what should i buy

[Andy in Sig]

i live in ayrshire south of glasgow,
2nd question: - do i go for full suspension, rear only or none at all.

ayrshire recently won worst roads in the country award!!

Thanks

I've got an HPV Street Machine which is designed as a tourer and is equivalent to an upright tourer in that IMO it is probably the best allrounder you can get.

 

[bonj2]

I endorse the advice given above, but a trip to Dtek is going to be worthwhile wherever you are. Kevin holds a large stock; you can try all the different flavours, and then choose something used if you do not want to buy new. I haven't heard a bad word said about him.

I've got an excellent word to say for him, whichis that he saved me a grand, at least. I wasgoing to buy a recumbent or a trike, but I went and tried a load out at his place and came to the conclusion that the idea of a recumbent is shite.

What I found was that the under-seat-steering ones are not too difficult to handle, but not much lower than a normal bike - so hardly get any of the aerodynamic advantages.

Some of the above-seat-steering ones are low enough to get fairly low to get the aerodynamic advantage, but they are completely impossible to handle - twitchy to the point of being dangerous in my experience.

VERY hard to steer round corners, and tight manoevring and hill starts - forget it. And that was a challenge hurricane, fairly low but by no means the lowest.

From a bit of research it seems that it's basically a 6 month learning curve, obviously dependent on mileage, but from the blast I had on it I couldn't notice any speed difference over again a normal bike - I would have had to fit a computer to tell, so it couldn't be more than about 5-10%, if that.

So i decided lack of agility and confidence and the lack of/negligibility of increase in speed made it not something i'd be atall willing to spend 4 figures on.

And the trikes, while fun going round corners, soon lost their novelty value because I expected the fact they were really low to the ground would make them seem faster, but in fact the opposite was the case.

I'm not saying recumbents are completely pointless/worthless for everybody, some get on with them fine, obviously - but all I would say is try before you buy - 'cos you may really like the idea of them, like I did, but then not take to it in the slightest.

 

[Andy in Sig]

My Street Machine is USS and therefore not the lowest. One very windy day I went out on a 40 km loop with a friend who was using a pretty decent mountain bike. I was at least 5kph quicker into the wind but what surprised me was that I was also quicker when the wind was at our backs. Maybe that would be a better way of assessing bents: do a ride alongside somebody whose performance you know when on an upright.

 

[squeaker]

but I went and tried a load out at his place and came to the conclusion that the idea of a recumbent is shite

you forgot to add the words 'for me'
As a 'serious cyclist', no doubt you have been riding since you could walk: did you 'seriously' think that you could learn a somewhat different skill 'just like that'? Just 'cos something requires a different skill set doesn't make it 'shite'

 

[Amanda P]

under-seat-steering ones are not too difficult to handle, but not much lower than a normal bike - so hardly get any of the aerodynamic advantages.

Height has little to do with aerodynamics. It's more to do with effective frontal area. The more horizontal the rider, the lower the frontal area. This is usually (but not always - check out Bacchetta's 26" wheeled bikes) associated with the bike being low to the ground too.

Hang on, this is Bonj. Why am I even attempting a logical explanation?

 

[bonj2]

surely the best recumbent is a Challenge Fujin, and that's got to be virtually impossible to ride it's so low, still going to be difficult after months of practice...
With the steering and the weight directly in between the driven wheel and the steering wheel it's bound to ALWAYS be shaky - even when you've mastered it - it's just once you've mastered it you just know how to mitigate the shakiness. NOt good imo.
Claiming that "a learning curve is to be expected" doesn't make it any more tolerable.

 

[byegad]

surely the best recumbent is a Challenge Fujin, and that's got to be virtually impossible to ride it's so low, still going to be difficult after months of practice...
With the steering and the weight directly in between the driven wheel and the steering wheel it's bound to ALWAYS be shaky - even when you've mastered it - it's just once you've mastered it you just know how to mitigate the shakiness. NOt good imo.
Claiming that "a learning curve is to be expected" doesn't make it any more tolerable.

Speaking from my experience of learning to ride my AZUB-4, there is a learnng curve and you can learn to ride smoothly. I did it with an undiagnosed balance problem so anyone else, without my health problems anyone else could too.

To state from inexperience that it is impossible seems a little rash, bonj. I know a couple of Fujin owners and they are not supermen, just people with open minds!

 

[arallsopp]

I tried a Fujin, but found it a touch too low for daily use. I'd echo the earlier post about the SMGTe. Its a brilliant all rounder, and is the bent that all my friends use if they're joining me.

One at a time, of course.

 

[ACW]

Hi going to David at laid back bikes in Edinburgh on Saturday to try out a bike. my problem is i cannot ride for more than 1 hr at an high rate as my back gives out. i had a go on a recumbent exercise bike at the gym yesterday and managed 1/2 hr at the max hill setting on the bike without a twinge from my back. if it means learning to ride again i am more than willing to spend the money and put in the effort for pain free riding. after all there are no pockets in a coffin.
looked at the who owns what section and their seem to be quite a few challenge hurricane riders out there, would that be a good starting choice?
Cheers
Andy

 

[arallsopp]

I have every faith that David will sort you out. He is a good man, and well informed.

The hurricane is a popular choice, and you won't go far wrong with one, provided it feels like the best match after your test rides.

You really need to ride a few different models to work out which particular flavour of steering, bar position, gear ratios, suspension, weight, places to mount lights, racks, mudguards, etc will work for you.

Like any bike, recumbents vary massively between manufacturers and models. Imagine you'd never seen a DF before, and were confronted with a pashley princess, a full suss d/h, and an all carbon TT bike. The respective owners would all say they had the 'best' bike, and could provide plenty of reasons why.

I guess what I'm saying is "Your needs are yours alone", and David is ideally positioned to assist you in identifying them.

I've never managed to keep a hurricane upright for more than two pedal strokes, but can log 250 miles in a day on my Furai. My dad can ride my SMGTe without hesitation, but can't get out of the driveway on the Furai. Different strokes.

 

[ACW]

Hi all sorry its taken me so long to reply, went to see David in Edinburgh and i have a Nazca Fuego on order, delivery in mid july.
must say i found riding them fairly easy, after an initial wobble on my first go the rest was steady. still a lot to learn though. cant wait.
thanks for all the advice.
Andy

 

[Chonker]

Niceone, I was looking around at options for a lowracer but with commuter options (sus, rack, mudguards) and that one was high up my list. Just gotta save my pennies some more now

 

[Andy in Sig]

Hi all sorry its taken me so long to reply, went to see David in Edinburgh and i have a Nazca Fuego on order, delivery in mid july.
must say i found riding them fairly easy, after an initial wobble on my first go the rest was steady. still a lot to learn though. cant wait.
thanks for all the advice.
Andy

Out of interest, would you care to say what models you tried and what it was that led you to reject them before coming to your final choice?

 

[ACW]

Hi had a try on a challenge hurricane, nasca fuego and a challenge Furai.
the fuego ticked all the boxes (rack, mudguards, gears) and was easy to ride, the hurricane was a bit more tricky to ride, the furari, somewhere in the middle.

let you know more when i get it, mid july

Andy

 

[arallsopp]

I find the Furai lovely to ride. Lovely, lovely, lovely ACK!-Foot-in-the-front-wheel-again lovely, lovely. The Acks are getting rarer now.

Thank God.