When I went to register on this forum, one of the questions asked was, what type of a rider I am. And I came upon 'Bent Rider'.

What does that describe, I've never heard the term before

Recumbent rider. People that have beards and ride bikes.








The bikes also aren't diamond frame type of bikes. Big old recliner like seats, pedals out in front or even slightly above the hips. They kinda get a bad rap on here however I ride with a couple 'bent riders and they are quite strong. On long flat or rolling rides they are almost impossible to keep up with.

Einstruzende, thanks for that quick response. I'm familiar with recumbents but that explanation would've been the furthest from my mind

They are different though, aren't they, not that there's anything wrong with that :)

Welcome amicus, I'm fairly new here as well but you've already stumbled upon one of the favorite sayings of this place, usually abbreviated "NTTAWWT" :)

Waitaminnit. I have a beard. I ride bikes. ...but not a recumbent.

However, the concensus seems to be that I am definitely "bent"....

Are recumbents provably less safe than traditional bikes? I think they must be. I saw one the other day, just after dusk, and the guy was nearly invisible, despite a flapping pole with big flag on it. I mean your head is only 4 feet off the ground.

Are recumbents provably less safe than traditional bikes? I think they must be. I saw one the other day, just after dusk, and the guy was nearly invisible, despite a flapping pole with big flag on it. I mean your head is only 4 feet off the ground.
It's arguable, but probably not.
Firstly--if it was dusk, the guy should have had lights on.
Secondly--on an upright bike, when your neck gets tired and you tend to end up gazing at the ground 15 feet in front of you instead of watching your surroundings. And if you hit something immovable, you go face-first over the bars and into the ground. That almost never happens on a recumbent, you just fall over on your hip sideways, feet-first, from only about 2 ft off the ground.

A lot of people here aren't interested in recumbents because the people here compete in sanctioned events where recumbents aren't allowed--but a lot of the riding dis-comfort issues that occur regularly on upright bikes rarely happen on a recumbent. When this subject comes up there is always someone who insists "my upright bike is perfectly comfortable" but if you haven't had both, you really don't know.

If you need something like a road bike but more comfortable, there are now some semi-recumbents coming out, patterned after the (defunct) Vision Thoroughbred. The RANS Zenetic (http://www.ransbikes.com/07ZPRO.htm#) is the primary example right now. I think it's wheelbase is over-length for UCI however.

I rode uprights for about 15 years before discovering recumbents about six years ago.
I don't own any upright bikes anymore, I don't own any padded riding shorts or padded gloves either.
I ain't coming back.

[edit]
Here is a page showing some of the different types of recumbents with links to commercial examples, and some info:
http://www.norcom2000.com/users/dcimper/assorted/inanities/recumbent/field_guide/bents.html
~

Are recumbents provably less safe than traditional bikes? I think they must be. I saw one the other day, just after dusk, and the guy was nearly invisible, despite a flapping pole with big flag on it. I mean your head is only 4 feet off the ground.


The oft-quoted party line I've heard regularly from 'bent riders is that they are generally *MORE* visible than DF riders because of the curiosity factor: Folks drive by and see this bizarre looking lawnchair on wheels and slow down to get a gander, wondering "WTF is that thing?" while giving it a wide berth.

Driving at dusk without a light is pretty stupid regardless of what kind of bike you're on, though.