June Adv. Cycling Mag issue covers recumbents!!!

[mucknort]

My June issue of Adventure Cycling Mag just arrived in the mail and I was delighted to finally see a recumbent on the cover. I was even more pleased to see several positive articles on 'bents w/in the issue. One article is titled: "Getting Bent or How I Learned to Love Riding a Recumbent". Another is by John Schubert on a history of bents: "Testing, Testing, Testing, These comfortable bikes have been actively sold to the public for 30 years now". And their Open Road Gallery photo is of a rider touring on a delta trike.

My one disapointment with ACA membership has been the nearly complete lack of bent photos/coverage in the AC magazine, the Cyclosource catalog, and the new member materials sent out when new members join. (Yes, there was a separate small section in the touring bike buyers guide a while back, but there are rarely any shots of recumbents on tour.)  I applaud ACA for finally providing this kind of coverage.

Recumbents aren't for everybody, but for many folks they provide a way to tour with little or no butt/genital, back, neck, wrist, or hand pain. They also put you in a forward facing position rather than downward. After riding all day, I still feel it comfortable to sit on the bike. For me and others, recumbents are the ultimate touring bicycle.

Thanks again, ACA, and I'll close with the last paragraph from John Schubert's article:

[COLOR="Blue"]None of this matters if you feel free to set your own trends in life, and there's little doubt the recumbent's superior comfort makes it an excellent choice for those willing to think differently.[/COLOR]

[CraftGeek]

Yay!

Just got mine and am about to sit down with a beer, a dog and the Adventure Cyclist.

Thanks ACA!

[CraftGeek]

Addendum:
One can subtract all the issues related to stability (wobbly starts and stops, unforgiving gear choices when starting, low speed erratic-ness, etc, etc) by adding a third wheel. It all goes away. Use a tadpole arrangement (two wheels up front) and you double the traction available for steering and almost double it for braking.

Granted, you are low to the ground. But, drivers notice the unusual.  There are few things more unusual looking on the road than a trike. I have little touring experience (something that I'll correct as soon as possible), but while commuting in town and on country roads, drivers give me a   lot   of room. I have never had a car crowd me.  

It is definitely true that with normal peddling techniques recumbents are slower up hill. However, trikes have the advantage of low speed stability. This means that we can take advantage of a lower gears, take the hill slower while still maintaining an efficient spin. No wobble.

[whittierider]

Use a tadpole arrangement (two wheels up front) and you double the traction available for steering and almost double it for braking.

That tadpole arrangement definitely is a nice one.  Traction however is determined by the  tire force perpendicular to the road, multiplied by the coefficient of static friction between the tire and the road, regardless of the size of the contact patch or how many tires you have.  If that coefficient is .85 for example, it will take a .85G turn on a flat road to break the tires loose, regardless of tire width or number (see this article); but at least on the trike, you won't suddenly fall when traction is broken.  Hopefully you don't roll over and crash first.

The braking on an upright bike is limited by the angle from the front tires' contact patch to the CG, so you reach a point where the rear wheel comes off the ground before you break traction on the front-- unless it's a tandem where that angle is lower.  (I have skidded even the front tire on our tandem on dry pavement.)  A long-wheel-base recumbent would have an advantage over a short-wheel-base one in stopping distance, regardless of number of wheels.

[tmp]

I got a Bacchetta Corsa recumbent almost 2 years ago and really love it.  This bike is a high racer (2-650 wheels) and is very comfortable.  I use it to ride with the local club and am able to keep up just fine.  It took some time to get relaxed with it but now I rarely ride my other bikes. 

It is not a touring bike but I have done a century on it and was amazed at how good I felt after I was done.  I am thinking about replacing my Cannondale T2000 touring bike with a recumbent bike or trike.  I am leaning toward the trike because of low speed stability.  I hope that there are more articles on recumbent touring options in future editions.