Actually, quite a few recumbent riders chimed in on this one, many of them taking issue with me in the spirit of healthy debate but hardly describing me as an “ignorant fool.” Certainly, I know enough about recumbent bikes to know exactly how to get people such as yourself riled up, which of course was my intent.
Anyway, go back and . I offered plenty of reasons why recumbents work well. And of course I know that recumbents hold speed records that can’t be matched by uprights. But, those are in ideal conditions with specially designed bikes. In the real world? Well, I think about the “recumbents are faster than upright bikes” canard whenever I pass one, which is basically every time I see a recumbent on the road. That’s true in the hilly Seattle and Olympic Peninsula areas where I bike; certainly, the same might not apply in the pancake-flat Midwest.
I admit I did offer a completely unscientific, impossible-to-support assertion: Specifically, that most recumbent riders secretly hate their bikes but feel stuck with them because of their investment. Thing is, no recumbent rider will readily admit that. But while I should have perhaps substituted “many” for “most,” I stick to it. I’ll even go so far as to concede that the same could be said for upright-bike owners who’ve shelled out the big bucks for a bike that’s perhaps uncomfortable and hard to figure out.
I am curious about a few things, though. Why are almost all recumbent riders men? Some women must ride them, but I’ve never seen one. And why do all those men have beards? I suspect there’s something going on that is sociological, as well as technical, among those who are fond of recumbents.
Let the dialogue continue…