What model recumbent bike is fastes and suitable for commuting?

For very crowded city streets, the Gold Rush is not as agile as an
upright. I ride through a city regularly, and I modified my riding
style - now I act more like a car, taking a lane when necessary,
stopping at stoplights and actually obeying traffic signals. In most
cases my bike speed is the same as the prevailing car traffic, which
makes this possible. In Philadelphia, riders are reasonably friendly
and the traffic isn't all that crazy. If you count on being able to
snake through very narrow spaces and jump curbs in order to get through
traffic, then the Gold Rush (and probably any recumbent) won't work
well. Regarding your previous question: It's very unusual for me to be
passed by an upright. The only riders who can do it are active racers,
when they catch me on a hill. I can bump my speed up to 42-48 kph quite
easily on the flats, which is usually enough to show who's boss.
Regarding the cost of the Gold Rush - I think there's another current
thread on this newsgroup addressing that issue. It is a classic bike,
very well designed and made, with a high resale value in the United
States. As I said, you may not be able to get one in Europe. Peter's
advice to go to the Netherlands and try some is very good - it is
essential to ride before you buy. And don't be to alarmed by your
first ride - you might find that you need to relearn riding a bike, as
your body position will be completely different. One other thought on
city riding: if you have active bike theives where you plan to park,
you will need to think about storing and locking the bike as well. The
Gold Rush is not a good design in this respect - it's so large that
it's hard to take it up to an office or apartment.

Mort