Are they comfortable? Absolutely. I can no longer ride a regular diamond frame bike because of pain in various areas of my body. However, riding this thing is basically pain free.
Imagine if you can, sitting down in a lazy-boy and leaning back while watching tv. That is basically the position I am in while riding. Most of my body weight is not on my arse but is spread from my backside up to the shoulders. You can see there is a thick foam pad to sit on.
Stopping is, if anything, easier on this bike than on a regular bike. I simply unclip my feet and sit up while applying the brake. When I am stopped I have both feet on the ground while sitting on the seat so it is much better than the DF bike.
Starting is more difficult until you get the hang of it. For sure when you first ride one it is almost as if you are learning how to ride a bike like you did when you were a kid. However, there are a few little tricks to help the beginner and the learning curve is pretty darned short.
Generally these bikes are faster on the flats and going into the wind and super fast on downhills. However, they are slower on going up those hills. Typically many will pass the recumbents on the uphill but the bents will fly past them on the downhill. Of course, much of this is very dependent upon the engine and the engine on my bike needs a complete overhaul....
Perhaps the thing that most people would notice first is the sore backside. Let's face it, riding on that little saddle can make your backside very sore. You will not experience this on a recumbent! In addition, riding a regular bike requires you to bend forward and that causes you to have to actually look up or else stare at your front tire. The recumbent is the opposite. It is one of the very first things that amazed me when I got a recumbent in that I could see more of the countryside rather than just the road.
Speaking of making one sore, I'll tell a little story that I told last summer. It was a hot day and I left home sometime during mid morning or late morning. It was a long ride. I stopped for something to eat around noon and maybe 2 hours later passed an ice cream store and bought a cone. I made a couple other stops including one to visit my niece but she was not home. I needed water so just got some from an outdoor faucet. That water was terrible
So I rode maybe 20 miles from there and stopped at a gas station and bought 2 cans of Red Bull. I was 15 miles from home at that point and that got me home in good shape. Total miles that day was just a tad over 100.
When I pulled into our driveway a neighbor was there with his tractor to push over a couple dead pine trees that were right by the power line. He could not get one pushed over as it was too big. So here I was, just finished a 100 mile bike ride and in my sweaty bike clothing and I got out the chain saw to saw the tree while he kept it from falling on the power line.
How many would be out running a chain saw after riding a bike 100 miles on a hot day? I have to admit, I felt like I could have easily rode another 50 miles that day and I was not sore at all the next day. That is a big benefit of riding a recumbent bike.
I hope this answers a little bit. btw, I just returned from a 20 mile ride in the sauna. Man it is humid out there.
Too bad I could not invite him over when I burn some 7-8 year old wood and then for him to know I heat all winter long with it would certainly blow his mind.
