bent touring
 

Just bought myself a Sun Tour Easy LE recumbent for loaded touring. Switching from a df. I'm stoked about it. Haven't found a downside yet, and lots of up side. Just a matter of getting past the social stigma and the $$$s. I'm old and am no longer concerned about such trivia.

Love the continuous panoramic view, the smooth ride with no hand or butt pressure. Now only limited by my energy level and motivation, not by comfort issues. Can't wait to get it loaded up and headed out.

Any experienced bent riders on here? Thoughts, advice?

I haven't toured on my 'bent, but I've ridden it a lot. I have a long-wheelbase Bacchetta Agio which would make a decent touring machine.

I've heard of using a body sock to further reduce wind resistance (and keep you warmer when needed) and being able to make better speed.

http://www.recumbents.com/wisil/recu...arl.Russel.jpg

Check out Crasyguyonabike, they have a category for bents among others.

No bent forum on CG, but lots of pictures of loaded bents.

My brother in law tours on a Rans at times and loves it, only hates it when we head up into the hills. But slow and steady in a really low low gets the job done.

I've toured with my bents almost exclusively. When I haven't been touring on a bent I've been credit card touring on a c1915 single speed.

The biggest piece of advice is go low. make sure that your gearing is low enough for you to spin up any hills. You can't stand to climb or rest tired legs.

Also if you can fit an underseat rack, do so. and carry the heavy stuff on it.

Take a spare tyre and tube for the front wheel. not everywhere will have ERTO451 20"
tyres available. I'd also put the widest tyre that you can fit on the rear as it carries most of the weight.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-a...252520trip.JPG
Off on my first tour. This recumbent (a Flying Furniture PBP Special) was fun except the seat didn't agree with me: after 50km my legs would go numb.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-b...o%252520Go.JPG
Second recumbent tour. I would have liked the underseat rack. I found that the RANS seat is the most comfortable one I've tried. It was on this tour that I decided that unsuspended 20" wheels and coarse chip-seal are not a good combination.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-i...0/DSCI0550.JPG
Full suspension (almost) made for a very comfortable ride. The seat never quite agreed with me and it was slow and in-effecient to pedal.

I have since gone back to RANS with a Velocity Squared LWB bike. I haven't done any touring with that yet, but have carted a fair weight commuting with some work for at home.

i said in another thread that i toured Ireland well a bit of it with a english lad riding a bent dragging a bob trailer,seems the only problem he had was climbing hills but on the flat seriously fast machine 25mph average no problem ,but he's a big strong lad does a lot of audex rides which i suppose helps things along.
best of luck with the new machine dont forget to post a few pic's.

No forum, but they do have a category for bents and their stories while on tour. From there I believe if you have any questions you are allowed to correspond with the authour via e mail.
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/c...octype=journal

Well, of course, Northwestrider. I'd forgotten about 'category' option in the journal section. Never used it. Thanks.

I enjoyed riding my Toxy with all the touring options. Did not enjoy the general maturity level of drivers, who were either in the process of running one over, or spitting on one. Was just too dangerous to ride.

Hard to restart on hills, very difficult to push when going over long non-ride features like some border bridges (local shop was a style nazi about underseat searing which I did not find practical for touring because of the difficulty pushing.) Not easy to pack have no idea how one would take on plane. Seat was comfortable in a sense, but there was a general feeling of sliding down it. When it rains the position is very poor for avoiding that. Also the position is aerodynamic, which means the air slips over one efficiently. Odly, I found that seemed to mean that wind chill was worse on cold days. I would still like to try a Rans some day, but overall I found upright bikes were preferable for me.

And so it is with most. You gotta have the right motivation to enjoy the benefits of a bent. Learning curve. And overcoming the image problem. For me, it was all about comfort for long distance touring. I'm ok with a df for couple of hours, but then it gets to be a bit tedious in the rear department. But that's just me. I'll still ride my df some locally I'm sure.

I sort of lucked out that the lbs shop had a Tour Easy in stock. Really didn't know enough about bents to make an intelligent decision. The Tour Easy just fell into my lap. From all accounts, it was the right 'accident.'

I've toured for thousands of miles on an upright (Trek 720) bike and for thousands of miles on a 'bent (Rans Stratus XP). I find the recumbent to be the ultimate Touring bike. None of the butt/neck/wrist/hand pain on the bent, you get on an upright/diamond frame. Also, the view is better: You sit in a position that is facing forward (like in a car), as opposed to looking down at the road. I really don't understand why there aren't more folks touring on bents. Even the OP of the "TM list of Touring Bikes" thread that is stickied on this forum refuses to include touring 'bents. I think more folks would choose the long miles of touring if they took the time to find out how comfortable a bent really is.http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n...y_edited-1.jpg

just looking at that photo is there not a lot of stress on the headtube,to me it looks like it could break quiet easy .what about shinsplints the photo also tells if you suffer from shinsplints this is not the machine to be on.
(climbers nightmare.)

Gah, just when I thought I'd got the BF lingo down... wassa df cyclebum?? :beer:

was just about to hit "post", then I got it: diamond frame!!!!! YAY ME!!! :D

Also called a wedgie, upright, etc. How 'bout OSS/USS? SWB/LWB? Hint: recumbent lingo I've picked up in the last few days.

Headtube stress??? I've owned/own several 'bents and never, ever had an issue with the headtube. I'm a member of a couple of recumbent forums and NEVER/EVER have heard of anyone on any recumbent have an issue with a headtube. Same is true regarding "shinsplints". NEVER/EVER had shinsplint issues or heard of them mentioned on a forum. There are certainly shortcomings with bents (can weigh a few pounds more due to extra seat material, not as widely available, not as fast up hills until you build up different muscles), but not headtubes or shinsplints. They are still bicycles.

Interesting thoughts, but non issues. The front end of a lwb bent is so lightly loaded that even rolling over speed bumps/rumble strips don't cause enough stress to matter. Besides, the frame flex on lwb bents act as a shock adsorber. As for shinsplints, don't runners get those from impact? Haven't noticed any impact from bicycle pedals.

A bent is a comfort machine. Other than that, for most ppl, its performance/reliability is on average, nearly identical to an upright. Does cost twice as much, and requires an attitude adjustment. If you have no comfort issues with your upright, then there is no practical reason for switching to a bent. And a few reasons not to.

I'm a bent newby, 200 miles only, and still full of newby enthusiasm. A year from now, I may be back on my upright, begging somebody to buy the bent. Life is full of surprises.

AAAAH!!! my brain hurts! I need to sit down, no lie down, no, that's not right... AAAAH!!!!

ah man don't call them bicycles not as we know it there recumbents dont even resemble a proper bike. shinsplints is an issue with them i toured with an experience bent rider and it was he who told me of the problems, shinsplints and climbing .now in there defense they certainly can move fast no wind resistance or at least not as much as a proper bike.i never tried one and to be honest i have no intentions of even trying ,but each to there own .

Recumbent: an evolved bicycle.

:)Never say never.

Eeek! Please don't perpetuate that myth.
A decent upright touring bike costs between $1000-1500.
A decent recumbent touring bike costs between $1000-1500.
You can spend a lot more for each style.
You can find each for a lot less, used.
The only difference is that you can find cheap/low end upright bikes for a few hundred bucks, or less; Walmart/Target don't sell recumbents.

OK. I'll quit. Was thinking Bikesdirect Windsor Tourist vs msrp for a 'decent' bent. A decked out LHT and my basic Tour Easy would come in about the same. I got a good deal on the TE. And a big Thank You from my rear.

I've had bents, a tadpole trike and a SWB, and used both for touring. I pulled a trailer since it was easier to switch between my various bikes. I must say that for pure relaxing while riding the trike was the best. Never worry about going too slow and weaving going uphill. You can stop, take a break, and start again without ever getting off the bike or putting a foot down. However, the trike has other issues that bothered me; ie. low, slower, and hard to see around cars/obstacles when in towns. I also have a Rans Vrex, which I've toured on. Better visibility over cars and guardrails, narrow track so easier to miss road debris. However, slow going up hills vs a DF, and just felt more tiring to climb hills. However, both are very comfortable, though you can still get butt burn after a long day.

Here's one of the tours I've done on my Rans Vrex:

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?...c_id=1036&v=38

cyclebum you could be right never is a long time lol. i don't think shinsplints are caused by impact its just one of those medical conditions but a doctor will correct me on this one. anyway enjoy your bent many happy miles bent touring but be very careful as there very hard to be seen from behind .

VT, gotta respect the opinion of a guy, you, with 9 different bicycles, including a LHT, who does his touring on a bent. Thanks for the link.