> Doug Cimper wrote:
>> ...
>> One problem people tend to have with SWB's of all types is the relatively
>> high seating position, that makes "remaining stationary but sitting on
>> the bike" difficult.
I have a "high-racer" style SWB (Volae) and wouldn't call remaining
stationary while seated difficult at all. Normally one foot down, one foot
clipped in works quite easily and comfortably. For extended stops,
I can put both feet down and I can "sit up" in the seat.
>> Recumbents aren't like upright bikes, where you can scoot forward off the
>> saddle and straddle the top tube while standing....
*Straddling the top tube* isn't "remaining stationary but sitting on the
bike", of course. %^)
"Tom Sherman" wrote
> I have a couple of short wheelbase (SWB) recumbents [1], and high seat
> height is not a problem. As a matter of fact, I can hold myself up with a
> hand on the ground. 
I note the Wikipedia recumbent page incorrectly (at least as a blanket
statement) asserts that recumbents are more difficult to start from
a stop:
Starting and Stopping
Because the body position does not allow the rider to push
the recumbent bike forward using his feet against the ground,
the bikes can only be propelled forward using the pedals.
This makes starting out slow and excellent balance is required. ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recumbent_bicycle
This of course completely ignores low-racers and trikes. %^)
And it doesn't match my experience with starting and stopping any
of my recumbents. It is particularly easy on my BikeE to "Flintstone"
the bike with one or two feet on the ground. Low bottom bracket
recumbents are quite easy to start and do not require more "execellent
balance" than an upright.
For higher bottom bracket recumbents, while they might require
some rider "acclimatization," they do not universally require starting
slow or with particular balance skills. Starting from a stop uphill in
too low a gear may arguably present somewhat more challange than
for an upright, perhaps...
Jon
