What is it about those funny looking bikes that seems to be able to make rational people climb aboard something that bears a resemblance to some kind of portable sawmilling equipment?

For me the answer is easy… It’s just so much fun… and riding a machine that you have built yourself just adds to the enjoyment.

 

I have noticed some things about recumbent discussions, they usually get down to the bikes being fast and often the talk turns to “smokin’ roadies” and so far I have to agree that some recumbents can be very fast in fact they hold pretty much all the human powered speed records and have been banned from competing against “real bikes”. I believe that a bike’s performance is more affected by the engine than anything else, sure weight and the components used do make a difference but for most of us non-Lance category riders its about the enjoyment of the ride so a little weight penalty here and there doesn’t really matter.

As for smokin’ roadies I have yet to experience this… maybe one day I will catch up with a one legged, sight impaired, asthmatic octogenarian on a road bike and I will get my chance. (No offence intended to one legged, asthmatic, sight impaired octogenarian roadies)

I have noticed a few things about recumbents… Comfort and lack of pain.

The absence of back, neck and wrist pain has not reduced my speed at all and the total lack of a sore butt is incredible, I can ride for hours without feeling like I sat on an axe. Their best feature is the seat… Even the worst designed recumbent seat would be light-years ahead of those weapons of ass destruction the cycle industry calls saddles. It beats me why people insist on perching on their “neuter scooters” when there is an alternative that closely resembles a lawn chair.

The other thing I love about recumbents is that they are still considered to be on the “lunatic fringe” side of life, I have been hassled and called the village idiot for riding bents mostly by people that like to drive instead of having a healthy interest. Mostly people are fascinated by these strange bikes and by far the majority of people have intelligent questions and a genuine interest.

 

My Favourite Road Bike

 

This is my favourite bike.
It is the best bike I have ever owned and is a pure joy to ride.
It was produced by Reiker Cycles a small manufacturer based in Timaru NZ. It features an aluminium frame, carbon fork and Shimano 105 group set.
Whilst the sprinter is not Reiker’s top end race bike it is a nice package for my type of recreational riding and the quality of the frame building is very high indeed.
So far the Shimano 105 components have proved to be solid and reliable and with the amount of riding I get to do I expect they will last for a reasonable time.
I have at present ridden around 2000 Kms on this bike and it has never missed a beat… Wish I could say the same about the engine.

 

Road Bike Alteration

This bike was altered from a large mens frame to be a compact frame suitable for my teenage daughter.

The reasons for altering the frame are quite simple really, firstly I did it because I can and because although an older bike it was of quite good quality and the components were in good shape.

The head tube was shortened, the top tube removed, reshaped and fitted to the shortened seat tube.
The final stage was to bring the seat stays down to meet the seat tube, the ends were cut off and reshaped to make a good joint and the seat post clamp was re-attached.
A new coat of metallic blue paint… Some old transfers from a bike shop and the frame was starting to look pretty good.
The components are old Shimano 105 from back when the 105 group had a 6 speed cluster and downtube shifters.
Although the bike has only been used for short rides so far it performs really well and handles nicely.