Safer on a recumbent?

[Stradageek]

No sure which way to call this one:

I'm approaching and signalling to turn right across a 4x4 waiting at a T junction. The lady in dark glasses looks straight at me for a good 2-3 seconds then checks the other direction.

My instinct says people don't just look at a recumbent, they always do a double take, I always get a 'what the ****** is that look'. This time I didn't, so I covered the brakes and sure enough she started to pull straight out straight at me.

Fortunately she heard my VERY LOUD shout and stopped.

Only the third time in 10 years (50,000 miles) that a motorist has failed to see me (second time at this junction) and I was on my lowest recumbent.

You could argue that my past experience at the same junction, or the 'look away' to check the other direction were the vital factors and an upright bike would have been spotted more easily but I still feel much safer on a recumbent.

[[XAP]Bob]

Far safer.

[661-Pete]

I'd say, no. But you hardly ever see a 'bent around these parts - neither in town nor in the countryside. Not even in Brighton. So where do they congregate?

To my mind, they are simply something that the average motorist doesn't expect to encounter. Those who would respond, the same applies to conventional bikes, I'd say, not true, the majority of motorists are reasonable drivers and do see and behave responsibly about cyclists. So don't perplex them by placing yourself far closer to the ground than they are expecting!

And they're definitely a known hazard wherever there are horses around.

But maybe I'm prejudiced, seeing as I've never owned nor ridden a 'bent. They're far too expensive, for what you get....

[OldBloke]

I reckon cars give my recumbent trike more room than a bike. Another bloke here who rides a recumbent bike as well as his trike reckons he gets more respect from cars when he is on his recumbent trike.

OB

[Cunobelin]

I'd say, no. But you hardly ever see a 'bent around these parts - neither in town nor in the countryside. Not even in Brighton. So where do they congregate?

To my mind, they are simply something that the average motorist doesn't expect to encounter. Those who would respond, the same applies to conventional bikes, I'd say, not true, the majority of motorists are reasonable drivers and do see and behave responsibly about cyclists. So don't perplex them by placing yourself far closer to the ground than they are expecting!

And they're definitely a known hazard wherever there are horses around.

But maybe I'm prejudiced, seeing as I've never owned nor ridden a 'bent. They're far too expensive, for what you get....

That is the problem.... it is those who have no experience that assume that they are dangerous

Horses are definitely an issue though... mainly because recumbents are low, sleek and moving, which reads as "predator" this spooking the hores

[yakdiver]

I spooked two horses yesterday came round a fast right hander I was doing 25mph + didn't see them until the last moment, I braked hard but it was too late both horses reared up, all I could do was the say sorry, but one of the riders said it was my flag, flashing front light and I shouldn't be on the road, I just left, what else could I do.

What a coincidence in the CTC magazine Aug/Sept there is a bit on horse sence page 61

[hatless]

because recumbents are low, sleek and moving, which reads as "predator" this spooking the horses

Sleek? Me on a recumbent, sleek?

[Si]

For me it depends on where you are riding - country side, quiet-moderate town then the 'bent gets you more attention and more room. Busy town traffic/rush hour I feel that they have disadvantages as filtering is more difficult and you get hidden behind stuff.

Horses - I've never had an issue, I stop for oncoming ones, or talk loudly as I over take whilst giving them loads of room.

As for cost - well, mine cost around £250 second hand and was the equivalent of my touring bike......middling speed but comfortable, able to tote reasonable loads.

Alas I gave it up mainly for medical reasons*, but also slightly the annoyance of having eejits shouting stuff all the time (which is a testimony to how well noticed it was), and slightly because I didn't have anywhere to keep it.

*ironic as that's why I bought it in the first place!

[[XAP]Bob]

I'd say, no. But you hardly ever see a 'bent around these parts - neither in town nor in the countryside. Not even in Brighton. So where do they congregate?

To my mind, they are simply something that the average motorist doesn't expect to encounter. Those who would respond, the same applies to conventional bikes, I'd say, not true, the majority of motorists are reasonable drivers and do see and behave responsibly about cyclists. So don't perplex them by placing yourself far closer to the ground than they are expecting!

And they're definitely a known hazard wherever there are horses around.

But maybe I'm prejudiced, seeing as I've never owned nor ridden a 'bent. They're far too expensive, for what you get....

They can be well priced...

And if you haven't ridden one on the street then I'd suggest reserving judgement. Their very unexpectedness is one of their strengths, they aren't dismissed as 'just a cyclist' by the subconscious, there is an active decision to be made.

[Cunobelin]

because recumbents are low, sleek and moving, which reads as "predator" this spooking the horses

Sleek? Me on a recumbent, sleek?

I was referring to the machine


Riders s are diverse in size and shape

[Stradageek]

Blimey Si you're almost the first recumbent recidivist I've come across.

I still keep a small upright folder for shopping/busy urban stuff but as most of my riding is rural day rides, touring, or a long half urban/half rural commute I've given away all my other uprights and never missed them. I still remember what headwinds are like on an upright - couldn't go there again!

I agree with the others about Trikes too, if you really want visibility in traffic they're magic!

[661-Pete]

Possibly the data is slewed in that 'recumbent'ers are more prone (if that's the right word?) to post on forums? I repeat - I see plenty of cyclists but I haven't passed or been passed by a 'bent for years. In many aspects of cycling I go against the mainstream, against the 'flow' - but in the debate of upright v. recumbent, I go with the mainstream. Sorry.

At least my opinion of recumbents is, perhaps, not quite as jaundiced as that of a certain delightful individual - a fellow exile from 'another place' - with whom I had a brief correspondence a few years ago. This is an extract from what he PM'd me:

.... and his ****head mates again going on about how in the wrong drivers were for failing to see his 2 foot high deck chair on wheels when he insists on using it in multi lane rush hour traffic...

I stress once again, this is the opinion of my correspondent, not of me.

Nevertheless, I'll stick with upright, thanks. The approved geometry for TdF is fine by me!

[georgew]

I don't think it would matter whether one was on a Recumbent or an upright.

It's about perception really, and while the driver may be looking directly at you and your image is on their retina, this is being filtered out by the brain as the brain is looking for a car-shaped object of a certain bulk and moving at a certain speed.

[Si]

Blimey Si you're almost the first recumbent recidivist I've come across.

well, if I had somewhere to keep it, and it didn't cause me pain to ride then I'd still have it! But not as an only bike.

[Mike Sales]

It is said that when Captain Cook arrived in Botany Bay the natives on the shore ignored the unprecedented sight of huge (to them) ships because it was so far outside their experience that they did not register. Perhaps recumbents are similarly invisible to the minds of some drivers.