What did I ride at RC-C?

By attending Recumbent Cycle-Con, you obviously get a chance to see a huge range of bikes and trikes in one place. Even better, that place includes a test track (actually, two - one for trikes and one for bikes) so you can also get an opportunity to take models for a spin, literally rolling off the event floor and out the door to the track.

Now, while it would be a fun exercise to try them all out, that’s not practical - there are too many models on display, there are other people waiting and there’s just so much to see on the show floor. There’s also the wonderful opportunity for conversations at the booths, with other attendees and the company staff there too. But I still took the opportunity to try out four models - two bikes and two trikes. Here are my thoughts…

Schlitter Encore - this is a modern and exquisite carbon high racer that has a family history that traces through both Bacchetta and RANS bikes because of John Schlitter himself, so it’s not surprising that it feels very broadly similar to my own Bacchetta Corsa. However, it was also clear that this style of bike has continued to develop in the years since my own 2009. It’s noticeably lighter and feels great to ride, very nimble and responsive in the turns around the test track. I really liked how this high racer has been designed.

The one I rode at the event was not the larger frame size that was present, unfortunately, so I personally felt just a little cramped between legs and handlebar. I also ride with twist-grips while the Encore had bar-ends, which extended the controls that little bit further than I was used to, further adding to the cramped feel. But that wasn’t a fault with the bike at all, more a missed opportunity on my part to ride the most appropriate frame size. I would have liked to ride further to better understand and enjoy the considerable improvements that the Encore offers over my own bike.

Cruzbike Silvio - this was the first time I had an opportunity to ride a moving bottom bracket bike. Huh… I wasn’t prepared for quite how different it felt from a more typical recumbent like my Corsa. In handling the bare bike, it’s very much weighted forwards and my first few tentative rides were very strange indeed! Fortunately, I was in the safe and patience hands of Bob Pankratz who helped me figure things out (and more importantly, not embarrass myself - thanks, Bob). He actually started me on the QX100, a less extreme (and easier to learn on) Cruzbike than the Silvio, and by following some very specific drills that helped my brain appreciate that “something’s different here”, I was able to ride alone on both the QX100 and the Silvio, turning rough figure-of-eights, standing and rolling starts around the parking lot within 20 minutes.

Did I master it in that time? No, it’ll take a lot more practice - in the same way that I had to practice when I first got my Corsa. I didn’t find it harder but it was different for sure. But in only 20 minutes, I figured out enough to get a sense of riding one, carving out turns in quite a different way to my stick-bike, powering out and pulling out of a corner with the front-wheel-drive. The Silvio is an exciting and fast bike. I liked it.

Catrike 700 - I have a huge soft spot for my first recumbent, a 2006 Catrike Speed, so I took the opportunity to ride a 700 while at RC-C. It reminded me in a lot of ways of my old Speed, as perhaps any Catrike would with the strong family features. However, I also found it not quite as zippy and nippy as the Speed was. The wheelbase is longer, it’s heavier and I somehow felt like it had lost a little of the go-cart DNA along the way.

It would clearly be quick and capable out on the open road but unfortunately it didn’t excite me in quite the same way. The Speed is no more, discontinued in 2011, so I’m hankering for something that isn’t available any more. The 700 is a different trike by design, and it’s clearly well designed. I enjoyed having the opportunity to ride it, nonetheless.

Greenspeed Aero - after lamenting the demise of the Catrike Speed above, this for me is its natural successor - taking the baton from the Speed and further developing it. The new Aero was just fabulous to ride. It has 16″ wheels at the front and a 20″ rear, the same combination as the old Speed, with similar weight, width and wheelbase. The antagonistic ‘push-pull’ side stick steering is really intuitive and wonderfully responsive, and I loved the wheel covers. The Speed had a sense of simplicity and clean lines, that it had a very specific purpose and there was nothing superfluous on the trike. The Aero has that same feeling, to me.

The front wheels have visible negative camber, the frame and small wheels are stiff and the whole package made for a fun and exciting ride in the twisties of the test track. The trike was so stable and composed no matter what speed or how sharply I cornered.

If only I’d been given the green light for a ‘supermarket sweep’ run around the show floor at the end of the event, the Aero is the one I would have put in my shopping cart. I just down-right loved it.