Recumbent Bicycle and Tricycle information
A resource for people considering a recumbent purchase
In 1997 I bought a Linear LWB recumbent bicycle from Sheldon at RecumbentSea in Moline
Michigan (since moved). At Sheldon's shop we were able to ride about 15 different kinds
of recumbents, and I highly recommend doing this if at all possible. It is amazing how
different each bike feels from the next -- not at all like upright bikes, where the
differences are subtle. You might hate one recumbent -- you might not even be
able to ride it -- then love the next one and have no problem at all!
Well, I loved the Linear Long Wheelbase model, so I bought one that day. This was the biggest "impulse" purchase of my life to date, and I shook all the way home, with possible buyer's remorse.
I shouldn't have worried! Recumbent riding has changed the way I think and how I spend my time
and energy. I can't say that if you shell out the money for a recumbent bicycle,
you will definitely think you get your money's worth. They are expensive, they're quirky, and
you may not suddenly start riding more than before (as I did). There's a miserable statistic about how
many bicycles are ridden less than 100 miles after purchase. What I can say is, if you find a
recumbent you like, you may find, like I did, that the pleasure of riding it, even distances
you have never ridden a bicycle before, will encourage you to use it more and more often.
Good luck!
What does a Linear Look Like?
The next four pictures were taken in motion using a Casio QVC30a
digital camera. For $730, you'd think it could do better than this...
I'll be waiting on that purchase!
Since the pictures were taken, I've changed the bike in many ways, which
I hope to document with more pictures soon. I have a chain idler which
holds the bottom run of chain farther up off the ground and increases
chain tension (see below). I have mounted a pile of lights, and a "Spin
Kite", which increase my visibility, day and night-time. I have a
Cygo-Lite headlight with a large lead-acid battery, a Vista-light which is
mounted
on the handlebars so it actually shines on my legs and lights me
up, two red flashers in the back, one white flasher in the front, mounted
on sawed-off handlebars, and an emergency strobe light I carry in case of
really bad traffic conditions. I also have a cheap cycle-computer, which
is how I know my mileage. You can see in the pictures, I have a rear
rack, and panniers. Now I have three sets -- the red, small ones I use
for day-to-day, some Cannondale "Sharkproof" totally waterproof ones, and
recently I found some JanDD 9900 cubic inch (!!) touring panniers. I've
also discovered that the B.O.B trailer can hold the common Rubbermaid 18
gallon plastic bins or the 66 quart clear bins commonly available in
Target and K-mart stores.
Pictures from other peoples' web sites
- Here's a picture of a Linear.
The rider isn't me! I admire the guy, though...
- Another rider has used a Linear on Alpine tours.
- And here's a picture of the B.O.B. trailer.
Links to other recumbent bicycle sites and 'bent people
Great Things about my new bike...
- Well, I ride it! For hours at a time. Almost every day! The
difference between this and a regular bike is... well, you've got to try
one, if you see one. (For those of you in Bloomington, ask me if I'm not
in a hurry to get somewhere, and you can try mine.) The thing is like...
flying... gliding... It's comfortable, you have more power (if your quads
are well developed).
- I know this is nothing to a serious rider, and we have lots of
them in Bloomington, but here's a map(98k)
of some rides I've taken recently. I hope to start making maps of decent
local routes for other cyclists... stay tuned.
- It folds, down to 42" -- fits in the back of my car (a Honda Civic).
Actually, it fits in half of the back of my Civic.
- It weighs under 30 lbs, just like my mountain bike.
- Same gearing as my mountain bike -- 21 gears, same ratios. I haven't
hit a hill a car could drive up that I couldn't.
- It's fast (I don't really care, except that I run out of gears to
shift up into on the slightest downhill).
- It has a new trailer called "B.O.B.".
Disadvantages of the Linear Recumbent
- It's not a trail bike. (I don't care too much about that, except
that it doesn't do well on gravel roads, either.)
- It rattles and creaks. Because it folds, there are several places on
the bike which have rattling moving parts. Lithium grease or paraffin
applied to the rubbing parts, and tightening the fittings of the moving
parts can silence the bike.
- As I originally purchased it, it shifts gears unexpectedly, when you
least want it to. This was because the chain swayed with the bike and
pulled the derailleur to the next sprocket and back. I purchased an idler
sprocket from the manufacturer, which has completely solved the problem.
- As purchased, my feet slipped off the pedals a few times, which is
bad because in the recumbent position, your foot gets dragged
behind and under you very quickly if it hits the ground! I solved this
problem by buying Shimano SPD 323 pedals and cleats (called "clipless",
but to my mind it seems as though it should be called "clipfull", since
the shoes have special cleats which engage one side of the pedal). These
pedals are nice because on one side they have the cleat mechanism, while
the other is normal, allowing me to let people test ride the bike without
hassles. In addition, as real bikers know, clipless pedals allow
you to both push and pull the pedals around, giving more power, a
smoother ride, and different ways to exercise different muscles. I
haven't had much problem learning how to disengage the cleats, except the
first day, when I fell over at a stoplight. (I unclipped on the left
side, throwing my weight to the right side... Ooops!). Now, I
unclip on either side at will any time -- I try not to "prefer" one pedal
to the other, for both my balance and my knees' sake.
- It attracts a lot of attention -- it's hard to get anywhere fast,
because I get asked so many questions, and I like to tell people all
about it.
- It's so comfortable I don't want to stop riding it! I just keep going,
and going... I've ridden this bike about 3000 miles now, in 9 months!
You're still wondering why?
- I want to stop driving my car so much. One day a made a trip around
the Indiana Memorial
Union building on our campus, and I idly (eww, bad pun)
calculated the gas consumed... 12 ounces! To get around a single
(admittedly large) building! That's when I got serious about this.
- OK, ok, I needed an excuse to spend the money...
- I wanted to get in shape... A few years ago, when my wife (of the
time) was in the hospital, I suddenly began gaining weight, until
only a year or so later I was 55 lbs heavier. I've carried that extra
weight for... 7 years now. Starting with mountain biking to work, then
roller-blading to work, now recumbing to work and everywhere else, I'm
losing that weight. I'm down 45 lbs. (yay!). (well, dangit, the
end of winter finds me 10 lbs heavier again...)
- Was that more than you wanted to know? Typical Kevin move.
How can you get a Linear recumbent bicycle?
- Peter Stull, The Bicycle Man, Alfred Station NY 14803, 607-587-8835 now owns the assets of the Linear corporation and plans to create a new model in 2003.
last updated February 9, 2005
Actually, it turns out you can go home again. At
least, to my home...
