Janet Cromley Los Angeles Times | Posted: Friday, June 27, 2008 10:00 pm
LOS ANGELES - We're careening down a residential street in Long Beach, Calif., stretched out like Olympic lugers, eye-level with a Labrador retriever racing alongside. Nestled in a tandem recumbent bike, Jonathan Dietch and I sail past carefully trimmed lawns and exuberantly-flowering Monet gardens, over a carpet of jacaranda petals - a blur of purple below.
People on the street stop and stare; some holler and cheer.
"When I'm on my recumbent, people wave and say hi," yells Dietch, my driver and brakeman, over his shoulder. "Even the transients wave at me." He takes a turn, and we sail past a line of parked cars - door handles at eye level, but he's not worried. Drivers notice this bike.
Fifty-year-old Dietch, a tax accountant with MacGyver-like tendencies, is taking me for a ride on a sweet machine, a candy-blue Greenspeed, GTT 5F recumbent, hand-built in Australia, with a custom Da Vinci drive train. This last detail is important because it gives me, sitting behind Dietch, the ability to stop pedaling while he soldiers on. Technically, it is a trike, because it has a third wheel, which boosts stability. Dietch provides the steering and braking from his position in front.
I'm along for the ride to find out if recumbents are finally positioned for the growth spurt that enthusiasts have predicted, decade after decade. A demographic shift might at last just make that happen. Turns out that riding low in a reclined position takes the pressure off aging backs, necks and wrists - a perfect prescription for aging boomers, who are also more likely than most to have the cash to buy these bikes.
Our ride is feeling very tranquil and Norman Rockwell-ish until a trash truck comes roaring alongside, reminding us that with one ill-considered move we could be smashed like cicadas on the asphalt.
Indeed, some believe that recumbents' chief attraction also makes them harder for motorists to see and thus unsafe. Recumbent enthusiasts say that, to the contrary, cars and trucks notice recumbents because of their novelty and give them a wide berth to compensate. "Not like a road bike," Dietch says. "When I'm on a road bike, I'm invisible. It's like I don't exist."
The bike has 36 speeds and rides like butter. It should, with a starting price of $8,000. Recumbents can start at about $600, but most buyers will spend more than $1,000, says Dana Lieberman, owner of Bent Up Cycles in Los Angeles, which has lent us this bike for the day. The store is one of the few bicycle shops in L.A. County dealing exclusively in recumbents.
Dietch, who's ridden racing and mountain bikes off and on since 1971, bought his first recumbent, a Bacchetta Aero, in 2004. "I was so surprised at its versatility, speed and fun that it became my primary mode of cycling," he says. He still rides road racing, fixed gear and tandem bikes as well as racing recumbents.
Recumbents are a class of bicycle so quirky that sports research firms don't generally track them, says Megan Tompkins, editor of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, a business-to-business publication for the bicycle industry.
Maybe 1 percent of bicycles sold are recumbents, she estimates. But anecdotally, sales are notching upward.
"Business has been growing steadily over the last 10 years, and it's starting to pick up," says Randy Schlitter, founder of Kansas-based Rans, a major seller of recumbents: It sold about 5,000 cycles last year, according to Schlitter, who started building recumbents in his sister's basement in 1973.
Business started slowly, he says, but "after 30 years of thumping the bible of recumbency, we've got tens of thousands of bikes out there now." Major retailers have taken notice. "Wal-Mart has knocked on our doors a couple of times," Schlitter says.
Rans bikes range from about $1,000 to $7,000 - a hefty price tag. But that hasn't stopped brisk sales. Recumbent riders are willing to shell out cash for quality, Schlitter says.
Most customers for recumbents are baby boomers, says Lieberman of Bent Up Cycles. "They're getting older, they've kept themselves in good shape, economically they've done well, and their regular standard bicycle isn't cutting it for them anymore." They start looking at recumbents when riding their standard bike begins to cause discomfort - typically in the back, neck, shoulder, groin, hands and wrists.
"A lot have been in really active sports, like mountain biking, which takes a toll on the body," Lieberman says. "This is a group that understands good equipment."
Fueling the interest: Bikes have gotten lighter in the last 10 years, and there are many more choices available.
Marilyn Austin, 68, of Leisure World in Seal Beach, Calif., was a U.S. Cycling Federation women's national time trial champion in her age group in 1986, but neck and wrist problems prompted a switch to a recumbent 13 years ago. Today she goes everywhere on her recumbent Lightning P-38, including on trips to Ireland, Italy and New Zealand.
She goes fast: 15 to 18 mph on the flat and more than 35 mph downhill. But she rides it for the comfort. "You sit in it like a chair, there's no pressure on anything, and nothing gets tired except your legs."
Ah, the legs. Eight miles into the ride, the path has taken us to the ocean, in full view of the Queen Mary, and the legs are tired, but it's a small price for the big payoff: the view. Instead of staring down at pavement, we are staring straight ahead and upward as we pedal furiously to push ourselves up a corkscrew path to a scenic lighthouse. Then we coast back to the bottom. In minutes, we are back on the path.
The trip back brings vistas of the river, where grebes dive, cormorants line up on floating vegetation and black-necked stilts wade near the bank. On the right, an industrial area gives way to intimate views into backyards, some tidy, some littered with old cars. Soon, the yards give way to horse corrals and a petting zoo. It smells like farms.
As we pull off the path and head for Dietch's home, it feels as if we're returning from an urban eco-tour. "Out here, you see parts of Los Angeles that you don't get to see anywhere else," Dietch says. "There's an area between Pico Rivera and Whittier Narrrows where the flood plain is so wide, you don't even know you're in Los Angeles County. When you get on the river trails, you see it all."
THE HOW-TOS
Itching to buy a recumbent? Here are some pointers:
Do your research
"The Recumbent Bicycle" by Gunnar Fehlau, from Out Your Backdoor Press, third edition, 2006, provides a comprehensive overview of recumbents.
Look and learn
Go to a bike shop that has several models and try them out. Give yourself several hours, possibly over several weekends, to test them.
Consider your needs
Do you dream of touring across the country, riding with a local cycling club or poking around the neighborhood with your kids? This will help determine the type of recumbent that will work best for you.
• Long wheelbase recumbents are stretched out, with the front wheel positioned in front of the pedals. These bikes are generally known for stability and comfort. They make excellent touring bikes and provide a good view of the road but tend to weigh a little more than other styles and have a larger turning radius.
• The compact long (a.k.a. medium) wheelbase recumbents are shorter than the long wheelbase recumbents and have smaller wheels, but the front wheel is still out in front of the cranks. With this style, riders get some of the advantages of the long wheelbase without feeling as if they're riding a boat. These bikes are more maneuverable but less stable than the long wheelbase bike and look more like a regular bike.
• Short wheelbase recumbents have the pedals in front of the front wheel and because of the shorter length, are generally very sporty and nimble. They are easier to store and transport and tend to be lighter. But they are less stable at high speed and harder to ride. The feet are up high, which can take time to get used to.
Check out materials
Most recumbents are made of chromoly steel, aluminum or titanium and carbon fiber. Chromoly or aluminum will work fine for most riders. Chromoly provides a softer ride and is strong; aluminum is lighter.
Get the proper fit
This will determine how comfortable the bike is to ride. Make sure your arms and legs are comfortable when you're in pedaling position.