ogmtb

80% or more of cyclists are in pain due to their bike? Do you have a source for your claim? It sure seems to be really outlandish.

Also, do you really think that the mountain bikers that are part of your "80% or more" would be able to ride singletrack on a recumbent or trike?

rydabent

I will state again for the umpteenth time. Yes-------------mountain bikes are the exception. No ---- most bents do not work on mountain trails. But there again some fat tire trikes CAN use many mountain bike trails. And also do to the stiffed necked member of the UCI you cant ride bents in the races they are in charge of.

Now will you admit that a large area web seat is more comfortable than a tiny little saddle? Especially for the occasional rider.

caloso

ogmtb

Ok. Got it. When you posted "probably 80% or more of cyclist" you aren't considering mountain bikers to be cyclists. Odd, but at least you clarified.



I'll answer your question once you have answered mine. That's only fair.


Here are my questions that you failed to answer:


"80% or more of cyclists are in pain due to their bike? Do you have a source for your claim?"

rydabent

Personal experience. I have sagged a large number of our bike club rides. When most of the DF riders ride up they jump off their bikes, pick at their laundry and shake out their hands. Bent cyclist OTOH ride up stay seated, finish off their water bottles before getting off. Please dont tell me a large mesh seat is not more comfortable than a tiny saddle!!!!!!! Since long day riding is necessary for cross country riders, more and more of them are going to bents and trikes. Primary is comfort, and second is the view.

Also remember almost all of us bent riders put tens of thousands of miles on DF bikes before we got our bents. We know what the plusses and minuses of DF bikes are. Can you state that you and all of the other bike riders have put thousands of miles on a bent, so you can truely say you know what you are talking against?

rydabent

BTW when you include ALL cyclist, that means you must include everyone that has a bike. Most of which are only ridden occasionally in the summer, the 80% is probably not far out of line at all. Remember also, those of us that post here are also probably only less than 1% of cyclist in the country. WE are the cycling odd balls.

ogmtb

What am I "talking against"?

I merely asked you to provide a source for your claim that "80% or more of cyclists are in pain due to their bike."

You have't bee able to provide a source and instead continue to only offer your opinion.

McBTC

Sort of... taking the road bike into the wilds every third day and keeping the legs spinning on a recumbent training bike on off days. It's fun having a padded tractor seat and web 'chair' back... yesterday was an outdoor ride which coincided with the 2018 Bay-to-Bay ride for MS. Saw a lot of folks-- more tandems than I've seen in years and quite a few recumbents which all or most seemed to be the type with a single small but fairly wide rear wheel with two wheels up front-- all older dudes with a head up but otherwise, practically a laying down position with hands at their sides.

LesWaller

I'm all about slow, as a matter of fact one of the reasons I bought my folding bike was so I can put it in my trunk and go for a ride when we reach our destination. My wife loves to walk for an hour around some of these old towns in Europe. I cannot enjoy doing that as my lower back starts hurting from slow long walks. So, now I can just peddle around the town and even see more things in the town because even riding a bike slowly is faster than walking.

I keep the bike in the car all the time. My wife decides to go to a swapmeet then I'll pull it out of the trunk and just pedal around the area rather than sit in the car. And, there's no way I can walk around the swapmeet. I do that and I'm done for the rest of the day. After a slow bike ride I feel great!

rydabent

I know exactly what you mean. Slow walking, stopping, standing while my wife shops kills my back too. I can ride 30 miles on my trike and be less tired.

woodcraft

That could be because it's harder to get in & out of a 'bent, & more complex to park one.

They may not be more comfortable, just confused about how to hang their bike on the rack.

Phil_gretz

I would probably disagree with this statement also. Any rider who routinely rides 50 miles at 19mph has adapted with the built-up capacity to do so. An untrained person who attempts this might be in danger.

Of course, the more dangerous exertion can be found on the basketball court during older pick--up games. Plenty of heart attacks there. At least, anecdotally...

rydabent

Again-------------------remember all of us bent riders have put tens of thousands of miles on a DF bike. We can tell you with full assurance that a large webbed seat is far more comfortable than a tiny saddle. Especially when ridding for several hours. Can you argue with that?

ogmtb

Again, I asked you to provide a source for your claim that "80% or more of cyclists are in pain due to their bike."

You haven't been able to answer my simple question and instead continue to only offer your opinion. Now you're attempting to change the discussion to whether a "large webbed seat is far more comfortable than a tiny saddle."

To answer your new question, let me use an analogy that shows just how meaningless your previous "80%" claim is:

A Barcalounger is more comfortable than a bar stool. That does not mean that 80% of the people that sit on bar stools are in pain.

Carbonfiberboy 

That's pretty funny. My doctor is over 60 and rides. He just finished a sea-to-sea tour through the Pyrenees, over all the famous Tour passes. He likes it that I ride hard and long distances. I'm 73 and can't keep up with him, too bad. But I try.

I'm sorry that you can't do that, though I don't quite understand why your blood pressure skyrockets. Riding hard and long has been beneficial for all my physiological markers. Though I understand that's not universal, studies say it's much more likely to be true than not. However that is, my guess is that it's better to ride slowly than not at all.

big john

Since we are re-hashing some of these posts I would offer that someone in their 60s who CAN ride 50 miles at 19mph is in pretty good shape. I would worry more about an individual who doesn't do anything as more of a medical risk.

rydabent

If saddles are so comfortable as you say they are, why dont bars put in saddles rather than bar stools?

Cyclist0108

Possibly for the same reason they don't put in recumbent-style seating?

Have you ever considered the possibility, however remote, that some folks might prefer to ride a "conventional" bicycle because they find it, overall (which includes hill climbing in states with 3D topography), to be more comfortable?

ogmtb

You've lived all of those years and you don't understand what an analogy is. That's sad.

Almost as sad as just making up a fake statistic ("80% or more of cyclists are in pain due to their bike') and then being too much of a coward to admit that you have no proof.

McBTC

I think part of the reason a recumbent bike is a popular choice among some is because it's still unusual... although not really a new thing like ebikes, they're still, a niche market -- like ebikes and folders -- that perhaps could take off some day but unlike ebikes, probably not.

700c road bikes are a niche too-- just, a bigger niche. Roadies certainly are not a new thing and despite a long and interesting history, I think the same can be said about road bikers being a bit unusual, especially if instead of looking at all the categories, you just look at drop bar vs. straight bar bikes.

Drop bar road bikes have grown a bit from 2005 but still do not amount to more than ~20% of sales. A fifth of annual sales totaling mostly in the 17s to 19s (millions of units) is a big number but, MTB and hybrid/cross bikes each have higher shares. Comfort+youth+cruiser bikes come in at ~30% whereas...

Recumbents, 1-2% with ebikes at ~1/2%.

DeceptivelySlow

This thread sure has gotten bent. The only time I ride fast is downhill and I would not feel comfortable on a high speed mountain decent riding a bent. Coincidentally no one else seems to either, at least in this neck of the woods. Pedaling a tank up a mountain isn't so appealing to me either.

tcs

You betcha'. I get in a lot of little, fun rides this way. "I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it."

tcs

In fact deep pocket amateurs can ride bikes that 'exceed' UCI rules - and they don't have to worry about doping controls, either!

tony2v

Not so, another Master racer busted:
https://www.usada.org/steven-strickl...ping-sanction/

tcs

Just as you say. I was thinking more of the cats who show up for rides together on Saturday mornings.