I thought you folks were nuts...
 

I'll admit it. I didn't get recumbents. All gangly and weird looking. How could that possibly be cool.

Let's backtrack, I'm 37 overweight and only back into bikes over the past year. I have had a multitude of bikes and currently run classic ballon tired bikes, and a Puch Classic Steel Frame road bike. I thought my road bike was great. So easy to pedal compared to my classics and fast.

My wife and I volunteer at a local museum and they had a big auction today. Well long story short they had this bike. I looked it up online decided it was decent and prepared to bid. I was high bidder. So I drag my new prize outside and make sure no one was looking. I settle onto the ungainly thing... wobble and weave plant the foot. Try again.... wobble weave... rolling. Faster... Ok 50 ft, 75... Maybe I'm not gonna die... relax... lean back... settle in. Faster... try controling with one hand... hey this is GREAT!!!! Got really comfortable and just cruised. Round and round the parking lot. Then out the access road... man this thing is fast! Get to the end of the road and a few miles down the main drag... almost forgot I brought my truck.

I am a convert. You guys and gals were right after all this time and I... Well I was the idiot. I'm sorry for ever having doubted you.

Here she is.

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...oped/RyanR.jpg
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...IMG_0045-1.jpg
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...oped/RyanL.jpg

Your newest convert,

Aaron

What brand is that? It looks like the same brand that a guy in my club rides with us. His starts with a "D".

You now have the bent grin, and know why! Welcome to the club.

I live in the land of ice and snow and sadly have to park the bent once the snow gets serious. We had about 6 inches on the ground last week, I had a heck of a time getting home. For most of the week I had to ride the mountain bike, it sort of scared me at first, it took a while to get my upright balance back.

Something else I cant do on a bent is ride no hands, I wonder if any one can, one finger is easy, zero fingers is impossible for me. :) :)

It's a Ryan Vanguard, isn't it? Like riding a magic carpet, huh......

That's a long bike. Not to be confused with my Tailwind.

Yes she is a Ryan Vanguard I don't know what year. Excellent condition. It has a Shimano 105 Crank, Shimano Deore XT deraileurs, and other goodies. The ride is amazing. At slow speeds it is very squirrely but at cruise it's as though it's on rails. Ryan is now out of business I see but was apparently well thought of as a builder and instrumental in the rebirth of the modern recumbent. It still seems awkward to me as an errand bike as stopping at lights and such gets me a bit nerved up. Making distance however there is nothing like it.

Recumbomatic I paid $300 for it.

Wow! You stole that bike, I'm envious! Have a great time riding, they're almost indestructible. The only weak part I've found is the little hook on the front of the seat, which will bend straight if you tend to push back into the seat too hard when climbing instead of shifting to a lower gear and spinning up, so be careful with that.

That's exactly where I was a couple of years ago. I thought bents were silly bikes ridden by silly people. Then on a whim I decided to test ride one. I now tell my upright friends that mention trying one to wait until they have the money to buy one. If you try one you'll love it.

I'll echo Wilbur Bud's sentiment. What a great deal for a Ryan, especially one that's in such great shape!

I would start making extra room in your garage now! For some mysterious reason these bikes multiply and grow in short time. Before you know it you will have 2, then 3 different types of bents. As far as I know scientists are not seeking a cause for this mystery, or even a cure. Be afraid, be very afraid!!

Enjoy

Mark

Way to go. You scored. :p Welcome to the club.

Thanks for the welcomes and the congrats. Just curious, what is this bike worth? And why can't I find any for sale to check that? There is one on Ebay for BIN $649 repainted no tensioner but has the big windshield.

Aaron

Remember, just because we were right, doesn't mean we're not nuts.;)

We are nuts! You got a problem with that? :)

*shrug* I didn't get it either, now I'm breaking records.

Recumbenting is the second best fun you can have lying down.

Nice photos. Living in drought-stricken Queensland, that's the lushest grass I've seen in a long while.

Riding a bent is like having sex: It's the most fun you'll ever have without laughing. (Woody Allen)

Pricing wise . . . my own on-going amateur assessment says $800-$1000 is the going rate for good condition Vanguards. I don't have a boatload of facts to throw at you, but listings pop up from time to time and are usually sub-$1000 unless pristine (then $1200 seems to be the max). Infrequently, I'll see one at $300 but it will be an extremely early model. Beyond that, I've seen two really pristine versions of the Vanguard's near relative, the Longbikes Slipstream go for $1500 in 2007, so I doubt we'll find anyone paying $1500 for a Vanguard.

There is a Ryan club you can join.

A couple recent sales on E-bay: $1200 and $850

What I heard a long time ago was that bicycling is the most fun you can have without worrying about STD's.

We are nuts. We're nuts about goofy bikes. Bikes that, by coincidence only, are really comfortable. That is about as nuts as it gets. bk

I don't know about being nuts, by my uncrushed nuts are loving it.

Question for you all, are the over seat steerers any more stable at slow speeds than the Ryan is? Mid Coast Maine is very hilly.. touted as "where the mountains meet the sea". When climbing hills especially on sections of road with no breakdown/bike lane (there are a lot of those!) the bike obviously slows as I gear down. It gets real nerve wracking keeping it on the edge of the road .. Call me what you want but it's kinda scary and exposed feeling. Average traffic speeds around here are over 50 mph with lots of blind corners. Also starting off on this beast from a stoplight is kind of an adventure. I'll admit to having a huge learning curve here but would the over seat style recumbent suit me better? I plan a couple century rides next spring but most of my riding is under 10 miles and into town. The Ryan seems a bit out of it's element in that situation.

Stability is a function of the steering geometry, not whether it's OSS or USS. I think at least part of what you're experiencing is part of the normal learning curve. Now, the other part, bents are just plain harder to balance at very low speeds (2-wheelers, at least,) and long wheelbases more so. Most people have problems with them starting at maybe 4 mph, give or take a bit. I've climbed 20+% hills as slowly as 2.4 mph and not fallen over, but it takes a lot of attention to technique to stay steady at that (non-)speed.

I have OSS, but it still took me a month to get really used to my bike. I can keep pretty stable now at down to 4 mph, but below that I definitely have problems. Part of it is practice -- I just don't go that slow, except when I'm coming to a stop.

As for starting, part of it's gearing down properly, and part of it's muscle memory and strength. When I first started, even when I geared down, I had a hard time, just because a) I didn't have enough power for a good push off, and b) I couldn't clip in fast enough. And starting off going up on a hill was terrifying. But that's all in the past.

Give it some time and practice -- you'll get there!

I routinely go on roads where the cars go 60 mph, but where I ride, people are used to bikes. That makes a big difference.