Newbie - which bike?

Steve said:

I know the correct way to do this is to ride several different bikes
and decide and I haven't given up on doing that but the bike dealers
around me can order recumbents but they don't have them sitting around
on the showroom floor. So far, the only 'bent I've been able to ride
is an EZ-SC1 (a nice enough bike but why the little bitty wheels?).

Packaging is the reason for smaller wheels. Larger wheel sizes generally
lead to compromises in overall bicycle length, seat height, foot/wheel
interference, weight distribution, minimum rider leg length, or some
combination of the above. Here is an example of a bicycle that would
lose many of its best attributes if larger wheel sizes were used.
<http://www.ihpva.org/incoming/2002/sunset/Sunset001.jpg>.

Quoted message said:

I have decided the the Gold Rush would probably suit me just fine. My
wallet, however, does not agree. My wallet won't even agree to a Tour
Easy. So, scaling back a little and doing some research, I have
narrowed down my interest to 3 LWB's...
1. EZ-Sport
2. RANS Velocity 2
3 Cycle Genius RDX

If you have a minute or two and some experience with one or more of
those, please let me know what you think and why. Also, if you have
another suggestion in the less than $1500 price range, I would be
interested in knowing that too.

The RANS Velocity Squared is an excellent design, and you certainly
would not go wrong with it. The higher bottom bracket and greater seat
recline will be more comfortable (and faster) for many people.

In the less the $1500 LWB category, the Burley Jett Creek/Koosah should
certainly be considered.
<http://www.burley.com/products/recumbents/default.aspx>.

Quoted message said:

Probably more by chance than anything else, I became interested first
in LWB's. What do you all think about a SWB for a first time rider?

A SWB bicycle will generally be harder to ride initially, but after a
few hours of riding, the effort to maintain balance and control will not
differ greatly from a LWB, and will likely be better at slow speeds
while climbing.

--
Tom Sherman – Curmudgeon and Pedant

"Steve" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I know the correct way to do this is to ride several different bikes
and decide and I haven't given up on doing that but the bike dealers
around me can order recumbents but they don't have them sitting around
on the showroom floor. So far, the only 'bent I've been able to ride
is an EZ-SC1 (a nice enough bike but why the little bitty wheels?).

I have decided the the Gold Rush would probably suit me just fine. My
wallet, however, does not agree. My wallet won't even agree to a Tour
Easy. So, scaling back a little and doing some research, I have
narrowed down my interest to 3 LWB's...
1. EZ-Sport
2. RANS Velocity 2
3 Cycle Genius RDX

Get the V2, Rans makes excellent bikes

Quoted message said:

If you have a minute or two and some experience with one or more of
those, please let me know what you think and why. Also, if you have
another suggestion in the less than $1500 price range, I would be
interested in knowing that too.

Probably more by chance than anything else, I became interested first
in LWB's. What do you all think about a SWB for a first time rider?

My first one was a SWB (Vision R50), had no problems at all

"Steve" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I know the correct way to do this is to ride several different bikes
and decide and I haven't given up on doing that but the bike dealers
around me can order recumbents but they don't have them sitting around
on the showroom floor. So far, the only 'bent I've been able to ride
is an EZ-SC1 (a nice enough bike but why the little bitty wheels?).

I have decided the the Gold Rush would probably suit me just fine. My
wallet, however, does not agree. My wallet won't even agree to a Tour
Easy. So, scaling back a little and doing some research, I have
narrowed down my interest to 3 LWB's...
1. EZ-Sport
2. RANS Velocity 2
3 Cycle Genius RDX

I rode both the Rans Velocity 2 and the Burley Jett Creek and ended up with
the Jett Creek. After a couple of weeks and a couple hundred miles I'm very
happy with the bike.

Steve said:

I know the correct way to do this is to ride several different bikes
and decide and I haven't given up on doing that but the bike dealers
around me can order recumbents but they don't have them sitting around
on the showroom floor. So far, the only 'bent I've been able to ride
is an EZ-SC1 (a nice enough bike but why the little bitty wheels?).

I have decided the the Gold Rush would probably suit me just fine. My
wallet, however, does not agree. My wallet won't even agree to a Tour
Easy. So, scaling back a little and doing some research, I have
narrowed down my interest to 3 LWB's...
1. EZ-Sport
2. RANS Velocity 2
3 Cycle Genius RDX

If you have a minute or two and some experience with one or more of
those, please let me know what you think and why. Also, if you have
another suggestion in the less than $1500 price range, I would be
interested in knowing that too.

Probably more by chance than anything else, I became interested first
in LWB's. What do you all think about a SWB for a first time rider?

Thanks (a lot) in advance -

Steve

Steve, I have had my EZ Sport for a week now and love it. It takes a
little getting used to because all the power comes from the legs. You
just sit back, relax and pedal. The EZ is probably one of the easiest
bents to learn on. I would highly recomend this bike. Whatever you
choose, you will love riding a bent.
larry

So, scaling back a little and doing some research, I have

Quoted message said:

narrowed down my interest to 3 LWB's...
1. EZ-Sport
2. RANS Velocity 2
3 Cycle Genius RDX

I bought the Cycle Genius RDX and am happy with it. The seat can be adjusted
so easily as can the angle of the backrest. I haven't even had recumbutt on
it yet! I modified my Sportsworks rack to fit it, so carrying it around has
not been a hassle, either. It's a lot of bang for the buck.

Pat in TX

Steve,

Thanks for asking this. I will be watching the answers very carefully, but
I was going to post even more basic questions...

I have read and read and read... I am now really confused... LWB, SWB,
CLWB, Highracer... ????? How does a long time (I'm nearly 60) upright
cyclist even know where to begin?

I am a Randonneur so will need full fenders, lots of bottle cages, lights
and some carrying capacity. I would also prefer both wheels to be the same
size so I don't have to carry tubes and tires for both ends. I normally
start a brevet with 3 spare tubes and 1 spare tire. Does anyone use Schmidt
generator hubs on 'bents?

Hopefully some of these questions will be answered in this thread.

Don

PS None of my LBSs carry recumbents!

"DonMunro" <the-munros@**nospam**shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Steve,

Thanks for asking this. I will be watching the answers very carefully, but
I was going to post even more basic questions...

I have read and read and read... I am now really confused... LWB, SWB,
CLWB, Highracer... ????? How does a long time (I'm nearly 60) upright
cyclist even know where to begin?

That depends on your riding style and how fast/far you want to go, my
suggestion is to try any type you can

Quoted message said:

I am a Randonneur so will need full fenders, lots of bottle cages, lights
and some carrying capacity. I would also prefer both wheels to be the same
size so I don't have to carry tubes and tires for both ends. I normally
start a brevet with 3 spare tubes and 1 spare tire. Does anyone use

Schmidt

Quoted message said:

generator hubs on 'bents?

By definition a Randonneur appears to be an extreme rider, might try a LWB
to hold all of that stuff

Quoted message said:

Hopefully some of these questions will be answered in this thread.

Don

PS None of my LBSs carry recumbents!

Thats typical, shops in my area barely carry them as well, you might have to
do some traveling to find a decent shop, I had to go over 1,000 miles to
find mine, where are you located?

"Mark Leuck" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:Bsu1d.188689$Fg5.17124@attbi_s53:

Quoted message said:

"DonMunro" <the-munros@**nospam**shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Steve,

Thanks for asking this. I will be watching the answers very
carefully, but I was going to post even more basic questions...

I have read and read and read... I am now really confused... LWB,
SWB, CLWB, Highracer... ????? How does a long time (I'm nearly 60)
upright cyclist even know where to begin?

That depends on your riding style and how fast/far you want to go, my
suggestion is to try any type you can

Quoted message said:

I am a Randonneur so will need full fenders, lots of bottle cages,
lights and some carrying capacity. I would also prefer both wheels to
be the same size so I don't have to carry tubes and tires for both
ends. I normally start a brevet with 3 spare tubes and 1 spare tire.
Does anyone use

Schmidt

Quoted message said:

generator hubs on 'bents?

By definition a Randonneur appears to be an extreme rider, might try a
LWB to hold all of that stuff

Quoted message said:

Hopefully some of these questions will be answered in this thread.

Don

PS None of my LBSs carry recumbents!

Thats typical, shops in my area barely carry them as well, you might
have to do some traveling to find a decent shop, I had to go over
1,000 miles to find mine, where are you located?

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the reply.

From my reading, I would have to say that I have been leaning
slightly towards a LWB, but that pretty well eliminates the single wheel
size, doesn't it?

I am not considering a 'bent because of speed.. there are no speed prizes
in Randonnees. I am thinking of endurance and comfort!!! I bought a
Softride two years ago, but found it to be a bit on the "racy" side so went
back to my Miyata 1000 touring bike. Even it gets a bit uncomfortable after
600+ km in 2 days.

I am in British Columbia.

Don

Quoted message said:

I am in British Columbia.

Don

Dan, at the end of the day, you aren't going to be able to make this
decision "on paper". You are going to have to do some riding; as much
test riding as you can.

Have you been to Cambie Cycles?

http://cambiecycles.com/rec.html

john riley 1 at rogers dot com

DonMunro said:

...
From my reading, I would have to say that I have been leaning
slightly towards a LWB, but that pretty well eliminates the single wheel
size, doesn't it?...

Same wheel size LWB recumbents:

Lightfoot World Traveler <http://www.lightfootcycles.com/wtmodel.htm>,
RANS Tailwind <http://www.ransbikes.com/2004Bikes/Tailwind.htm>,
Rotator Pursuit <http://rotatorrecumbent.com/pursuit.html>.

--
Tom Sherman – Curmudgeon and Pedant

[email hidden] (john riley) wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I am in British Columbia.

Don

Dan, at the end of the day, you aren't going to be able to make this
decision "on paper". You are going to have to do some riding; as much
test riding as you can.

Have you been to Cambie Cycles?

http://cambiecycles.com/rec.html

john riley 1 at rogers dot com

Hi John,

Yes, I know that I'll have to do a lot of test riding and I will get to
Cambie next time I'm in Vancouver.

I would like to narrow the field "somewhat" before that though :-)

thanks
Don

Tom Sherman <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

DonMunro said:

...
From my reading, I would have to say that I have been leaning
slightly towards a LWB, but that pretty well eliminates the single
wheel size, doesn't it?...

Same wheel size LWB recumbents:

Lightfoot World Traveler <http://www.lightfootcycles.com/wtmodel.htm>,
RANS Tailwind <http://www.ransbikes.com/2004Bikes/Tailwind.htm>,
Rotator Pursuit <http://rotatorrecumbent.com/pursuit.html>.

Thanks Tom,

I'm off to look those up right now.

Don

"DonMunro" <the-munros@**nospam**shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the reply.

From my reading, I would have to say that I have been leaning
slightly towards a LWB, but that pretty well eliminates the single wheel
size, doesn't it?

Some are available with the same size wheel

Quoted message said:

I am not considering a 'bent because of speed.. there are no speed prizes
in Randonnees. I am thinking of endurance and comfort!!!

Comfort isn't determined by what the wheelbase is, for example I've done
100+ mile rides on my SWB Vision and 100+ rides on my Optima Baron which has
a slightly longer wheelbase, either one worked well for that. My
recommendation for the LWB was to have something bigger to put all what you
listed on which can't be done on a Baron (maybe the Vision)

Quoted message said:

I bought a
Softride two years ago, but found it to be a bit on the "racy" side so

went

Quoted message said:

back to my Miyata 1000 touring bike. Even it gets a bit uncomfortable

after

Quoted message said:

600+ km in 2 days.

I am in British Columbia.

Don

I'm planning a 700+ ride in a month or so on the Baron, I'll let you know
how it goes 🙂

Thanks to all of you for the comments and suggestions. I'm still not
any closer to knowing which way to go but it was infomative reading.
Nobody had anything bad to say about any of them.

Tom, you could have left out the link to Lightfoot. I really like the
Traveler. Out of current budget though...

Without going on a cross country tour of some sort I guess I will just
try to test ride bikes with similar feature to those I am interested
in and then take a chance and order one. Of course, a cross country
tour of bike shops might be fun too.

Thanks again, everyone!

Steve

Steve said:

Thanks to all of you for the comments and suggestions. I'm still not
any closer to knowing which way to go but it was infomative reading.
Nobody had anything bad to say about any of them.

Tom, you could have left out the link to Lightfoot. I really like the
Traveler. Out of current budget though...

Lightfoot says it pretty well on their website:

"We do not compromise quality to cut the price.
We do not compromise safety to cut the price.
We provide features to enhance daily utility.
Our cycles are carefully hand built on a small scale."

The captain of this tandem has an interesting riding technique.

<http://www.lightfootcycles.com/ME2showoff.jpg>.

--
Tom Sherman – Curmudgeon and Pedant

Quoted message said:

Without going on a cross country tour of some
sort I guess I will just try to test ride bikes with
similar feature to those I am interested in and
then take a chance and order one. Of course,
a cross country tour of bike shops might be fun
too.

You might also try attending one of the recumbent rallies. You'll meet
people driving just about every make and model around. Plenty of nice folks
will let you try their machines if you ask nice (assuming you're of
reasonable girth🙂). Some larger cycling festivals attract the interest of
one or more shops.

I test road a number of Vision machines at one rally in northern Florida
several years ago. That was just before Mark Leuck took an interest in
'bents. He and I discussed the Vision and RANS afterward. I think he
eventually chose one for himself but I'm not sure.

I got to try more than a dozen bikes over one four-day weekend during that
one event. I wound up keeping my RANS but now I'm thinking about replacing
it with a tandem trike so my wife can join me on longer rides.

Hope you find something you like.

Regards,
Robert L Bass

=============================>
Bass Home Electronics
2291 Pine View Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34231
877-722-8900 Sales & Tech Support
http://www.bassburglaralarms.com
=============================>

In article <[email hidden]>, DonMunro

the-munros@**nospam**shaw.ca said:

Steve,

Thanks for asking this. I will be watching the answers very carefully, but
I was going to post even more basic questions...

I have read and read and read... I am now really confused... LWB, SWB,
CLWB, Highracer... ????? How does a long time (I'm nearly 60) upright
cyclist even know where to begin?

I am a Randonneur so will need full fenders, lots of bottle cages, lights
and some carrying capacity. I would also prefer both wheels to be the same
size so I don't have to carry tubes and tires for both ends. I normally
start a brevet with 3 spare tubes and 1 spare tire. Does anyone use Schmidt
generator hubs on 'bents?

Hopefully some of these questions will be answered in this thread.

Don

PS None of my LBSs carry recumbents!

Good thread for me to read also as i am still considering what bike i
might like to get.
I have tested a few, and narrowed it down to the Sun EZ Sport and the
Burley Koosah.
I enjoyed riding both bikes but the problem with the Koosah is the
monotube design strikes me as something one could steal easily.
By simply removing a wheel and some other parts one could slip the
lock right off. Nevertheless i am still interested in both bikes and
i will test ride them both again. Stop by the recumbent shop in
Victoria if you are on the island. Fairfield Bicycles on Oscar and
Fairfield St. They are very helpful there and will let you test any of
the bikes in stock.
Cheers!

Quoted message said:

You might also try attending one of the recumbent rallies. You'll meet
people driving just about every make and model around. Plenty of nice

folks

Quoted message said:

will let you try their machines if you ask nice (assuming you're of
reasonable girth🙂). Some larger cycling festivals attract the interest

of

Quoted message said:

one or more shops.

I was at a charity bike ride this last weekend and the sheriff's deputy
handling some of the security duties asked to ride my recumbent! I let him,
of course, and he seemed to really enjoy it.

Pat in TX

Quoted message said:

Good thread for me to read also as i am still considering what bike i
might like to get.
I have tested a few, and narrowed it down to the Sun EZ Sport and the
Burley Koosah.
I enjoyed riding both bikes but the problem with the Koosah is the
monotube design strikes me as something one could steal easily.
By simply removing a wheel and some other parts one could slip the
lock right off. Nevertheless i am still interested in both bikes
and i will test ride them both again. Stop by the recumbent shop in
Victoria if you are on the island. Fairfield Bicycles on Oscar and
Fairfield St. They are very helpful there and will let you test any
of the bikes in stock.
Cheers!

Hi Slugger,

I'm in Duncan :-)

Don