Author Topic: First bent  (Read 4175 times)

Re: First bent
« Reply #25 on: 05 April, 2020, 12:59:21 am »
Maybe I got very lucky, but I bought 1 recumbent, did minimal adjustment, and expect to stick with it. I put a fair bit of time and effort trying to get a DF that fit nicely, but an off-the-rack recumbent was significantly more comfortable than a carefully adjusted DF.

Blodwyn Pig

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Re: First bent
« Reply #26 on: 05 April, 2020, 07:02:51 am »
Maybe I got very lucky, but I bought 1 recumbent, did minimal adjustment, and expect to stick with it. I put a fair bit of time and effort trying to get a DF that fit nicely, but an off-the-rack recumbent was significantly more comfortable than a carefully adjusted DF.

This is hoping to be my experience, when the madness ends, and I can go and pick it up.

Kim

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Re: First bent
« Reply #27 on: 05 April, 2020, 01:01:51 pm »
but an off-the-rack recumbent was significantly more comfortable than a carefully adjusted DF.

That's my general experience, given a seat that's vaguely the right shape.  The niggles start to show up with prolonged riding, rather than the ten minutes (or, given a sufficiently bad saddle, ten seconds) it takes on an upright.

My leg length imbalance is the tricky one for me - with a recumbent seat you can't compensate by tilting your pelvis like you would on a saddle, so it shows up in the knees or ankles as not-being-able-to-get-the-boom-extension-quite-right.  (I seem to be having some success with different length cranks.)

There's a classic numb bum thing that some people get from some recumbent seats at certain angles.  I've not experienced it myself, but my preference is for relatively reclined positions, with the weight being taken on my back, which probably helps.  Some people find padded shorts helpful (though not all pads are suitable for prolonged recumbent riding).

Aggressively reclined seats mean you're craning your neck to see, in exactly the opposite way to riding in an aerodynamic crouch on an upright.  You're likely to get a lower drag coefficient for your discomfort, of course.

Barakta's quite sensitive to having enough shoulder support from the seat, presumably because of her weird anatomy.  She prefers mesh over hardshell, which means that you've got to check the seat tension occasionally.  I find her seat lacking in lumber support (much like the average car seat), but it's still more comfortable than any saddle for a day of riding.

I think I've mentioned handlebars upthread.  My wrists get tired after hours of riding the Baron, because the optimal angle on the tiller would foul my thighs when cornering, but USS is generally fine as long as I can reach.

I think BB height (relative to the seat) on a recumbent is a bit like handlebar height on an upright, with the right answer depending on the kind of riding you're doing.

Re: First bent
« Reply #28 on: 05 April, 2020, 11:05:17 pm »
Thanks for all the reply’s folks.  Just need this time to pass so I can go out and try some!  As for the neck, it has been like it since PBP 07, every really long ride.  It’s fine on a three week120k a day tour, or a 600Audax but after that I’d goes.  Carried a neck brace on PBP last year and used from 800k to the finish.  So hopefully a bent will be the answer, if not on all rides at least on the epic ones.

Re: First bent
« Reply #29 on: 10 April, 2020, 09:54:26 pm »
Wow! That you prepared for and used a neck-brace shows your love for the sport. That you needed it is pretty clear evidence that there must be a better way. Incidentally, the new Cruzbike S40 is out. I'd have the blue one.

My recumbent experience is also pretty strightforward. Got an end-of-line frameset for cheap and built it up. Over time fettled and reclined it some more and were it lighter, I wouldn't ever need another one.
Cruzbike V2k, S40