sw20

I'm from the UK, these are my cycling pants

GhostRider62

Good luck with the trousers on LEL. Pick some good wheels thru that windy part.

Yes, the descents are not terribly technical on PBP and therefore, the bent is pretty decent plus the hills although frequent are relatively short and not very steep.

Having 50k miles plus on a bent and some hundreds of thousands of miles on uprights or all types, both sides of the above nasty, ill informed discussion defy logic

livedarklions

I thought all your nonsense about df bikes was based on 60 years of riding, but now it's because of the bad behavior of two guys?!?!

I don't think you've ever ridden with drop bars. I rode 141 miles yesterday, what makes you think I did that in a racing tuck? There's this thing called "riding the hoods". Why don't you look that up? And, you do realize that df bikes also come with flat bars, right? You seem to be forgetting a lot.

If what you're trying to do here is advocating for riding bents, you're doing a terrible job. Why are you making this an either/or choice? You want to appeal to cycling enthusiasts, you stop telling us what our supposed problems are. We know what is or isn't true about that so when you insist on telling us how bad df bikes are, all you do is discredit yourself by saying a bunch of stupid untrue stuff. The real way you could make some headway here is to appeal to the n+1 attitude many cyclists have. There's no reason that getting a bent requires a person to give up their df bike, so why not focus on explaining what is good about bents without even referencing df bikes?
GhostRider62 does a whole lot better job of discussing the two types of bikes because a) he's honest and b) he doesn't try to convince people they have problems they don't actually have. I actually learn stuff reading his posts on the subject, and they don't start the pointless bickering you seem to specialize in.

livedarklions

Although I have no interest in riding a bent myself (like I said above, I suspect it would actually make a lower back injury worse), I really enjoy your posts on the subject. I think the problem with the discussion generally is people are treating this as some sort of debate, which is an absurd and, as you say, nasty way to approach this. I don't see why people should have to defend their choice of vehicle in order to discuss the varieties that are available, and you're very good at avoiding that kind of nonsense.

GhostRider62

It is horses for courses.

When I absolutely could not ride an upright and even a recumbent was painful, my feeling? It is better than sitting on the couch drinking beer like half the country. Better than nothing and can be fun if you give it a chance but usually only those with a lot of pain go that route. In the end, it is a different experience on a bent and not really comparable because it is very hard to ride with a group of uprights. I would have to ride really, really easy on the flats but would likely be dropped on steeper climbs by club level upright riders. The only absolute that I will say is a fast racing recumbent of which there are very few, is a very fast machine on the flats. I could list a ton of positives for both but in the end, it is really like comparing apples and oranges. And, the topic is probably more caustic than wax vs oil threads for some reason.

m.c. 

On the days one is active the other isn't.

WhyFi

I think it's more simple than that - the guy goes out of his way to be an *******, which makes him a target for ridicule. I don't think anyone here actually has a problem with 'bents or 'bent riders - heck, I even wave to them sometimes.

livedarklions

I really do think the caustic stuff is starting with one guy who can't seem to stop insulting df riders generally. There's several people who post on bf who ride both kinds of cycles, and people generally don't go after them. When people start making fun of the trikes to those guys, they just start describing how far and/or how fast they ride their bents, and that usually shuts down the razzing.

I also think there's a geographical issue here, the roads in the area where I live and ride seem to me to be poorly suited for bent riding, hence their confinement largely to mups around here.

Chuck M 

For me all that is the opposite. We have a nice paved trail system in our town that connects all the major parks and provides access to get from one side of town to the other. But it is too narrow for most recumbents I've seen without being a menace to other cyclists, runners and walkers. Our roads are good with well marked bike routes, but the drivers are what would worry me.

I hope to avoid the whole thing by transitioning from DF to mixte when the time comes unless balance is an issue. Then I'll stave off imbalance by not riding to the brewery any longer. What I ride in my old age should be part of my retirement planning.

rydabent

Here again you would be wrong. Several of my first adult DF bikes had drop bars. However I spent most of my time on the "hoods". But even tho some would be racer boyz ride on the hoods with their seat jacked way up, their head is still well down, and strain to hold up their heads.

BTW I am not saying people should give up their DF bikes. A mountain bike HAS to be some form of a DF bike. If you have the money and can afford a stable of bikes, I am only suggesting one of them be a recumbent or a trike. But who was it that said that if he ever came home with a bent his wife was to shoot him???

rydabent

What about the guy that posted that if he ever came home with a bent his wife was supposed to shoot him???

Koyote

That's me, and it's called "humor" -- something that's not in your wheelhouse. And it has nothing to do with livedarklions 's comments -- so, nice try (even if unsuccessful) at diversion.

livedarklions

So why did you ask ME whether I was staring at my wheel for 135 miles? Why do you think someone else's seat set up has anything to do with my riding habits? Why are you cross examining me on my riding habits at all? Am I answerable for the behavior of all road cyclists?

You have been going on and on about df road bikes being obsolete and your posts about seat pain being inevitable have been going on for years. Now you're on this " you can't see anything" kick, which is absurd. And you still seem to not get that there a flat bar df bikes that aren't mtb. This isn't just "add to your stable" stuff, this is "you shouldn't be riding those bikes" stuff.

Why do you care about Koyote 's joke about what he told his wife? He really, really doesn't want a bent, is that a crime? You're not saying you don't want a df road bike, you're accusing us of being some kind of "kitted mafia", whatever the hell that is.

Chuck M 

As long as your wife understands that you will be good if you come home with a trike.

Koyote

Actually, I used to think that I'd one day end up with a recumbent...But then I started reading rydabent 's posts and they turned me off of the idea.

wolfchild

6 pages...Wow !!

downtube42

Ending up... sounds so final.

I had a recumbent phase. I also had a belt drive commuter phase, a vintage 3 speed phase, unicycle phase, tallbike phase, alt bike building at the co-op phase, cargo trailer phase, group sufferfest phase. I still contend touring on a tallbike would be a blast. Now I'm in a drop bar with frame bag riding brevets phase. For me, that feels a bit conformist, but it's all fun.

I expect my wife knows all this keeps me occupied and out of trouble.

ThermionicScott 

Those look more like cycling knickers to me.

indyfabz

Wonder if this thread has generated any traffic on OPs website.

rydabent

Actually I have a very great sense of humor. When I run sag stops, I get a chuckle out of the DF riders that immediately get off their bikes and start pulling at their laundry from riding those really comfortable DF bikes.

tomato coupe

Again, your non-sensical rants are actually a lot funnier than your attempts at humor.

rydabent

Speaking of going on and on, how many "my butt is sore" or " what saddle wont hurt my butt" threads are on this forum?

phughes

Yes, they are flocking to bents by the tens. Sorry, I have my opinion, you are welcome to yours. There are many places I feel unsafe on a bent, but safe on a DF bike, due to how low you are on a bent. Also, as I said, the position on a bent is actually uncomfortable for me, it hurts my tailbone, and my lower back. If it works for you, great. One day I would like to own one for flat rides on trails though. Touring? No. As for being able to see the scenery, I can see it just fine on a DF bike properly set up. Any attempt to say otherwise is simply ridiculous.

phughes

Great, that makes up for the time spent walking your bent up the other side. Oh, I love downhills on my DF bie, and whilst commuting in the Ozarks I would routinely make it to 45 MPH downhill, and I could actually pedal up that same hill on the way back. Yes, a bent is lower to the ground and would make that 45 MPH easier, but, I can be seen better by people in cars coming up behind me on my DF bike, so I can comfortably stay in the lane without worrying people will see my tiny flapping flag at high speed, then hitting me from behind.

phughes

Not the fault of the bike. That's like saying cars are to blame when the driver is not looking at the road, despite, by the way, seated in an upright position with a great view of the scenery. If you wish to extoll the merits of a bent, at least do it with well reasoned arguments.