Sceadu498

I am curious if anyone knows if there have been people who have tried to learn to ride a recumbent and were never able to learn to ride one?

Darth Lefty 

I have no idea, but now you have me wondering if there's a market for recumbent balance bikes for toddlers and preschoolers.

Juan Foote

I didn't spend a lot of time at it, but couldn't get going on a buddy of mine's 'bent. It was too weird for me to wrap my mind around and kept falling over to one side. I ride a trike, or DF.

Ghefty

I believe that if someone can learn to ride a DF bike they could learn to ride a bent. It could be the case that a person may not feel comfortable quickly enough and just give up on the experience. Of course some bents are a bit more tricky than others. But this in only my experience, my niece loved learning to ride my BikeE when she was 12.

Tractortom

I sold my Bacchetta Strada to a friend who was in his late 60's or early 70's, a good cyclist who rode a series of carbon fiber road bikes over the years. Gave him a good price, and left it with him. A year later it was for sale in the local bike shop. When I asked him, he said he just never got comfortable with starting and stopping the bike, and after a few months just gave up. After it sat in his garage a while, he decided to let someone else have a chance. He could ride it, enjoyed the ride and the large seat, but could not start and stop easily, so he gave it up.

Tractor Tom in Okeechobee, FL

delcrossv

My youngest bent rider is 8. Took her about an hour to get the hang of it. (Performer FWD- dual 451's , for her it's a highracer)
My wife's cousin who's in his 50's rode my M5 lowracer (NOT what I'd call a "starter" bent) from the get go- no practice, just took off. His 17 year old son couldn't get the hang of it after multiple tries. Go figure.

BlazingPedals

It's my experience that people can learn to ride almost anything if they're motivated to do it. That's assuming no disabilities, of course. For learning purposes, it's easier if the riding position is more upright and the feet are below the seat (closer to the pavement.) But once you learn they're all equally easy.

VACaver

My brother bought a bent a long time ago (I have no idea which one). When I was looking into buying my Giro this past December I asked him whatever became of his. He said he got rid of it lass than a year after he bought it. Said it was so unstable to ride that he never got comfortable on it.

Tony Marley

I have known several bikers who just did not like the way the 'bent felt. It was not that they could not ride it, but they did not like it.

delcrossv

+1. I can see this, especially without a good deal of time to acclimatize. I'm in the opposite boat- when I get on a road bike I'm rather creeped out being so high up.

BlazingPedals

Of course, they feel very different from an upright. Whether that's good or bad depends on the rider's viewpoint. My experience has been that unless someone has some 'skin in the game,' i.e. a reason to commit to the new platform, the switch is doomed to fail. And of course, treating ALL recumbents as a monolithic genre that all handle and perform the same is a gross misrepresentation - even more so than if you tried to say that about all uprights.

fietsbob

they probably wouldn't read this anyhow..

JanMM

The vast majority of cyclists - and everybody else, too, for that matter - have failed to learn to ride recumbent bikes.
I do know an experienced tandem couple who had a Screamer that they failed to learn how to appreciate riding. (They learned to ride it.) Don't know any other cyclists who tried and failed.

rydabent

Several years ago at a bike club meeting an owner of the LWB with USS let several of us ride or try to ride the bike. Granted there was not too much time but 2 or 3 people just couldnt get the hang of of riding it. USS steering seems to be somewhat problematic for some people.

Shahmatt

Took me around 5 hours, broken up over about a week, of start-stop pedaling to get comfortable balancing and controlling my FWD MBB Cruzbike. I was 31 at the time. I think sleeping on the problem helps.

I still have trouble getting started, especially on uphill segments, but this was much mitigated after reducing the lower range of my gearing.

yakmurph

It's incredibly difficult to learn to ride any non-safety bike.

At least, that's what I tell anyone who asks.

JanMM

Nearly impossible for mere mortals........

osco53

I had the Infamous 'Recumbent Wobble' at the start of my very first ride, It lasted about,,,, 100 or 120 feet.
Simple to overcome, all you have to do Is relax and let your body have a second to realize that It's just so natural

This Bike:
allowed me to reach a level of fit that allowed me to ride,

This bike:
like a crazy teenager

FWIW I am going to have my Tour Easy Recumbent cut up so It will fit In my coffin when I die. I am going to take It with me.

rydabent

I do not agree at all. IMO when it comes to bents, it makes all the difference in the world what type of bent you are switching to. Im my case my first bent was a Rans Tailwind. With the crank lower and just further forward, I had no trouble at all riding the Tailwind. Did it feel nervous for maybe the first 50 miles-----------yes. But there was no problem riding it from the first turn of the wheel.

yakmurph

Fine.
Here, I'll just take this to it's logical conclusion:
It's absolutely impossible to ride my recumbents.
They are mine.
You ride yours.
I ride mine.
Or not.
But no one rides my bikes, see?

Ha HA ha-ha-HA!

osco53

Pmsl,,

roflmao,,,

LesterOfPuppets

I was afraid I'd never get it. After about 20 minutes I finally did, though. This was after about 20 years of non-bent bike riding.

It had USS, can't remember the brand.

Jeff Wills

My first test ride of a Lightning recumbent was in the hallways of the Long Beach Convention Center. After a wiggle or two I was fine.

Some people don't get it, though. They're usually the ones that use their upper bodies a whole bunch on the upright bikes... high gears, standing on the pedals, pulling on the handlebars. Until you learn that all of that does nothing to propel a recumbent, you're going to be all over the road.

yakmurph

You're absolutely correct... except when you're wrong.
For example, my bike is a front wheel drive, moving bottom bracket recumbent.
When I put down the power to the tarmac in a sprint or just to change things up, I engage my upper body, "stand" (bridge) on the pedals and pull on the handlebars.
So I guess I'm saying that my recumbent has more in common with an upright bike than it does with a standard rear wheel drive recumbent like yours, Mr. Wills.

Viva la difference, dudes.

-Steve

Jeff Wills

I stand (sit) corrected. My experience is limited to rear-wheel-drive and twist-chain FWD recumbents. The moving-bottom-bracket type of FWD recumbent is a whole 'nother kettle of monkeys. I would have been trying one out today at Rose City Recumbents (they just opened today in Portland), but I was off bar-hopping with a bunch of old friends.

Odder still since my friend Jay has a hand-and-foot powered FWD recumbent two-wheeler: