Hi all the recumbent riders!

I may be getting my dads old recumbent soon so maybe I'll be joining your ranks of "bent" riders soon.

I tried to search for this, because it's always frightened me how low my dads recumbent seemed to be, esp since he didn't have flags! But the search on this forum is disabled!

anyway my question[s] is how high should a flag be, and how many flags should i fly? i'm thinking of getting a jolly roger flag to go with a safety orange one.

I'm 5'4" and my dad was 5'8", will that matter on a recumbent?

thanks!

Not if it has a sliding, adjustable seat. If it's a sliding boom you may have to readjust it.

Way to go, what an inheritance.. My take on the 4 inch difference would be try it and yes you probably will have to adjust the seat or boom as has been mentioned. However I would think with only 4 inches difference that you would be able to at least ride it comfortably and then get into how much you need to adjust to be real comfortable... Have fun... peace el Padre

I use 2 flags when I have the kids on board. Also attached to one of the flagpoles is a multi colored kite spinner. I keep it positioned with a zip tie above & below the swiveling fish hook connector. On the tandem trike, with the Burley trailer and the kite spinner, we are always our own parade!
Happy recumbenting!!

OH yeah, if you have to move the boom in, to get your 'bent fitted, be sure to shorten the chain as well. A LBS can help you get it just right. Chain tools CAN be tricky to use.

My take on the "low" aspect is that it really doesn't matter unless you're riding around parked cars a lot. Even then it doesn't matter unless you're on a trike or a lowracer. After all, drivers always have their eyes fixed on the pavement so they can see potholes. Or, put another way, drivers are always saying they don't see uprights, maybe it's because uprights are too tall! At any rate, I have found that drivers generally give me *more* clearance on a bent than they would on a DF. If you decide in favor of using a flag, the ideal height would be eye height for a driver. Car, or SUV? I can't answer that!

Regarding your stature, it depends on the specific bike/trike. Most bents can adjust for a lot more height variation than that, but bear in mind your father's may have already been adjusted nearly as short as it would accomodate. Adjustable booms can usually be shortened, but it's hard to lower a seat that's too high or move a seat past its adjustment range.