Hi Everyone!
So I am new to the world of recumbent bicycles as I just purchased a Sun EZ Speedster AX model. This is my first bent I've ever owned. I have always been a mountain bike rider here in WV. The hills and terrain made for some great riding. However, after my fourth bout of cancer in 2012, I had given up all hope of ever riding again. I simply can no longer ride upright and bent over on my Specialized 29er.

So I got to reading all I could about bents and everything pointed to the fact that a bent would allow me to ride again. I actually pick it up tomorrow and though used, it was extremely cared for. Not a scratch on it. It is all stock parts.

My questions would be: what are some of the best upgrades for recumbent bikes and what are the best ones to lighten the bike up a bit? I know a good wheelset would be one of the main things I would consider. But what I'm having a very hard time is finding online shops/stores that carry accessories for recumbent bikes. I am after any and all the information I can get my hands on. Is there even a magazine dedicated to bents?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Glad to be a part of this forum and look forward to hearing back from each of you.
Ride on and ride safe!

Here are a couple of shops/stores I've had good experiences with:
Hostel Shoppe
Easy Racers Shop

As far as what accessories to get - I guess it depends on what your goals are. I added things like extra water bottle cages and a rack w/ pannier bags for longer distance rides and some planned overnight tours for next year. Also added a lot of safety stuff since i ride on the road with traffic a lot (front/rear lights, horn, mirror). The only accessory I'd like to add is a WERX or Zzipper fairing to improve the riding experience in a headwind.

Last, I don't think there is much you can do to really lighten a 31+ lb. bike up w/o spending a lot of money. At that point it would be better just buying something much lighter to start with. There are some nice lighter weight recumbents on eBay all the time.

Enjoy your ride!

+1 to not wasting a lot of money upgrading an entry level recumbent. A few years ago I helped a friend with this same question for his Sun trike. He was asking about lighter wheels and other costly upgrades. I told him it was a bad idea and to save the money for a better trike. He ended up enjoying the Sun delta trike as-is for more than a year until he had accumulated funds to buy a lighter tadpole trike. There is nothing wrong with your bike except perhaps for the weight. It will help build your "recumbent legs" faster even though it is not a easy to ride as a lighter one.

Utah Trikes, where I bought my Catrike 700, made a brisk business of taking entry level trikes from a major American manufacturer and adding upgrades and accessories that would often more than double the price of the trike. Frankly I thought it was foolish on the part of the buyer to do this. Think of the old saying about lipstick on a pig.

I looked up the specs on Bikepedia for the 2005 version of your bike https://www.bikepedia.com/quickbike/B...X#.UqdSvSf4LS0 Apparently it was only made in 2005 if Bikepedia is correct. You can read a review on the bike here: https://www.bentrideronline.com/archi..._speedster.htm

The weight is 36 pounds. The MSRP was $1,500. The components are not low end no-name parts either. I would leave it as is unless there is a problem with one of them. My own SWB, an Haluzak Horizon SWB is lighter and has better components. I bought it used in 2004 for $850 so sometimes with a little looking you can find a really nice recumbent cheaply.

I would recommend a rack and a trunk pack. That way you have plenty of room for tubes and tools. Also a rear view mirror and a computer to keep track of the mile ridden. No matter the price these are alway nice to have.

Yep, I read the article on bentrideronline too. Good to know. This is my first bent, so I guess I just need to try it out for a while before going upgrade crazy!
thanks.

A nice lightweight rack came with the bike. Will get a pack for sure.

A lot of folks recommend a good set of tires as an inexpensive upgrade. My bent came with Kenda Kwests. I replaced them with Michelin Wild Run'r lites and I thought I could tell a difference.

Then I tore them up and installed Schwalbe Marathon Plus, which let me ride over broken glass with impunity.

Edit- just saw the stock tires are Kenda Kwests. Nothing wrong with them, but you might get some better tires at biketiresdirect.

OK, thanks. I'll check them out.

I'll echo what the others said. Upgrade the tires, maybe see about fixing the atrocious chain line, and add accessories that will be movable to your next bike. But you're not going to make a pig into a racehorse* by replacing components.


*You can train a pig to be a racehorse, but it'll never be a racehorse. All you'll get is a fast pig.

Yeah, but a really fast pig! I got everything up and running smoothly tonight. Pretty slick actually. Thanks to all for great advice for this bent newbie!