While a few people start on recumbent trike and graduate later to a bike I began my recumbent cycling on a recumbent bike, yes a 2 wheeler. I took the time to learn to ride the strange looking bike when I was in Sydney many many years ago. For the first few minutes I was a bit hesitant too and certainly a tiny bit wobbly as I "learnt to ride" a different sort of bike. But in just a few minutes of concentration I was able to relax and pedal away happily.

Since those first rides on a recumbent bike I have been hooked and eventually added a recumbent trike to my list of cycles to give me the full recumbent experience.

Whether it is a recumbent bike or trike, the recumbent rider is properly and comfortably seated. The seating position allows a fantastic view ahead and a handy mirror can be located within easy view on the handlebar in front of you to keep you safely aware of what the traffic behind you is doing too (without turning your head to take your eyes off the road in front!). Sitting with your feet and legs ahead of you also means that when you do need to brake suddenly you will not fly over the handlebars to land on your head either. Your legs and pedals and high handlebars stop you sliding forward even under hard/ emergency braking.

You can generate lots of force on the pedals and climb hills very quickly if you have a firm seat to push against too. Even if you don't have super strong legs, you will still be able to climb hills if you choose an easy low gear and just keep the pedals moving around.

The "shortwheelbase" or SWB design of M5, Flying Furniture, HPVelotechnik, VeloKraft and Optima bikes has the cranks and pedals in front of the front wheel. This makes for a more stable and comfortable ride and makes these bikes easier to balance and more predictable than the long wheelbase designs which place a small wheel in front of the cranks - way out in front of the centre of gravity.

I ride both recumbent bikes and trikes but have generally graduated towards more bike riding mostly because compared to trikes, bikes like the M5 ShockProof or a Flying Furniture design have a seat height that puts your head and eyes at the same level as a motorist - everything that a motorist sees you will also see and probably a lot more as you travel at a more reasonable speed. You will even generally see more than a "normal" cyclist who rides crouched over the handlebars with their face pointing at the road ahead. Look up and see the great view from recumbent! And a recumbent bike is even more social as it puts you at a height to easily converse with other cyclists, whether they be on upright bikes or on low trikes....

In my opinion after a few weeks using one of the well designed and weight pared bikes available from Flying Furniture cycles, you'll see that an easy to ride and very efficient recumbent bike can actually replace the upright bike for all but mountain biking and UCI sanctioned racing. They are very efficient as transport and quite safe in traffic and really easy to manoeuvre too. They do work excellently as commuting vehicles. An M5 ShockProof recumbent bike will even take up less parking space in your hallway or garage than a mountain or road bike! Of course you'll also find riding it such fun that you'll probably use your car less and less too and therefore help to save our planet!

Contact me to try one for yourself!

for more information about any of the bikes you see on this site,
please call Ian on 0419 697 405,
or e-mail him at ian@flyingfurniture.com.au