Chalo Colina wrote:
Tom Sherman wrote:
To keep beating a necessary point, I can not think of single stock
production recumbent that is designed for a rider ofChalo'sheight and
weight. It is simply not economical to build a regular production
bicycle to fit people in the 99.9999th percentile of size.

I don't know what magical effect of my height and weight you are
referencing, but note that the proportional difference between a 120
pound rider and a 200 pound rider is the same as the proportional
difference between the 200 pound rider and me. There are lots of
available examples of normal bikes that work equally well for both 120-
pound and 200-pound riders, and very few that work well for one but
not the other.

There are quite of few recumbent bicycles that are suitable for a
200-pound rider that are too flexible for a 330-pound rider. I would
consider the BikeE one of those, particularly any model with suspension
or riveted chainstays.

If shifting the rider's center of mass to and fro dramatically
according to height causes a 'bent to display handling anomalies, then
I'd have to count that as yet another intrinsic drawback of the
category.

It is typical for the low-speed handling on LWB and CLWB (e.g. BikeE
singles) to deteriorate when the CG moves too far back.

Here is a simple test: if you can do "power wheelies" from a stop or if
the front wheel comes off the ground on steep climbs with each pedal
stroke, the bike is too small.

As for the "intrinsic drawback" of shifting weight on a recumbent
affecting handling, note that most upright bicycles have very little
adjustment range built in and a given frame will only fit a small
variation in rider size properly. Recumbents are generally designed for
a greater range of rider size due to economies of scale - with typical
production volumes, making multiple sizes would be too expensive. It
could actually be considered an advantage of a recumbent that a frame
can fit a larger range of riders properly than is typically the case
with uprights.

Of course some recumbent bicycles will fit a large range of rider sizes
properly, such as my Sunset Lowracer [1] which used to be owned by a
woman at least 30 cm shorter than I am and barely half my mass. However,
this is because the frame telescopes both below the seat and in the boom
(the former extended about 10 cm and the latter about 5 cm to fit me).
Hard to find an upright that will work well for such a range of rider size.

[1] http://www.flickr.com/photos/19704682@N08/1940445068/.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
“Mary had a little lamb / And when she saw it sicken /
She shipped it off to Packingtown / And now it’s labeled chicken.”