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First 'Bent a High Racer?
Would a High racer be ok as a first bent for someone that has never ridden
a bent before? I like the idea of going fast and also being high enough to be eye to eye with most car drivers. Also think the comfort of the larger wheels will roll smoother. Any comments? |
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#2
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First 'Bent a High Racer?
GoHabsGo wrote:
Would a High racer be ok as a first bent for someone that has never ridden a bent before? I like the idea of going fast and also being high enough to be eye to eye with most car drivers. Also think the comfort of the larger wheels will roll smoother. Any comments? No particular reason why not, as I see it. There's nothing intrinsically tricky about them, as long as your feet can reach the ground easily. Note that you can be a fair bit lower and still be eye-level with most drivers, and the comfort advantage is pretty much a non-issue if you have decent suspension, which will give you a smoother ride than a bigger wheel though at a cost in weight and complexity. Pete. -- Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/ |
#3
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First 'Bent a High Racer?
Peter Clinch wrote in
No particular reason why not, as I see it. There's nothing intrinsically tricky about them, as long as your feet can reach the ground easily. That shouldn't be a problem. I'm 5'11". Note that you can be a fair bit lower and still be eye-level with most drivers, and the comfort advantage is pretty much a non-issue if you have decent suspension, which will give you a smoother ride than a bigger wheel though at a cost in weight and complexity. I really want to keep the weight as low as possible and the speed as high as possible, within my budget. Also I have read about pogo effect with suspension could lose some efficiency. |
#4
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First 'Bent a High Racer?
GoHabsGo wrote:
Would a High racer be ok as a first bent for someone that has never ridden a bent before? I like the idea of going fast and also being high enough to be eye to eye with most car drivers. Also think the comfort of the larger wheels will roll smoother. Any comments? Well as with any bike here is my advise: Test ride as many bikes as possible. Wait 1 to 2 weeks. Ride the same bikes again. Let the bike choose you. Now about a highracer. As long as you can "feet down" comfortably. And can get proper leg extension. A hi might make a good choice. I just bought my first bent a few weeks ago. And after riding one for a couple of hundred miles now. I don't see myself riding my df to much. Ken -- You never have the wind with you - either it is against you or you're having a good day. ~Daniel Behrman, The Man Who Loved Bicycles Homepage: http://www.bikesandmoreonline.com/ |
#5
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First 'Bent a High Racer?
"GoHabsGo" wrote in message
. 244.170... Would a High racer be ok as a first bent for someone that has never ridden a bent before? I like the idea of going fast and also being high enough to be eye to eye with most car drivers. Also think the comfort of the larger wheels will roll smoother. Any comments? High racer, first recumbent? Shouldn't be a problem. Note: Going fast is more a function of the rider than the bike. Ask Lance. And take me, as case in point, a high "racer" with me on it, isn't... %^) I have three recumbents, in purchase order, BikeE (16x20 CLWB), Tour Easy (20x700c LWB) and Volae Sport (650c x 650c). I still ride all three for various routes and purposes. Starting and stopping on the lower bottom bracket BikeE and Tour Easy is easier for me than the high bottom bracket Volae. Not really a big issue, though. I have about 7500 miles on the Tour Easy and only about 2500 on the Volae and a similar amount on the BikeE (don't have reliable estimate for it since the cyclometer on it sometimes resets itself). For at least moderately smooth roads, I think I'm perhaps 10-15% faster on the Volae than on the Tour Easy at the same effort, but it's hard to quantify. When the road gets rougher, the speed advantage disappears, for me, at least. On packed gravel, I prefer the low bottom bracket bikes and on really rough surfaces, I prefer the wide tires and suspension of the BikeE. For shorter climbs, I think the lighter weight of the Volae helps. For long sustained climbs, I usually end up spinning at fairly high rev's and slower speeds and bike weight matter less. I don't have many miles on the Volae for multimile ascents, but here's probably not 15% difference for that sort of climbs. Going up mountain roads for miles of climbing at 10,000+ feet, I did OK on the tour loaded Tour Easy, eventually, slowish, but steady. For long descents, I still prefer the LWB for stability. The Volae starts to scare me a bit when I get above 30 mph. Perhaps some of it is just the thinner tires of the Volae, or the ability of the Tour Easy frame to take up some of the road bumps, or maybe it's my comfort level. You won't know until you ride a high racer whether you'll feel comfortable on it or not. I didn't have a problem on my first high racer test ride and found even low-speed handling and balance quite reasonable. There is heel strike potential on Volae and Bacchetta and other SWB recumbents. That can take some adjustment time for low-speed tight-space turning. I think a high racer sounds good for your application. I doubt you'll be unhappy, as long as you don't expect to gain dramatic and immediate speed increases over your upright, and remember, yes, there are some things that an upright bike does better! Comfort and fun not being two of them, for many of us, though! I started riding recumbents because of an injury. I've always wished I'd started riding them sooner! If you can find a high racer used, then you can worry less about whether you'll be happy with it knowing that you can sell it without taking too much loss. I bought my Volae used and I had less than 10 miles total on high-racers at the time. I got a good deal on the price and it's been worth every penny I paid for it. So has the BikeE! So has the Tour Easy! Go out and test ride a few! Have fun! %^) Jon Meinecke |
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First 'Bent a High Racer?
GoHabsGo wrote:
I really want to keep the weight as low as possible and the speed as high as possible, within my budget. Also I have read about pogo effect with suspension could lose some efficiency. Pogo effect is limited on 'bents with well designed suspension. In part because you're pushing at right angles to the direction of suspension travel. You can get pedal bob on some, especially if you mash high gears rather than spin lower ones, but 'bents with good suspension are very steady. Riding along behind an HP Vel Streetmchine, for example, you can see the rear wheel contsantly moving up and down over small bumps while the rack stays /very/ still and level. Another aspect of this is that the rougher the surface you're on, the more suspension affects the speed. On smooth pavement there's little for suspension to do so it's dead weight, but on the rough without it then every bump you hit requires the bike and rider to go up and down, which costs a great deal of energy. Riding with a fitter pal on a carbon DF is usually a case of her waiting for me, but if it's a bad backroad, especially downhill, she can't catch me, and that's down to the increased efficiency from the suspension, as the only thing that has to go up and down are the wheels, lower fork legs and rear triangle. So it can be the case that, like fairings, by adding to the weight in the right way for certain situations, you go faster. The main point of suspension is often efficiency rather than comfort. So whether or not it will slow you down or speed you up or have little net effect will depend a lot on where it is you're riding. The rougher it is, the more difference. Pete. -- Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/ |
#7
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First 'Bent a High Racer?
Hull 697 wrote: My first bent is a Bacchetta Strada. With some extras I knew I wanted from test riding. Heel strike got me once, right in front of the house going very slow - I started to peddle in a turn. Wham, down was I.... No solicitation without a permit. -- Tom Sherman - Behind the Cheddar Curtain |
#8
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First 'Bent a High Racer?
Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman Wrote: No solicitation without a permit. -- Tom Sherman - Behind the Cheddar Curtain I don't even begin to understand your comment. Are you a cheese salesman? -- Hull 697 |
#9
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First 'Bent a High Racer?
Hull 697 Wrote: I don't even begin to understand your comment. Are you a cheese salesman? Tom likes to pedal his trike. If he had alot of cheese he might try to peddle it to make some cash to pay back his student loan. -- nget |
#10
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First 'Bent a High Racer?
Hull 697 wrote: Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman Wrote: No solicitation without a permit. -- Tom Sherman - Behind the Cheddar Curtain I don't even begin to understand your comment. Are you a cheese salesman? The Cheddar Curtain is a magical wall used to protect against the invasion of FIBS. -- Tom Sherman - Behind the Cheddar Curtain |
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