Recumbent suggestions?

(YK) said:

I've been thinking about getting a recumbent and I thought I would seed the advice of
experienced riders.

Welcome to the wonderful world of 'bents.

Quoted message said:

I've been looking at the following:

Rans Vision Burley

They all make good bikes.

You'll get several variations on this theme, but I think it's important to ride any bike you want to
plunk down yer hard-earned cash fer. I've managed to own several recumbents by ignoring that dictum.
:-)

You'll find some short wheelbase bikes are a tough fit for your height. I'd recommend taking a look
at the Rans Stratus or Tailwind. Both are excellent machines, and some dealers have been selling
2002 Tailwinds for an excellent price.

Good luck in your search.

Regards,

Tony

[email hidden] (YK) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I commute to work 3 to 4 times a week, weather permiting. It is about 17 miles, one way. I am
currently riding a simple Gary Fischer upright, geared up w/fenders, Niterider lights, rack and
bags etc. I'm 5' 6".

As others have said, a short-wheelbase bike for your height could be a tough fit. Long-wheelbase
bikes tend to have their seats lower- better for shorter legs and longer trips.

Your best bet is try to find some local recumbent riders and try out a couple different bikes. No
one can tell you in advance how *you* will feel riding a particular bike. Test ride, test ride, and
test ride some more.

FWIW: when I bought my first recumbent, I didn't have much choice. 15 years ago, there wasn't
anything beyond the Lightning P-38, the Tour Easy, and the RANS long-wheelbase bikes. I chose a
Lightning P-38 and rode it for 12 years. I now have two P-38's and a Tour Easy- and the Tour Easy
gets the most use. I'm now convinced that the Tour Easy design makes the best compromise among many
different design choices for recumbent bikes.

Jeff

YK,

I commute 11 miles one way on a Burley Canto bent and can tell you that the ride is significantly better than on my road bike. You'll love a bent.

Before I bought mine, I found several local bike shops that carried bents. Fortunately, I found one in Arlington Heights, IL that rented them for $40 for the weekend. I rented a short wheel base and was convinced that for commutes and touring I wanted a long wheel base. But, I didn't want to give up the possibility of having the nimbleness of a short wheel base. So, the Canto's convertability appealed to me. There are several brands that have that feature. It's not as easy as changing the seat tilt (in fact it may take a bike shop to do it), but at least it's possible if you want to change from one wheel base to another.

That's my two cents.

Tailwinds,
Ben

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Jeff Wills
[email hidden] (YK) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I commute to work 3 to 4 times a week, weather permiting. It is about 17 miles, one way. I am
currently riding a simple Gary Fischer upright, geared up w/fenders, Niterider lights, rack and
bags etc. I'm 5' 6".

As others have said, a short-wheelbase bike for your height could be a tough fit. Long-wheelbase
bikes tend to have their seats lower- better for shorter legs and longer trips.

Your best bet is try to find some local recumbent riders and try out a couple different bikes. No
one can tell you in advance how *you* will feel riding a particular bike. Test ride, test ride, and
test ride some more.

FWIW: when I bought my first recumbent, I didn't have much choice. 15 years ago, there wasn't
anything beyond the Lightning P-38, the Tour Easy, and the RANS long-wheelbase bikes. I chose a
Lightning P-38 and rode it for 12 years. I now have two P-38's and a Tour Easy- and the Tour Easy
gets the most use. I'm now convinced that the Tour Easy design makes the best compromise among many
different design choices for recumbent bikes.

Jeff

Quoted message said:

I've been looking at the following: Rans Vision Burley

I ride a Vision R40. I can/have put a standard luggage rack on the back, and transfered my Nashbar
panniers from my old commuter to the
R40. I also carry shoes and clothes, and maybe a briefcase, to work to change in to.

Quoted message said:

Any recommendations anyone can provide would be very helpful.

I can't recommend, I love my R40, I don't know the Burley. I have ridden several Rans models and
feel I could be happy with them too.

Quoted message said:

Fortunately, I found one in Arlington Heights, IL that rented them for $40 for the weekend.

My LBS, Cyclo-path in Fresno, Calif doesn't charge for this. Perhaps you could get the dealer to
credit you with all the rental money you have given him, if you ultimately purchase from him. Not
that $40 is terribly high though.

Geob,

That's a great idea. In fact, the shop I mentioned would apply the $40 rental toward the purchase of a new bike.

On the same page,
Ben

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Geob
> Fortunately, I found one in Arlington Heights, IL that rented them for $40 for the weekend.

My LBS, Cyclo-path in Fresno, Calif doesn't charge for this. Perhaps you could get the dealer to
credit you with all the rental money you have given him, if you ultimately purchase from him. Not
that $40 is terribly high though.

[email hidden] (YK) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I commute to work 3 to 4 times a week, weather permiting. It is about 17 miles, one way. I am
currently riding a simple Gary Fischer upright, geared up w/fenders, Niterider lights, rack and
bags etc. I'm 5' 6".

I've been thinking about getting a recumbent and I thought I would seed the advice of experienced
riders. I've been looking at the following:

Rans Vision Burley

I particularly like the Burley Limbo with the rear suspension and adjustable wheelbase. Burley
also provides many accessories that I will need to carry my work clothes etc.

Any recommendations anyone can provide would be very helpful.

THANK YOU EVERYONE for all your advice! I am thinking a convertible SWB-CLWB is looking mighty good.
There is a MS Society Bike Tour in MN in July called the MSTran that is 300 miles over 5 days. I've
never done anything like this before and I figure there is no way I could do it on a upright without
truely enjoying the ride. I thought if I do this, getting a recumbent would be my personal prize!

Again, thank you very much for your advice. I think I already like this friendly "bent" community!

YK

Quoted message said:

YK

[email hidden] (Jeff Wills) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (YK) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I commute to work 3 to 4 times a week, weather permiting. It is about 17 miles, one way. I am
currently riding a simple Gary Fischer upright, geared up w/fenders, Niterider lights, rack and
bags etc. I'm 5' 6".

As others have said, a short-wheelbase bike for your height could be a tough fit. Long-wheelbase
bikes tend to have their seats lower- better for shorter legs and longer trips.

I'm also 5'6" on a good day, and I ride a 2001 Vision R54 with no problems. My legs are no more than
1 standard deviation from norm, so the original poster should have few problems. The RANS Rocket
also fit nicely. I found the HP Velotechnik Street Machine to be marginal. It felt higher than than
the Vision, even though the seats are theoretically the same height.

What I'm really wondering about is the reach to the pedals on a T-Bone...

Archer Sully Boulder, CO

Quoted message said:

THANK YOU EVERYONE for all your advice! I am thinking a convertible SWB-CLWB is looking
mighty good.

I have a Burley Canto that I absolutely love!! You get two bike for one.

Derek

[email hidden] (YK) wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Any recommendations anyone can provide would be very helpful.

THANK YOU EVERYONE for all your advice! I am thinking a convertible SWB-CLWB is looking mighty
good. There is a MS Society Bike Tour in MN in July called the MSTran that is 300 miles over 5
days. I've never done anything like this before and I figure there is no way I could do it on a
upright without truely enjoying the ride. I thought if I do this, getting a recumbent would be my
personal prize!

Again, thank you very much for your advice. I think I already like this friendly "bent" community!

YK

Although you may not think so right now, a low trike can be very appealing. If you commute in all
weather, you will especially appreciate the stability. Take a look at wizwheelz.comwizwheelz.comOpen ↗ for
a nice trike at close to entry level price. For a plethora of trike designs, check out
home.mindspring.comindex.htmOpen ↗ The "tadpoles" are my personal favorites. Pics of my
home built trikes can be found at pictures.care2.com174801833Open ↗ The bottom left of the
page has more photo albums to click on, including the latest
pictures.care2.com844656287Open ↗

happy trails, rorschandt

(YK) said:

I particularly like the Burley Limbo with the rear suspension and adjustable wheelbase. Burley also
provides many accessories that I will need to carry my work clothes etc.

Have you done a test ride? I've done short test rides of the Limbo and Hepcat and I liked the Hepcat
much better. the Limbo is heavier and the suspension felt mushy and soft.

You might also consider the Bacchetta Giro. It's in the same price range.

Ken Kobayashi [email hidden] solarwww.mtk.nao.ac.jppersonalOpen ↗

[email hidden] (YK) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (YK) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I commute to work 3 to 4 times a week, weather permiting. It is about 17 miles, one way. I am
currently riding a simple Gary Fischer upright, geared up w/fenders, Niterider lights, rack and
bags etc. I'm 5' 6".

I've been thinking about getting a recumbent and I thought I would seed the advice of
experienced riders. I've been looking at the following:

Rans Vision Burley

I particularly like the Burley Limbo with the rear suspension and adjustable wheelbase. Burley
also provides many accessories that I will need to carry my work clothes etc.

Any recommendations anyone can provide would be very helpful.

THANK YOU EVERYONE for all your advice! I am thinking a convertible SWB-CLWB is looking mighty
good. There is a MS Society Bike Tour in MN in July called the MSTran that is 300 miles over 5
days. I've never done anything like this before and I figure there is no way I could do it on a
upright without truely enjoying the ride. I thought if I do this, getting a recumbent would be my
personal prize!

Again, thank you very much for your advice. I think I already like this friendly "bent" community!

YK

Quoted message said:

YK

I have a convertable Vision R40, and I find that I usually leave it in one configuration or the
other until I need to change it to the other mode. It is much easier to transport in SWB mode, so if
i'm traveling with it I set it up SWB and it stays that way till I decide to a really long ride, and
then it converts to MWB and stays that way till I need to transport it again. I really like the
flexability this gives me, and after my trepedition the first time of doing the conversion, it takes
less than 5 minutes and 2 cresent wrenches to do
it. I can change wheelbase much faster than I can change an innertube.

Thanks Bryan