Recumbent hire?

[Monkreadusuk]

Hello, I am looking to try my hand at riding a recumbent however dont want to shell out for one that I may not like. Does anyone know of a place I could hire one from? Preferebly in the portsmouth/southampton area.

Many Thanks,

 

[biggs682]

i wish i could but i cant . i have always wanted to try one too

 

[henshaw11]

Not many places sell 'em so you'll have trouble finding something local, never mind rentable !

London Recumbents in Dulwich Park (and Battersea too) used to do recumbent hire - really for trying out in the park, but I'm not sure what they're a distributor for nowadays - used to be a Challenge distributor but I'm not sure they are any more (tho' they're still listed on the Challenge website)
http://www.londonrecumbents.com/recumbents.html

DTek up near Ely (Cambridgeshire) have a huge number of assorted 'bents to try:
http://www.littlethetford.org/?page_id=529
- typically a half-day in the local roads, tho' I think Kevin has some sort of buy-come-rent-if-you-return-it deal.

Westcountry Recumbents are now in Derbyshire http://www.wrhpv.com/about_us/index.html
and are a Greenspeed dealer.

T'other one is Laidback bikes up in Edinburgh:
http://www.laid-back-bikes.co.uk/

Futurecycles in E Sussex has closed, Bikefix in central London sell Hpvelotechnik and Challenge - don't hire, but you can try one out in the local streets.

ICE recumbents - ie the manufacturer - are over in Falmouth.

HTH..

 

[Scoosh]

I know Laid-back-bikes do recumbent hire - I've known of people who have hired for a 2-week tour round Scotland.

Dave Gardiner is a top bloke too - very helpful.

 

[Monkreadusuk]

After looking at laid back bikes I wish I didn't live on the south coast :P

 

[bobcolover]

i have hired recumbents from bikefix in the past
http://www.bikefix.co.uk/recumbents
good luck