Rain

[tonycollinet]

Didn't get the trike to commute, but was forced this morning as my normal commuter threw a brake tantrum last night about having no material on the pads left.

You really have to embrace the weather on a recumbent, don't you?

[Kim]

Look on the bright (dark?) side - at least your feet tend to stay dry.   

[Quint]

It became apparent to me many moons ago that the reason I get soaking wet from  end to end (quite a good overall soaking on a trike) almost everytime I venture out is simples, the rain loves me and wants to be close to me all the time.                                                   

[Feline]

Well you darksiders do have a greater surface area when viewed from above!

[Kim]

...but less when viewed from the front.  Shouldn't that make it less wet?

Not that it really matters how wet you get on a bike, cos you're sweating anyway.  It's just that you're more at risk of muddy splatter from other people's wheels on a 'bent.

[Feline]

...but less when viewed from the front.  Shouldn't that make it less wet?

Not that it really matters how wet you get on a bike, cos you're sweating anyway.  It's just that you're more at risk of muddy splatter from other people's wheels on a 'bent.

I guess that would depend on your speed. At the speeds I'm usually going rain from above has more of an impact on me 

I expect water that does land on you is more likely to sit on horizontal surfaces and then soak into you or get through seams than when you're upwrong and it can just run down your legs into your shoes.

[Kim]

I expect water that does land on you is more likely to sit on horizontal surfaces and then soak into you or get through seams than when you're upwrong and it can just run down your legs into your shoes.

Waterproof jackets are somewhat less effective, yes.  Not only do the ventilation flaps not work properly, but you end up with a puddle on your tummy.

On the gripping hand: fairings   

[Quint]

Unfortunately I do, yes, I call it streamlining, other people ? Well let's not talk about other people. 
     

Well you darksiders do have a greater surface area when viewed from above!

[tom_e]

I can live with shaking the water off my tummy occasionally, though it's a bit annoying.

Not being able to lower my head enough to shade out rain/snow/etc from the eyes is more of a pain. I suppose if I used a cap rather than a helmet I might be able to set the peak low enough to be effective for that.

[EdinburghFixed]

I find it to be quite a lot drier, to be perfectly honest. What really annoys me is soaking feet, and although riding through biblical storms will cause that either way, it's much preferable on the dark side...

I find water running down the front of my jacket obviously ends up soaking into my shorts. But then, my shorts are wet when I ride in the rain on any bike...

[Beardy]

Having an Aerobelly[tm] I find that pooling on the tummy not much of an issue

[rower40]

My Windcheetah SNOleopard has front mudguards with huge long dangly mudflaps, but only a Heath-Robinsonesque bodged-on-with-zip-ties short mudguard at the back.  I therefore get a lot of mud and wetness splattered onto the left-hand-side (*) of the back of my coat and head.

(*) Windcheetahs have an off-centre rear wheel.

The body movements required when cornering hard also cause one to put one's face in the spray off the front wheel - even with mudguards.

Ergo the Windcheetah is either for really nice sunny weather or proper SNO.

[tonycollinet]

Having an Aerobelly[tm] I find that pooling on the tummy not much of an issue

+1 

[Quint]

04-30 this morning, hard rain on my return commute (from Oxford) the so called sealed seams on my Sooper dooper Madison jacket allow my pockets to fill with water and the left pit zip (I must sit wonky) to to allow water through.
     I have a fishermans cape I bought in Brittany but it is a tad large and I get a bit to warm in it.

[Furious]

How do you find using a cape on a 'bent?
I was going to ask earlier, but I thought it might be a stupid question.
(Perhaps it still is...)

[Tigerbiten]

On the gripping hand: fairings   

My streamer fairing was ok at keeping the tops of my legs dry.

But .......
rain dripping off the front soaks your feet.
Spray still gets in, both from cars/lorries and off my ront wheels.
The flat bit in front of you collects rain nicely untill you hit a bump at speed, then you get a face full.

The worst thing to do in the rain is to ride on a hard shell seat without a drain hole in it.
Try sitting in 1/2" of cold/luck warm water as you go along.

[Feline]

On the gripping hand: fairings   

My streamer fairing was ok at keeping the tops of my legs dry.

But .......
rain dripping off the front soaks your feet.
Spray still gets in, both from cars/lorries and off my ront wheels.
The flat bit in front of you collects rain nicely untill you hit a bump at speed, then you get a face full.

The worst thing to do in the rain is to ride on a hard shell seat without a drain hole in it.
Try sitting in 1/2" of cold/luck warm water as you go along.

Tigerbiten, you are really selling recumbent life to me here!!

[Kim]

The worst thing to do in the rain is to ride on a hard shell seat without a drain hole in it.
Try sitting in 1/2" of cold/luck warm water as you go along.

That's the thing about the naff foam on my seat - it's completely non-porous, which means you get a soggy back in all conditions.  But it's completely non-porous, so it doesn't collect water.  It's actually quite good in the rain, as it keeps you warm, too.

[Quint]

Re Wheezer - how does cape work.
         It actually works quite well, you just tuck the front and rear flaps under you so you are sitting on them, obviously, waterproof leggings are used and the arms are mostly covered, but poking through the folds for the (in my case) trike bars, sorry, badly described but in practice it works very well, next time I get a spare couple of quid I shall treat myself to a better fitting size.

[Furious]

Thanks Quint.
I just had visions of it billowing like a sail and blowing up over one's head - probably at a critical moment.

[Quint]

No, no, my weight holds it securely down 

[henshaw11]

>but less when viewed from the front.  Shouldn't that make it less wet?

Hmm...my hamstrings just seem to pick up the stuff that my upper bits would have otherwise missed

>That's the thing about the naff foam on my seat

The closed cell foam stuff? Must admit I'm tempted to try that on my Speedmachine until the weather picks up. Whatever's in the top layer of the relatively-well ventilated seat pad does a half-decent job of holding water..I've just bought a rucsac cover to keep the worst off if it's left out, but that's not much use when you're actually riding...

[Jedrik]

The ventisit seat pad does not get wet, so no puddle to sit in. Well ventilated, too.

Reasonable picture here: Ventisit Seat Pad - Los Angeles recumbent bike and trike service and sales

Supplier here: Bikefix - the bike shop on your desktop (on a new server)

That said: While one does get more wet on a bent, one does not get as cold. That does have to count for something, surely?

[Kim]

The closed cell foam stuff? Must admit I'm tempted to try that on my Speedmachine until the weather picks up.

That's the one.  It's really not that bad in cold/wet weather.  Fairly awful when it's hot, though.

[Tigerbiten]

The ventisit seat pad does not get wet, so no puddle to sit in. Well ventilated, too.
..........

I have a ventist pad on my hard shell seat.
I know the pad does not hold a lot of water but .........
Depending on the angle of your seat, if you don't have have drain-holes in the seat itself you'll still end up sitting in a puddle.
I found that out the hard way.

I don't mind the rain to much as long as I can still see where I'm going.
With rain on my glasses, +30 mph downhill can be "fun".


Luck ..........