Recumbent Steering - What's going on?

DIscuss anything relating to non-standard cycles and their equipment.
PDQ Mobile
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Re: Recumbent Steering - What's going on?

Post by PDQ Mobile »

Maybe it's not geometry?
But wieght distribution?
Tangled Metal
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Re: Recumbent Steering - What's going on?

Post by Tangled Metal »

Just had a thought, can you put in front suspension on a recumbent that only has rear suspension?
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Recumbent Steering - What's going on?

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Same as an upright - you can.
The change in geometry will be less severe in general since the wheelbase is longer (and Mr McCraw switched from a 406 to a 700c front wheel on the raptobike with great success (he couldn't ride no hands any more, but meh)
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
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pjclinch
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Re: Recumbent Steering - What's going on?

Post by pjclinch »

Tangled Metal wrote:Just had a thought, can you put in front suspension on a recumbent that only has rear suspension?


"it depends", but on the whole it's just (for some values of "just", of course) a case of finding a suitable fork, because at the end of the day forks tend to be forks and are pretty standard. On some machines you might end up jacking up the front which might do Interesting things to the handling.

Otherwise it's the usual trade-offs: weight, cost and complexity. I've ridden unsuspended 'bents (my first was an Orbit Crystal, a version of the Speed Ross) and I know from that you don't particularly need suspension. But I do appreciate it on tour, especially over grotty roads.

Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
Tangled Metal
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Re: Recumbent Steering - What's going on?

Post by Tangled Metal »

Would rear only suspension do most of the work taking the lumps out?
UpWrong
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Re: Recumbent Steering - What's going on?

Post by UpWrong »

Tangled Metal wrote:Would rear only suspension do most of the work taking the lumps out?


Probably. Challenge bikes seems to sell mostly with rear suspension only. There are pictures of fully suspended Lynxes on the web, so presumably it was an option.
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Tigerbiten
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Re: Recumbent Steering - What's going on?

Post by Tigerbiten »

Tangled Metal wrote:Would rear only suspension do most of the work taking the lumps out?

The trick I do is ...........
Use wide-ish (40-406 or 50-406) tyres run slightly soft (60-70 psi), which helps to cut out a lot of road buzz.
Then run the suspension slightly hard, this helps to soften out the worst of the big bumps.
Together I think this cuts out the worst the road can throw at me without any loss of speed/handling on my bent trike.

I've tried narrower tyres (28-406) but the increase in pressure needed made them so uncomfortable that any increase is speed was not worth it.
I've ridden a trike without front suspension and I've found that the suspension at my settings improves more the handling over bumps rather than comfort.

So it's a bit of trial and error to get the right tyres at the right pressure with/without suspension to maximize your comfort/speed.

BTW, Even setting everything to maximize comfort, I still hate cobble stones .......... :D
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pjclinch
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Re: Recumbent Steering - What's going on?

Post by pjclinch »

Tangled Metal wrote:Would rear only suspension do most of the work taking the lumps out?


Yes. When we went 'bent hunting in NL for my wife we called in at a 'bent dealer in Briel who was utterly convinced that both front suspension and underseat steering were Works Of Stan and he wouldn't countenance either. A bit extreme, but he did do a fair bit of off-road without front suspension.

Most of your weight is typically over the rear, so that'll make most difference.

Mesh seats give you a small but significant degree of bump-smoothing effect.

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squeaker
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Re: Recumbent Steering - What's going on?

Post by squeaker »

pjclinch wrote:Most of your weight is typically over the rear, so that'll make most difference.
Not IME (Challenge Mistral and HPV Grasshopper both about 50/50 F/R with me on it - luggage will change that a bit, of course.
Nazca also do several rear sus only models. The Fuego I ran for a while was OK, but I made sure to use a wide-ish front tyre. Also some front suspension forks can cause a few chain run issues on a SWB 'bent, which can be leg length / crank width specific.

pjclinch wrote:Mesh seats give you a small but significant degree of bump-smoothing effect.
Agreed.
"42"
Stradageek
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Re: Recumbent Steering - What's going on?

Post by Stradageek »

Wow guys that's a lot of information...

To chime in, recumbent no-hands I can do on my mates Corsa but not my Strada (no idea why) and I've seen a Speedmachine ridden round a car park no-hands, though again I can't on mine.

Front suspension I find essential on a SWB recumbent, too many problems with potholes at speed sending me off course.

Skiddy on gravel etc. certainly a bit of an issue, tyre choice and lower tyre pressure helps but if it all goes pear-shaped I fall 30cm to the ground and the seat takes all the puishment

Steering soon becomes intuitive whatever. The only problems I've had were the first time I rode a SWB and tried to turn right against an extreme adverse camber because I couldn't persuade my arms to undertake the necessary counterstreering. The next time I tried it it was fine.

Mind you I've tried and upright trike and found it terrifying, whereas the Kettwiesel is fine.

Nice to hear of someone with the same Unicycle problem as me - I must get it out agin and master 'idling'

Happy cycling
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Tigerbiten
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Re: Recumbent Steering - What's going on?

Post by Tigerbiten »

Stradageek wrote:Mind you I've tried and upright trike and found it terrifying, whereas the Kettwiesel is fine.

Trikes are "Fun"..... :D
And the lower they are, the easier they are to steer.

On a bike, if you lean to the right then the bike want to follow you to the right.
But on a trike, if you lean to the right then the trike wants to veer to the left.
On on a bit of a camber, where you're leaning right to counteract it, the trike wants to veer into the ditch.
If you're not relaxed, and especially if you looking at the ditch, your hands move with your shoulders.
So you steer yourself into the ditch ........ :lol:

As for balancing hand off on a recumbent bike, it partly come down to the moment of inertia.
The lower you are, the smaller your moment of inertia is.
This means that when things go wrong, they go wrong faster, so you have less to correct things.
So all thing being equal, lower racers are harder to balance than high racers with are harder than bikes.
But also the geometry also plays a big factor.
But once you have enough experience, so you can correct thing just as they go wrong, it's possible to ride some of the more forgiving recumbents hands off.
YMMV.
StephenW
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Re: Recumbent Steering - What's going on?

Post by StephenW »

I can ride no-hands on my Metabike, but I need to be going quite a bit faster than on an upright and it takes a lot of concentration.

Initially I found "superman" type handlebars much more intuitive and similar to an upright bike. However, with a bit of practice tiller bars are also fine.
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