I have been riding a fully suspended short wheelbase recumbent since Feb 1999. Mine is a Nils Palm Wind which used the HPVelotechnik Street Machine Classic frame with different components. In the past 7 years I have replaced the drive train, wheels, seat and other things to fit my particular needs. The only stock parts are the frame, handlebars and suspension.
My best year was 2004 although I left the country the last 4 months of it. Rode over 2,600 miles to include the Oklahoma Freewheel (ride across Oklahoma) were I ran into cy. We lit up the night with Mag mods and Arcs and had a good time. cy and his son were on a tandem and gave me good advice on my first cross-state ride.
My bent is set up with what I call "Battle Cruiser Mode" or to handle off-road, on-road, carrying loads and Turkish roads. Kevlar-belted Schwalbe Marathon Slick 35x700C rear tire with a kevlar-belted, 5mm thick "blue belt" anti-puncture belted Schwalbe Marathon Plus 20x1.75 (44x406) front tire, fenders, rack, rack bag and multiple red LED flashers. Added some reflective stripes to my seat and front fork when coupled with an L1P on my helmet... look like a rolling freak show.
Riding in Turkey is very odd, wherever I ride people point... I would get less attention riding a mountian bike naked! My suspension gets a work-out and with the Schwalbe kevlar-belted tires... no flats! Only rode 832 miles since July but 2006 should see that jump to around 1,500 miles (if I don't go playing in deserts this year) Sounds low but it is all stop-and-go for a strong workout.
2006 sees upgrades for the recumbent lighting system. MillerMods L1P for my helmet (R bin running 500mA on NiMH AA) and Andrew Wynn's BAM four Luxeon K2 400+ lumen Mag mod. This should give me the fire power to venture out to more obscure and darker roads. With the pounding the bent takes, LED lighting is the only reliable way to go!
As far as speed goes, it all depends on what type of recumbent you happen to be riding. My battle wagon is not setup to be quick although I can get up to decent cruising speeds, think of the engine...not the vehicle. The best part of bents is riding for very long distances (30 to 100 miles) the position is relaxing so the only thing that will tire you is your legs. Hills are a little different, just gear down and spin the cranks at 90-100 RPM and ride up them. Road racing bikes will generally beat you but not if it was late in the day after riding 50 miles. Yes, the roadies get annoyed when they are passed on a hill by a recumbent...
Knee problems can crop up when a person is new to the different rules of recumbent riding. Since the seat can be used to push against, this can trash your knees if you don't keep the RPMs at 80+ (I personally learned this one!) On a regular bike, the maximum pressure you can apply is your body weight but recumbents can be over half a ton of pressure. I broke my stock Shimano chain three times from excessive "drag racing" or launching in too high a gear and stressing my knees. Another thing is when setting up clipless pedals, move the cleat rearward towards the center of your foot so the ball of your feet is forward of the pedal axle. Sounds wrong but it keeps my knees happy.
Since recumbent riders use higher cranks speeds (80 to 120 RPM) lower gearing is very important. Can't cheat and stand on your pedals on hills so mountain bike components work well. I use a 11-34 9-speed cassette on my 35x700C rear wheel coupled with a 26-42-45 (half-step plus granny) road crank with FSA ISIS mountain bike bottom bracket (axle) with three bearings. That setup works great and I use the 7% jump between the front crank gears to make up the difference between the 12 to 16% difference between the wide ratio rear gears.
Since my bent is from the last century... am I old school?
