I miss my bent.
 

I've had my EZ Sport for over 16 years now and I took it to the LBS where I bought it for its free annual tune up (boy, did I get a deal with that). They would also replace my original chain and the rear cog. But the rub was that they were 2 weeks behind. I said ok and left it because I thought I could get by for that time on my back-up wedgie. Wrong! As Dr. Smith on Lost in Space would say, "the pain, the pain". I would be good for a mile and then my wrists and arms would be killing me. And then as far as the seat goes, even though it's a wide one, what a PITA. Yes, it's a wedgie so what can I expect? I have no car and I use my bike to pull my cargo trailer to get whatever I need (the trailer has a 300 pound weight limit).
Fortunately I'll get my bent back in a few days and it is true: you never appreciate as much as you should what you've got til it's gone.

You have a Backup Bike but it would seem that your Backup Bike should be a Backup Bent. Mine is.

If I had the money for a back-up bent I wouldn't be riding the first one I bought 16 years ago.

OK, I did look on Craig's List after reading this and thought it would be good to have a bent backup bike
Here is what I found: https://ci6.googleusercontent.com/pr...Je_600x450.jpg

The guy lives in a neighboring city to mine and this bike is just like my EZ Sport only red. He is a collector of recumbents and just got a trike and this bike had been sitting for years. He was asking $200 but offered it to me for $130 and me, being a master negotiator offered him $150 for it since he saved me a 15 mile trip to haul it back by bringing it to my house. No, he insisted on staying at $130 and then offered to bring me a good front tire as well as a bike rack. So now I have a red and a black EZ Sport and this one might actually be better than the one I'm having tuned up and getting a new chain and rear gear cluster. Now I'll order a new seat cover and mirror and I'll be in business.

WTG! Bargain Backup Bent!

Congrats on finding a backup at a very reasonable price. I've frequently found it handy to have a backup ready to go when I discover some little mechanical issue just when I'm ready to leave and already running a bit late.

But it seems like the LBS could have been more accommodating since your regular bike was apparently still perfectly usable. Sure they have a 2-week backlog but they could have put your name in their schedule and then have you bring the bike in the day before they're ready to work on it. No need for the bike to be sitting there just taking up space when you could be riding it instead.

I thought it odd that this LBS should still be so backed up by nearly August since there are 3 more LBS within a couple of miles from me. If they have that much business they should be able to hire the help needed but maybe they just cannot find a qualified bike mechanic.
The guy I bought it from is retired like I am and just a year old and has been a bent collector having owned 20 of them. I have a feeling this one had just been sitting around for years and likely has far fewer miles on it than mine that is being tuned up, having the chain replaced as well as the rear gear cogs. So unless my bent comes back and rides as good as this one, it will become by backup.
But the guy brought the bike to my house and I think as it turns out he was happy to see it go to someone who would use it and that's why he said $130 when I offered $150. Even though we didn't know each other the more we talked the more we found we had people in common who we knew, lots more. This has happened to me before when I saw a guy on the bike trail who passed me and hand an EZ Sport just like mine. I saw him a short time later when he was stopped in a park by the river as I went through. It turned out he was retired like I was and would ride for many miles a day, living in a small town on the other side of the Mississippi from me. As it turned out we had more than our bike in common, but live a block away from each other when I was 9 years old.
My city is no metropolis but it does have 50,000 people.

I have no idea how old this bent is and neither did he since he bought it used and although it rides well I am betting it still has the original Kenda Kwest tires on the front and back but the front one has dry rot. Ironic again since I just put a new Kenda Kwest of the front of my bike a couple of weeks ago. Now my LBS will probably call on Monday to tell me the bike is ready.

I think I was right about the Kenda Kwest tires on this EZ Sport I just got are the originals. I knew the front one would need to be replaced right away, but at a glance the back tire was not as bad. Well in the middle of the night I heard a loud smack! noise from my patio and I though it was a big, flat board I had leaned against the wall had fallen over, but it wasn't. When I got up the rear tire on the EZ Sport was completely flat. I had another tube so I replaced it and just when I was tightening the QR, BAM!, the tube blew out. So it looks like that $70 I saved from what I paid for the bike and what was originally asked will be spent on 2 new tires, a seat cover, and a mirror for the left side of the handlebars. Oh well, such is life.

Well, if you had paid him the full price, you would still have had to replace the tires and seat. I thought the seat cover would be expensive but it is readily available including from my favorite online bike shop Niagara Cycle. It's only $14.18. Plug the bold number into their search box at www.niagaracycle.com 508200. They also carry tires and tubes at good prices. I'd recommend you try this 20" 406 tire that I use on my Catrike 508567 which sells for $14.07. It is a tough, reasonable puncture resistant and long mileage tire at a very reasonable price. The 100 psi Kenda Kwest 559 sells for $22.46 455552. It is a great place to buy tubes for $4 or less. If the mirror you had was the Mirricle brand and you broke the glass part, they have replacements for $3.76 411412 or the complete mirror for $13.30 52019

Might be worth the time to learn basic mechanics and do your own tune-ups and repairs. With the tutorials on Park Tool website and the many youtube videos, there is hardly the job that isn't shown in detail. I'd never leave my trike at a repair shop (if there even was one that was competent to work on a recumbent in town) when I can do the repairs at home and be on the road much quicker.

I ordered 2 seat covers (one for my other EZ Sport) and a mirror from Amazon yesterday and will have them Tuesday. I have free tune-ups for life at this LBS since I bought the bike there and that has saved me hundreds over the years. I'll get 2 new Kendas at another LBS tomorrow for about $25 apiece and when I get the seat cover and mirror on Tuesday the bike I just bought will be all set for years, so I don't begrudge spending that.
As Dirty Harry said, "a man's gotta know his limitations" and I know mine. For me it's not worth the stress and aggravation to do much more than elementary work on my own bike. It was the same when I had a car.
Even spending $200 for the EZ Sport I still am happy with the deal. Besides, tomorrow I'll likely get my old one back.

I will finally get my EZ Sport back on Thursday, 2 1/2 weeks after I dropped it off for a tune.
Last Thursday they told me there was a few bikes ahead of me. I stopped today to get some new tires to replace the ones with dry rot on the EZ Sport I bought last Saturday. My bike was not sitting where it was last Thursday and I thought maybe they were working on it, but 'no', there were still a few bikes ahead of me. I wonder just what they consider to be a "few"?
But at least I got the EZ Sport I just bought working and maybe it will be my everyday bike and the other my back up. I think they are the same age but the one I just got has far fewer miles on it.

I just transferred to a bent and I love the pain free life.

Congratulations! You won't regret it. I just got my bent back after it was in the shop for 2 1/2 weeks. My backup bike was a DF and after riding a bent for 16 years it was a pain to ride. Be prepared to have people ask you about your bike even if nobody ever said a word to you about your DF.

Thanks. When I pass other bent riders on the bike path, we do the we are in a secret club wave like everyone should be doing it. I do get alot of looks.

My Friend made 2 trips back from his new job, teaching in Viet Nam , to bring his 2 Hand made Recumbents* back with him..

* a single and then the Tandem..