I guess if he knows one other rider, and both he and that other rider have problems clipping in, that qualifies as a "large percentage."

Nope no problem on my part. I just sit down on my trike, and while sitting still I clip in, the pedals are right in front of me. Unless I stop at a shop to run and errand, I can stay clipped in the whole ride.

BTW a couple of years ago on a ride of silence with a lot of DF riders I became aware of all the scratching around trying to get clipped in, being only a short distance away from their BBs.

I have a tadpole trike and a couple of SWB bents, I miss the maneuverability height and general all purpose use of the DF bikes, because of accidents I cannot afford another crash off one of them. I think I have been on borrowed time on the SWB's, they are fast, and have gotten squirrely a few times at speed, and I stay off them as well. The trike is definitely safer as far as falls, but I don't get them over 12-15 MPH, I can see how you could easily flip one at high speeds, and I would never ride one in town because of the visibility.

I have both a LWB bent and a trike. In town is exactly where I ride the trike. We have 130 miles of hard surface trails in Lincoln. The LWB bent goes out of town.

I've ridden a recumbent trike coast-to-coast on the Southern Tier. I don't regret that as the ride that I chose, but everything comes with tradeoffs.

- Comfort: Sure, my wrists and shoulders had it easy. But I had to hold my neck forward, which was a strain, and the buckles that tensioned the seatback eventually dug into my spine, creating a painful growth (this was specific to my model of trike, and I eventually dealt with it by adding some foam).
- Speed: A trike is slower. Go ahead and fight me on this. If you've got a long day ahead and are chasing the sunset from the word go, even on tour, that makes a difference.
- Navigability: In some places—Arizona and Mississippi especially—there was just no good place to ride because the shoulders are narrow and every road seems to have sleeping policemen. In Arizona, I either had to take the lane or carefully straddle the sleeping policemen with my left front wheel on one side and my rear wheel on the other. This was nerve-wracking, for hours at a time. In other places, I was just taking up more road width where it wasn't really available.
- Cargo capacity: I was touring pretty light, and could get everything into two conventional panniers (although this played hell with downhill handling). If I had wanted to carry more, it would have been a problem.

Well it is rather so. About 3 years ago I participated in a ride of silence, riding my trike. With no talking and being a low rider, I noticed all the scratching around getting clipped in by DF riders. It was simply reality.

Well it is rather so. About 3 years ago I participated in a ride of silence, riding my trike. With no talking and being a low rider, I noticed all the scratching around getting clipped in by DF riders. It was simply reality.

Oh Im quite sure that all DF riders are perfect and clip in at the first try.

See post # 95

That's funny right there
 

Wait-wait-wait.......YOU participated in a ride of silence?

OP should start a thread listing all of the people on BF he alone converted to trikes.
:innocent:

I dont know about on BF, but a lot of people stop me on the trails to ask me about both my bike and trike. I give them the business card of the local bent shop. I do know of at least 2 or 3 that have bought trikes.

After several test rides I can say I don't find recumbent bikes practical... They seem comfortable for the flats where you don't have cars to deal with. When I have cars I want to be able to pivot my head around which isn't nearly as easy when reclining and they seem to require mirrors for any rear visibility. The 2 wheelers were the most maneuverable, but I wouldn't want to ride through the city or tight spaces. I don't see them being easy to bail off of, maybe rolling to the side but wouldn't likely get far enough away to avoid a wreckless car. The selection of tires for most of them seems pretty limited at least on the small front wheels, so good luck finding something puncture resistant for commuting. Ithink all of these reasons explain why I see lots of spandex racers with recumbents on bike trails, but almost no recumbents actually commuting through the city very often.

Strava says I have 15k miles on my current recumbent. The previous one probably had more but I didn't have Strava back then. Longest single day ride was 400 miles, and longest event was over 900 miles.

I also have an upright MTB, rando bike, commuter, and (as of today) a CX bike.

Longest single ride on an upright would be 400k/260 miles, and longest event 600k/370 miles.

For comfort, the 'bent is untouchable. True story: on a 1000k brevet, we stopped for a quick nap. The upright guys lay down on the wet grass, while I stayed clipped in, leaned against the fire station, and had a good snooze - because my 'bent seat was the most comfortable thing around even after a few hundred miles.

For speed on the flats and downhills, solo, the 'bent is also untouchable. No contest.

For climbs, anything above 2% the upright reigns. The steeper the grade, the bigger the difference. I don't know why. Don't care. It just is.

For group riding, upright is the way to go. The 'bent sucks in groups, particularly if there is any terrain. I've ridden two 1000ks with groups, in terrain, and it's a pain. I killed myself to stay with them climbing, rode the brakes descending, and loafed on the flats. The draft behind me is sub-par, and I can't see my front wheel well enough to draft closely.

For fun? Just plain enjoyment of riding a bicycle? Upright. I don't know what the magic is that comes with a lively upright, but there's nothing like it.

I find recumbent evangelizing to be silly, and people who'd rather be shot than ride one to be equally silly. If I had the dollars and space, I'd have a velomobile, FWD 'bent, carbon road bike, fixie, SS, tandem, and a 36" unicycle. It's all good.

I'm gonna flag that last post ^^^ so that any time I feel that perverse desire to get a 'bent -- which admittedly creeps up every few years -- I can re-read downtube42's astute litany and remind myself that no, I don't want to own one.

Maybe just borrow one...

Except his experience is not universal. My bent climbing is only very slightly shy of my upright climbing. Some folks never get the knack of it.

Both platforms are fun.

Fair point, but I was referring to his comments about group riding as much as his comments about climbing.

Hills are the main problem when riding with uprights.

The other incompatibility goes the other way. The bent rider has to lollygag on the flats. Although this is a nice problem to have.

High speed pacelines are a compatability problem, but if the group riding is more a loose bunch, the bent rider (on a high racer) doesn't really have much trouble fitting in.

I biked to work on recumbent bikes frequently Spring - Fall for about 12 years. (Now retired.) Riding from the suburbs to a hospital in downtown Indy. Not NYC but lots of traffic. Correct that cannot turn around to look to the rear but mirrors work well for that. Take-a-Look mirror is great. Suitable 20"/406 tires are available - maybe less so during covid times but that is true for many bike parts. Never felt the need to jump off of my bike to avoid a wild car.

I unfortunately have jumped over a car hood. I survived, but the bike didn't. I wouldn't have had time to react if I was lower and couldn't see over the parked cars she was popping out from. Also a few times I almost ran rattle snakes over and was able to have my whole body probably out of striking range simply by lifting my legs up.
I know about mirrors since my bikes, motorcycles and even cars have all had them, but they all had blind spots to check for.
maneuverability, vantage point, and visibility were by far the biggest negatives to me.

I sometimes complain that there are so few bent riders in my club, but that's only because I wish there were more guys who could give me a little challenge. On the other side of the coin, loafing while everyone else is working hard is sort of fun. But every once in a while I need to warn them the Happy Feet are taking over and I'll wait up for them somewhere down the road a bit.