Recumbent Bicycles Recumbent Bikes

For some years now we have been betting on recumbent bicycles (recumbent bike in English). The name comes basically from being bicycles or tricycles where the cyclist takes a more reclined position on the bicycle, providing this much comfort and aerodynamics. The saddle becomes a much larger seat that supports the cyclist's back and back. They are a type of rare bicycles here, but due to their great advantages we believe they are a very interesting option and that we should promote and make known.

On the one hand, there are several types of bicycles and tricycles reclined to adapt to the different types of cycling that we want to do. It is not the same to travel by city than by road or mountain, or for short trips or long cyclist trips. We can do it alone, or accompanied by reclining or even half-reclined tandems, with one cyclist reclined and the other not. The variety is very big and interesting. There are short and long models, lower or higher, suitable for different types of use.

On the other hand, going on these types of bicycles or tricycles is relatively easy but requires some learning. Driving, maneuverability, position, balance, starting, muscles to use, etc. It is very different from a normal bike and therefore requires a period of adaptation. This does not mean that they are difficult to use, you just have to practice and learn, a very interesting point for those who believed they had learned everything from the world of cycling.

There is a myth about these bikes, which we believe is 90% myth and 10% reality, and that is: climbing costs more and you go slower. We believe that this is true, for example, in short and explosive climbs, where at one point you stand on a normal bike and provide an additional effort of acceleration and power to overcome the obstacle. In a recumbent, you must continue sitting, and continue to do strength with the legs and pushing with the back plus the seat. Now, in mountain pass type climbs, where there is a steep slope to overcome in a constant way and for several kilometers, to keep a constant cadence and also with a better breathing, very important point because it allows a much faster recovery, allows climbing in a faster and more rested way. To this we can add, that once at the top,

Advantages of recumbent bicycles

- Minimize or eliminate many pains that ordinary bike users complain about. Back, cervical, neck, back, arms, wrists, hands, fingers, feet are pains that usually disappear completely with the use of these bicycles. Speaking with a user of 75 years, he told us that after a long day of 75 kilometers, the only thing he had tired and sore, were the legs, which seems certainly logical. The arms and wrists can not support the weight of the body, they only have to guide the bicycle without additional overexertion. 

- The indicated in the previous point, allows to avoid many muscular injuries, and allows to go by bike to many people who have stopped going with a conventional bike due to back or neck problems or wrists.

- Better breathing and recovery during practice, because we are not closed on ourselves. 

- Perfect frontal and lateral vision, without needing to have the head raised constantly. There is even the option to use headrest. You do not have to raise your head like a normal bike. This minimizes the overexertion of the neck, and the pain that this entails. This frontal view is also perfect for urban use. Through a rearview mirror we also get the posterior vision and lateral dead angles. 

- Possibility of carrying more luggage on long trips.

- Better aerodynamics, which makes them fast machines in plain and downhill. By having your back in contact with the seat, it is possible to be more efficient in pedaling, concentrating a lot of strength. 

- Saddles or very comfortable seats that allow you to pedal with total comfort. There are no concentrated pressures on the butt, joints, prostate, etc. 

- The comfort lies in the fact that the bike and seat adapt to the body of the cyclist, and not the other way around, which is what happens in traditional bicycles.

- There are high handlebars and low handlebars, that is, that the handlebar is in front of you and you have to take your hands a little high on the highs, and the low ones under the seat where the arms keep them sideways to the body and a lot more comfortable and rested. The basses allow total rest of the arms, while the seconds allow more aerodynamics, losing a bit the total comfort of the basses although they still do not have to put up with the weight of the body on them. Adapting to the seconds is surely easier, although with practice, both are excellent options. 

- Safer against falls, it is difficult to get fired ahead. Many of the falls are usually lateral. We are closer to the ground and taking off our feet quickly we have them on the mainland.

- Temperature. In summer, we do not have back with direct contact with the sun, although being on the seat, we are not 100% ventilated. The areas affected by the sun's rays are areas always ventilated by the air produced by the circulation itself. In winter the back is perfectly protected, being more aerodynamic there is less frontal incidence of cold air, and the sun affects much of the body to be more stretched and not make us shade ourselves. There is also the option of using screens for front winds.

- Elevated models (which are usually the shortest recumbent lengths) look the same as normal bikes, and tricycles or low models (which are usually longer), it is advisable to use a pennant for cars or other users of the way, see our vehicle perfectly. 

- There are urban, mountain, road or cycle tourism models. Models of 2 wheels or of three (Trikes). The 3-wheel models are usually more stable and low. The two-wheelers tend to be higher than the ambiguities of 20 "to 29" or 700, although there are quite a few low models.

- Some recumbent tricycles are easy and practical to use by older people with stability or balance problems, and they are also easy to get on and off bikes, because they are quite low. Ideal for urban trips for example, or also a little longer.

Disadvantages of recumbent bicycles

- They tend to be heavier than normal bicycle equivalents, although there are already very light models, with high-end components. Being larger and longer paintings, they tend to weigh more. The seats also weigh more, although materials such as carbon makes for very light options. Even so, when it comes to using them, the weight is not as noticeable as in the normal ones. The position and the type of pedaling allow that the weight is not the most important and the most differential point. If we also use them for a recreational and traveling use, and not for competition, the weight stops being an inconvenience.

- Being larger are more difficult to transport, especially in public transport or air. Still, it is true that there are several folding or demountable models. Having to climb stairs or unevenness is also more costly. To carry them in the car, there are longer roof rack carriers to be able to carry them without problems, as you would take for example a tandem. 

- Mobility: Slower acceleration and more complicated starting, although with practice and a long march, it starts perfectly. 

- More difficult to control in trialeras, abrupt roads or climbs for complicated terrain. On the slopes with poor track terrain, you should also be more careful and learn to have more control of the wheels. The front wheel can not be lifted.

- Looking back costs more, because of the position and the seat. That's why most models allow the installation of rear-view mirrors, or use a helmet or glasses. 

- Do not see with direct vision where the front wheel passes, with what you must intuit and learn to see how to overcome the obstacles before the moment they actually reach the wheel.