Recumbent bikes

[watervole]

I've been thinking for a while about trying to test drive a recumbent bike, but looking at pictures today, it struck me that it looks virtually impossible to ride on in  a skirt without catching your skirt in the chain.

Can anyone confirm/deny this?

I often cycle in a skirt, so recumbents look to be pretty ruled out as an option for my new bike.

Comments

[spacefall]

Kimble's has a chain cover, but you might be more worried about skirt blowing up in face ;D

[watervole]

This thought had also crossed my mind...

[rockwell_666]

Spacefall has already mentioned the potential modesty problem, however a bigger concern IMO is that of safety and visibility because you have a much lower profile so a) it's very difficult to get as good a view of upcoming traffic etc past cars or through their windows and b) especially at junctions, you could be hidden behind a car and have someone turn across/ into your path because they didn't see you and assumed there was a gap.

Ok, this does depend where you'll be riding it and, yes, you can add flags and wear Hi-Viz etc but it's still something I'd be chary of and that's after 30 years of experience cycling in traffic around Bristol and Portsmouth which means I have a very highly developed sense of cycling safety.

[undyingking]

Also, I'm put off by the idea of not being on eye-to-eye level with motorists. Making eye contact is pretty useful when negotiating traffic on a bike, I find.

[rockwell_666]

Yep, also if you *don't* get eye contact, watch out.

Last week I was cycling along as someone was pulling out of a garage on my left, but he was looking *down* at his instrument panel.

He then looked up, but all the way to his right, by which time I was almost in front of him so I decided to brake rather than risk him pulling out *over* me. Only *then* did he notice me and properly give way.

Being on a recumbent, you may be out of someone's eye line...

[sammason]

One of my LJ friends runs a bike shop and some others are keen cyclists. So if you want, I can post your question on my own page.

[watervole]

THanks.

[lil_shepherd]

Speaking as a driver, I loathe these recumbent bikes - you can't see them as well from behind the wheel, because they are below your eye level and, while they can go faster, and may well be extremely comfortable, they don't appear to be as manoeuvrable and I'm pretty sure you can't get your feet to the road as quickly if necessary.

[camies]

Re the visibility issue, taller recumbents such as the Spirit are infact better for this as you ar at or just above eye level for drivers - on my old Flevo Oke-Ja for ex. I was the same level as black-cab drivers (not entirey to be recommended perhaps!). The more performance-oriented bikes are lower, it's true.
Re skirts I can't comment but I suspect you're right.

[watervole]

The visibility doesn't look too bad, but, sadly, I think the skirt issue is going to be the decider.