On 4/14/2017 1:03 PM, AMuzi wrote:
On 4/14/2017 12:44 PM, wrote:
Interestingly enough a normal recumbent three wheeler is hard to get
on and off of perhaps the two wheelers are easier. But I can hardly
picture how you would get on and off of those streamlined ones.

But I think that they are a good idea. Now only would they give you
additional speed (a friend of mine who rides a standard two wheel
recumbent says that it's reasonably easy for him to ride at 40) but
also protection from the weather. Though the idea of windshield wipers
for fully enclosed models appears to be somewhat daunting.

Another thing is that you could have the streamliner painted a bright
color to make it a lot more visible than a non-covered version.


I am not an expert.
That said, of the few times I've been bashed by a motor vehicle in
traffic I went up and over every time except one (big rental truck
turning for a left hook kill shot on a one-way street with LH bicycle
'facility').

I look at recumbents, then look at car bumper height and wonder...

Three points:
1) safety bicycles were introduced to reduce the problem of people
falling-over-forward on penny-farthings,,,,, and yet the main cause of
severe injuries from (safety) bicycles today is head/neck/clavicle
injuries caused by riders going over the handlebars during hard braking
or collisions, and landing on their heads.

The Longbikes Slipstream is said to be the safest type of bicycle in a
crash, because 1) it is too long to flip over forward from braking, and
2) in a collision the rider simply slides forward off the bike,
feet-first. The under-seat-steering means there's nothing to impede the
rider's body as it moves forward.
http://www.longbikes.com/2/Bikes/Sli...lipstream.html

2) recumbents main advantage is greater riding comfort, but that is only
useful on long rides (like, 50+ miles). And most bicyclists don't take a
lot of long rides in urban areas, so recumbents simply aren't well
suited for urban environments anyway: their main advantage goes unused.

If for some reason I was forced to live in a big urban area, I would
probably only own small-wheel folding bikes; they make the most sense
for that circumstance. ...However...

3) if you are riding a bicycle at all, the most likely way you will get
severely hurt or killed is by being hit by a motor vehicle. So trying to
ride in urban areas--where motor vehicle traffic is concentrated higher
than anywhere else--is kinda silly.