philski

Well, I've had my Vision R-55 (swb uss recumbent) for a week and a half now and had I not fallen out of the attic onto my cement garage floor on Monday (breaking my jaw but otherwise left with just scrapes and bruises) I'd be commuting into work this week on it. All things considered I got off easy considering the fall!

Anyways I have a few questions for those of you who commute via recumbent.

1. Seat pad - mine is foam. I will have to park my bike outside so if it rains I presume I'm in for a water-soaked seat pad. What do you guys do? Cover the seat while parked (with something water-repelling)? Cover or coat the foam pad? Ride without the pad?

2. Are there any safety concerns that I should keep at the front of my mind? I've commuted into work three years on a DF bike and am comfortable with it, but moving from DF to recumbent is there anything I should keep in mind?

Finally, one touring question

3. Can anyone recommend some good articles/blogs/etc. on recumbent commuting? I've found a couple via Google. What I'm really interested in is discovering how people stash stuff on their recumbent. It seems to me having a recumbent frame that is essentially a long pole, there should be some interesting ways to stash things under the frame, like a duffel bag or tent, etc. I have some ideas but I'd like to see working implementations.

Thanks!

Philip

dcrowell

Ouch! Sorry to hear about your fall. That sounds painful.

1. My 'bent has a foam seat also. I get to park in my office, but the seat will get wet when I ride in the rain. I don't worry about it. If I were to park outside, I would cover the seat (trash bag?)

2. As long as you have ridden the bike enough to be comfortable controlling it, it's just as safe as a DF. Just don't try to bunny hop curbs.

3. There are a number of people who are posting on crazyguyonabike.com about their recumbent touring. You can put two panniers on a rear rack. Many 'bents have underseat racks available. Sorry, I don't know a lot about them, or your particular bike, but that would allow you to carry four panniers in addition to strapping stuff to the top of your rack.

BlazingPedals

When I toured on my V-Rex, I used a large-sized shower cap. if it gets wet, take the pad off at home and stand it on its side, so it can drain.

I'm no help at all on the other questions.

unixpro

My bike is outside at night and inside when I'm at work. We only have a carport and the wife isn't about to let me bring a dripping wet bike inside the house.

I keep a supply of towels near the bike. When it's been raining, I just stick one of the towels over the seat and ride off. The foam is pretty dense and really doesn't hold water very well, so just keeping it off my rear for a while seems to be fine.

I do commute almost every day on my 'bent. I use an Aero Trunk like this one. It can hold a *ton* of stuff, is moderately weatherproof, and actually improves your aerodynamic profile a bit. I've also got a small holder for my cell phone and badge that I carry on my stem.

The only safety tips are the same ones I'd give a DF rider -- ride like you're an actual part of the traffic. Take the lane when it's not safe to ride to the shoulder (safety is something you define), obey the law (stop signs are not suggestions), and watch out for idiots.

Artkansas 

Here's my commuting solution.



But I've tilted the seat backwards a little since the picture was taken, so I've added a bungee cord around the seat back and the back pack. I also have a smaller bag that fits between the backpack and the seat for doing a century.

Beppe C.

Hi Philski
have you tried the Ventisit? It's a european product (https://www.ventisit.nl/start.php?page=1&lang=2) and although intented for keeping your back dry in hot climates I believe it also doesn't get soaked and dries fast.
Best
Beppe

Giro

If you have not noted it already, it is more difficult to look back past your shoulder on a recumbent than on an upright diamond frame. Most recumbent riders use rear view mirrors. These could be bicycle mounted such as a Mirracycle or a Busch & Müller Cycle Star model, a helmet/glasses mounted mirror such as the Take-A-Look or both types including both left & right bike mounted mirrors.

Flags are the contentious item. At least look at your bike from the rear and see if it has something light colored and visible from the rear (e.g. a yellow helmet, back of the seat bag, panniers or a reflective triangle). Or alternatively, go for all-weather 24/7 rear visibility with a DiNotte or MagicShine tail light.

Greg Fox

I have commuted for severaly years on a Rans V-Rex with a foam seat. Unlike one of the other posters I've found my foam seat takes days to dry out if it gets soaked. Before I got fenders I soaked it from spray picked up from the road after the storm had passed. To keep the seat dry I:

- Cover the entire seat (mesh back as well) with a large trash bag.
- Hold the bag in place with small bungee cords. In my case I hook one end to the water bottle cage on each side of the seat back and the other end under the seat cover in the front.
- When I ride in the rain I use the bungee cords to hold a plastic cover over the foam seat. I tried just sitting on the plastic but the front edges of the seat would pick up water and the seat would get wet.

Wilbur Bud

+1 on a big rearview mirror.

Mesh seat for me, so I just leave it in the rain, but we have somewhat sheltered bike racks at work. Sandals too, so they dry out during the work day if its raining in the morning on the way in (but I switch to boots and platforms around Thanksgiving when the studded tires go on).

Perhaps not specifically recumbent, but the best see-me light(s) you can find will help in commuting. On the rear, I've found it works best to have an always-on red light plus a non-red strobe (yellow or amber is typical), mounted as high as possible on the seat back. I used an aftermarket automotive 3rd taillight and an amber xenon strobe running about 2Hz (local law enforcement frowns on anything faster than 4Hz as well as any flashing light in red or blue). The strobe seems to announce you on the far horizon, and the constant on light appears to give overtaking motorists something to track on until they locate you properly (and early enough to decide what to do in terms of slowing or overtaking without a lot of fuss). Fronts I just run a couple aftermarket automotive driving lights, one wide beam and one narrow. I usually use only the wide beam in daytime as a see me, but use both in the dark.