John Redman wrote:
> If there is no weight on your arms, that means there is more weight than
> needs be on your backside. With an End to End ride, that is going to be
> very uncomfortable.
You /really/ haven't thought about that one... The weight isn't all on
one's bum on a touring recumbent, it's spread the whole way along your
back as well. With an E2E is will be much /more/ comfortable.
> One should aim to have the weight more evenly balanced
> between the three areas of the body that touch the bike, namely feet hands
> and backside.
No, one should aim to minimise the total pressure through increasing
surface area, not simply adding small contact points. The surface area
I have taking my weight is several times greater than that taking it on
an upright so the pressure on any one point is considerably less, and
the areas taking the pressure are used to it and have evolved to take
it, which can't be said for arms.
I moved to recumbents from an upright trad tourer with a good Brooks
saddle (still used on my freight bike). It was, for an upright bike,
quite a comfortable setup, but nowhere near as good as my recumbent.
The only place I ever get aches is in my leg muscles after considerable use.
Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net
[email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/