In the spirit of advocacy, I present the fun side, recumbent racing
 

This is a British group, that is generally a 'bent club," racing for the fun of it... and all bikes allowed.

I mean, who among us wouldn't want to try a spin in that Velomobile QuestXS? It looks like an absolute blast.

But check out the Quattrovelo on their site. Bonkers. And 9 grand, which actually doesn't seem so bad when a fancy Madone is like twelve or fifteen.

Bents, despite the ridicule their riders must endure, are fast as hell. Any mediocre bent rider can go as fast as a group of 20+ upright riders without having to draft. Bents were banned from olympic track racing very early on because they went much faster than uprights.

The cyclist in me would love to give a bent a spin... like on a nice tour. But the road visibility just freaks me out... both of drivers to see me and me to see past/through them.

But this track thing looks like a blast.

As a Velomobile owner of both the Quest XS (3 wheeled tadpole (2 wheels in front 1 in the rear) configuration) and QuattroVelo (4 wheel configuration) and 33,000 combined miles between the 2 in almost 5 years I have never felt unsafe or threatened by anyone that could not see me. There is much more mass to a Velomobile than a 2 wheeled bike and the lights I use can be seen for a mile. If someone doesn’t see me it’s not because they can’t see me, it’s because they are not paying attention and that could happen on any bike, 2, 3 or 4 wheels.

I think you owe it to yourself to try one out as the speed and comfort are addicting, to me a Velomobile is the king of bikes. You are out of the elements and head winds become a thing of the past, rain, well, I don’t like it but it is a whole lot more enjoyable to ride than no cover when riding a DF bike. Winter, I ride down into the single digits F with far less clothes than you would need on a DF bike. You will blow past roadies with ease, they are not as hot in the summer as you would think because you are in the shade given the right roof you would use. Sorry to go on but give one a try and I am sure you will be smiling for quite some time!

I ride a bent, and a velomobile, and I feel this needs qualified: on level ground or down hill. Bents can be almost or as fast as a good bike uphill, but a light velo is ~60 lbs, and they simply will not keep up with a decent bike uphill.

Having said that, even with hills, my average speed is higher in the velo. :D

Two from Olin College, 2008 and 2012.



(They’ve since switched to entering trikes.)

-mr. bill

I have a tadpole, it's very low. I don't have the safety issue as I don't ride on roads, but I'd like suspension, as our MUP system is generally quite lumpy.

It's electric and unrestricted, it has long gearing and can go as fast as I dare, but the geared steering becomes difficult to hold at high speed. It's currently off the road (path) as I've been having problems with tyres coming off the front wheels, seems Schwalbe are no good for side-loading.

Do they only race them as time trials? I'd like to see a mass start race. That would be something.

Those crashes are fantastic. Would have been a lot worse without the fairing. I'd be cringing if those were just regular bike crashes, but I could laugh at these once I knew the riders (drivers?) came through OK.

I, too, vote for mass starts. But I have a feeling it would be like horse racing, where they all jockey for position out of the gate. But in this case, you'd have a bunch of wobbly 'bents as they accelerate. It'd be great.

Edit: OK, I was able to watch the original video up top. It does look like fun. I like it when the BHPC guy tells him, "It's not yours, so don't wreck it."

If you're talking about the fully enclosed very aerodynamic ones, yes.

But not all 'bents in general. For example, I'm riding a Burly Canto now and it's no faster than the upright road bike I was riding before.

World Human Powered Speed Challenge 2019 Battle Mountain NV September 8th - 14th, 2019

It is on right now. IHPVA - International Human Powered Vehicle Association - WHPSC

I'm a long time recumbent rider, both two wheel bikes and trikes. I really don't get a lot of ridicule. Most of us are slower than fit road bike riders on lightweight bikes. That may be because we tend to be much older than the typical bike riders I see with local groups.

Racing in a recliner... gotta be fun.

It is. Especially the streamlined recliner (velomobile). I'm really slow going up hill, as my typical commuting configuration, the velo pushes about 75 lbs. But I can still catch and pass most 'roadies' on level ground, and absolutely smoke them going down hills. :D