Thinking about a 'bent for the first time
 

I need any and all of the advice that you folks are willing to give!

I've been riding hard-core on conventional road bikes for about 36 years now and my hands & feet are finally giving out. :(

I've been looking seriously (on the web, reviews, travel stories etc.) at an H-P Velotechnic GTE for daily riding and long distance touring. I'll be retiring in a couple of years and would like to do some really long trips by bike without having to deal with hand and foot issues constantly and a 'bent seems like the only realistic way to go.

My trips would be mostly in mountainous areas and, of course, the flat lands in between. I'm wondering how long the changeover would take - training new muscles, reactions etc. and a million other things too.

All help, info and opinions will be sincerely appreciated, so thank you very much in advance.

John :)

Although recumbents are not totally pain free, they are at least better in most respects. You can still get "recumbutt" and hands can cramp from holding arms against gravity. Feet can tingle early on but this goes away with continued riding.

It is controversial, but there seems to be a concensus that 'bents do not climb as well as uprights. I have done some studies of this and find my power to be down about 5% relative to an upright. I have no explanation and maybe it is just a matter of training as I ride much more on uprights than on my 'bent (Bacchetta Ti Aero hi-racer). Also, most 'bents are heavier than an "equivalent" upright (mainly because of the seat) adding about 5% (in my case) to the bike/rider system. Overall, I am taking about a 10% hit in speed going up steep hills where aerodynamics plays no role. Another difference with most 'bents is slow-speed handling (<6 mph) and starting on a steep hill is more difficult. Still, I can get up any hill...All doable.

The big advantage is lower aerodynamics, of course. Into a head wind or even on the slightest downhill you will have a big smile on your face.

My experience is to allow about 1 yr to completely train the appropriate (62yo in my case) muscles.

Hey Smokester,

Thank you very much for the reply!

Yeah, I'm 61 myself and my speed-demon days are in the distant past. I'm interested in just getting the pressure off my hands mostly. I'm an aircraft mechanic and I can't afford to ruin them any more than they already are!!

Thanks for the help,

John

I have a LongBikes Slipstream. I'm still getting acclimated to the feel and handling. To me going up hill is easier as I have much more leverage in my legs to peddle. Starting uphill from a standstill is not easy. Riding slow uphill is also challenging at this point but not impractical.

Overall I am finding the transition to be a matter of practice (no surprise). On an upright you have a lot of things that support each other. You are already in a near standing position so stopping and putting your foot or feet on the ground is a thoughtless task. Turning is in most cases is a simple matter of leaning in the direction of the turn (except where the turn is pronounced).

On my bent, I find balance and control to be much more at the conscious level but it's getting easier over time. The main thing to keep in mind is you will feel the balance in a completely new way and if you have a long wheelbase, steering is much more about keeping the front wheel pointed where you want to go while at the same time using it to keep your balance if going slow enough. I remember learning to ride uprights and the same mental gymnastics are present. Essentially you are re-learning how to ride. I suppose all of this is to be expected but it's still good to put it out there in words.

Yeah, i was expecting that to be the case too. There's a large 'bent dealer about 40 minutes from where I live and they carry essentially every popular model that's currently available. I plan to spend the entire day there and ride one of everything they have & see which one feels best.

Thank you very much for the reply and all the useful info.

Ride safe,

John

I came across an HP Velotechnic trike rider for the first time about two weeks ago. I had met him previously riding a Terratrike Tour. His new trike is equipped with Schlumpf Speed drive as well as the standard gearing the trike came with. It was a beautifully crafted trike, one of the nicest I have ever seen and is a custom job from Utah Trikes. According to him it cost $6K which is about $1K more than it would take to replace my Greenspeed GTO and all of its optional equipment (Schlumpf Mt Drive and Hope brakes). His has suspension and a hard shell seat, something I would be a bit wary of in the hot desert but he said it was very comfortable and designed to breathe. I doubt that recumbutt would be a problem on this trike, given the seat design. I have gotten it on my Haluzak Horizon with a very upright seat, but not on either of my trikes which are more laid back. Like other high end trikes (GS, ICE, Catrike) it will probably serve you for years to come. I've been exceedingly happy with the durability of my GS trike. It's an important consideration if you are a high mileage user. No doubt, given the looks of this trike and the components on it, it would probably be just as durable.

Hello again, jpooch00. You probably know this already but there is a variety of recumbents and they all have greaty different characteristics. That's why I mentioned that I had a hi-racer so you would know where I am coming from. I have seen quite a few tourers on Easy Racer Gold Rushes and other Easy Racer variants. The Bacchetta Giro is also used quite often.

Another posibility is a trike like the TerraTrike. One advantage of these is you can gear them really, really low and go up hills just as serenely as you desire.

Are you near Angletech Cycles? Never been there but they have a terrific reputation.

I'm not too terribly far from Angletech. I'm a lot closer to Rocky Mtn. Recumbents and I'll probably check them out first though.

Well, I'm 55 and my speed days are just beginning! I have a highracer and several lowracers. Ya know, 67-year old Bill Hannon took 3rd in the Avita Water Black Bear ride this year, going sub-4 hours for the 100 miles. He was on a Lightning F-40. I may try the full 100 next year, but I'm generally better on half-centuries or metrics. This year I did the ride as part of a 2-man relay, and I averaged 25 mph for my half.

My advice is that if you want a bent that performs similarly to a roadie bike, then get a highracer. A Bacchetta Corsa is good bang-for-the-buck. The RANS F5 Pro looks good, too. If you're willing to spend more, look at highracers with carbon frames. The ride is fantastic, and they're faster than stink.