Anybody seen/heard of/own one of these? I’ve been thinking about some new wheels lately, and have been considering one of these puppies. They’re pricey, but seem like they might be worth it. The three wheeler is exactly an idea I had years ago to combat the two things I don’t like about bicycles: they can fall over, and they under-utilise the body’s power output. Slap on a third wheel, and row instead of pedal, and you’ve got something substantially better–both transportation-wise and exercise-wise…or so it seems to me. Still, two grand is a lot to toss off on an idea (the 3-wheelers were $1500 not too long ago; they must be selling well). Anyone have any thoughts or experience?
Saw one just two days ago in Central Park. Unfortunately, because my attention was elsewhere, I gave it only a fleeting glance. It looked cool, though.
wellllll… as both a cyclist and a rower, i was intrigued by the thing when i first saw it.
then i raced against a fellow rower on one, with me on a standard bike… and kicked his ass. we traded off and he kicked my ass.
the problem is that, while they do indeed work a lot more muscles than a standard bike, a) they don’t use them consistantly (you can pedal constantly, but you gotta recover from a rowing stroke), and b) those other muscles used just ain’t as strong as your legs.
so the bottom line is, if you’re looking for a better workout than you can get from a standard bike, or if you’re a rower looking to work on your technique off the water, go for the rowbike. if you’re looking for speed and efficiency, go with a standard bike.
actually, if you’re really looking for speed and efficiency, with a little added comfort to boot, go for a recumbent bike. BikeE is a good one (speaking from personal experience). you can also check out http://www.bikeroute.com/Recumbents/ for more info.
Hmm…hadn’t thought of the “recovery” aspect of it. More muscles used to power it, but only half of the time…
This may be where I was missing something. I was thinking if you could combine the push-force of both legs together with the pull-strength of both arms together, you would get a lot more torque (is it torque? I’m thinking it is) out of it. Now that I think of it, maybe not; as you’d be limited to the force output of the weaker set of limbs, with the stronger set acting as resistance…hmm…maybe I should run this by my old Physics teacher…
I had one person tell me through email that he commutes on one occasionally, and aside from a couple of scary spills in traffic (yay for three wheels), the only complaint he had was that his hands would get sore after about ten miles or so. I hadn’t thought of that before, but never got back to him to find out if it was friction from the handgrips twisting against his palms (it seems they would a bit, but I don’t know how much; could be solved by putting them on bearings so they spin) or the tension on his knuckles from all the pulling. I’m not planning on doing any racing, but would be considering at least long day trips, and be casting a wary-but-curious eye at a future RAGBRAI, since I’m in the state. How do you think it would do as an over-the-road travel vehicle? Better or worse than a pedal contraption?
Thanks for the responses and links, BTW. Someone else several months ago also recommended BikeE’s website when I was asking about Rhoades cars. There’s a few local bike shops listed as dealers; I may have to go take one for a spin.
I haven’t ever ridden a rowbike, so about that particular example I know nothing.
I do know that most of the highest-rated recumbents only have two wheels. Three-wheel bikes are always heavier than comparable 2-wheelers, and the convenience of not having to balance is more the overshadowed by the lower maneuverability and undesirable crash characteristics (-if you fall on a 2-wheel bike, you end up sliding on your hip, but a 3-wheel bike usually dumps you on your face, and lands on top of you besides).
BikeE is one of the lowest priced recumbents going. It looks stupid (I think), but adjusts to a wide variety of riders, is very comfortable to ride (esp. the rear-suspended one!), uses mostly normal components and isn’t very heavy. I still don’t have one yet. - MC
I just looked back, and it was thee whot gave me the BikeE link a few months back. I’ve got a few days off this week, and believe I’ll take a jaunt to the bike shop and take a look at those. Besides, I’ve still got to hunt down the elusive Fries BBQ & Grill (or its remains) for Olentzero…
I agree with zyzzyva on this, it looks good, but it’s not really practical. Consider that Olympic rowing events are measured in the 1000’s of meters and the road racing events are in 100’s of kilometers. Doing RAGBRAI on a rowbike seems to me like torture. A recumbent is an ideal bike for something like that. Falling over is less of an issue on a 'bent since it’s easy to catch yourself by simply putting your feet down. The trike recumbents I’ve seen look pretty cool. The configuration was 2 wheels steering the front, one powered wheel rear. It was very aerodynamic because you sit between the front wheels, so you are lower than on a traditional 'bent. If you have a partner, you can get tandem 'bents in both 2 and 3 wheel configurations. I saw one 2-wheeler where the 2 riders sat back to back, making it a very low and compact package. Recumbents don’t climb as well as tradition bikes, but that shouldn’t be a problem in Iowa, except for the bluffs near the river (I grew up in Southern Iowa).
If you’re really interested in one and have any plans to be in the DFW area, I saw a used one at Play it Again Sports. I didn’t look at the price, I just thought it looked…interesting.
