Recumbent touring?

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Hi
Still amazed that after many mile of touring throughout Europe we still hardly ever see Recumbents.
Trikes are especially thin on the ground. There must be plenty of others doing tours on these fine machines so where do you all go?

Really interested in seeing what others are up to and their thoughts on Recumbent touring.

Thanks
John and dawn
 

mcshroom

Bionic Subsonic
There are a few laid back tourers on these boards.

Amongst others, @Tigerbiten and @kimble - I think you may want to chip in here :smile:
 

vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
Hi
Still amazed that after many mile of touring throughout Europe we still hardly ever see Recumbents.
Trikes are especially thin on the ground. There must be plenty of others doing tours on these fine machines so where do you all go?

Really interested in seeing what others are up to and their thoughts on Recumbent touring.

Thanks
John and dawn

I've seen a handful of recumbents on UK roads in the past five years, one locally, one or two on FNRttC rides and a couple on Audax rides. They aren't exactly the first choice of cycle are they?

Recumbents, both two wheeled and three wheeled, are a very small percentage of human powered vehicles. The percentage of 'standard' cyclists who go touring is very small. Apply this percentage to the small number of recumbent riders then it's hardly surprising that seeing them is a rarity.
 

Nigeyy

Legendary Member
Well, been touring on a recumbent, sort of......

I actually think recumbents would be great to use for touring -at least for me, I see so much more of the scenery when I'm on one. However, the biggest problem I dealt with for touring is transportation; you just can't bag up a recumbent the same way you can a regular bike (and certainly now it seems you would open yourself up for oversized baggage fees). At least for me on a short wheelbase, cycling through any kind of busy city is also a negative -if I needed to hop a kerb, well, I can't. Admittedly thats perhaps more my limitation than a recumbent and you could argue you probably aren't going to be cycling through a city, but it still is something to consider for me.

So really while I'd love to tour on one (did go to Nova Scotia but it was in the back of a truck and then took a ferry) the limitations, inconveniences and potential extra expenses are just too much to override my own really nice diamond frame tourer. I just think there are less restrictions for me on a regular bike. I will say though, when I retire (and then hopefully have more time and money, ha!), the thought of cycling across the USA on a recumbent would be really tempting. Given a theoretical choice, I personally think a recumbent would win out everytime.
 
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