Yeah, it's about as "cool" as this thread :rolleyes:

I think all recumbent riders understand quite well. The fast bent riders aren't claiming to be better/stronger riders than the uprights, they're claiming to be faster. Recumbent riders recognize that the bike and rider are both parts of the same package; so optimizing the bike is just as valid as optimizing the engine. Roadies recognize this too, thus spawing a large market for upgrade parts; but there's a UCI line that's taboo for them cross. That line doesn't bother us, else we wouldn't have bents in the first place. In any forum but this one, if a newbie asks how to get faster, the answer is always "work on the engine, changing bikes will make no significant difference," along with platitudes about Lance winning some hypothetical race using a Huffy. That argument won't fly here.

I wonder if there are motorcycle forums where they have "Smoking some 'bent riders!" threads. Given BlazingPedals' explanation above, it's pretty much the same thing. And really cool. Or not.

Last I checked, motorcycles aren't human-powered. To turn carlfreddy's argument around, is it really a race when one rider is stronger than the other? Or is it a race only when two competitors are perfectly matched?

Many upright riders seek an advantage by building up a 16# bike with the most aero wheels and parts that they can afford. Bentriders just take it a step further and bust free of the "safety" frame that's been around for over a hundred years. It's funny how a $1,000 set of wheels on an upright isn't cheating but an aerodynamic bent is. :rolleyes:

Is it a race when one rider is a dork and the others don't give a crap?

You mean like 'Lame'?

Me neither, to be honest. But I don't begrudge anyone that want's to have a bit of a brag, warranted or not. It's all in good fun.

As a roadie, I hereby invite any 'bent rider to come and, uh... "smoke me".

Really this thread is pretty Lame. It is obvious that the upright riders were not in their drops so they were not racing you. Oh yeah, except the ones that were REALLY trying after your battery went dead. I ride a recumbent and this is the kind of attitude that causes friction. I have out run a few upright riders and I have been out run by some. So what. There is always someone out there faster.

To those that say recumbents can't climb, there were two recumbents that rode Six gap in Georgia this year under 6 hours. The fastest being 5:40. That is a good time for 100 miles and 10,700 feet of climbing for any rider. Granted they were not as fast as the young studs but again a very respectible time.

The talent vs equipment argument is a bit pointless. Bike racing has always been about talent plus equipment.

love it
 

smokin roadies is what I long to do why cause I ride a hybrid and get beat all the time soon I will get my revenge

That just sounds so wrong. lol.

Look, maybe people in this thread (specifically the 'bent side) feel like I'm stepping on some toes or dissin' their choice of bike, I'm not. I've said nothing to the effect of indicating that one is better than the other, it's simply a matter of preference.

Each bike has it's advantages, and one advantage that a 'bent has in spades is being significantly easier to push through the air. I hear you specifically say you're aware of that and I can clearly see that you understand why that invalidates the "roadie vs 'bent" argument. However, there are other 'bent riders participating in this thread that appear to have a rather large "chip" on their shoulders because they feel others criticized them based on their selection of bicycle. And as a result of this criticism we have all this over-zealous "ZOMG I TOTALLY SMOKED LIKE ELEVENTY MILLION ROADIES WITHOUT BREAKING A SWEAT!!" threads.

My one and only point is that any results of a "roadie vs 'bent" race are invalidated on the basis that a recumbent has a significant aerodynamic advantage over an upright.

Let's examine a different, more applicable analogy. Suppose you are in a track and field race on foot, say the 400m. Your opponent starts from the blocks, but you get a significant 50m head start. Obviously you win the race, but what kind of victory is that?

You can't be serious. Do you even understand the point I'm trying to illustrate? Because I think you missed it, completely.

well if you watch the vid and google the other hilly one hundred on youtube ( I think there are five in total ) you'll see the Bent drop every one ;) by the way Tri-riders are top of the bike chain

eewww dude let's keep it clean

No, I get it. Road bike vs recumbent bike races have their place. They at the very least clearly demonstrate the technological advantage of the bike. In the early days of bike racing, building and racing the better technology was very much a part of the competition. The idea that it's purely rider against rider only came about much later, and effectively stagnated the development of bike technology other than in fairly superficial ways. I understand you think that rider vs rider is the ideal, but it's not the only way to see things.

Do you also think it's an unfair advantage in the hills to have the lightest bike possible?

Roadies suck...

Twenty or so years ago when the typical bike racer was a skilled and knowledgable fellow, comparing him to some bikini-wearing tinkerbell who falls off his bike if you look at him sideways would have been insulting. These days, though, you might have a point.

Odd, though, that the weird-beard 'bent riders are getting their slide-rules all a-twitter trying to defend the bikini-wearing tinkerbells. :lol:

Under HPRA rules, a lowracer without fairings is in the same class as an upright. I think you're the one trying to force the recumbent riders into some UCI philosophy.

And roadies came all the way to this forum to call me a geek? Actually, I guess I am a geek......

But, what brought them here to begin with? Are they hurting enough these days to be thinking about going 'bent? Hmmmmmm. They'll be embarrassed for sure if their roadie friends find out they been hanging out in the recumbent forum; they're scarred for life now......

bent bud now you feel special huh

Right, but we're actually not even talking about a race here, just an afternoon on a bike path. My experience with bike paths is that 99% of the cyclists on them are weekend warriors at best, hardly the racing type. The other 1% are typically races out on recovery rides (Speaking from experience).

In response to uprights running in the same class as 'bents in the HPRA: If I decided that I wanted to race in the HPRA and I had a choice between my upright or a 'bent I would always choose the 'bent. It'd be asinine not to. Why would I put myself at a significant competitive disadvantage? (I'm extremely competitive)

What brought me here first was a link from a thread in the road forum. So I came, uh, "all the way over here" by positioning my index finger over my mouse button, pressing it in a downward manner (i.e. towards the center of the earth), then releasing it. It was tough, but somehow I survived, even with my narrow saddle and poor aerodynamics. I'm sure a 'bent rider probably beat me here, and may have already posted a video and lengthy description of how I was really trying but eventually had to concede that he was faster.

Anyway: I hung around and posted mostly for laughs, but also to expose the complete idiocy of the original post. Fair to say the latter task has been accomplished, several times over. I'm still laughing though — this is great comedy!

So, please, smoke away! And post more videos and threads. I'll retaliate by...continuing to laugh at your pathetic asses.