What model recumbent bike is fastes and suitable for commuting?

Vytautas wrote:
For me matters two things mostly - I need to drive faster than with a
traditional bike and if it is more comfortable so that's perfect. Is it
so what I wish? Can you say what ordinary a recumbent bike with a fit
driver is allways faster than a rider with a tradicional bike? What
sort of bent schould it be?
Please specify models if you can.

You could take a trip to the other end of the Baltic Sea. The Leitra
[1] is faster on flat to level terrain, more comfortable (especially in
cold winter rain and has more cargo capacity than a regular bicycle.

[1] http://www.leitra.dk/.
--
Tom Sherman - Fox River Valley

"Jon Meinecke" wrote in message
news:1127408472.9ae0337cdae7df6cab2b462a8d2ddbb0@t eranews...
[...]
One of the supreme mysteries of the universe is why Jon Meinecke and I do
not get along better. I agree with so very many of his views on recumbents.
I attribute it all to chemistry, ever the stumbling block to most human
relationships.

My main objection to him is that he wants to dictate what is acceptable on
this forum and what is not acceptable. When he does not approve of you, he
goes to your ISP to try to get you canceled. This is the most scurrilous
conduct that I can imagine. Therefore, beware of Jon Meinecke! He is a
weasel who will strike when you least expect it.

--
Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 22:47:48 -0500, "Edward Dolan"
pouted and cried:

alagator tears because he cannot be the sole authority hree. Too bad,
babieboi.


jim

Ok so one more quistion
As you ride often on your recumbents what happens more often - when you
overtake upright bikers or they overtake you?
I think this will show the real life reflection.

I noticed Gold Rush quite a good bike.
Is Gold Rush suitable for riding in a city streets (due to its long
wheelbase)?
How do you feel climbing up hills with Gold Rush?
And for short rides like 2-5km till 10km in a city probably best
solution is upright bike?
What do you say? What's your opinion? I mean so because with the
upright you can speed up after stop more quickly and to manoeuvre
between the cars and turns in the streets easier than with the bent?
Isn't it so?
Do anybody held competitions with upright bikers in town to get from
one point to another? Who was the winner?

Peter Clinch wrote:
I would say that's the Wrong Question. If you want to go as fast as
possible (and it sounds to me like you do) then you want fairings.
No, i don't want to breake the world seed record, i just wanna be
faster that I am now with my upright (I have touring bike) if it is
possible.
I average on a tour 22km/h let's say on 40km tour.
On short runs I manage to make 40km/h and say maybe 45-50 if the wind
is ok. But this just for the very short period like 10-30sek.

I imagine I need two differnt bikes then: one fast for touring, and
another one for the city roads. Basicly I got one idea to my head
that for the stop and go and a lot of turns maybe the upright is better
than recumbent? And for touring
the recumbents takes the lead versus uprights?
Touring with 30km/h average speed that sounds very fascinating.

My bike is an HPVel Streetmachine GT,
which is slower than my old upright tourer, but vastly more capable as a
touring machine

do you want to say that with the same load of stuff on tour you are
slower with streetmachine, that with an old upright tourer?


Note that some fairings double as cargo tailboxes, which make the bike
more practical for loads as well as more aerodynamic. But this adds
weight and cost, of course...
if you gain extra speed so weight doesn't mean much.

Vytautas wrote:

No, i don't want to breake the world seed record, i just wanna be
faster that I am now with my upright (I have touring bike) if it is
possible.

Easiest way is replace or supplement your upright tourer with an upright
racer...

Beyond that, a suitably sporty recumbent should be quicker too. What
some have found is that a 'bent gives more consistent times as it is
less affected by wind variation. But it'll be quicker still if it's faired.

I imagine I need two differnt bikes then: one fast for touring, and
another one for the city roads.

The best tool for each individual job is good, but not /necessary/. For
example, Dave Larrington (a frequent poster here) commutes on a
Speedmachine with a tail-box. Though he races a Baron, the Speedmachine
is /not/ a slow bike, and should be quicker than an upright tourer most
of the time.

that for the stop and go and a lot of turns maybe the upright is better
than recumbent?

Easier to put your foot down on many recumbents, and if it's a trike you
don't need to put it down at all. Stop/Start isn't any easier on an
upright. Some 'bents don't have terrific turning circles, others do.

And for touring
the recumbents takes the lead versus uprights?

I would never want to do a tour on an upright again if I had the choice
of suitable 'bent. It is an order of magnitude more comfortable.

do you want to say that with the same load of stuff on tour you are
slower with streetmachine, that with an old upright tourer?

If it's a /huge/ load the Streetmachine would probably win out, because
the handling is unaffected by loading it up. For light loads the
upright was quicker, but that isn't a simple upright/recumbent thing,
it's a specific EBC Country/HPVel Streetmachine GT thing. The
Streetmachine is not a quick bike, nor is it meant to be. The same
company's Speedmachine, Randonneur, Grasshopper and Scorpion designs
will all go quicker if you want to go quicker, and all can carry touring
loads even if not as much or as stably as the Streetmachine.

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/

mort wrote:

Look, I would never go back to an upright, but we're not doing the OP
any favors if we imply that riding a fully faired bent on a long
distance speed attempt is anything like commuting.

No, but it does demonstrate that the extra weight of a fairing does not
/necessarily/ make a bike slower overall just because there is a hill
anywhere on the route.

How easy is it to
stop/start/signal/carry stuff on a recumbent that is faired for speed?
Velomobiles are good at all of that, but they are heavy.

But as has been pointed out, if you can make up for the weight with the
better aerodynamics then you can be overall better off. And velomobiles
like the Quest /are/ designed for speed as well as practicality. I did
make a point of using conditionals in there, and in my previous post.
It isn't a *given* that you'll be quicker, but similarly it isn't a
given that you'll be slower.
And I'm not an expert on Lithuanian geography, but I do know it's mostly
lowlands with less than 1000' of relief over the whole country's 65,000
km^2, which may well be better set for a faired 'bent than other places.

p.s. I went to St. Andrews University for a year in the 80s, and was
briefly a member of the Dundee Wheelers. Fabulous place to ride

Indeed, though not short of "character building" hills. The Wheelers
are too fit and fast for me! ;-)

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/

Thanks all of you gyus. Your answers was very important for me. You
helped me a lot to orient in not a simple world of a recumbent bikes.
Yeah, Lithuania is mostly plain but you still can meet hills like
anywhere else. The roads are wide and perfect. For sure I am not
seeking a recumbent for climbing just mountains. For now I realized for
sure that traveling for a longer tour like 30-50 and more km the best
is recumbent. And for shorter trips in the city on a good road I am not
sure what is better - a race bike or certain recumbent like HP
Speedmashine or Gold Rush. Probably now I will look hardly to test a
recumbent to see how I feel.
Is 3500$ not too much to pay for a Gold Rush? Is it worth it?
regards
Vytautas Sutkus

Vytautas wrote:

Probably now I will look hardly to test a recumbent to see how I feel.

Note that recumbents differ far more than upright bikes in the way they
feel. I would personally be very reluctant to buy a recumbent I hadn't
tried out first: aside from anything else the seats are different on
different bikes and people are more or less comfortable on different
seat designs. My partner has a Nazca Fiero and I have the HPVel
Streetmachine, both have different seat designs, we both prefer the one
we use to the other. Neither of us found the much more adjustable
BodyLink seat to be as comfortable as the ones we use, even though it is
more comfortable "on paper". You only know these things by trying in
person.

I'd be inclined to see if you can get to somewhere with a good range of
recumbents to try (the Netherlands would seem to be the obvious start,
especially if you can get a cheap flight on a budget airline) and have a
go on everything you can find. You'll soon have a much better idea of
what performance you can expect than any amount of reading will give.

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/