Hello... While trike recumbents are attractive, they are not practical in many applications. My fantasy bike is a prone recumbent, but have only found one ever build in searching the Internet. It was a simplistic design of a recumbent UK fan, commented that it was quite fast (as in very), but that the rider needed to lay higher for better balance. Recumbents (2 wheelers) as they are look odd to me (beauty in eye of beholder) - but also having been a cyclists and motorcylists going on 35 years, I do not care for the easy chair recumbent sitting position. Anyone out there ever hear of or know anything of prone recumbent bicycles (I suppose prose recumbent is a contradiction in terms but I think recumbent folks know what I mean.) I invision it with short, simple turn-down handle bars for the cyclist to pull tight into the mini-fairing - a small, old cafe-style fairing smoothing air flow just for cyclist's head, shoulders and arms, and larger rear wheel (36 inch) with the pedals substantially higher from the ground... With current materials, weight would seem to likely come in around 40 pounds with fairing and using steel bike framing for the frame. Obviously it would be long (ttl 8 feet+) but could telescope down for storage, transporting and mass transit (or be take-apart). And it would look fast - and probably be so on the principle of it. The one I read of (UK) was a 50+mph bike on level good pavement and dead air with no fairing and made just by cutting apart a steel diamond frame and extending it - with a curved chest platform for the rider to lay on on the frame rail. I can not find that website, it was green. Any of you know anyone who has played with or tried to make a prone recumbent 2 wheeler? Diamond frames have always struck me as a fair study in inefficiency.
Damn...someone who writes longer posts than I do. I do not remember seeing the Green site you mentioned and I've seen almost all of em. It does sound like it is a Low Racer site, probably a "one off" competion bent.
Under your fantasy, that 36 inch rear wheel is someting I would try using. There is a 36 inch wheel in production called the Monster, but it is not suited to bents re: heavy and no choices on tire tread or psi., closest big wheel is the U.K.Michelin "Postman" wheel. Moots & Bontrager also have racing 28 inch/29 with tire. Would love a HED composite 36 inch wheel. I am not into Low Racer designs, prefer trikes and LWB/CLWBs "dfwx" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Hello... While trike recumbents are attractive, they are not practical in many applications. My fantasy bike is a prone recumbent, but have only found one ever build in searching the Internet. It was a simplistic design of a recumbent UK fan, commented that it was quite fast (as in very), but that the rider needed to lay higher for better balance. Recumbents (2 wheelers) as they are look odd to me (beauty in eye of beholder) - but also having been a cyclists and motorcylists going on 35 years, I do not care for the easy chair recumbent sitting position. Anyone out there ever hear of or know anything of prone recumbent bicycles (I suppose prose recumbent is a contradiction in terms but I think recumbent folks know what I mean.) I invision it with short, simple turn-down handle bars for the cyclist to pull tight into the mini-fairing - a small, old cafe-style fairing smoothing air flow just for cyclist's head, shoulders and arms, and larger rear wheel (36 inch) with the pedals substantially higher from the ground... With current materials, weight would seem to likely come in around 40 pounds with fairing and using steel bike framing for the frame. Obviously it would be long (ttl 8 feet+) but could telescope down for storage, transporting and mass transit (or be take-apart). And it would look fast - and probably be so on the principle of it. The one I read of (UK) was a 50+mph bike on level good pavement and dead air with no fairing and made just by cutting apart a steel diamond frame and extending it - with a curved chest platform for the rider to lay on on the frame rail. I can not find that website, it was green. Any of you know anyone who has played with or tried to make a prone recumbent 2 wheeler? Diamond frames have always struck me as a fair study in inefficiency.
dfwx <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:
Hello... While trike recumbents are attractive, they are not practical in many applications.
. Any of you know anyone who has
Quoted message said:
played with or tried to make a prone recumbent 2 wheeler?
Prone riding is ridiculous unless you want to pound and bruise your chest on the support that must be there, as a person drools out fluids while panting. Only my view: to each their own.
Easy Racers had one in the early 1970s, and it is still hanging on the wall today. First bike, I believe; springboard for Easy Racers beginning in 1976 or thereabout. . Now I get it- sticking your butt in the air is practical! Now I understand why hunched over 10 speeds and standing up while pedaling is so popular. New meaning to the "sit on it and spin" phrase. Whatecer!!!!
No, a prone recumbent is not a contradiction in terms. Recumbent means lying down. Prone refers to lying on your stomach, supine refers to lying on your back.
Prone recumbents were first patented in the 1800's. Many have been built in the last 125 years. A few good examples are shown at:
I actually rode a homebuilt, made from a BMX bike about ten years ago. A local bike dreamer, like myself had put it together. It was great fun. I felt like Superman!
Back in the 1980's a prone streamliner was raced quite successfully in HPV races.
One of the key selling points for recumbents has been the safety feature, re: in an accident your feet and legs get hammered long before your head does...bent pilots tend to survive crashes whereas DF pilots do not. To ride bent with your head/chest above your front wheel and guess what slams the back of the Bus 1st and I would not want to visualize what it would look like to drop the bent on its' side in a fast turn. I Just cannot see Bent Luge riding catching on. ------------------------------------------------ "Warren Berger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Mark,
No, a prone recumbent is not a contradiction in terms. Recumbent means lying down. Prone refers to lying on your stomach, supine refers to lying on your back.
Prone recumbents were first patented in the 1800's. Many have been built in the last 125 years. A few good examples are shown at:
I actually rode a homebuilt, made from a BMX bike about ten years ago. A local bike dreamer, like myself had put it together. It was great fun. I felt like Superman!
Back in the 1980's a prone streamliner was raced quite successfully in HPV races.
No, a prone recumbent is not a contradiction in terms. Recumbent means lying down. Prone refers to lying on your stomach, supine refers to lying on your back.
Prone recumbents were first patented in the 1800's. Many have been built in the last 125 years. A few good examples are shown at:
I actually rode a homebuilt, made from a BMX bike about ten years ago. A local bike dreamer, like myself had put it together. It was great fun. I felt like Superman!
Back in the 1980's a prone streamliner was raced quite successfully in HPV races.
Warren
One of the things I like about my bent is the knowledge that in a crash, my feet hit first, and my legs act as shock absorbers, I'm not too keen on the idea of using my head as a fender, must be a good way of getting abs of steel though. Wasn't this the design that Boardman was going to use for a speed record?
dfwx <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:
Hello... While trike recumbents are attractive, they are not practical in many applications. My fantasy bike is a prone recumbent, but have only found one ever build in searching the Internet. It was a simplistic design of a recumbent UK fan, commented that it was quite fast (as in very), but that the rider needed to lay higher for better balance. Recumbents (2 wheelers) as they are look odd to me (beauty in eye of beholder) - but also having been a cyclists and motorcylists going on 35 years, I do not care for the easy chair recumbent sitting position. Anyone out there ever hear of or know anything of prone recumbent bicycles (I suppose prose recumbent is a contradiction in terms but I think recumbent folks know what I mean.) I invision it with short, simple turn-down handle bars for the cyclist to pull tight into the mini-fairing - a small, old cafe-style fairing smoothing air flow just for cyclist's head, shoulders and arms, and larger rear wheel (36 inch) with the pedals substantially higher from the ground... With current materials, weight would seem to likely come in around 40 pounds with fairing and using steel bike framing for the frame. Obviously it would be long (ttl 8 feet+) but could telescope down for storage, transporting and mass transit (or be take-apart). And it would look fast - and probably be so on the principle of it. The one I read of (UK) was a 50+mph bike on level good pavement and dead air with no fairing and made just by cutting apart a steel diamond frame and extending it - with a curved chest platform for the rider to lay on on the frame rail. I can not find that website, it was green. Any of you know anyone who has played with or tried to make a prone recumbent 2 wheeler? Diamond frames have always struck me as a fair study in inefficiency.
dfwx <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:
Hello... While trike recumbents are attractive, they are not practical in many applications. My fantasy bike is a prone recumbent, but have only found one ever build in searching the Internet. It was a simplistic design of a recumbent UK fan, commented that it was quite fast (as in very), but that the rider needed to lay higher for better balance. Recumbents (2 wheelers) as they are look odd to me (beauty in eye of beholder) - but also having been a cyclists and motorcylists going on 35 years, I do not care for the easy chair recumbent sitting position. Anyone out there ever hear of or know anything of prone recumbent bicycles (I suppose prose recumbent is a contradiction in terms but I think recumbent folks know what I mean.) I invision it with short, simple turn-down handle bars for the cyclist to pull tight into the mini-fairing - a small, old cafe-style fairing smoothing air flow just for cyclist's head, shoulders and arms, and larger rear wheel (36 inch) with the pedals substantially higher from the ground... With current materials, weight would seem to likely come in around 40 pounds with fairing and using steel bike framing for the frame. Obviously it would be long (ttl 8 feet+) but could telescope down for storage, transporting and mass transit (or be take-apart). And it would look fast - and probably be so on the principle of it. The one I read of (UK) was a 50+mph bike on level good pavement and dead air with no fairing and made just by cutting apart a steel diamond frame and extending it - with a curved chest platform for the rider to lay on on the frame rail. I can not find that website, it was green. Any of you know anyone who has played with or tried to make a prone recumbent 2 wheeler? Diamond frames have always struck me as a fair study in inefficiency.
The few prones I've tried were not comfortable for the long haul. The bent neck to see down the road for me was the biggest problem. A person can be trained to ride anything but that doesn't mean that everyone can ride it. The ones I tried handled odd. Frontal area can be made no smaller then a low racer which has feet first safety. Very few prone bikes get on the podium at the races. Why? Pushing against a seat back most likely makes more power. A lot of motorcycles have feet first riding positions. Have you seen Dan Gurney's Alligator? Fast and looks much safer then a cafe racer position. To each his own??? Speedy
dfwx said:
Hello... While trike recumbents are attractive, they are not practical in many applications. My fantasy bike is a prone recumbent, but have only found one ever build in searching the Internet. It was a simplistic design of a recumbent UK fan, commented that it was quite fast (as in very), but that the rider needed to lay higher for better balance. Recumbents (2 wheelers) as they are look odd to me (beauty in eye of beholder) - but also having been a cyclists and motorcylists going on 35 years, I do not care for the easy chair recumbent sitting position. Anyone out there ever hear of or know anything of prone recumbent bicycles (I suppose prose recumbent is a contradiction in terms but I think recumbent folks know what I mean.) I invision it with short, simple turn-down handle bars for the cyclist to pull tight into the mini-fairing - a small, old cafe-style fairing smoothing air flow just for cyclist's head, shoulders and arms, and larger rear wheel (36 inch) with the pedals substantially higher from the ground... With current materials, weight would seem to likely come in around 40 pounds with fairing and using steel bike framing for the frame. Obviously it would be long (ttl 8 feet+) but could telescope down for storage, transporting and mass transit (or be take-apart). And it would look fast - and probably be so on the principle of it. The one I read of (UK) was a 50+mph bike on level good pavement and dead air with no fairing and made just by cutting apart a steel diamond frame and extending it - with a curved chest platform for the rider to lay on on the frame rail. I can not find that website, it was green. Any of you know anyone who has played with or tried to make a prone recumbent 2 wheeler? Diamond frames have always struck me as a fair study in inefficiency.
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And no way was that "a 50+mph bike on level good pavement and dead air with no fairing". It was on a par with a low racer. Designer Tim Elsdale did win the BHPC's unfaired championship in 1999 on one, with works gorilla Matt Norman second, but the opposition that year was not as strong as in other seasons. He was reputed to be collaborating with Graeme Obree (not Chris Boardman) on the design of an hour record contender, but it came to naught.
