Tried a recumbent in 2011 because of medical conditions since stabilized. Seat was comfortable but ride was wobbly, turns uncertain and scary and braking was weak. It was the long wheel-base model so difficult to get through gates or doors or carry on a shoulder. Craiglist rant:

Date: 2011-08-12, 10:13AM PDT
Your anonymous craigslist address will appear here
I bought RANS Stratus XL recumbent bicycle and it was dismal. I had an arthritis flare-up and was too disabled to ride singlespeeds or fixie bikes so I bought the RANS. I wanted to like it because of its quality and because I could ride it for hours in comfort, the seat was a dream. But it was dangerous and boring to ride.

It weighed 30 lbs. or so and it was the long wheelbase bike so hard to get through gates and doors-it had to live in the garage.

At slower speeds it wobbled so bad I had trouble keeping it on my side of the bike lane. Hills requires shifting down and down, spinning away while wobbling badly. It had 27 gears and I felt I needed 37 because you can’t stand up to put your weight on the pedals.

The tiny 20 inch front wheel gives no confidence in cornering or braking. A normal bike’s front brake does most of the stopping but not so on the RANS, not with that tiny front wheel. The chopper-like steering angle and tiller means it steers like a chopper, badly.

 You don’t have much chance to be seen by traffic either, riding down that low. I was so happy to sell the beautiful RANS at a loss. My illness got better and I put longer stems and taller bars on my bikes and am biking again.  I guess my $100 lesson is to ride more than a few blocks before buying, you may not be able to get used to it. 

Advertisements are placed on these pages by WordPress to benefit only WordPress, so please don’t click on them.