|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
bents: saving your butt
I am considering getting a long wheel base delta-type tricyle 'bent.
Question: When I ride my upright bike and I see bumps/rough pavement ahead I naturally get the weight of my butt off the seat and use me legs as a "suspension". What do the recumbent folk do? One can't raise the butt off the seat, right? Just suffer through the rough stuff? Is it too bad to worry about? |
Ads |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
bents: saving your butt
|
#3
|
|||
|
|||
bents: saving your butt
wrote
When I ride my upright bike and I see bumps/rough pavement ahead I naturally get the weight of my butt off the seat and use me legs as a "suspension". What do the recumbent folk do? One can't raise the butt off the seat, right? Actually on some recumbent bikes one can unload the seat base. I can do so on my Tour easy and my BikeE, for instance. And some recumbents have active rear suspensions (like my BikeE) and others have some amount of passive (frame) suspension (like my Tour Easy). The more laid-back position and "euro-style" seat on my Volae recumbent combine with high pressure tires and stiff frame to deliver more road shock to me than my other bikes. In practice, it hasn't really been a problem. Though, I certainly prefer the Tour Easy if I have to ride miles and miles on rough chip seal roads. Others will have to address the issue of three wheel tracks if you're considering a trike... Jon |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
bents: saving your butt
"Jon" wrote in message ... wrote When I ride my upright bike and I see bumps/rough pavement ahead I naturally get the weight of my butt off the seat and use me legs as a "suspension". What do the recumbent folk do? One can't raise the butt off the seat, right? Actually on some recumbent bikes one can unload the seat base. I can do so on my Tour easy and my BikeE, for instance. And some recumbents have active rear suspensions (like my BikeE) and others have some amount of passive (frame) suspension (like my Tour Easy). The more laid-back position and "euro-style" seat on my Volae recumbent combine with high pressure tires and stiff frame to deliver more road shock to me than my other bikes. In practice, it hasn't really been a problem. Though, I certainly prefer the Tour Easy if I have to ride miles and miles on rough chip seal roads. Others will have to address the issue of three wheel tracks if you're considering a trike... Jon Well, I have a couple thousand miles on my LWB recumbent, my trikes, and my road bike. I wonder why this hasn't been a problem for me on any of them? |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
bents: saving your butt
"Roger Zoul" wrote
[not standing to unload seat as on upright bike] Well, I have a couple thousand miles on my LWB recumbent, my trikes, and my road bike. I wonder why this hasn't been a problem for me on any of them? Likewise. I'm approaching 10,000 miles on my Tour Easy, and have more than 15,000 recumbent miles overall. Not being able to turn legs into shock absorbers as on an upright bike hasn't been an issue. But there are differences in how various recumbents designs handle rough roads. Something to consider when buying a bike or trike,-- or deciding which one to ride today. %^) Jon |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
bents: saving your butt
I don't have NEARLY the miles any of you guys have under your
belts and I ride a fairly low-end bent (Sun EZ-Sport), I only notice rough pavement once in a while. Usually I know when to avoid it and do so. When I can't, I just push on the pedals a bit and raise my butt up off the seat enough to soak them up. My biggest peeve (at least with this bike) is that the wheelbase almost exactly coincides with the standard spacing of the grooves in sidewalk (about 6' around here). Both tires hitting those grooves simultaneously really delivers an annoying ride. I don't ride on sidewalks as a rule, but some of my commuter routes have them as unavoidable sections along suburban freeways and highways. I my case, I believe that the seating position on this bike as a bit too far back over the tire (though others are worse) and allows the shock to be transmitted more directly up through the seat. I haven't ridden a Tour-Easy, but there is a locally-built LWB (Vancouver, BC) called the Recumboni which has a similarly-situated seat position and, in test rides I've done on it, is much more cushy. It doesn't have any suspension and the tires are 100psi, like mine, so I'd say the frame soaks it up. Seat is similar in feel as well, though I think it's more of the Rans design than Easy-Racers. I've gone and test-ridden about a dozen different designs now (tadpoles, LWB, SWB, MWB) from different manufacturers. I liked the HPVelotechnik (sp?) SWB designs with full suspension as well as most of the LWB's I've tried. Each person is very different when it comes to choosing a 'bent, though, so try as many as you can. First choose a wheelbase style, then narrow it down to individual designs. If it's any help, I've been reading these HPV groups for a number of years now and my overall impression is that, if you're going to have any problems, they're likely to be either numb or cold hands or feet and/or knee pain. Numbness doesn't affect me, but from what I've read, you're more likely to encounter it with bottom brackets that are high (especially higher than your hips), and with handlebars that are high as well. Hand position seems to have varying ability to do away with some of it in some sufferers. Knee pain seems to be mostly caused by incorrect technique. I got a bad knee and later read that you shouldn't mash the pedals. Gotta spin those babies. Good luck, Keith |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
bents: saving your butt
Dart70ca aka Keith who? wrote:
[...] I'd say the frame soaks it up. Seat is similar in feel as well, though I think it's more of the Rans design than Easy-Racers.[...] What is a "Rans" (sic)? (Cue Perry Butler calling me a Nazi). -- Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia The weather is here, wish you were beautiful |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
bents: saving your butt
What is a "Rans" (sic)? Recumbent bicycle maker. http://www.ransbikes.com/default.htm I think the style I was talking about is seen on their Stratus model. Keith |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
bents: saving your butt
Dart70ca aka Keith wrote:
What is a "Rans" (sic)? Recumbent bicycle maker. http://www.ransbikes.com/default.htm ... Like this: http://www.ransbikes.com/Gallery/Archive/Sherman.htm? RANS is always written with all capital letters. See http://groups.google.com/group/alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent/msg/d38f4253c556c402?hl=en&dmode=source. -- Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia The weather is here, wish you were beautiful |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
bents: saving your butt
"Dart70ca" wrote What is a "Rans" (sic)? Recumbent bicycle maker. http://www.ransbikes.com/default.htm I think the style I was talking about is seen on their Stratus model. Keith Keith, You're responding to someone who is nitpicking and clearly knows that "Rans" = "RANS". Some people in these newsgroups really have nothing better to do than to waste time and invoke the wasting of others' time by being petty. |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
SF to LA -- 585 Butt-Busting Miles | [email protected] | Techniques | 0 | May 18th 06 08:40 PM |
Nice butt! | Dan H | Marketplace | 1 | February 9th 06 07:10 AM |
Butt pain | John L. Lucci | Techniques | 12 | March 26th 05 11:55 AM |
Ed is the butt of the joke. | Howard | Recumbent Biking | 1 | March 13th 04 02:58 AM |