ICE Sprint

[Kim]

My general take on vehicle sizes from a low recumbent is that cars effectively become vans.  It's not pleasant, but other than cars blocking your view so you have to edge out at junctions more frequently and your eye level being in the beam of everyone's dipped headlights, it doesn't really make things any more dangerous.  The recumbent WTF factor works whatever your height.

A greater concern is wheel splatter, IMHO.

(If that's a Mirrycle then yes, it needs be done up fairly tight and likely re-tightened at regular intervals.  I've currently got one on the new Streetmachine as the Rohloff means I finally have somewhere to mount it.  I may revert to a B&M Cyclestar, as it keeps getting bashed when I carry the bike through the front door.)

[Von Broad]

Well, I can see why one might opt for suspension! Some awful potholes, I thought I was going to be bounced out a couple of times.

The roads are/have become really bad in places. Understatement.
I got some very useful advice from HK before the Flatlands 600 last year "steer with the boom, keep the rear wheel out of trouble and don't worry about the front wheels" [referring to a tadpole recumbent trike here of course]. Sounds a bit counter intuitive, but unlike a two wheeler [whether upwrong or lower] you have two plains of contact to think about regarding potholes and the temptation initially is keep both front and back out of trouble - and that's difficult to say the least. Once I got used to prioritizing the rear wheel over the front two, I was surprised how well the front wheels coped with being bounced around. Obviously there are degrees to this and it depends on where the potholes are in the road and what the traffic is doing, but it's a perspective worth taking on board when out riding.

[I couldn't believe how bad some of the roads were in Cambridge on that ride.....jeeze...]

[Kim]

Yep.  Corollary to that advice is to line things up so that small potholes, sticks, dogpoos etc. pass under your foot, which means they'll miss both wheels.  (Also works well on a bicycle towing a two-wheeled trailer.)

[ElyDave]

Well, I can see why one might opt for suspension! Some awful potholes, I thought I was going to be bounced out a couple of times.

The roads are/have become really bad in places. Understatement.
I got some very useful advice from HK before the Flatlands 600 last year "steer with the boom, keep the rear wheel out of trouble and don't worry about the front wheels" [referring to a tadpole recumbent trike here of course]. Sounds a bit counter intuitive, but unlike a two wheeler [whether upwrong or lower] you have two plains of contact to think about regarding potholes and the temptation initially is keep both front and back out of trouble - and that's difficult to say the least. Once I got used to prioritizing the rear wheel over the front two, I was surprised how well the front wheels coped with being bounced around. Obviously there are degrees to this and it depends on where the potholes are in the road and what the traffic is doing, but it's a perspective worth taking on board when out riding.

[I couldn't believe how bad some of the roads were in Cambridge on that ride.....jeeze...]

Tell me about it!

I recognised some of those roads from the video. Mostly this is why I went to 650b and 45mm tyres at 35psi

[mr ben]

Yes it's a Mirrycle, I got that and a B&M one as they seem to be the two mentioned most often for dark side use.  The B&M seemed surprisingly (to me, based on appearance) immune to road vibrations, but as I put it on my left side I haven't found it to be of much use so far.  I found the Mirrycle easier to set in the right position.

...I got some very useful advice from HK before the Flatlands 600 last year "steer with the boom, keep the rear wheel out of trouble and don't worry about the front wheels" [referring to a tadpole recumbent trike here of course]. Sounds a bit counter intuitive, but unlike a two wheeler [whether upwrong or lower] you have two plains of contact to think about regarding potholes and the temptation initially is keep both front and back out of trouble - and that's difficult to say the least. Once I got used to prioritizing the rear wheel over the front two, I was surprised how well the front wheels coped with being bounced around. Obviously there are degrees to this and it depends on where the potholes are in the road and what the traffic is doing, but it's a perspective worth taking on board when out riding.

Yep.  Corollary to that advice is to line things up so that small potholes, sticks, dogpoos etc. pass under your foot, which means they'll miss both wheels.  (Also works well on a bicycle towing a two-wheeled trailer.)

Interesting - yes counterintuitive as I found myself doing just the opposite!   My logic was that the larger rear wheel would cope better with the potholes.  I will try this next time.  And using feet as a guide to avoiding things.

[cycleman]

I use the decathlon cycle mirror, £5 and I adapted it to fit a miricycle mount.  I have never had one fail in use .

[mr ben]

That's good to know!

[Kim]

Yes, those Decathlon mirrors are excellent if you can come up with a way to mount them (starter for 10: ball stud of the appropriate diameter).  The supplied mount only really works for a horizontal flat bar, and has a relatively high cheese content.

The advantage of the B&M ones is that they're quick and easy to fold out of the way for door frames, Silly Sustrans Gates™ and similar without loosening the attachment screws.  But that's more of a bicycle thing, where they're likely to be the widest point.