In article <
[email protected]>, Peter Clinch wrote:
>George Hauxwell wrote:
>
>> If they're so comfortable to ride why are there not more of them about, I've
>> only ever seen one to my knowledge and that had two wheels.
>
>Aside from the issues Guy and Jon have mentioned, there is quite a bit
>of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt putting people off.
At least one poster here has a recumbent and some uprights, and finds
an upright more appropriate for at least some journeys (not racing),
so there can be genuine disadvantages too, beyond the price.
They are generally either heavier or made of more expensive material
than uprights, can be trickier to store and park, can have specialist
parts that most bike dealers don't stock, and maneuverability and
visibility in congestion can be worse than an upright (though apparently
not as bad as many people think). The rider can not use their legs as
suspension like an upright rider lifting their weight off the saddle
as they go over a bump. Bike suspension can compensate for this, but is
not free or weightless (and is available for uprights too, of course).
The huge range of recumbents means that not all of these disadvantages
need be true for any particular machine - and no one upright bicycle
is ideal for all possible uses, so expecting a recumbent to be better
for all possible uses is unfair. (And all this is second hand, I don't
have a recumbent.)
The price seems to be largely a circular thing. There aren't many
recumbents, and bicycles made in small numbers are expensive, so there
aren't many of them. And there is little point using cheap components on
an expensive frame, making it more expensive.
There are homemade recumbents which are made cheaply if you don't count
the cost of the builders time, but there are no mass market not very good
but very cheap ones. And there aren't many second hand ones about, partly
because there aren't many at all, and partly because few people spend
that much money on something they use a few times, stick in the shed for
a few years, and sell cheaply when they have a clearout. Nor do they
leave them locked up with flimsy locks and then not bother going to the
police when they are stolen leaving them to be auctioned off cheaply
by the police.
(I see from
http://www.personal.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/cycling.htm
that Peter finds an upright folder more convenient for "short hacks
and errands", and that he says quite a lot of what I say here, only
better, and with personal experience. But I've written the rest of the
post now.)