karjak

Agree with what BP says, lots of reasons. Maybe just not fitting the norm, some of our rigs do have sort of an ugly-duckling look (beauty in eye of beholder of course) . Lots of comments might just be good-natured joking but know some are malicious. In regard to those speed record machines I think my own ride is closer in characteristics to an upright than a faired HPV.

Trying to fit in pacelines is something I have given a lot of thought to, since I ride with a group of upright riders. A recumbent can truly mess up a well-synced paceline and perhaps some upright riders have had an unwanted bent barge into a group.

These are some thoughts I came up with that might work, if as a bent rider you have an opportunity to ride with the upright biking bretheren:

1. Not all bents can do it. HighRacer probably best choice. LowRacers be reasonalbe, no way.

2. Not all groups would want you. Don't try to fit in where you can't.

3. Either in back or front not in between.

4. Give an exta length to the rider in front of you when you are on the tail end. Remember you will have to open more of a gap when riders drop out of the lead.

5.When/if you do go in front take some longer pulls. Maybe let the riders behind you change in and out of the second position because of your reduced draft effect. Might be better to only be in front of your strongest rider when you do the pulls.

6. On hill declines you most likely will be faster on the coast, so it would be wiser for you to be in lead position before coming to a steep decline, bettter to do this than be braking and/or trying to manuver down a steep hill.

7. Stay to the right on long uphills. Good chance you will be passed by some. Good oportunity to drop behind and stay in back of pack for awhile.

8. Don't show off and do educate your group. Make sure new riders will know how you position in the ride.

In going down a long hill my inceased coast speed I will usually end up well ahead. I slow of course on the uphill but sometimes make it up ahead of the pack. My group knows this is the charateristic of my bike and that I am always challenging the hill climbs - not trying to showoff. (In some cases if you find your self behind the group before coming to a downhill you may want to back off from the pack beforehand so you are not passing riders unsafely on the downhill

9. Just always be safe and aware. Especially don't do anything unexpected. Have a mirror!

*Added notes:
May or may not be what would work best. It is really geared to what has worked for me with my group with 6 to 10 DF riders in a location of low volume traffic on roads with few hills. Might not work very well with 3 or more bents in the mix.

Above all, I think pacelines main goal should be to be have fun safely, not to set a speed record. With so many variables including traffic volume, road type, terrain all will play a part whether a paceline can be conducted at all.

chipcom 

You all have beards...even if you don't. Get with the program, junior.

Jeff Wills

Dang- I thought something was scratching my face last night. It was my wife's beard!

crazybikerchick

Ah but when you coast down the hill faster then they are pedalling their eyes gape open and they realize there might be something to them

corkscrew

Having never ridden a 'bent, I may be able to provide some insight.

For one 'bents are different- human nature dictates we make fun of it before we learn about it. Also, while being used to dealing with vehicle traffic on a DF, we DF people think your nuts since all your average soccer mom is going to see of you is your little flag before she runs over you. Then of course working for a large technology firm, I see a lot of overweight, bearded engineers riding in on 'bents, (hey, stereotypes come from somewhere right?).

That being said, I still want to try a 'bent, but compared to DF bikes there really isn't a used market for them. I can't afford anything new lol. The seating position appeals to me as a young guy with prostate issues. (Fitting a DF bike to a person is not fun - even less fun is finding the perfect saddle).

scbvideoboy

as always there are truths in sterotypes. You ever hear of a quiet latino?

Sort of funny, another recumbent forum, there was an actual post asking what sort of sandal they should get...

clunkalong

:-)

LWB_guy

Sounds to me like a bumblebee trying to slip into a group of screaming wasps!

StephenH

It seems to me that a good bit of the issue is an attitude of "this is a better bike" on the internet, combined with the "older fatter slower" riders in real life. If ALL recumbent riders were fast as blazes in real life, or if the sole purpose ever put forth for riding one was comfort, it would eliminate a lot of the issue.

jawnn

I think they are afraid of the inevitability of having to slow down.

slowing down is good, do it before you are forced to.

Dean V

The performance characteristics are similar to what we have when we ride our tandem in a group. We have the advantage over the recumbent however in that everyone loves a tandem to draft behind. Also if we do get dropped on a climb we can help "tow" the single DF riders that are with us back up to the bunch.

Retro Grouch 

Steamer's got it. I also think that you're taking this way too seriously.

It's not like other kinds of bike riders don't make fun of each other. Road bike riders make fun of mountain bikers and vice versa. When we see another rider aboard the same style bike we're riding, we just up the ante. We can heap scorn based upon whether he shaves or doesn't shave. There's a code about the clothes that riders wear with enough complexity to rival the IRS. Use of a mirror, frame material, width of tire, the list never ends.

If you're of the opinion that there is any kind of bike that you can ride or not ride, clothes that you can wear or not wear, anything that you can do or not do that's going to shield you from scorn in the bicycling world; you're mistaken. It's not just recumbents, it's what we do.

gcottay

Why are are most DF riders so friendly with bent riders?

Dchiefransom

Maternal instinct?

ausGeoff

Ha ha...

You wanna wear some flak? Ride an electric assist bike like I do. Seems to elicit smart-ass comments from nearly every other road user!

I think I'm gonna have to make up a big sign on my back...

I'M 63 YEARS OLD & HAVE PINCHED SACROILIAC NERVES IN BOTH HIPS

banerjek

Exactly. I get plenty of ball busting because of my 'bents in the 41 and on the road (even when I'm on my racer), but it's hardly hostility. I've also been known to have fun with riders who prefer cycles other than the types I ride.

JanMM

If everybody liked 'bents and if everybody rode them, then no kids would point at me as I ride past and yell
"Hey, cool bike!" What fun would that be?

Bubba Zanetti

I hear this quite a bit when I'm out riding with my e bike riding buddies. Perhaps a an electronic sign powered by your bikes battery, lol

layedback1

JANMM

Your post reminded me, a couple of years ago I rode up and was watching local bike races. I was just setting there on my recumbent. A race ended, and a racer probably about 30 finished and stopped right near me. His boy ran up and when he saw me he said " gee dad you should get a cool bike like that one". The guy was ridding a VERY high end racing bike that was easily way over $2000. The look the guy gave me was "interesting" to say the least.

BlazingPedals

I find I get plenty of respect for how I ride, not what I ride.

pacificaslim

I don't have anything against 'bents as machines or probably most of the fine people that ride them. But the thing that annoys me most is the use of the term "diamond frame," or "df" for regular bicycles.

Using such a term is an attempt to attach normalcy to recumbent bikes that they don't deserve. It's like you're trying to convince people there are two common types of bicycles, diamond frames and recumbent frames. But in reality, the world is 99.9999%+ diamond frames and a few recumbents thrown into the mix. So...just call the shape of frame found on 99.9999%+ of the worlds bicycles "bicycles". You don't need another adjective tacked on the front. You only need an extra adjective (recumbent) when you're talking about something other than the usual frame type.

The title of this post should be:
"Why do bicycle riders heap such scorn..."
or
"why do mtb/road bike riders heap such scorn..."

Just be proud of your wackiness and don't try so hard to convince the world that you are riding a normal bicycle. You're not. Let that freak flag fly.

BlazingPedals

The official, and correct, term for them is "Safety Bicycles." As I'm sure you know, 'Safeties' got that label because they were much less apt to dump the rider over the handlebars than their predecessors, the Ordinaries (a.k.a. penny-farthings.) Just because they represent the overwhelming majority of bikes in the world today doesn't mean the label is superfluous; it means the name labels them as being in the majority. If I'm distinguishing between different styles of bikes, or their riders, I don't see a problem with using labels, because it's more accurate than lumping them all together. Calling them 'DF' or 'upright is just easier; and considering how many friends of mine who have broken their collarbones in falls, calling them 'Safeties' seems like an oxymoron.

pacificaslim

Once upon a time, when the "diamond" configuration was new, the term "safety bicycle" was needed to distinguish them from he normal bicycle of the time. Now, the diamond frame is the normal bicycle and no such further label is needed. They are just bicycles. The only people that call them diamond frames are riders of odd-shaped bicycles. Stop it, please.

BlazingPedals

Although I understand your point, what you're proposing leads to more inaccuracies. Consider the statement, "recumbents don't climb as well as bikes." There are bikes and there are Bikes, but this statement would seem to imply that recumbents are something other than bicycles. We use labels for clarity in our communications, so those misunderstandings happen less often. I think you're fighting a losing battle on that one, and the best you can hope is for us to use non-derogatory names for a 'standard' bike.

At least we don't call them "old-fashioned bikes" because they've been the dominant style for so long.

Retro Grouch 

BUT - when you are on the recumbent board, diamond frame bikes are the minority. Here, recumbents are the bikes that require no additional labeling.

If you ever check out the tandem board you are going to see the term "half bikes" used.