Why do you Ride a Bent

DIscuss anything relating to non-standard cycles and their equipment.

Why do ride Recumbent

I used to ride an upright – But prefer recumbents
12
39%
An Injury or discomfort makes a traditional bike impractical
9
29%
Ive never seriously tried uprights – I got straight into recumbent cycling
0
No votes
I regularly ride recumbents and uprights – dependent on mood , journey type etc
10
32%
Other
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 31

kingrollo
Posts: 64
Joined: 13 Mar 2014, 7:45pm

Why do you Ride a Bent

Post by kingrollo »

I’m here as I have the most stupid injury - where my hamstring joins my pelvis - It makes sitting on any hard surface uncomfortable - and 25 miles is as much as I can manage on a bike...and then I couldn’t ride day in day out….
So I thought Id give recumbents a try
Why are you here?
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Why do you Ride a Bent

Post by [XAP]Bob »

'cos 'bents are just better ;) :mrgreen:
Last edited by [XAP]Bob on 23 Mar 2015, 7:42am, edited 1 time in total.
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.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
aideym
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Re: Why do you Ride a Bent

Post by aideym »

I can't vote on the poll yet.... but it will be only a matter of time :D
Stradageek
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Re: Why do you Ride a Bent

Post by Stradageek »

I actually needed two options, I tried them, fell in love with the effortless speed, comfort and safety then discovered that they cured my long term neck problem too, bonus!
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tank
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Re: Why do you Ride a Bent

Post by tank »

I was an avid upwrong rider until I hurt the bottom of my back and bending over gets me hurting in about 10 miles and agony after 20 miles.

I have turned to 'bents to cure the problem and to allow me to continue riding.
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Trick_Cyclist
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Re: Why do you Ride a Bent

Post by Trick_Cyclist »

Why do most cyclists ride sitting on a spike? I have multiple back problems & I can manage about 10 miles on an upright without trouble & 25 with a week of discomfort or about 3 on a racing bike. My wife is now considering a 'bent so that she isn't slowed by headwinds...
Geoff.D
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Re: Why do you Ride a Bent

Post by Geoff.D »

Not quite sure about how to answer this, because there's something in 3 of the questions that is true for me, but none are the real reason I chose to buy my first recumbent. And, there are questions to which I have answers.

1. Yes, I used to ride uprights because there just weren't any recumbents. I bought a s/h recumbent to experience it, and THEN found I preferred it. But I kept both going.
2. As I got older the aches and pains in neck, wrists, shoulders and bum meant that the recumbent took preference for journeys above 20 miles. Arthritis now means that I can't get astride a d/f unless I lay it down, step over it and lift it up between my legs by the crossbar. So, this configuration is now impractical. But, not (quite) a step-through.
3. This question isn't true for me
4. I rode my Galaxy, alongside my recumbent, up until 2012 whilst I could still mount it. Sadly (because I'd owned it from new in 1981) it was nicked in Florence, and I haven't replaced it. However, I also ride a semi-recumbent (Circe Morpheus) and pilot it from the (upright) rear position. So, I can honestly say that I regulalry ride recumbent (bike or trike) when solo, and upright when in tandem.

However, the two most important reasons as to WHY I bought my first recumbent are -
a) I saw a stationary recumbent (and the rider totally laid back in the seat) in the centre of a southern German town (Tubingen) in early 1990's and I totally blown away by the concept and the engineering. I'd never seen anything like it. I've no idea what make it was, but the impact on me was deep.
b) When I got home I started doing some research. I found a magazine called "Bike Culture Quarterly", and then "Encycleopedia" and then (to date) "Velo Vision". All these fuelled my imagination in "alternative" cycling culture, including recumbents.

My foray in recumbents owes as much to an emotional response as it does to the actual riding experience, and (probably) had no relationship to a comparison with uprights. It's possible that were I not already a recumbentist I might well be considering the change for "infimatory" reasons. But, not back then.
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Si
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Re: Why do you Ride a Bent

Post by Si »

I don't any more.

I got one due to a shoulder/neck injury making an upright too painful for anything but short rides. And out of curiosity.

The bent cured this neck issue but after a kidney op it started to cause other issues.

Finally went off the bent because becoming a bikeability trainer meant that I was spending most of each (upright) ride turning around all of the time and this cured the neck problem - made me much more flexible. Thus it was a choice between an upright (faster, easier to store, didn't attract a constant tirade of abuse from yobs*) or the bent (slower, a pain to store, had to stop every few miles due to kidley issues, not great in heavy traffic (where I do most riding) as it was harder to filter on, attracted a constant tirade of abuse from yobs).

I may have been able to get around the speed issues by getting a newer, lighter, bigger wheeled jobbie, and I may have gotten around the kidley issues with a more laid back position......but it would have cost a lot to find out and I already had a stable of uprights that were doing me fine.


*OK, not constant but some days it was just too depressing.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Why do you Ride a Bent

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Odd - I don't get any abuse at all, quite the opposite.

I get the occasional guffaw of laughter, but that's hardly abusive - just an instant response something they've never seen before. If you are around for any length of time (e.g. at traffic lights) the laughter tends to resolve into a view that the trike is "sick", which I am assured is a good thing...
Most of the time the response is "sick" from the get go...

(Do we need an "old wrinkly" smiley, or a "street" one?)
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.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
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squeaker
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Re: Why do you Ride a Bent

Post by squeaker »

Wrists get a bit sore on an upright these days (even on an upright upright) after 5 to 10 miles, so 'bent for longer trips. Originally attracted by the aerodynamic / comfort combination (and fascinated that there was an alternative to modern derivatives of the Victorian 'safety').
Still use an upright for jump on & go shopping (esp. in heavy rain; there's a reason we hunch forwards when it's wet ;) ) or a folder for trains but, otherwise, 'bent it is 8)
Oh, and IME they're positively theraputic for my iffy lower back...
"42"
mark aldridge
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Re: Why do you Ride a Bent

Post by mark aldridge »

Most of my reasons for riding a recumbent have been covered in the other comments ie. back, bum, neck etc.

In all honesty the two main reasons are:

It is the nearest thing to to bobsleighing on the road and I don,t have the nerve to try a street luge.

Secondly, it makes me SMILE, GRIN, BEAM and in general encourages me to ''embrace my inner child''.

What more can you want from a genuine legal high with no side effects.
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Si
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Re: Why do you Ride a Bent

Post by Si »

[XAP]Bob wrote:Odd - I don't get any abuse at all, quite the opposite.


Ah but do you do a good bit of your riding through deprived parts of Birmingham?
I did get lots of positive comments too. And if I lived out in the countryside I might well have another....but I find it doesn't go well with the "I don't know what it is - I'd better chuck something at it" mentality.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Why do you Ride a Bent

Post by [XAP]Bob »

No, I don't tend to ride through the deprived areas of B'ham. The less salubrious of my home town doesn't generate the same response, but that's probably a whole different level of deprivation.
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.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
hercule
Posts: 1156
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Re: Why do you Ride a Bent

Post by hercule »

I have no objections to uprights though my taste in machines is a bit offbeat... folders, Moultons, upright trikes... so it was probably inevitable that I'd get into recumbents. I think my first sight of them was a review in the early days of Cycling Plus magazine (back when it was interesting...) and for a long time I had an unfulfilled longing for a Peer Gynt. Finally in 2006 I persuaded the OH to get a Kettwiesel to overcome some injury problems (she couldn't get on with my upright Ken Rogers trike) and it didn't take long before bents started coming and going. To date, two Kettwiesels, Trice, PDQ, Recycled Recumbent Mach 1, two BikeEs and a Nazca Fuego. Some have stayed, some have gone, some I've regretted selling (like my original Kett). Over this time my upright mileage has diminished but not stopped, utility riding is mostly by upright (except where heavy towing is required - the Kett excels in this area), I am very attached to my uprights but now find I get a very stiff neck after a few miles - Si's comments about flexibility are probably relevant and I need to work on this. Uprights have a bit of anonymity which can sometimes be handy!
kingrollo
Posts: 64
Joined: 13 Mar 2014, 7:45pm

Re: Why do you Ride a Bent

Post by kingrollo »

Si wrote:
[XAP]Bob wrote:Odd - I don't get any abuse at all, quite the opposite.


Ah but do you do a good bit of your riding through deprived parts of Birmingham?
I did get lots of positive comments too. And if I lived out in the countryside I might well have another....but I find it doesn't go well with the "I don't know what it is - I'd better chuck something at it" mentality.


Whereabouts in birmingham are you Si ?

I quite like rding my bent - but I live a couple of miles outside birmingham - where its heavy traffic and big hills - This confines me to the local roads around my estate - for 45 minute blasts or so.

I do wonder at the people who need to laugh (its usually a fake laugh - because actually it isn't that funny) - I only had one 'cool bike' comment - most of the time I just just get weird stares !
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