Potential Newbies Questions

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

Quoted message said:

Due to our 50+ ages, my wife and I are considering a bent tandem and I

have

Quoted message said:

some questions perhaps you could answer, or a website you could refer me

to.

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1. With its low profile, do motorists have a difficult time seeing you?

In parking lots yes, out on the road no

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2. Our town has some good bike roads and trails, but getting to them is

very

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dangerous as motorists think they own the road even more so than other

cities.

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What kind of car rrack would we need? All I could find require receiver
hitches, and we would rather not purchase one.

Depends on the bent, I have an Optima Baron and just stand it in the back of
my truck

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3. I have difficulty rising from low chairs. Is it hard to get out of a
recumbant?

Depends on the bent, usually no but you are the only judge

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I guess that's all. anything else you could add would be appreciated.

Hi George,

We have a RANS Screamer tandem, and have owned it for about 4.5 years.

1. With its low profile, do motorists have a difficult time seeing you?
Our experience has been the opposite, that we are an unusual vehicle and
motorists notice us more than they typically do for a single upright bike.
Also, on our bike, we are actually at eye-level with most motorists. A
trike, of course, would be lower than most recumbent tandems. (Scott and
Jodi, if you are reading this, what is your feeling on your Greenspeed?)

2. What kind of car rack would we need?
The Screamer has S&S couplers so it comes apart, and we can carry it inside
of our station wagon. You might want to consider that type of bike, or a
folding one, such as Bike Friday's folding recumbent tandem. As far as a
bike rack for the car, we also use Thule bars, and Wayne made a custom
set-up to hold the bike on the car roof (You can email me for more details,
if this is of interest to you).

3. Is it hard to get out of a recumbent?
Not on the Screamer (nor any other tandem recumbent that I've ridden). The
seat height is about the same as it is for a chair. But, like so many
things, YMMV.

And, some parting comments: Try to ride as many tandems as you can. They
all feel a little different and handle differently. I personally really
like the Screamer, but the EasyRacers tandem is also a decent bike at a
reasonable price (for a recumbent tandem). And, make sure that your wife is
at least as enthusiastic about this advernture as you are.

Good luck with the bike search and happy trails!

Diane and Wayne
RANS Screamer, GRR, Haluzak Horizon

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

Quoted message said:

Due to our 50+ ages, my wife and I are considering a bent tandem and I

have

Quoted message said:

some questions perhaps you could answer, or a website you could refer me

to.

Quoted message said:

1. With its low profile, do motorists have a difficult time seeing you?

2. Our town has some good bike roads and trails, but getting to them is

very

Quoted message said:

dangerous as motorists think they own the road even more so than other

cities.

Quoted message said:

What kind of car rrack would we need? All I could find require receiver
hitches, and we would rather not purchase one.

3. I have difficulty rising from low chairs. Is it hard to get out of a
recumbant?

I guess that's all. anything else you could add would be appreciated.

(And, make sure that your wife is
at least as enthusiastic about this advernture as you are.)

She's the one who suggested it.

Thank you all for the information.

George

George Johnston said:

Due to our 50+ ages, my wife and I are considering a bent tandem and I have
some questions perhaps you could answer, or a website you could refer me to.

1. With its low profile, do motorists have a difficult time seeing you?

No. But my bent is quite high though with a normal-size rear wheel.

Quoted message said:

2. Our town has some good bike roads and trails, but getting to them is very
dangerous as motorists think they own the road even more so than other cities.
What kind of car rrack would we need? All I could find require receiver
hitches, and we would rather not purchase one.

Some recumbent tandems are very long - one I rode is 3.5M which is as long
as most cars. For this, I think the only reasonable option would be to
mount it on the roof, which could be difficult. I have seen a tandem rack
(sorry, no link) with an arm that raised the bike into position for you.

Quoted message said:

3. I have difficulty rising from low chairs. Is it hard to get out of a
recumbant?

You'll have to be the judge of that. Try out different models - often one
seat is higher than the other

Quoted message said:

I guess that's all. anything else you could add would be appreciated.

There are recumbent/upright hybrids where the front rider is seated
upright, and the stoker is recumbent. There are also designs where the
pilot faces forward and the stoker faces backwards. This might be weird,
but I imagine the view is better for the stoker, and conversation might be
easier. M5 have a picture of one on their website (www.m5-ligfietsen.com).

I didn't like the tandem I rode, because I had to shout to my stoker to be
heard above the wind. On a regular tandem, the riders are much closer
together so communication is easier.

AC

An anonymous coward said:

...
Some recumbent tandems are very long - one I rode is 3.5M which is as long
as most cars. For this, I think the only reasonable option would be to
mount it on the roof, which could be difficult. I have seen a tandem rack
(sorry, no link) with an arm that raised the bike into position for you....

You should be sorry that you did not provide a link, you anonymous
coward! 😉

Try <http://www.atoc.com/tandemtopper.html> for the rack in question.

--
Tom Sherman – Quad City Area

In addition to recumbent (... I am more than satisfied with my m5
20/20 ;-), you can also think about trikes! I recently tested such a
tandem in Paris, built with 2 Hase Trikes coupled
(http://www.kinetics.org.uk/html/hase.shtm ; or try
http://www.bikeroute.com/CycleAmerica2000/Trike.html).

In addition those trikes acan easily be folded and are easy to use due
to the articulated coupling system. More than welcome in cities (e.g.
Paris ;-), where long tandems can not turn on small streets.

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

Quoted message said:

An anonymous coward said:

...
Some recumbent tandems are very long - one I rode is 3.5M which is as long
as most cars. For this, I think the only reasonable option would be to
mount it on the roof, which could be difficult. I have seen a tandem rack
(sorry, no link) with an arm that raised the bike into position for you....

You should be sorry that you did not provide a link, you anonymous
coward! 😉

Try <http://www.atoc.com/tandemtopper.html> for the rack in question.