Seeking a Sub £1000 Commuter Recumbent

[[email protected]]

I've been trying to buy a commuter recumbent bike in the UK, suitable
for extending the range that can travel relative to my standard 21-gear
bike. My budget requires that the bike cost less than £1000 and my
peace of mind dictates that it should not be too desirable for either
bike thieves or envious kids.

I've researched the matter as broadly as I can over the web and via
the Yellow Pages have largely drawn a blank.

The MicWic Commuter 7 sounds ideal but this company seems to have
disappeared with even Swindon bike shops denying all knowledge of it.

The Atomics Sports' KMX Class Kart is certainly for sale in the right
price range but this too desirable a bike for me to ride and I would
prefer one designed for endurance rather than racing or KMX style
stunts.

The closest I have gotten to a match is the Champion Wizard, which is
listed as a commuter, but I have not seen a single quoted price for it
in the UK.

I am amazingly hesitant to but a £1,200+ recumbent bike because it
will have been made for purposes above and beyond what I want from it.
I'm no athlete about to try and race to break speed records; instead
I'm someone who wants to cover reasonable distances under my own
power in an efficient manner.

The closest I've got to a reasonable retailer contact is from London
Recumbents, who offer both an hour's ride for £10 or a half-days
worth of advice that they hinted might be expensive if I failed to buy
a bike at the end of the experience. They are the people who don't
appear to state a price the Champion Wizard, preferring to be more
explicit about what appears to be the more up market recumbents that
they offer.

Can anyone help or offer any pertinent advice?

Guy

 

[Tony W]

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
I've been trying to buy a commuter recumbent bike in the UK, suitable
for extending the range that can travel relative to my standard 21-gear
bike. My budget requires that the bike cost less than £1000 and my
peace of mind dictates that it should not be too desirable for either
bike thieves or envious kids.



If you know which end of a spanner to hold you might consider

http://www.dutchbikes.nl/uk.htm

At least one member of this parish has built one -- I forget who -- and may
advise further.

T

 

[Mike Causer]

On Sat, 10 Sep 2005 10:02:45 -0700, [email protected] wrote:

> I've been trying to buy a commuter recumbent bike in the UK, suitable for
> extending the range that can travel relative to my standard 21-gear bike.
> My budget requires that the bike cost less than £1000 and my peace of
> mind dictates that it should not be too desirable for either bike thieves
> or envious kids.

/Some/ kids are envious, but they don't look like the thieving kind
generally, and if they ask politely they can "have a go mista?"


> I've researched the matter as broadly as I can over the web and via the
> Yellow Pages have largely drawn a blank.

Yeees, recumbent makers & vendors are somewhat web-shy.


You need to try as many different 'bents as you can, and a half-day
scheme, as run by most dealers, is going to be well worth it. You will
also find that there seem to be lots of low-usage bents for sale
second-hand. Possibly originally bought by people who ignored the
previous point. There should be quite a good choice of s/hand machines
within your budget.

If you're in Cambridge tomorrow, Sunday, and are close to 172cm tall you
can have a go on my Speed Ross, and possibly other 'bents too because the
Company of Cyclists will be there with their try-it-out range.

Failing that you could give my L'BS (Local 'Bent Shop) a call & find out
what they have in stock. D.Tek 01353 648177.


Mike

 

[Danny Colyer]

[email protected] wrote:
> I've been trying to buy a commuter recumbent bike in the UK, suitable
> for extending the range that can travel relative to my standard 21-gear
> bike. My budget requires that the bike cost less than £1000 ...
<snip>
> The closest I have gotten to a match is the Champion Wizard, which is
> listed as a commuter, but I have not seen a single quoted price for it
> in the UK.

Do you mean the Challenge Wizard? I nearly bought one of those (before
settling on the Street Machine), seems like a good commuter.

It's probably worth keeping an eye on the second-hand market.
Velovision, Cycling Plus and Cycle (the CTC mag) often have recumbents
in the classified sections. I believe they all also have classified
sections on their websites. And, of course, there's always eBay.

--
Danny Colyer (my reply address is valid but checked infrequently)
<URL:http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/>
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

 

[wafflycat]

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I've been trying to buy a commuter recumbent bike in the UK, suitable
>for extending the range that can travel relative to my standard 21-gear
>ike. My budget requires that the bike cost less than £1000 and my
>eace of mind dictates that it should not be too desirable for either
>ike thieves or envious kids.

You don't want a Trice then. Well, you *do* but it'll cost a bit over the
£1000 for an entry-level Trice Ice T (like wot I got) and apparently they
are objects of desire to teenagers. My son uses mine in the winter for the
college commute. So far lots of mates wanting to have a go on it, but no
thieving - but it does have multiple locks on it and it is parked where it
is on view to staff the entire time.

See
http://www.ice.hpv.co.uk/trikes_t.htm
for details of Ice T

I'm no athlete, but find the Ice T fun and reliable.

Cheers, helen s

 

[David Martin]

wafflycat wrote:

> See
> http://www.ice.hpv.co.uk/trikes_t.htm
> for details of Ice T
>
> I'm no athlete, but find the Ice T fun and reliable.

No athelete? You have raced it with some considerable success ;-)

...d

 

[wafflycat]

"David Martin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> wafflycat wrote:
>
>> See
>> http://www.ice.hpv.co.uk/trikes_t.htm
>> for details of Ice T
>>
>> I'm no athlete, but find the Ice T fun and reliable.
>
> No athelete? You have raced it with some considerable success ;-)
>
> ..d
>

Why, blush, thank you! In case the original poster is of the mistaken
belief I am an athlete - I'm not - it was a fun race, unintentional, and if
it had been for real, there's no way I'd have won... My only race I've done
and the only one I've won or am ever likely to win!

Cheers, helen s

 

[[email protected]]

> ... if you know how to use a spanner ...

I think I may be able to recruit my father to help me build a recumbent
bike from bits and therefore learn how to maintain it in the process.
However the example you pointed me to has me baffled and a bit worried.
I would have to consult.

--
Guy Robinson
[all standard disclaimers apply]

 

[[email protected]]

Danny wrote:

> Do you mean the Challenge Wizard? I nearly bought one of those (before
> settling on the Street Machine), seems like a good commuter.

Yes, Challenge Wizard is what I was referring to.

What make is the Street Machine?

> It's probably worth keeping an eye on the second-hand market.
> Velovision, Cycling Plus and Cycle (the CTC mag) often have recumbents
> in the classified sections. I believe they all also have classified
> sections on their websites. And, of course, there's always eBay.

This does seem to be the answer, buying secondhand. I've received
multiply recommendations for D-Trek both here and on the human powered
forum where I asked the same question but I'm too timid to use eBay.

I guess I should be used to trying to buying things that few people
generally bother to try and sell to the general public by now. My main
hobby is the book-based persuit of role-playing games, whose
independent retail chains were lost in the 80s.

Thank to everyone for helping me get a little up to speed on 'bents.

--
Guy Robinson

[all standard disclaimers apply]

 

[Danny Colyer]

[email protected] wrote:
> Yes, Challenge Wizard is what I was referring to.
>
> What make is the Street Machine?

HPVelotechnik:
<URL:http://www.hpvelotechnik.com/produkte/sm/gt/index_e.html>

A new one would be well out of your price range, but they're typically
advertised for about GBP 800-900 second-hand (not that they come up all
that often).

--
Danny Colyer (my reply address is valid but checked infrequently)
<URL:http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/>
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

 

[[email protected]]

Danny wrote:

>> What make is the Street Machine?

> HPVelotechnik:

> A new one would be well out of your price range, but they're typically
> advertised for about GBP 800-900 second-hand (not that they come
> up all that often).

I think this is going to be a long, hard shop. Getting up to speed on
the technical aspects will be hard enough, let alone actually finding a
recumbent in a price range that reflects it worth.

--
Guy Robinson

[all standard disclaimers apply]

 

[[email protected]]

Danny wrote:

>> What make is the Street Machine?

> HPVelotechnik:

> A new one would be well out of your price range, but they're typically
> advertised for about GBP 800-900 second-hand (not that they come
> up all that often).

I think this is going to be a long, hard shop. Getting up to speed on
the technical aspects will be hard enough, let alone actually finding a
recumbent in a price range that reflects it worth.

--
Guy Robinson

[all standard disclaimers apply]

 

[Call me Bob]

On 12 Sep 2005 02:13:48 -0700, "[email protected]"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>> A new one would be well out of your price range, but they're typically
>> advertised for about GBP 800-900 second-hand (not that they come
>> up all that often).
>
>I think this is going to be a long, hard shop. Getting up to speed on
>the technical aspects will be hard enough, let alone actually finding a
>recumbent in a price range that reflects it worth.

How about this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-Recumbent-b...ryZ72574QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://tinyurl.com/9m5cm

Job lot of 3 ActionBent bikes for a grand. Keep the one that suits
best and flog the other two to cover the cost of yours.

A few caveats in that kind of deal, and perhaps not right for a novice
buyer, but certainly interesting.


"Bob"
--


Email address is spam trapped, to reply directly remove the beverage.

 

[Danny Colyer]

[email protected] wrote:
> I think this is going to be a long, hard shop. Getting up to speed on
> the technical aspects will be hard enough, let alone actually finding a
> recumbent in a price range that reflects it worth.

It occurred to me that I haven't mentioned my recumbent page:
<URL:http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/recumbents/>

It used to include links to all the recumbent manufacturers and all the
UK suppliers that I knew of, though I haven't bothered to keep the lists
up to date for the last couple of years. You should find the links
useful, though, particularly the Recumbent FAQ.

--
Danny Colyer (my reply address is valid but checked infrequently)
<URL:http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/>
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

 

[kit]

[email protected] wrote:

> I've been trying to buy a commuter recumbent bike in the UK, suitable
> for extending the range that can travel relative to my standard 21-gear
> bike. My budget requires that the bike cost less than £1000 and my
> peace of mind dictates that it should not be too desirable for either
> bike thieves or envious kids.

Stolen recumbents are often - though of course not always - recovered
later, presumably because they're still quite distinctive so people
tend to remember them.

> I've researched the matter as broadly as I can over the web and via
> the Yellow Pages have largely drawn a blank.
>
> The MicWic Commuter 7 sounds ideal but this company seems to have
> disappeared with even Swindon bike shops denying all knowledge of it.
>
> The Atomics Sports' KMX Class Kart is certainly for sale in the right
> price range but this too desirable a bike for me to ride and I would
> prefer one designed for endurance rather than racing or KMX style
> stunts.
>
> The closest I have gotten to a match is the Champion Wizard, which is
> listed as a commuter, but I have not seen a single quoted price for it
> in the UK.
>
> I am amazingly hesitant to but a £1,200+ recumbent bike because it
> will have been made for purposes above and beyond what I want from it.
> I'm no athlete about to try and race to break speed records; instead
> I'm someone who wants to cover reasonable distances under my own
> power in an efficient manner.

A lot of recumbents are very fast, but distances at speed and in
comfort is the name of the game.

> The closest I've got to a reasonable retailer contact is from London
> Recumbents, who offer both an hour's ride for £10 or a half-days
> worth of advice that they hinted might be expensive if I failed to buy
> a bike at the end of the experience. They are the people who don't
> appear to state a price the Champion Wizard, preferring to be more
> explicit about what appears to be the more up market recumbents that
> they offer.
>
> Can anyone help or offer any pertinent advice?

www.m5-ligfietsen.com

M5 sell framesets starting at 672 euros + 19% VAT + p&p (probably about
£50). This would allow you to build up a good bike for less than
£1000. I am very happy with my 28/20 for commuting as it's one of the
higher recumbents available which is nice in traffic, though some of
the newer models probably have better suspension and are probably
better designed in other respects. I'm not going to post a review
online, but you can email me if you're interested or have any
questions.

A company called D-tek will let you hire different styles of recumbent
to see which is right for you, and also sell 2nd hand. I've never been
myself, but I've talked to the owner and he seemed very helpful. Most
recumbent shops will let you borrow bikes. I rode several bikes from
bikefix (london) before taking the plunge. I also talked to
kinetics-online up in Glasgow.

Kit

 

[Peter Clinch]

[email protected] wrote:
> I've been trying to buy a commuter recumbent bike in the UK, suitable
> for extending the range that can travel relative to my standard 21-gear
> bike. My budget requires that the bike cost less than £1000 and my
> peace of mind dictates that it should not be too desirable for either
> bike thieves or envious kids.

Howzabout an HP Velotechnik Spirit?
http://www.bikefix.co.uk/b-spirit.html (the other UK dealer is Kinetics
in Glasgow, as Ben is my usual supplier of 'bents I usually quote the
Kinetics page, but he seems to have fallen off the face of DNS at this
precise moment in time). You might have words with either
Kinetics/Bikefix about whether HP-Vel's Wavey is still available. It
seems to have fallen off their website index but the page was still
there last time I looked, and they were about £5-600 and quite an okay
basic machine /if/ your knees didn't intersect with the steering!

For the Spirit may want to crack the budget a wee bit with stuff like
mudguards, DualDrive gearing etc. etc., but the basic bike is very nice,
incredibly comfortable, easier than most 'bents to ride IME and comes in
at under a grand. Not nearly as cool as the low slung sporty stuff,
which might mean less prone to walking, but 'bents are *relatively*
better off anyway as they're easy to track, hard to fence and
opportunist thieves don't even know if they'll be able to ride one
before they try in most cases.

> I am amazingly hesitant to but a £1,200+ recumbent bike because it
> will have been made for purposes above and beyond what I want from it.
> I'm no athlete about to try and race to break speed records; instead
> I'm someone who wants to cover reasonable distances under my own
> power in an efficient manner.

Many recumbents are designed to do exactly what you seek at prices well
over that. I ride an HP Vel Streetmachine like Danny, and nobody is
going to break records on one of those because it's a fairly ponderous
(but /amazingly/ comfortable and refined) tourer. The Spirit suggested
above can easily be taken past £1,200 with standard and useful options,
and is primarily an urban bike and commuter.

> Can anyone help or offer any pertinent advice?

As others have said, it's important to get on some and ride them. In
particular, do you suit the seating? The *only* way to be sure is sit
on it!

D-Tek in Ely probalby have the best range of things you can actually sit
on and try, and a lot of that is "previously owned" which will push the
price down.

But I strongly advise buying after Real Life Experience of the bike in
question. Recumbents vary much more than upwrongs so IMHO it's just
daft not to spend a little more to get some seat-time before signing the
cheque.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[Adrian Godwin]

[email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> This does seem to be the answer, buying secondhand. I've received
> multiply recommendations for D-Trek both here and on the human powered
> forum where I asked the same question but I'm too timid to use eBay.
>

I came across this advert for an Orbit Crystal Recumbent while looking
for a road bike : I know nothing about the model listed or the actual
item for sale, but it might be worth a look.

http://www.orbit-cycles.co.uk/second_hand.shtml

-adrian

 

[Phil Clarke]

kit wrote:

> www.m5-ligfietsen.com
> I am very happy with my 28/20 for commuting as it's one of the
> higher recumbents available which is nice in traffic, ...

me too with mine. It'd be nice if the drop to the ground was an inch
lower for my stubby 30" legs but thats just me being fussy.


> A company called D-tek will let you hire different styles of recumbent
> to see which is right for you, and also sell 2nd hand.

in Little Thetford, near Ely, Cambridgeshire. 01353 648177.

I did Kevins half day lesson, sulked because he wouldnt sell me his demo
StreetMachine that day, & a month later he found a secondhand 28/20
which I tried & bought. Well under a grand.

I now commute it 24 miles a day, alternating between it & my Pompino.

Phil

 

[Phil Clarke]

kit wrote:

> www.m5-ligfietsen.com
> I am very happy with my 28/20 for commuting as it's one of the
> higher recumbents available which is nice in traffic, ...

me too with mine. It'd be nice if the drop to the ground was an inch
lower for my stubby 30" legs but thats just me being fussy.


> A company called D-tek will let you hire different styles of recumbent
> to see which is right for you, and also sell 2nd hand.

in Little Thetford, near Ely, Cambridgeshire. 01353 648177.

I did Kevins half day lesson, sulked because he wouldnt sell me his demo
StreetMachine that day, & a month later he found a secondhand 28/20
which I tried & bought. Well under a grand.

I now commute it 24 miles a day, alternating between it & my Pompino.

Phil

 

[Danny Colyer]

Phil Clarke wrote:
> It'd be nice if the drop to the ground was an inch
> lower for my stubby 30" legs but thats just me being fussy.

<G>
My wife can't even sit on my Street Machine, because she can't reach the
ground.

--
Danny Colyer (my reply address is valid but checked infrequently)
<URL:http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/>
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine