kirkcudbright | bike wank, part 6

BikeE CT, circa who knows when. The company went belly-up in 2002, so it would have to be at least that old. Until that point, they were the largest manufacturer of recumbents (an admittedly tiny segment of the bike market). To quote one former dealer, "Their plan was to lower their prices until recumbents took over the world." Unfortunately, they never made any money that way, and when they folded, they folded abruptly.

This bike has the least story to it. I bought it last month off a guy on Craigslist. Unlike the Trek, I've ridden it (a little), but I've never toured on it, and it's not an artifact of a failed relationship, or anything like that. I bought it off an MIT grad student whose landlord wanted to clear out the basement a bit, because when you have a 6-unit apartment building in Cambridge, the basement fills up with bikes pretty quickly. So he had to prioritize his bikes, and I've been thinking about getting a recumbent since I first read about BikeE about 10 years ago, and now I have one.

A lot of the interesting stuff about this bike comes directly from BikeE trying to be the low-cost recumbent bike leader. For instance, they couldn't afford to stock different sizes of frames. The seat slides fore-and-aft on the beam, so it's adjustable to just about everyone. Like, Kylie could ride this (if she could ride it - she's unused to either shifters or hand brakes). The stem also telescopes, so you can put the handlebars where they're most comfortable for you. Currently, they're about as low as they can get without my knees banging into my hands. It's got a 16" wheel in front, and a 20" wheel in back, and the beam is raised well above the rear wheel, so you're sitting fairly upright, with your head about as high as it would be, leaned over a regular bike. Where the beam slants upwards in back, it's also open on the bottom, to form a natural fender. It's also pre-drilled with a couple holes, to mount a rack (or a piece of plywood, or a milk crate, or whatever).

Another interesting thing is that it's a 21-speed bike (3x7), but it doesn't have a front derailleur. Instead, it has a 3-speed Sturmey Archer rear hub, just like the 3-speed bike I had back in the '70s. It's also the only bike out of the 6 that has a kickstand. [This is another triumph of racing-fashion in bike design and marketing, that "real bikes" don't have kickstands (or dingy-bells for that matter).]

The sidewall of the rear tire is visibly degrading (more visible on the close-up), and the derailleur is out of adjustment, but it's more or less pristine. I've noticed that it (obviously) takes a load off my arms/wrists/hands, but it puts more of a load on my legs/knees, because I have to push more (e.g. when climbing a hill, I can't stand in the saddle, and put all my weight alternately into one leg, then the other).

On the cross-country ride, we had a guy on a recumbent, but he joined us in Pueblo CO, after the Rockies, and he left us in Indianapolis or Erie, before the Berkshires. Oh yes, and there was the recumbent guy who started with us, but he didn't get farther than the Golden Gate Bridge before he dropped out. He also had some relationship issues going on, so who knows. Anyway, I'm probably not going to be touring on this bike.

And that's it. Six bikes, out of what should be three or at most four. Which is not to say that I'll never get another. Like, I could get a folding bike, that would be cool. Or a tandem, if Francie actually wanted to bike, and/or when Kylie gets a little bigger. Or I could cash them all in, and get a Rivendell touring bike. Or...