Recumbent bicycle riding experience

[Tanta]

During the summer, I enjoy recreational cycling on my diamond frame touring road bike, but having read about recumbents, was curious about trying them out.

The only place ‘close by’ that allows test riding many recumbent bikes, for many kilometers is ‘The Bicycle Man Recumbent Test and Ride Center’ located in Alfred Station, NY, so I headed over for a few days of test riding.
Choosing a recumbent is very different from acquiring a diamond frame, because there are more variables to contend with. Frame geometry, seat comfort, over (OSS) or under-seat steering (USS), and long (LWB) or compact wheel base (CWB) all affect ride stability, comfort and speed. Just behind the store there is 2 km or so, of paved rural road, where one can develop their recumbent legs and balance.

The test center employees give excellent advice always suggesting a LWB model (e,g. the Linear Limo), with the pedals behind the front wheels, slightly lower than the pelvis, as a first ride. Other than the seat, this geometry is closest to the diamond frame bikes. You can then move up to CWB, with the pedals, located in front of the front wheel, which results in more efficient power transfer to the pedals, at the ‘expense’ of slightly twitchier steering.

I was surprised at how quickly I could adapt from one bike to another. From 10 AM to 6 PM, I test rode a dozen bikes from Bacchetta (USA), Lightning (USA), HP Velotechnik (Germany), Azub (Czech Republic) and Linear (USA) in various combinations of OSS and USS.

I also tried a couple of trikes from ICE (UK) and Cattrike (USA). The trikes would be THE ideal mode of cycle transportation on a car-less planet; because of very low wind resistance and no minimal uphill speed. Unfortunately, your head is at exhaust-pipe level. While I was there, a couple in their 70’s bought a tandem Terratrike.

Back to the bikes, I realized that you have to choose among recumbents designed for speed (generally at the expense of comfort), from those designed for comfortable cyclotourism (at the expense of speed). Riding a USS CWB recumbent is like watching a 3D Imax movie while peddling. Since your forward view is completely unobstructed and the riding position so anatomically correct, the experience becomes astonishingly contemplative – similar to sea kayaking - . This alone is worth the ride, but in addition, one understands why these bikes are popular among ‘cross-country century’ riders; after 160 km you are painless and ready for the next day’s ride. After a few hours on a recumbent, you start wondering why everyone else is riding ‘impaled on a seat’…