Have you been thinking about getting a recumbent but don’t know which one would suit you and the type of riding you do? There are so many recumbent designs out there that anyone wanting to buy one will be confused by the myriad of options and preferences expressed by well meaning friends. My advice would…
A fascinating look at the development of recumbents.Did you know geared recumbents first appeared in the 1890s, soon after the safety bicycle appeared? A book by Tony Hadland and Hans-Erhard Lessing provides more details than I have seen before. https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/a-complete-illustrated-history-of-the-recumbent-bicycle/
From a post by Will at Rivendell Bicycle Works – 28 May 2021 One of the main advantages of friction shifters used to be that they work with basically any set up – any derailleur, any crank and any cassette, allowing riders to ignore almost all of the overly complicated compatibility rules that goes along…
After years of trying to adjust my Performer highracer FWD so that the power idler did not touch my leg I decided to convert it to a moving bottom bracket/traction direct system. I already had a modified Cruzbike front end that bolted straight on after I cut off the boom. The result is a surprisingly…
My first recumbent:2002 FlyingFurniture PBP Special When I started randonneuring in 2002 I was riding a very second-hand upright bike built up from a frame acquired from a pawn shop fitted out with parts from what I had available under my house. It had served me well, having been used as my daily commuter and…
Archer Components seems to be delivering on the Xshifter promises: “The D1x Trail Shifter transforms nearly any mechanical 1x drivetrain into a high performance electronic shifting machine. This is retrofit electronic shifting. The bike you rode today could be digitally tuned and shifting smooth tomorrow.”
This earliest model of Velocar recumbent ran for only one year. It was so low-slung that it was hard to ride and the riding position was therefore altered in 1933 for subsequent models. This 1932 prototype model was named in the Mochet catalogue as a Velo Velocar (V.V), but for the first year it was…
This was my first recumbent, on which I completed PBP in 2003. The handling was excellent but the narrow high-pressure tyres gave it a harsh ride on rough roads and was almost impossible to ride on unsealed surfaces. The tailbox helped streamline the bike and also provided a large storage space which, along with the…
Geared recumbents , as distinct from early front-drivers , first appeared in the 1890s, soon after the pneumatic-tired safety bicycle. Charles Challand , a professor in Geneva, built what was probably the first geared recumbent (Swiss patent 11,429 of 1895, British patent 6,748 of 1896). He called it the Normal Bicycle, because the rider‘s posture…