When we go out on our recumbent trike bicycle, folks usually cease to talk to us about it and are understandably curious about this unusual and excellent machine. Some inquiries crop up frequently in these conversations, and these, along with our attempts to answer them, make up Part II of this series on recumbent trike bicycles.
electric trike are asked are: “Can and do auto drivers see you when you are seated down low?”, “Can a recumbent trike climb hills?”, “Is that seat as comfy as it looks?”, “So how rapid does that trike go?”, “Do you ride a recumbent for the reason that you have a negative back?”.
As far as visibility is concerned, years of riding have taught us that drivers seem to notice a recumbent trike a lot additional very easily than they notice upright bikes and typically give them considerably far more space on the road. Nonetheless, if you ride any sort of bike, you do bear some duty to let drivers know you are there placing a flag four to six feet above your trike will do the trick and you need to not knowledge any difficulties with drivers. Moreover, even though a recumbent trike bicycle is usually low to the ground, it is also a small wider than two-wheelers and offers the impression of becoming even more so. Several drivers seem to treat our recumbent as a automobile (as they should really) and overtake it adequately when passing, alternatively of attempting to squeeze past inside the white line as they from time to time do with upright bikes. And if a driver does pass a small also closely, the low centre of gravity and the stability of the trike prevents their slipstream from affecting the rider’s balance as it can with a two-wheeled machine.
The position on a recumbent trike bicycle also gives the rider a better field of view. Alternatively of gazing downward at their front wheel, they are looking up at their surroundings, and greater in a position to preserve track of the movement of site visitors. Searching behind is a lot more tricky, however, and we strongly advocate the use of at least one rear-view mirror while riding.
In terms of the climbing skills of a recumbent, there appears to be a widespread belief that such a tricycle is inferior to uprights when it comes to hills. It is definitely accurate that hill climbing requires a distinct technique. For the reason that you can’t stand on the pedals of a recumbent trike, you should choose a gear that is comfortable to pedal and spin. Primarily based on our experience riding a tandem, it is greatest to make use of inertia – develop up as significantly speed ahead of ascending and down shift in a way that permits you to maintain spinning throughout the climb. Alternatively, installation of any one particular of a quantity of light-weight electric motor systems will add a whole new dimension to your hill climbing efforts. With such an addition, you’ll quickly develop into the envy of any upright cyclist in your hill-climbing endeavors. The addition of an electric motor is not needed, but it sure is exciting watching the appear on the competition’s faces as you blow ideal past them whilst riding your recumbent trike.
Recumbents normally tend to be a little heavier than uprights and this is especially true of a recumbent trike bicycle, but there are approaches to compensate for this issue. In addition to allowing the rider to push against the seat when pedaling, the stability of the trike permits climbing at slower speeds than a two wheeled machine by eliminating the need for a minimum speed with which to keep balance. But, there is tiny doubt that the addition of an electric motor makes hill climbing both much more enjoyable and simpler.
There is tiny doubt that the seat on a recumbent trike bicycle is as comfy as it looks. Folks and their sitting equipment come in a selection of shapes and sizes, and not all of them discover the identical things comfy. This is a single explanation why we advise people to take the trike for a test ride prior to purchasing and test drive as quite a few models as doable to encounter the distinction.
We have heard complaints from some recumbent riders, commonly of the BikeE style “semi-recumbent” machines, that soon after a specific amount of time riding they commence to endure from the elegantly-named “recumbent butt”, which seems to consist of pain or numbness in the buttocks, possibly arising from their weight resting primarily on the seat pad. We have yet to hear of this trouble arising with the far more reclined recumbent trikes bicycles, like the Greenspeed, TerraTrike, KMX Karts or ICE, exactly where the rider’s weight is borne by the back as properly as the bottom.
As with climbing, your speed on a recumbent trike bicycle depends on the rider’s strength. Nonetheless, the excellent of the trike you pick contributes to just how quick you can cruise. Regardless of what a salesman may possibly tell you, due to the fact smaller sized wheels need much less energy to move, it will be much easier to preserve greater speeds on a recumbent trike with 16 inch wheels than 1, which has a 26 inch rear wheel and two 20 inch front wheels.
In terms of the undesirable back question, numerous people today who do have back problems uncover a recumbent trike bicycle a lot easier to ride than an upright, simply because its seat supports the back properly. As a result some obtain that a recumbent trike bicycle allows them to continue cycling when they can no longer ride an upright.