My evolution from regular bikes to recumbents

Bacchetta Cafe, my first recumbent

the Trek 520

the Easy Racer Tour Easy

and finally, my Rans Dynamik

Before I say anything, let's get one thing straight, I'm not here to convert anyone to recumbents.  Yes, they are vastly superior to regular bikes... LOL ...but if you are comfortable on a regular bike then more power to you.  In other words, this is just my story... YMMV

 I remember having a couple of bikes as a kid, but they were second hand department store bikes bikes (nothing wrong with that).  I also had a bad  habit of destroying them jumping a small stream that ran across the pasture behind our house.  Then from around age of 16 (yep, you guessed it, driving age) to 44 I pretty much forgot about bikes.   However, my knees were getting to where running hurt them and weekend pick up basketball games were torture on them.  I needed to find a better way to get back and then stay in shape.  I had a friend get into road biking and upon his advice (and insistence) I bought my first real bike in 2006 at the tender age of 44. It was a Giant OCR 3. I also talked my wife into getting a bike the same day, a Giant Cypress comfort bike.   I started out with short rides of 5 to 10 miles, but was soon going 30 miles or more.  The limiting factor in my distance was my discomfort on the saddle.  I had my bike fitted when I bought it and read a lot of things online about how to get more comfortable.   I don't guess it would be considered a professional fitting, but the salesman was knowledgeable and helped me adjust the seat and handlebars etc. Anyways, I rode all summer wearing those padded bike shorts I despised but never was very comfortable. I tried a couple of different saddles and spent countless hours reading bikeforums.net on all threads related to bike saddle comfort.  Of course in my reading I found out that steel bikes are smoother riding than aluminum ones so I bought a used Trek 520 in the fall of 07.  I rode it a lot, even taking a possum for a ride once (I call it my possum tour).  It was slightly more comfortable then the OCR  but I was still in search of that perfect saddle. I finally settled on a moon saddle: read here if you think I'm making this stuff up...

Then I saw a recumbent or read about them somewhere on the net. I mentioned them to the friend who had talked me into getting a road bike and he agreed that a more comfy ride would be nice.  Only one problem, there were no recumbent dealers in our area.   After a bit of research we found a recumbent dealer in Birmingham Al and went down to test ride a couple and see what the fuss was all about.  We were both shaky on starts and wobbly at slow speed (the test area was hilly) but sold on the comfort. About a month later in December of 2007 we both bought one.  He got a Rans V-Rex and I bought a Bacchetta Cafe. I will admit that at first I was not sure if I had made the right decision. I live in a hilly area and was still wobbly on long climbs. However, I stayed with it and by the spring of 2008 I was doing great and never looked back. I sold the ORC but kept the 520. I have since put an SMP saddle on it but still don't like to ride it over an hour so just ride it for short trips up to Grant. Perfect for that since it is about 10 miles round trip and I usually have a reason to get off the bike mid ride (picking up something at the store etc).

As much as I liked the Cafe, I wanted a bike I could put a front fairing on for winter riding.  I kept reading about a certain recumbent called the Easy Racer Tour Easy on various recumbent forums (mostly BentRiderOnline).  The only problem was, a new ones cost around 2400 bucks and there were no dealers close by.  However, in the summer of 09 I found a used one with a fairing for sale for $1200 near Birmingham so I bit the bullet and purchased it.  The ride of the Tour Easy is hard to beat.  It is slightly more comfortable and faster than the Cafe and with the fairing it is much nicer to ride in cold weather.  However, I now take the fairing off in the summer and ride it year round.

I have to admit that in some ways, I missed riding my regular road bike.  I'm not as nimble on my recumbents and I still find my road bike climb better (please do not say this on a recumbent forum).  I also like that  a road bike can be ridden hands free. Anyways, I kept reading about another type of bike called a Crank Forward which claimed to be the best of both worlds.  As in comfy like a recumbent but nimble like a road bike.  Of course the one I set my heart on was pretty expensive and again, there were no dealers nearby.  However, through the power of the internet, I found a Rans Dynamik frame for sale in Colorado.  BTW, having it shipped was not all that expensive.  I think shipping came to about $60,  but of course this was without wheels.  I used the parts from my wife's Cypress (a long story that to this day still gets me in trouble).  I now ride my crank forward when I'm riding alone, but with the fat tires I have on it, it will not keep up with most recumbents, so, when I go for a ride with my recumbent riding buddies it stays at home.

Then in the fall of 2011 I bought a mountain bike. I enjoyed riding it, but like my road bike, after an hour I was ready to get off. I wrecked it in the spring of 2012 and broke my collar bone. I have ridden it a few times since my recovery but now feel unsafe on it, like I'm going to endo (go over the handlebars) at any moment going down anything very steep. So...I kept seeing threads on BentRiderOnline about off road bents and I kept an eye out for a possible bent (frame or complete bike). I snagged a Bella frame and am in the process of building an off road bent (The Bumble Beast).  I'm sure I'll have more to say about it later.  (note to wife: do not read past this point)  I'm also sure I will eventually own another trike. I did own one briefly, but it was too small and low to the ground for my taste.  Fortunately, there are several options that address all my concerns.  Can you say Greenspeed Magnum, ICE Adventure HD  or TerraTrike Rambler!  Maybe a retirement present to myself!  However, before I get put out to pasture, there are a couple of fast recumbents I'd like to try.  Problem is, all three (OK, more than a couple) are pretty expensive.  But if anyone has a Rans Xstream, Cruzbike Vendetta or MetaBike MetaPhysic they are sick of just let me know and I'd be happy to take it off your hands.