bents: saving your butt

runcyclexcski@gmail.com

I am considering getting a long wheel base delta-type tricyle 'bent.

Question:

When I ride my upright bike and I see bumps/rough pavement ahead I
naturally get the weight of my butt off the seat and use me legs as a
"suspension". What do the recumbent folk do? One can't raise the butt
off the seat, right? Just suffer through the rough stuff? Is it too
bad to worry about?

Jon Bendtsen

runcyclexcski@gmail.com wrote:
> I am considering getting a long wheel base delta-type tricyle 'bent.
>
> Question:
>
> When I ride my upright bike and I see bumps/rough pavement ahead I
> naturally get the weight of my butt off the seat and use me legs as a
> "suspension". What do the recumbent folk do? One can't raise the butt
> off the seat, right? Just suffer through the rough stuff? Is it too
> bad to worry about?

1) drive arround it
2) absorb it into the builtin suspension.



JonB

Jon

<runcyclexcski@gmail.com> wrote
>
> When I ride my upright bike and I see bumps/rough pavement ahead I
> naturally get the weight of my butt off the seat and use me legs as a
> "suspension". What do the recumbent folk do? One can't raise the butt
> off the seat, right?

Actually on some recumbent bikes one can unload the seat base.
I can do so on my Tour easy and my BikeE, for instance. And
some recumbents have active rear suspensions (like my BikeE)
and others have some amount of passive (frame) suspension
(like my Tour Easy).

The more laid-back position and "euro-style" seat on my Volae
recumbent combine with high pressure tires and stiff frame to
deliver more road shock to me than my other bikes. In practice,
it hasn't really been a problem. Though, I certainly prefer the
Tour Easy if I have to ride miles and miles on rough chip seal
roads.

Others will have to address the issue of three wheel tracks
if you're considering a trike...

Jon

Roger Zoul

"Jon" <jonmein@none.non> wrote in message
news:485f834d$0$6005$88260bb3@news.teranews.com...
> <runcyclexcski@gmail.com> wrote
>>
>> When I ride my upright bike and I see bumps/rough pavement ahead I
>> naturally get the weight of my butt off the seat and use me legs as a
>> "suspension". What do the recumbent folk do? One can't raise the butt
>> off the seat, right?
>
> Actually on some recumbent bikes one can unload the seat base.
> I can do so on my Tour easy and my BikeE, for instance. And
> some recumbents have active rear suspensions (like my BikeE)
> and others have some amount of passive (frame) suspension
> (like my Tour Easy).
>
> The more laid-back position and "euro-style" seat on my Volae
> recumbent combine with high pressure tires and stiff frame to
> deliver more road shock to me than my other bikes. In practice,
> it hasn't really been a problem. Though, I certainly prefer the
> Tour Easy if I have to ride miles and miles on rough chip seal
> roads.
>
> Others will have to address the issue of three wheel tracks
> if you're considering a trike...
>
> Jon
>

Well, I have a couple thousand miles on my LWB recumbent, my trikes, and my
road bike. I wonder why this hasn't been a problem for me on any of them?

Jon

"Roger Zoul" <rogerzoul2@hotmail.com> wrote
>
>> [not standing to unload seat as on upright bike]
>
> Well, I have a couple thousand miles on my LWB
> recumbent, my trikes, and my road bike. I wonder
> why this hasn't been a problem for me on any of them?

Likewise. I'm approaching 10,000 miles on my Tour Easy,
and have more than 15,000 recumbent miles overall. Not
being able to turn legs into shock absorbers as on an
upright bike hasn't been an issue.

But there are differences in how various recumbents designs
handle rough roads. Something to consider when buying
a bike or trike,-- or deciding which one to ride today. %^)

Jon

Dart70ca

I don't have NEARLY the miles any of you guys have under your
belts and I ride a fairly low-end bent (Sun EZ-Sport), I only notice
rough pavement once in a while. Usually I know when to avoid it and do
so. When I can't, I just push on the pedals a bit and raise my butt up
off the seat enough to soak them up. My biggest peeve (at least with
this bike) is that the wheelbase almost exactly coincides with the
standard spacing of the grooves in sidewalk (about 6' around here).
Both tires hitting those grooves simultaneously really delivers an
annoying ride. I don't ride on sidewalks as a rule, but some of my
commuter routes have them as unavoidable sections along suburban
freeways and highways.
I my case, I believe that the seating position on this bike as a
bit too far back over the tire (though others are worse) and allows
the shock to be transmitted more directly up through the seat. I
haven't ridden a Tour-Easy, but there is a locally-built LWB
(Vancouver, BC) called the Recumboni which has a similarly-situated
seat position and, in test rides I've done on it, is much more cushy.
It doesn't have any suspension and the tires are 100psi, like mine, so
I'd say the frame soaks it up. Seat is similar in feel as well, though
I think it's more of the Rans design than Easy-Racers.
I've gone and test-ridden about a dozen different designs now
(tadpoles, LWB, SWB, MWB) from different manufacturers. I liked the
HPVelotechnik (sp?) SWB designs with full suspension as well as most
of the LWB's I've tried. Each person is very different when it comes
to choosing a 'bent, though, so try as many as you can. First choose a
wheelbase style, then narrow it down to individual designs.
If it's any help, I've been reading these HPV groups for a number
of years now and my overall impression is that, if you're going to
have any problems, they're likely to be either numb or cold hands or
feet and/or knee pain. Numbness doesn't affect me, but from what I've
read, you're more likely to encounter it with bottom brackets that are
high (especially higher than your hips), and with handlebars that are
high as well. Hand position seems to have varying ability to do away
with some of it in some sufferers.
Knee pain seems to be mostly caused by incorrect technique. I got
a bad knee and later read that you shouldn't mash the pedals. Gotta
spin those babies.


Good luck,

Keith

Tom Sherman

Dart70ca aka Keith who? wrote:
> [...]
> I'd say the frame soaks it up. Seat is similar in feel as well, though
> I think it's more of the Rans design than Easy-Racers.[...]

What is a "Rans" (sic)?

(Cue Perry Butler calling me a Nazi).

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

Tom Sherman

Dart70ca aka Keith who? wrote:
> [...]
> I'd say the frame soaks it up. Seat is similar in feel as well, though
> I think it's more of the Rans design than Easy-Racers.[...]

What is a "Rans" (sic)?

(Cue Perry Butler calling me a Nazi).

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful