a.twiddler
Veteran
An Epiphany, and Some Recumbent Ponderings.
I’ve recently been browsing several years’ worth of a German Velomobile forum (with the help, and sometimes hindrance, of Google Translate). It’s always interesting to read other people’s views, especially from a different national or cultural perspective. Plenty of stuff about continental makes of bike over the years, many now defunct, others I’d never heard of, new riders wanting advice, how can I go faster, what will suit me, equipment, German traffic laws etc, as you might expect.
There seem to be more recumbent dealers than in the UK, even if widely spread out though since Brexit they are not really accessible to us in Britain as they either don’t post to UK or the costs are off puttingly high.
From a European viewpoint, low, reclined, short wheelbase 2 wheelers are the thing, with tourers allowed to be a bit higher and less reclined, but long wheelbase bikes like the Radius Peer Gynt or Dino seen as something from the past.
Seems I’m sadly deluded. Here I was, thinking, “Hey, I’m a recumbentist! How great is that!”
If you follow the views expressed by some on that forum, with my experience leading me to favour less reclined seats and lower bottom brackets for the sake of easier climbing, it seems I’m an outlier, maybe Not Even a Proper Recumbentist (shock, horror).
Someone even queried whether American LWB bikes were even “real” recumbents or just “chair bikes”. You only have to look at Bentrider Online to see that they still have a following in the US where they call them recumbents so that’s good enough for me. Perhaps with my tedious inclination for mild off road as well as being somewhat short acquiring the lengthy Linear was a serendipitous gift from fate for encouraging my interests. Even on Bentrider, though, the emphasis is shifting towards trikes.
As for the HPV Spirit, which also ticks a lot of the boxes for me, as well as being more train friendly, this seems to also come into the category somewhat disparagingly labelled “chair bike”, or “scooter bike”. Curiously, as it is quite versatile. A trip last year involved some bridleway, some canal towpath, and some road riding where I actually passed another diamond frame rider going uphill which is pretty remarkable for me, not being what you would call fast on anything. I haven’t pushed the mileage on a ride beyond 33 miles yet on that one though now Spring is allegedly here it’s just a matter of time. It rides well enough that longer trips are quite feasible.
As for the train thing, since I acquired a Brompton which you can spontaneously take on a train without any pre booking I’ve been rather spoilt, and haven’t used a train as part of any of my rides with anything else since, including my upright tourer. Hopefully, another first for the Spirit later this year.
Something just clicked for me with the Spirit a couple of weeks ago on a shopping trip. Confronted with a traffic jam at the end of a cycle path I found myself standing alongside holding the handlebars without even thinking about it. On the Linear, or the late Dawes Low Rider, it would have taken a little pre planning to get off. It’s just such a convenient bike with its low stepover. I then wheeled it through gaps in the stationary traffic, got on, and rode off.
Of course the above labels from the German forum might mean something else in that language, as Google translate is notoriously quirky. Also cycling forums are often populated with more sport orientated posters. It’s hard to think of someone who rides any sort of recumbent who isn’t on some cycling forum or other, being in a minority of a minority. If you ride on two wheels, you are probably in a minority of a minority of a minority, as trikes have become more popular than two wheel recumbents in recent years. Of course, popularity is a relative term, as unless you have one yourself, you rarely see a recumbent of any description in the wild.
Regardless of the above, I have no plans to give up 2 wheeled recumbent riding, and if something interesting comes up for sale within travelling distance, I will at least go and have a sit on it. Grasshopper, maybe, or Lightning P-38 if in a small size. I might be old, but I’m not dead yet.
I’ve recently been browsing several years’ worth of a German Velomobile forum (with the help, and sometimes hindrance, of Google Translate). It’s always interesting to read other people’s views, especially from a different national or cultural perspective. Plenty of stuff about continental makes of bike over the years, many now defunct, others I’d never heard of, new riders wanting advice, how can I go faster, what will suit me, equipment, German traffic laws etc, as you might expect.
There seem to be more recumbent dealers than in the UK, even if widely spread out though since Brexit they are not really accessible to us in Britain as they either don’t post to UK or the costs are off puttingly high.
From a European viewpoint, low, reclined, short wheelbase 2 wheelers are the thing, with tourers allowed to be a bit higher and less reclined, but long wheelbase bikes like the Radius Peer Gynt or Dino seen as something from the past.
Seems I’m sadly deluded. Here I was, thinking, “Hey, I’m a recumbentist! How great is that!”
If you follow the views expressed by some on that forum, with my experience leading me to favour less reclined seats and lower bottom brackets for the sake of easier climbing, it seems I’m an outlier, maybe Not Even a Proper Recumbentist (shock, horror).
Someone even queried whether American LWB bikes were even “real” recumbents or just “chair bikes”. You only have to look at Bentrider Online to see that they still have a following in the US where they call them recumbents so that’s good enough for me. Perhaps with my tedious inclination for mild off road as well as being somewhat short acquiring the lengthy Linear was a serendipitous gift from fate for encouraging my interests. Even on Bentrider, though, the emphasis is shifting towards trikes.
As for the HPV Spirit, which also ticks a lot of the boxes for me, as well as being more train friendly, this seems to also come into the category somewhat disparagingly labelled “chair bike”, or “scooter bike”. Curiously, as it is quite versatile. A trip last year involved some bridleway, some canal towpath, and some road riding where I actually passed another diamond frame rider going uphill which is pretty remarkable for me, not being what you would call fast on anything. I haven’t pushed the mileage on a ride beyond 33 miles yet on that one though now Spring is allegedly here it’s just a matter of time. It rides well enough that longer trips are quite feasible.
As for the train thing, since I acquired a Brompton which you can spontaneously take on a train without any pre booking I’ve been rather spoilt, and haven’t used a train as part of any of my rides with anything else since, including my upright tourer. Hopefully, another first for the Spirit later this year.
Something just clicked for me with the Spirit a couple of weeks ago on a shopping trip. Confronted with a traffic jam at the end of a cycle path I found myself standing alongside holding the handlebars without even thinking about it. On the Linear, or the late Dawes Low Rider, it would have taken a little pre planning to get off. It’s just such a convenient bike with its low stepover. I then wheeled it through gaps in the stationary traffic, got on, and rode off.
Of course the above labels from the German forum might mean something else in that language, as Google translate is notoriously quirky. Also cycling forums are often populated with more sport orientated posters. It’s hard to think of someone who rides any sort of recumbent who isn’t on some cycling forum or other, being in a minority of a minority. If you ride on two wheels, you are probably in a minority of a minority of a minority, as trikes have become more popular than two wheel recumbents in recent years. Of course, popularity is a relative term, as unless you have one yourself, you rarely see a recumbent of any description in the wild.
Regardless of the above, I have no plans to give up 2 wheeled recumbent riding, and if something interesting comes up for sale within travelling distance, I will at least go and have a sit on it. Grasshopper, maybe, or Lightning P-38 if in a small size. I might be old, but I’m not dead yet.
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). The RR was my first two wheeled recumbent and still gets out from time to time… it’s like riding in a luxury limo and goes faster than any bike made from a random selection of dead bikes has a right to. I’m happy to do my thing and mostly ignore the Internet experts’ opinion on my choice of transport. To prove my resolute individuality I rarely ride upright bikes these days and use Kickbikes instead, if I’m not recumbent …
