Any tips for looking at used recumbent?

[Blondie]

You also have to look at practicalities of recumbents. Mine fits into the train cupboards. A more reclined, aero one would be too long. I would rather have one I can take on the train for my touring and other trips etc. I am as fast as I ever was on my road bikes, and that is enough.

[yostumpy]

Try to learn to start off, without the motor. Find somewhere flat, bring one pedal up, and push off….don’t put your other foot on the pedal just yet, just see how far you can roll. Then stop, and do it again, counting seconds between start and stop. When you’ve learnt to give it a little more oomph,( not a massive shove, don’t worry) , do it again, and when you set off, IN A RELAXED MANNER, bring the other foot up and pedal. One mistake newbies make is to try and get second foot on pedal without sufficient speed to be able to balance, ( you can do this on a trike tho) so they panic and wobble. Try the above, maybe 10 times , then away you go.

[Anthony-C]

The throttle should be OK as both bike and motor kit look to predate 2016.
Just as with ebikes getting the battery right is half the battle, with recumbents the seat's pivotal. Too large can often be lived with, for too small try a sliver of foam or give up and extend the seat. Cages can work but with platform pedals gentle pressure keeps feet in place and stops you sliding down too. On my 20-20 the fixed fork is fine as most of the weight's to the rear.
Uphill starts are a no-no until you've built up knee strength, I've been known to back into a driveway so as to get going across a slope before turning up into it.
If ever you're tiring of the bike converting to USS should give it a more relaxed feel. Never mind Lottery bikes, there's pride to be found in coaxing a janky old crate from A to somewhere near B, or so my SO tells me.

[Galactic]

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Trials and tests of the new-old recumbent are currently on hold pending rebuilding of forks (viewtopic.php?t=168254). Service will hopefully resume in a few days.

[Galactic]

Forks update:
put new coil springs in the forks and put the bike back together (noticed some play in the headset, new headset ordered). The forks are nice and stiff now, there's a noticeable difference in ride quality from the front. Sadly no difference on the friskiness of the bike, it's no more inclined to go straight ahead than it had been before.

So now it's back to practice, practice, practice until I can cycle in a straight line while pedaling and have built up the right muscles.

[Grldtnr]

It is practice, but with recumbents ,it's about being relaxed, lean back, no pressure on the bars, no pushing hard on the pedals, it's counterintuitive, any excess pressure is excavated, rather than grip the bars just hold them lightly , you have to think about caressing the bars, essentially you guide them rather than push them.
You use your sense of balance , and a relaxed body to steer, it's a whole body experience, that's why recumbents are so laid back.
Take a gander at my Sig, 'I' m a relaxed , low down laid back triker'

[PAB855]

Be prepared for things to fall out of your trouser pockets and don't put anything in your back pocket, or is that all too obvious?

[Anthony-C]

On steep hills starting is difficult but wait till you try getting off.

[a.twiddler]

You might be used to cycling tops with pockets in the back, and cramming things in your rear trouser pockets. You have to rethink this. I have a habit of sitting on my wallet and I can just about get away with that. You can wear everyday clothes on a recumbent but have to consider what you put in your trouser pockets. If the pockets are shallow, things are definitely going to fall out. If you have deeper pockets, you can get away with putting stuff in them. I am a terror for bulgy pockets. I remember decades ago in primary school writing an essay on the contents of my pockets. I could write pages on what's in there now. Some kind of small handlebar pouch might be useful for the stuff you might normally keep in your pockets, depending widely on the shape of your handlebars.

If you're used to wearing lycra cycling trousers or shorts they would work equally as well on a recumbent, though ones with more padding are a bit unnecessary. Looser shorts are not so effective on a recumbent as they tend to ride up and can chafe above the knees. At least that's my experience as a shorter person. YMMV. Also there's the often mentioned issue of bugs in your shorts, though I've not experienced it myself. Also watch out for sunburned lower legs. On an upright bike they're mostly in your own shade but on a 'bent they're stuck out in the full glare of the sun.

I've found a general purpose gilet, non cycling specific, to be useful, but zipped side pockets are essential. If I get too hot, I can zip it up and slip it over the seat back so I can still access what's in the pockets if necessary.

You can get recumbent specific tops with pockets in the front but everyday clothes can fulfil the same function, often more cheaply. If you're used to carrying a backpack or rucksac on a bike, sometimes handy for short shopping trips, with a bit of ingenuity you can fit it to your recumbent seat back.

Starting on hills, getting off, it's all down to practice but having the seat at its least reclined is helpful until you develop confidence. What I found helpful in the beginning was just to ride at every opportunity until dealing with the challenges became second nature and they lost their worrisomeness.

[pjclinch]

On steep hills starting is difficult but wait till you try getting off.

How so?

Personally I find not having a high crossbar to negotiate makes dismounting relatively straightforward.

Pete.

[Anthony-C]

Agreed, it does on the flat. Famously, by the time a hill steepens to the point that you give up trying to pedal it's too late to get off and push. Your body's stretched back at knee height and the USS obstructs getting your feet back underneath your CoG to stand up. You can of course back the recumbent around to face across the slope and step off on the downhill side. Perhaps you can haul yourself up on the DR post? I must give that a go

[pjclinch]

That all sounds reasonable... But it's never happened to me. I think the steepest I've given up on was 20% and I don't recall a dismount fiasco... Mind you, getting off a Streetmachine and getting off a lowracer stalled on a 20% might be a bit different.

Pete.

[a.twiddler]

Agreed, it does on the flat. Famously, by the time a hill steepens to the point that you give up trying to pedal it's too late to get off and push. Your body's stretched back at knee height and the USS obstructs getting your feet back underneath your CoG to stand up. You can of course back the recumbent around to face across the slope and step off on the downhill side. Perhaps you can haul yourself up on the DR post? I must give that a go

I can empathise with that, most particularly with the late Grasshopper. You can anticipate a lot of these situations and use braking to get your body upright when stopping but on that rare ignominious occasion when you come to a halt on a hill, with a gravelly or slippery surface underwheel and your body still reclined on the seat there is a peculiar feeling of helplessness while you wonder about the next move. Add to that a load of shopping and it's a bit sketchy. Even getting your feet as far back as possible while you have a go at a Herculean sit up could end up in embarrassment if a foot slips out and down you go. Pulling on the USS bars was a no-no as due to HPV's cunning design the bars would move. Reaching forward to get a grip of the boom? Short arms, short legs, no reachee. No derailleur post, and no chance of reaching one if there was.
Even with the user friendly SRAM duo drive allowing you to get into a lower ratio at a standstill, there was no guarantee of a lift off.

In the absence of a convenient wall to lean against while dismounting (though I rarely need to get off and push), it would be a careful paddle backwards, a 3 point turn to go downhill to a shallower slope, and try again in a lower gear. I could easily say, "never happened to me" if I hadn't encountered that particular bike. As for doing it on a Streetmachine, it would be a non starter as I had difficulty tippy toeing a test SM even on the flat.

You might think I'm making too much of this. However my failure to get on with this particular bike has given me much cause for thought. I don't see myself as a victim, or someone who gives up easily. Most things can be overcome. I certainly don't have these issues with my other bikes. Nevertheless, I ended up selling it on.

But it does give me an insight into how similar problems can be off putting to new riders with different recumbents. Most of my problems with that Grasshopper can be attributed to my eyes, ie they are too close to the ground. For riders of more average height, they would probably be non issues, or things that can be worked round with a bit of persistence. Maybe some aspects of recumbent riding just " feel" risky for some, a matter of perception but
all too real to the person experiencing it.

[Anthony-C]

Mind you, getting off a Streetmachine and getting off a lowracer stalled on a 20% might be a bit different.

To my shame this was on a Streetmachine. When I first got it I managed to keel over waiting at traffic lights and trap myself in. I can't dance either.

[Stradageek]

Little Devon lanes have a nasty habit of rearing up to 18-20% as they reach a 'Give Way' T-junction. I use two sided pedals and switch to the non-cleated side as I approach these junctions to aid getting my feet down quickly.

I then tend to get off and walk the junction as a) I can't really see to check for traffic and b) if I do turn left or right at very low speed I risk heel overlap as I try and make the manoeuvre.

The bikes in question are a Speedmachine with tiller bars and a Bacchetta Strada.

I now know where most of these challenging junctions are and I either stop early or simply re-route.

What caught me our recently was turning hairpin right onto a narrow 17% hill at understandably low speed. My brain wouldn't let me counter-steer left (and down hill) to make the bike fall right to make the right hand turn. However I was happy to stop (I was going uncontrollably straight on) and walk the bike to the required position. I shall be trying this one again soon

These events are very rare and forewarned is forearmed

On a lighter note, in my early recumbent days I once tried to de-clip a little late at a junction and toppled gracefully to the floor on my Speedmachine. The tiller bars on this machine arc over the thighs making de-clipping whilst lying on the road somewhat challenging. At this point a motorcyclist arrived, looked down at me, lifted his visor and said "That's not cool" before accelerating away. I laughed all the way home