Recumbents are not mass-produced, so economies of scale are lacking. But they do solve some real problems with traditional bikes, and those who ride recumbents are uniformly enthusiastic about them. In the past I have mocked recumbents (all in fun, really!) because of their perceived geek-quotient. Theyre also quite fast on flat courses because they offer less drag than an upright bike. A recumbent bike puts you in a fully seated or supine position, with no weight at all on shoulders, neck, and arms.

Giants FCR2 W ($700 ), for instance, has upright geometry and handlebars so you arent in that road-bike crouch, but its still a speedy bike, with fast wheels and a design that doesnt push your coefficient of drag off the charts.īut, if you have some real physical issue that youre attempting to work around, then you might want to abandon upright bikes altogether and get a recumbent.

That may or may not be an issue, but I mention it just the same.ĭont completely overlook bikes that are comfortable but take a more balanced approach to their design. And these are exceedingly pokey bikes its really difficult to get much speed going when all but standing straight up.

Sitting very upright concentrates forces into the area of your butt, and that can be uncomfortable. While the bikes above try to eliminate some of those issues, its also true that they create new ones. Bikes certainly have ergonomic issues, but in a lot of cases these problems go away as your body adjusts to the different stresses and strains. You dont say why youd rather not have a bike that puts much strain on neck and shoulders.

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