dougphoto

Just got my first recumbent. Are there any good resources for fitting online?

rydabent

All you really have to do is set the seat back angle to your suiting if it is available on your bike. Then set your seat and or adjustable bottom bracket tube to the proper length for your legs.

linberl

I noticed with my (first) recumbent that after riding a while I dropped the seat back a little more and also lengthened the boom. It took me a while to get used to the position and then find the perfect angle. I've been increasing the boom length 1cm at a time to find my sweet spot; I started with the same positioning as a DF bike...slight knee bend with heel flat on the pedal. I guess I'm saying you will make adjustments the more you ride, so don't feel like it has to be perfect, just get it close and start riding. Once you get your "bent" legs and feel comfortable
with the recumbent position, then you can fine tune it. Congrats and I hope you enjoy it; I am loving mine.

dougphoto

Currently o feel a bit close and my knees get sore pretty quickly so I think sliding back is my first order of business

BlazingPedals

Most recumbents will fit a range of x-seams. Essentially your X-seam is a measurement from the back of your hips to the ball of your foot. Hostelshoppe.com used to have an instructional video on how to measure it. On a given bike, if you recline more, you will have to move the seat forward to maintain the same x-seam adjustment. The other factor is that you want to keep your head in front of the rear axle; otherwise wonky handling can result.
As on an upright bike, you want a slight bend in your knee at furthest extension.

linberl

Same as with a DF bike, if your knee hurts on top slide the seat back incrementally to get more distance; if it hurts underneath, slide it forward to shorten distance. As a shorter person I found the curvature of the seat didn't hit me right so I added a small seat cushion which angles me back slightly and up. There are lots of ways to tweak it to get comfortable but once you do I promise you will NOT miss a regular bike seat, lol.

newbert

Very interesting thread, As a still fairly new 'bent trike rider, I've had similar issues with knee and hip pain. I've installed crank shorteners which have helped quite a bit, but I'm still looking for that "sweet spot".

I feel that I need to both reduce my hip flex while increasing my knee flex. So, I'd like to experiment with lengthening the boom a bit. My question is how far can you safely lengthen the boom without having to adjust chain length? How do you know when/if you've gone too far? (ie - stressed the chain)?

Thanks!

Thanks!

linberl

I'm sure one of the more experienced recumbent riders will answer. When I set up my trike chain (I'm short, the chain was not, lol) I laid it across the big chain ring and the biggest cog and cut it down so it just fit + 1 link + 1 master link. I pulled a few links at a time so as to not go too far. It's worked out really well, allows me a couple centimeter adjustment, without loose chain slap. So if you set your gearing up to be large/large you should be able to see how much play you have. ideally the cage should be around the 6 oclock position as I understand it.

BlazingPedals

Well, if it's a moveable boom, then you should add or remove twice as much chain as the change in boom length. So if you move it out an inch, you will need to add an inch on the power side of the chain and an inch on the return side. As you recline more, you will obtain a more 'open' hip angle, but the pedal circle defines the *range* of flex you're required to have.

Obviously, if the seat moves to adjust seat/pedal distance, and not the boom, then no chain adjustments will be needed.