Recumbunt

What's the deal with these? I have always been curious regarding these bikes. Much like Moltons in that regard I am ignorant. Can you climb hills on them? Anybody on here got one or ridden one?

I think you can get one when you hit 65. Before that you need to complete a beard and sandals proper usage test.

my dads got one, and tommy got it completely right, old bearded weirdos ride them. so unless you dont mind looking like one, then they ride ok and can go up hills, they are fast, but because people who ride them enjoy lieing down and are lazy they are always crawling along. its hard to go up curbs becuase you have no leverage and they dont handle well in traffic because of the large turning circle. just stay ona fixed untill your over 50.

And they have to have a lifetime membership of the only club that matters:

Recumbunt does hold the Lands end to John O' Groats record though 41 hours, 4 minutes and 22 seconds

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land's_End_to_John_o'_Groats#Cycling

http://www.windcheetah.co.uk/record.htm

Recumbunt does hold the Lands end to John O' Groats record though 41 hours, 4 minutes and 22 seconds

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land's_End_to_John_o'_Groats#Cycling

and they were banned from use against other bikes in the 1930s because they are too fast.

is that due to less wind resistance?

I went to the talk by Mike Burrows last week and he professes the wonders of "laid back" bikes. Really want to give one a go to see if they really are as easy and efficient as I'm told. However in city I don't think they are suited to going through traffic.

is that due to less wind resistance?

i thought it was rolling resistance, (yes that is my only recubunt fact)

I went to the talk by Mike Burrows last week and he professes the wonders of "laid back" bikes. Really want to give one a go to see if they really are as easy and efficient as I'm told. However in city I don't think they are suited to going through traffic.

i think that you can rent them out in dulwich park if you want to have a go on them, but i havent been there in a while.

Wind resistance is the biggest factor on a bike and it's wind resistance which recumbent win. They Will actually usually have more rolling resistance as they are heavier.

anything nice looking in the recumbent world is just way too impractical in real world traffic.
you end up with the disadvantages of cars and bikes combined.

and your chain is always slack...

I went to the talk by Mike Burrows last week and he professes the wonders of "laid back" bikes. Really want to give one a go to see if they really are as easy and efficient as I'm told. However in city I don't think they are suited to going through traffic.

Yeah I went along too, he also claimed that the world record for a human powered vehicle was a bloke in a recumbent (complete with shitloads of aero cladding) doing 84mph on a runway somewhere!
He seemed really into them, and I almost thought he must be some crackpot who I should stop listening to, but actually they seem pretty smart. Apparently when racing them the fact that their aerodynamics is so much better means that there is no slipstream effect, so in races the riders are much more spread out. It's only the fact that 'traditional' bikes have such poor aerodynamics - creating a big slipstream - than causes the peloton to bunch up as it does in 'normal' bike races. And the tdf would be a lot different without the peloton, i.e. not as exciting I rekon.

they are super fast (lower air resistance?)

I should point out I'm 31 and have no interest in getting one of these bad boys, just yet.

I geuinely wanted to know if they climbed like , a mountain pass climb. You know how you can get out of the saddle on you traditional bike and give it some if required when the road steepens. Obviously you cant do that on a recumbunt. Does that mean there are limits to its climbing abilities?

I cant believe the length of the chains! Fuck me! You dont want to snag your strides in that :0)

I should point out I'm 31 and have no interest in getting one of these bad boys, just yet.

I geuinely wanted to know if they climbed like , a mountain pass climb. You know how you can get out of the saddle on you traditional bike and give it some if required when the road steepens. Obviously you cant do that on a recumbunt. Does that mean there are limits to its climbing abilities?

I cant believe the length of the chains! Fuck me! You dont want to snag your strides in that :0)

i dont know how useful this is to you, but my dad can get up dichling beacon on it, so anyone should be able to get up a hill on a recumbent.

Fixed 'bent

No slack chain (but it's really long).

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i dont know how useful this is to you, but my dad can get up dichling beacon on it, so anyone should be able to get up a hill on a recumbent.

Looks up Dichling Beacon on Google Fair play to your old man! I just thought hills would be a no-no. Kudos to DangerJoel Senior:)

^ Thats a photoshop eh? You would need legs like crazy legs crane to ride that beast! :)

http://fogonazos.blogspot.com/2007/06/worlds-fastest-bicycle.html
YouTube - World's Fastest Bicycle!

http://fogonazos.blogspot.com/2007/06/worlds-fastest-bicycle.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUgXtZFdUcs

probably more practical for the street than some hhsb's.

i was thinking about recumbents today as well - odd. i think they're cool too, i followed a bloke through west london on one once, he was well fast, weaving through the back roads, it looked cool.

i think they should be the next big craze

@ danger joel - your old man is the happiest man on the road riding his HP Spirit recumbent.

Always gives us a toot when passing BF too. ; )

@ danger joel - your old man is the happiest man on the road riding his HP Spirit recumbent.

Always gives us a toot when passing BF too. ; )

yeah, he does like it....

^ Thats a photoshop eh? You would need legs like crazy legs crane to ride that beast! :)

it isn't, I remember someone built it and sold it on ebay.