recumbent frustration

Steve Christensen wrote:
: Bents may not be for everyone, but I submit that if you are (were?) a 5 to 10 K
: a year rodie, you are hardly everyone either! And while hard core rodies might
: be a bit disappointed in recumbent performance (at least initially), cyclists at
: this level of performance can not make up a very big percentage of the all the
: people out there buying bikes.

Why would a hard core roadie be slower on a bent while an
overweight casual rider would not? I admit specialization
(conditioning) to a platform can play a part, but is that really
such a huge factor?

--
Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/hpv/hpv.html
varis at no spam please iki fi

GeoB wrote:
: I was an occasional upright rider before my bent. I have a nice 8
: mile ride to work. I'd do that a couple times a week. I was out of
: condition, overweight, sedentary, balding (but that should add speed,
: right?) middle-aged (but to say that I should really have to know when
: I will die). I used to travel at 10-12 mph. I used all of my gears
: for some mild hills on my route.

If you do that ride every day you work, it'll be like 3000 miles
of riding each year. :-)

Not so efficient training if you always ride at the same pace,
though.

: I bought a Vision R40. Now, after 1 year and 1750 miles, I travel at
: 16-18, am still overweight but working on it. I use a gear about 5-6
: on my middle chain ring, even up these mild hills, and I go about 3X
: faster up them than before. I don't feel tired after a ride at all,
: unlike before.

Could be just the effect from better motivation. You ride more and
sometimes you ride harder too.

Other than that, the bent probably has smooth high-pressure tires,
better components with less drag, could be lighter, and a more
sporty design overall...

--
Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/hpv/hpv.html
varis at no spam please iki fi

GeoB wrote:
: I was an occasional upright rider before my bent. I have a nice 8
: mile ride to work. I'd do that a couple times a week. I was out of
: condition, overweight, sedentary, balding (but that should add speed,
: right?) middle-aged (but to say that I should really have to know when
: I will die). I used to travel at 10-12 mph. I used all of my gears
: for some mild hills on my route.

If you do that ride every day you work, it'll be like 3000 miles
of riding each year. :-)

Not so efficient training if you always ride at the same pace,
though.

: I bought a Vision R40. Now, after 1 year and 1750 miles, I travel at
: 16-18, am still overweight but working on it. I use a gear about 5-6
: on my middle chain ring, even up these mild hills, and I go about 3X
: faster up them than before. I don't feel tired after a ride at all,
: unlike before.

Could be just the effect from better motivation. You ride more and
sometimes you ride harder too.

Other than that, the bent probably has smooth high-pressure tires,
better components with less drag, could be lighter, and a more
sporty design overall...

--
Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/hpv/hpv.html
varis at no spam please iki fi

Risto writes (Notice alliteration!!!)

"Why would a hard core roadie be slower on a bent while an
overweight casual rider would not? I admit specialization
(conditioning) to a platform can play a part, but is that really
such a huge factor?"

No one said what you allege. The correct comparison would be a rabid roadie
getting a bent and not being instantly faster.

Us slow guys just stay relatively slow. Even overwieght casual riders get
faster. Mainly because it's so much fun that they ride more, thus being less
casual and less overweight. ;-)


--
Miles of Smiles,

Tom Blum
Winter Haven, Florida
Homebuilts: SWB
Tour Easy Clone
Speed Machine Clone

www.gate.net/~teblum

Risto writes (Notice alliteration!!!)

"Why would a hard core roadie be slower on a bent while an
overweight casual rider would not? I admit specialization
(conditioning) to a platform can play a part, but is that really
such a huge factor?"

No one said what you allege. The correct comparison would be a rabid roadie
getting a bent and not being instantly faster.

Us slow guys just stay relatively slow. Even overwieght casual riders get
faster. Mainly because it's so much fun that they ride more, thus being less
casual and less overweight. ;-)


--
Miles of Smiles,

Tom Blum
Winter Haven, Florida
Homebuilts: SWB
Tour Easy Clone
Speed Machine Clone

www.gate.net/~teblum

: My experience these past few months has been in the opposite direction
: of most folks in this newsgroup. Back in May, I purchased an upright
: bike, a Specialized Sequoia Sport road bike with various, alleged
: comfort features (some are really to make it easier to manufacture and
: stock fewer models to cover a wider range of potential buyers), like:

Why a road bike? A hybrid bike could be very nice for short
commutes and more flexible for all around riding. Maybe you don't
see speedy riding as that important so you don't have a
speed-optimized recumbent :-)

I do see speedy riding as important--that's partly why I got the road
bike. Speedy riding just isn't the main goal for me on the Trike.

As for why I didn't get a hybrid? Because I don't like MTB style bars,
even if they are raised up with "antlers" like hybrids have them.

--
I do not accept unsolicted commercial e-mail. Remove NO_UCE for
legitimate replies.

: My experience these past few months has been in the opposite direction
: of most folks in this newsgroup. Back in May, I purchased an upright
: bike, a Specialized Sequoia Sport road bike with various, alleged
: comfort features (some are really to make it easier to manufacture and
: stock fewer models to cover a wider range of potential buyers), like:

Why a road bike? A hybrid bike could be very nice for short
commutes and more flexible for all around riding. Maybe you don't
see speedy riding as that important so you don't have a
speed-optimized recumbent :-)

I do see speedy riding as important--that's partly why I got the road
bike. Speedy riding just isn't the main goal for me on the Trike.

As for why I didn't get a hybrid? Because I don't like MTB style bars,
even if they are raised up with "antlers" like hybrids have them.

--
I do not accept unsolicted commercial e-mail. Remove NO_UCE for
legitimate replies.

wrote:

Bents can be faster, more comfortable and safer than uprights, but
not all of it at a time.

I think I must take issue with the above. I find both the Baron and the
Speedmachine to be faster and more comfortable than uprights (Neil Fleming
told me recently that he used to set up his Baron on the turbo trainer in
the living room and use it as a chair) and as for safety:

o less far to fall
o less anonymous

And so on. Having said that, I *did* manage to drop the Speedmachine on
Sunday morning after a close encounter with some gravel at a junction, but
managed to get both a hand and a foot down, thus limiting damage to a
sprained dignity.

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
================================================== =========
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
================================================== =========

wrote:

Bents can be faster, more comfortable and safer than uprights, but
not all of it at a time.

I think I must take issue with the above. I find both the Baron and the
Speedmachine to be faster and more comfortable than uprights (Neil Fleming
told me recently that he used to set up his Baron on the turbo trainer in
the living room and use it as a chair) and as for safety:

o less far to fall
o less anonymous

And so on. Having said that, I *did* manage to drop the Speedmachine on
Sunday morning after a close encounter with some gravel at a junction, but
managed to get both a hand and a foot down, thus limiting damage to a
sprained dignity.

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
================================================== =========
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
================================================== =========