Catrike has gone color crazy as of late.  Just a month ago, they introduced the new aqua color for Cats and now they've gone further and introduced three new colors and a limited edition seat mesh with racing stripe!  This promotion is good through the end of February, so read on for the full details.
Read the rest of this entry...

Tags: catrike | muscle | colors | promotion | photos

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Can I share a secret with everyone?  Recumbent bikes are a little pricey.  There, I said it.

As such, the last thing you want to have happen is to have it stolen and never returned.  There are the usual preventive measure to be followed: employing good locks; knowing your environment; buying a recumbent so unique that nobody could ever sell it without you noticing.

But what if it does get stolen?  How will you get it back?

Tags: theft | stolen | steal | bike | registry | boomerangit | reuniteit | stickers

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Living up to his alias (in a good way), Longfellow of the 'BentRider Online forums posted a great story about his conversion to recumbent riding and the Longbikes Slipstream that has made it so enjoyable.  I'd normally just shuttle you over to the forums, but this really deserves to have as wide an audience as possible.  So without further ado...

When I decided to make the switch from an upright to a recumbent, many recumbent veterans told me to be prepared for using different muscles. Little did I expect them to be my facial muscles.

I’ve been grinning from ear to ear since my Longbikes Slipstream arrived on December 3, 2008.

As recumbent rider Roland writes in his blog at www.ebent.wordpress.com: “You are learning to ride again. This is the time to feel like a kid and enjoy every moment of this new experience. Old roads will look new.”

He is absolutely right. Every familiar road on which I’ve cycled, feels and looks different — like I’m exploring it for the first time. It really is like being a kid again and discovering a whole new world out there on your first bicycle.

So why a recumbent?

Tags: recumbent | longbikes | slipstream | story | conversion

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Tags: rochester | rally | rare

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A post over at the CycleChat forums recently revealed the following:

ICE B3 is an ICE B2 with a 20" front wheel prototype cross of the B1/B2 I liked it so much ICE let me have one now . They intend to market it in the future when refinements have been completed.

Looks like ICE has gone full steam into its recumbent bike endeavors and will soon round things out with a 26/20 SWB.

Tags: ice | swb | b3

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Enjoy the holidays everybody!  Those of you who have been extra nice might find Santa has left a recumbent for you under the tree.  Maybe he'll deliver it by trike.

Santa Rides... A Recumbent Trike! from Rich Giannone on Vimeo.

Tags: bells | jingle | trice | ice | recumbent | trike | christmas | claus | santa

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Catrike is offering a promotion on their new color selection - aqua.  From now until the end of February, you can get an aqua trike at no extra charge.  The added option would normally run $99.

Since RBR will be closed for January, you've got a month to mull it over to decide if you're ready to go aqua.

Tags: catrike | aqua | paint | promotion | seagreen

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Let me first say that I am striving to avoid any gross generalizations that would suggest that recumbent riders are all bearded engineering types who tinker with their machines endlessly.  This stereotype is a disservice to the many female benters who ride sans beard.  And, honestly, every area of interest has an audience that likes to customize and experiment.  It's just that we bent folks don't usually mind making our weird bikes weirder.  Whatever it takes to meet our goals and tailor our bikes to our personalities.

Having said all that, we received some mail from customer Chris Malloy, owner of both an EasyRacers Javelin and a Challenge Seiran SL, telling us how he has modified his rides.  And he included photos, which is a sure-fire way to get your stuff posted here.

First up, the Javelin:

This is my EasyRacers Javelin with a RANS Hoagie seat and "V" clamp attachment.  There is a Rohloff hub too, and, if you're watching, no front derailleur.  The rohloff has such a range I just manually set the chainring to the low ring for hilly terrain and the larger one for flatter rides.  The headrest is from the back seat of a 2005 Toyota.  I just got the RANS seat so I used what I had lying around.

I put an extension in the standard issue Javelin handlebar riser to get the handlebars positioned.  Angled this low, the steering is virtually all tiller with my knees rising above the handlebar when pedalling.  It takes some getting used to but I like it.  The bike frame is titanium, so seat, rohloff, riser extender and all weigh 29 lbs.

The EasyRacers seat was comfortable enough but I wanted more recline.

Next, the NuVinci'd Challenge Seiran SL:

These are pictures of a Challenge Seiran SL with a NuVinci hub.  Pictures:

1. The hub.  It is heavy.  The bike weighs 32 lbs as is.  I like it because there is always a good gear.  In accelerating I can just twitch a finger to keep the pedal effort constant and pretty soon I'm doing 20 mph
without being aware of any increased effort. And, it's smooth and quiet.

2. The whole bike.  The thing under the seat is a gizmo intended to be put on a rake or shovel handle to change the grip.  I bolted bottle holders to it and hose clamped it to the frame.  The velcro strap around the seat is just because I am a belt and suspenders kind of guy.

3. The shifter.  The "inchworm" changes to indicate the terrain you are theoretically on at that point.  This is a lowish gear for moderate hills.

The lowest gear in the hub is a .5 reduction.  In reality the chainring to sprocket ratio cannot be less than 2:1 so the effect seems to be a lowest gear ratio of 1:1.  Let me know if my understanding is wrong.  I know on hills the gears feel like they should be lower.

I can't deny that the use of the Toyota headrest on the Javelin is a nice touch.  Never would have thought to do that!

Thanks Chris for sending in your mods!

Tags: challenge | seiran | sl | nuvinci | easyracers | javelin | mods | photos

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As we mention on the Aergo page, the Aergo has its origins in the Aerolope velomobile.  Unfortunately, Aerolope info is a little tough to come by these days since it stopped production some time ago.  Thanks to the nature of the web, however, we do at least have a good selection of photos from the Aerolope days.

How is this news?  It isn't, really, but this time of year always makes me nostalgic.  Plus, 2008 has been a good year for Aergo development, and it seems appropriate to take a look back as we continue to move forward.

Tags: aergo | velomobile | aerolope | photos

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Don't get us wrong, we love it each and every time you visit the site.  We love watching the trending graphs in our traffic analysis reports.

But what if you want to keep up on what's happening with RBR without launching browsers all the time?  What if you're a busy benter who needs information to come to you?

Your best bet is to use what I consider the three essential feeds of RBR.

First is The Blog Feed^TM that reflects what you're reading right now.

Second is The Specials Feed^$$ so you'll know instantly when new items are discounted.

Third, and final, is The Twitter Feed^Oo where we, uh, basically say the same thing we say here but in super short bites.  Some items are too small to justify taking up your time on this blog but might be of voyeuristic interest.  That's the role The Twitter Feed^Oo will play for RBR.

So there you have it - three different ways to consume RBR info at the speed of light.  If you're not familiar with RSS, think it might be an abbreviation for Rear Seat Steering , do a little reading up and see if it might be for you.

Tags: rss | atom | feed | updates | allupinyourgrill

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