If you are interested in a recumbent BIKE (2 wheels), I would suggest starting with something like an E Z Sport. It was actually designed be Gardner Martin for the recumbent beginner rider. It is so very easy to ride if you can ride a regular DF bicycle, actually easies in my opinion. Plus for a recumbent they are very reasonable in price compared with most bents. A step up would be a Tour Easy or Stratus though usually a bit more expensive. I don't know your location, but others may let you test ride their bent if you get the word out and make a request to do that. The thing about trikes (just my opinion again) is that they are safe to ride on bike trails...in traffic, not so much. Some folks do ride trikes on the road, but I would not. Whereas I don't hesitate to ride my recumbent bike on most roads. And to answer your original question, a recumbent bike is at least equal to a regular DF bike in performance only a LOT more comfortable in many ways. Good luck.
Last edited by Irishred; 07-15-20 at 05:43 PM.
Reason: Forgot to answer the question.