and the fact that the muscles used on a recumbent are quite different from the muscles used on a regular bike I thought I would barely make it in the official time.

Well, it turned out to be a fantastic ride! My friend rode with me on his 2-wheels recumbent and gave me advice all along like how to spin my legs, where to take more speed to save energy on hills... The most difficult thing was to ride with regular bikes because the rythm is totally different. In the end we finished under 12 hours, with an average of 21 km/h, and I could hardly believe how well I was feeling at the end. The only pain was in my thighs and knees (but that might be because I'm sill not spinning fast enough).

Now I need to try a 2-wheels recumbent and hope I like it as much as the trike, because it would be much easier to manage for living in Paris! (like going up the stairs to get to my place, finding space for it, carrying in the train...)

djwid

I find my two wheel recumbents easier to manage storage wise and on hills. It sounds like your friend is an excellent resource who can guide you to a good choice for Paris riding. The availability of recumbents is so different in Europe as compared to the US that any advice from here would have to be brandless and focused more on types of bikes. But Europe has excellent lines of recumbents and you should be able to find a very nice bike.

Since you rode a trike in a 200k you are comfortable pretty low down. I would look at some of the lower bikes as well as some of the higher bikes. There are numerous European manufacturers such as M5, Challenge, HPVelotechnik, Optima, Raptobike, etc. I wish you luck in your search, I am sure you will have fun.

claire

I would rather go for a low racer. A good friend of mine has a VK2 which I'd like to borrow. But I don't know what the carbon would be like for long distance. Otherwise the friend who lent me the trike rides on a Optima Baron (which I tried around the block) and i seems pretty good for long distance.

Machka 

My father has a catrike and has done up to a 300K brevet on it.

There are pictures of his trike here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/1430288...7602332363619/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/1430288...7602327324870/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/1430288...7606151284624/

I have ridden the trike for a short distance, and might have to try it for a longer distance before I move. I've also tried a couple recumbents, and would like to get one one day.

Randochap

Ride on! Congrats!

djwid

The VK2 is a tough bike. Bryan Ball on BROL crashed his while reviewing it a few years ago. He was doing something silly downhill and lost traction. He managed to hit a pole hard enough to pop himself out of the seat on the skid. The bike was unharmed except for some road rash on the components. He rode it back and except for his own soreness the VK2 frame was undamaged.

The Baron is a great bike as well. The Challenge Fujin is also nice. Vic compiled a number of reports of recumbents used for Randos and had each rider write up their personal experiences, bikes and rides used for on this blog - https://longdistancebents.blogspot.com/ . I find it an incredibly useful site.

scarabeoguy

I have a Catrike 700 recumbent trike in addition to my other rides. I am very impressed with it. It is very fast and comfortable and has many advantages for Brevets. The only disadvantage I have found is that it is a little slower going up hill compared to my Road Bikes.