Faired recumbent bikes
Discussion
I was wondering what the opinion of the people here is about faired recumbent bikes. I took delivery of mine today, and have to say I'm very impressed with it.
I bought it because I recently started commuting to work, but 40 miles a day is taking a bit long on a regular bike, and there are only so many months I can do that before it gets too wet and cold. The faired bike fixes that, I'm protected from the weather, and the aerodynamic fairing should help me greatly improve my average speed.
It seems to me the only real downside to them is that they are pretty expensive, but apart from that I'm curious why people seem to dismiss them so easily.
If you don't have a clue what kind of bike I'm talking about, here is a picture of mine earlier today:
I bought it because I recently started commuting to work, but 40 miles a day is taking a bit long on a regular bike, and there are only so many months I can do that before it gets too wet and cold. The faired bike fixes that, I'm protected from the weather, and the aerodynamic fairing should help me greatly improve my average speed.
It seems to me the only real downside to them is that they are pretty expensive, but apart from that I'm curious why people seem to dismiss them so easily.
If you don't have a clue what kind of bike I'm talking about, here is a picture of mine earlier today:
kwak said:
I was wondering what the opinion of the people here is about faired recumbent bikes. I took delivery of mine today, and have to say I'm very impressed with it.
I bought it because I recently started commuting to work, but 40 miles a day is taking a bit long on a regular bike, and there are only so many months I can do that before it gets too wet and cold. The faired bike fixes that, I'm protected from the weather, and the aerodynamic fairing should help me greatly improve my average speed.
It seems to me the only real downside to them is that they are pretty expensive, but apart from that I'm curious why people seem to dismiss them so easily.
If you don't have a clue what kind of bike I'm talking about, here is a picture of mine earlier today:
Wow that looks great - may I be rude and ask how much is 'pretty expensive'?I bought it because I recently started commuting to work, but 40 miles a day is taking a bit long on a regular bike, and there are only so many months I can do that before it gets too wet and cold. The faired bike fixes that, I'm protected from the weather, and the aerodynamic fairing should help me greatly improve my average speed.
It seems to me the only real downside to them is that they are pretty expensive, but apart from that I'm curious why people seem to dismiss them so easily.
If you don't have a clue what kind of bike I'm talking about, here is a picture of mine earlier today:
Seconded - I love it.
I have concerns about using a 'bent on busy roads for the same reason I worry about using kiddie trailers on the roads. I drove a Caterham for 10's of thousands of miles and even though it could maintain speed in traffic, you often felt exposed particularly when approaching a junction. Whilst they're not as "invisible" to other motorists as motorbikes, people definitely overlooked them.
A wavy flag and flashing lights ought to help.
I love bike gadgets like that - I mean that very positively. Anything out of the ordinary is cool. A 40 mile commute is quite hardcore too. I might consider an e-bike for that if I were determined to lose the car.
I have concerns about using a 'bent on busy roads for the same reason I worry about using kiddie trailers on the roads. I drove a Caterham for 10's of thousands of miles and even though it could maintain speed in traffic, you often felt exposed particularly when approaching a junction. Whilst they're not as "invisible" to other motorists as motorbikes, people definitely overlooked them.
A wavy flag and flashing lights ought to help.
I love bike gadgets like that - I mean that very positively. Anything out of the ordinary is cool. A 40 mile commute is quite hardcore too. I might consider an e-bike for that if I were determined to lose the car.
Thanks for the comments. 'pretty expensive' in this case means around €6000.
Being seen is definitly something that I worry about. It has pretty good lighting, but in the end it is a low, relatively fast moving object that people aren't familiar with. Luckily, 90% of my commute is on a dedicated bike path next to a canal, so I don't have to worry about that most of the time. When I am on a normal road, I tend to use the age-old advice of assuming everybody else on the road is an idiot who is out to kill me. That usually keeps me out of too much trouble.
Being seen is definitly something that I worry about. It has pretty good lighting, but in the end it is a low, relatively fast moving object that people aren't familiar with. Luckily, 90% of my commute is on a dedicated bike path next to a canal, so I don't have to worry about that most of the time. When I am on a normal road, I tend to use the age-old advice of assuming everybody else on the road is an idiot who is out to kill me. That usually keeps me out of too much trouble.
Certainly looks the part, just done a quick search on youtube and they can get a fair turn of speed up on the downhill.
Going back to you originally saying you had a 40 mile commute, did you watch the channel 5 program this week where the 54 year old guy cycled from Buxton to Manchester and back 5 days a week every week of the year except when on holiday.
Going back to you originally saying you had a 40 mile commute, did you watch the channel 5 program this week where the 54 year old guy cycled from Buxton to Manchester and back 5 days a week every week of the year except when on holiday.
I'm from Belgium, so I Channel 5 is not something I can watch 
At the moment, my commute takes about 1.5 hours one way, I hope to get that down to 1 hour with this. That way, taking the bike would take the same time as taking the train, and on most days would be a lot faster than taking the car, thanks to the ridiculous traffic jams going to Antwerp.
So far, I've only taken it on a few short rides while I try to get a good setup. It's a bit daunting at first sight: you can adjust the crank to seat length, plus the seat in 3 ways, and the metal plates for the clicky pedals on my shoes.
In total, I've done about 15km now, averaging 28kph with a lot of stop/start driving. I remembered to switch on Strava for one 5km drive, and it says I averaged 35.6kph(22.1 mph) with a top speed of 48.6kph, although that maximum seems suspect to me. I know it doesn't sound impressive, 35.6 is about 10kph more than I managed on my normal bike, someone who is a bit decently trained shouldn't have much trouble breaking 45kph average.
My thighs are killing me now, I've already been warned that I need to re-train a bit because in this you use your muscles differently than on a normal bike. I guess the first few weeks are going to be hard, but worth is.
At the moment, my commute takes about 1.5 hours one way, I hope to get that down to 1 hour with this. That way, taking the bike would take the same time as taking the train, and on most days would be a lot faster than taking the car, thanks to the ridiculous traffic jams going to Antwerp.So far, I've only taken it on a few short rides while I try to get a good setup. It's a bit daunting at first sight: you can adjust the crank to seat length, plus the seat in 3 ways, and the metal plates for the clicky pedals on my shoes.
In total, I've done about 15km now, averaging 28kph with a lot of stop/start driving. I remembered to switch on Strava for one 5km drive, and it says I averaged 35.6kph(22.1 mph) with a top speed of 48.6kph, although that maximum seems suspect to me. I know it doesn't sound impressive, 35.6 is about 10kph more than I managed on my normal bike, someone who is a bit decently trained shouldn't have much trouble breaking 45kph average.
My thighs are killing me now, I've already been warned that I need to re-train a bit because in this you use your muscles differently than on a normal bike. I guess the first few weeks are going to be hard, but worth is.
Nice Strada, i've had 2 Quest velomobiles from Velomobiel.nl.
It will take a while to get used to their quirkiness, fairly slow up steep hills due to their weight, but any speed over 16mph and you have an aero' advantage, dowhills are just down to bravery.
I used to clock 65mph easily on a dip near me!
on the flats i could cruise at 25-27mph with HR of about 125bpm.
last year I rode London Edinburgh London in 75hrs including eating and sleeping stops, and I'm a fat old bloke.
I really hope you enjoy the Strada, it has a good following, is robust manoevrable, and efficient, not the fastest velomobile but very much up there with a good combination of speed and useability.
Be prepared to be photographed, video'd and stopped by people.
Downside is some people think they are stupid, will laugh and ridicule you, just laugh back because they are ignorant!
Edited: I've just read you live in Belgium, you therefore probably know all the above!
It will take a while to get used to their quirkiness, fairly slow up steep hills due to their weight, but any speed over 16mph and you have an aero' advantage, dowhills are just down to bravery.
I used to clock 65mph easily on a dip near me!
on the flats i could cruise at 25-27mph with HR of about 125bpm.
last year I rode London Edinburgh London in 75hrs including eating and sleeping stops, and I'm a fat old bloke.
I really hope you enjoy the Strada, it has a good following, is robust manoevrable, and efficient, not the fastest velomobile but very much up there with a good combination of speed and useability.
Be prepared to be photographed, video'd and stopped by people.
Downside is some people think they are stupid, will laugh and ridicule you, just laugh back because they are ignorant!
Edited: I've just read you live in Belgium, you therefore probably know all the above!
Edited by sherbertdip on Monday 22 September 19:05
Today was the first day I took it to work, and I'm loving it! I haven't had a bad reaction yet, so far everyone smiles or gives me thumbs up. I averaged 20mph over 21 miles, about 5mph faster than I managed on the normal bike. I'm sure someone with more talent and/or training can do much more. 25-27 seems realistic when I get a bit more training done.
kwak said:
I'm sure someone with more talent and/or training can do much more. 25-27 seems realistic when I get a bit more training done.
If you haven't ridden a recumbent before it will take at least 6 months for the leg/hip muscles to get used to the work in a different position, only then will you really achieve the full potential of these machines.I commuted 180km (return Journey) once or twice a week, with 2500m of climbing and averaged 32-37kph depending on wind direction and temperature.
vwsurfbum said:
just spotted this on the website, this would be epic, with a little boot space and a radio. No need for a car!
Shame it's not yet in production though...velomobiel.nl said:
The DuoQuest is a experimental vehicle, we have built only one and do not plan to produce it in the near future.
It is great fun to ride, and we would like to build some more, but for now we decided to concentrate on developing and producing our solo models.
It is great fun to ride, and we would like to build some more, but for now we decided to concentrate on developing and producing our solo models.
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