yakmurph

That's the trouble they -your daughter and her friends- have.
Not everyone rides bicycles for a living.
Everyone is different.
Kids, for example, pick up/learn new skills quickly... in general.

I'm certainly not a kid, but I had no problem learning how to ride
my recumbent bicycle.
I used to ride motorcycles daily, as my job, so my skills as a test-rider
may have influenced my personal learning curve.

So, Mr. C, I disagree with you.
Recumbent bicycles are not, in my experience, "much harder to ride."
Recumbent bicycles are merely different... neither more nor less difficult to ride.

Now, as Mr. delcrossv so eloquently suggests, I'm oughtta here, "lightened-up"
-and riding my bike!

-Steve

Retro Grouch 

I don't see how you can throw all recumbents into the same category of difficult to ride. If everybody had to learn on a 700c high racer, for example, I don't think there would be very many recumbent riders. Delta tricycles, on the other hand, would have a much shorter learning curve than a conventional safety bicycle.

Dudelsack

It's just life. I road my LeMond 15 miles in the neighborhood without nary a comment. I then hopped on my bent and rode it around the block (put new pedals on it) and got three comments.

Maybe we should work on legislation to make negative comments about bents a hate crime.

Steamer

They were negative comments?

From non-cyclists the positive to negative comments ratio is about 15 to 1. With the negative ones almost always coming from groups of 13-15 year old boys.

From fellow cyclists (riding upright bikes), the pos. to neg. ratio is more like 1 to 1.

Interesting, isn't it.

Retro Grouch 

^^^^That's a good point.

I'm trying to remember but I really can't think of any negative comments about my SWB. The closest was from another recumbent rider who noted I was only using "hybrid" tires. Mostly, DF riders don't say anything - at least not to me. If anything, they just look the other way. Non-riders are uniformly positive, I think because they notice the comfortable seat. While riding past a group of 13-15 year old boys a year or so ago, I heard one of them say "That's the one I want."

On our Kettweisel train, even as slow as we ride, the comments are off the charts positive. At a stop on a ride last Saturday a couple of hipster types looked it over and proclaimed it as "Cool upon cool upon cool" "It's got 4 disc brakes!" One asked if he could sit on it. I'm guessing we got 100 positives on that ride vs. 0 negatives.

Why would I want to make over that image?

gcottay

In my opinion, we too often conflate the opinions and attitudes of a few into the majority or at least some substantial segment. I've heard it said that most cyclists ride because they have lost their motor vehicle license or are the poorest of the poor. After all, why would they ride it they could drive?

Best wishes, by the way, with your obvious disability. You must be running electric assist to move like that. < G > Yes, that's a joke even though I've been asked a few times about the location of battery and motor even though I'd enjoy the breeze as you went by.

rydabent

As far as I can see there is no learning curve on a trike, and only a very short one on a LWB recumbent.

delcrossv

Yes it is. In my experience,I've been getting the most positive comments from teenage boys (cool bike!) for the P-38. It's also interesting how the teen herd mentality works- My teenager (who rides a Ryan Vanguard for tooling around and an M5 lowracer at the track) was concerned about his "image" riding the Ryan- he loves the ride but told me it is too far 'out there' looks wise. Now he wants a Performer Saki because it "looks cool"- huh, kids.

Steamer

Yeah, I don't get negative comments from individual boys that age, only from groups. Conformity is king at that age (for most kids, anyway), and anyone riding by on something 'different' is going to get the "hey look at that dork!' or eqivalent. Insecurities abound at that age. I remember what it was like, myself.

It's impossible to say what kids will find 'dorky' vs. 'cool'. Anything that looks really fast and racy is going to more often get the nod of approval, I think.

osco53

I'm Glad I walk my own path and am also glad I don't feel the need to conform, fit in, be accepted by the masses.

The Two wheel bent learning curve is just the 1st three to five minutes in the cock pit with your body thinking, This Is New, different, odd.

Some of us embrace new things, some are not able to walk a new path without problems. Not all humans still have adaptation skills like our ancestors.....

The trick to two wheeled bents, (Not including the most radical types, IMO) Is very simple yet hard for many who have yet learned to flow, relax, chill..

The trick is simply, Lean Back, R-E-L-A-X. It's a 'Zen' kinda thing,

Once you reach our bent nirvana for the first time the confident and strong minded will have the guts to admit to themselves that bents are just different.

And far better for comfort especially to those of us who are, 'Aging with Dignity'
,
,
,
, Oh Yeah I think My Delta Trike Is just plain cool XD

rydabent

osco +1

CraigB

My wife and I rode our Catrike Trails to a neighbor's picnic a couple of weeks ago and they got all kinds of positive attention, including a couple of test rides.

cranky old dude

I have spent the last five years cycling a little over 12,000 miles on LWB, SWB, and tandem recumbents. The only negative comment I ever received was from some cantankerous old coot on a Sun EZ-3 who insisited I was foolish to be riding my Tour Easy and I would be much smarter if I rode an easy to use machine like his.

delcrossv

An even crankier old dude?

BlazingPedals

No, it was him, giving himself a hard time about bents.

delcrossv

Very good, thank you!

10 Wheels

delcrossv

The Future is Now!

ystava

No they don't... Just lower prices.

I've come to realize the spectrum of opinions abou bicycles is similar to those about babies... Internet especially.

rydabent

And just think, the first time I rode my trike, I was able to do a track stand!!!!!!

DanWho

Now that is something to brag about to some kids. Tell them you do a track stand with your recumbent at every stop light and sign, but forget to mention you ride a trike. You will start a new wave, kids with broken arms trying to do track stands.

Just not sure that would improve the bent riders image with the kids when they found out.

rydabent

Dan

Not to worry I dont think too many kids read this forum.

DanWho

All it takes is one person reading or seeing him thumb his nose while while at a light and the kids will talk. Soon he would be racing all the kids with one arm who want revenge! https://www.bikeforums.net/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

unterhausen

Maybe this proves the OP's point, but anyone have a link to the beef jerky ad where they make fun of recumbents? I heard it in passing, but I didnt get to see it. I thought it was funny that they didn't make fun of the things that cyclists make fun of, like beards and such.

BlazingPedals

Here it is.

https://youtu.be/ucIIhtEwRGA