Help - to find out if a recumbent trike is a good choice/fit - aka try before comitment.

[tmac100]

A friend in Gippsland has a very bad back. That coupled with being overweight (by maybe 50 kg) has made me wonder about a way to help him reduce weight - slowly but consistently - and also gain some fitness (heart, respiration, muscles, yadda).

Because of his back issues I thought that a recumbent trike would be better for him than any other HPV - including "diamond frames" that he has ridden in the past.

Before I lend him my Greenspeed GTO to use for this adventure at weight loss and fitness gain, I think it would be good for him to try out a recumbent trike. Any rentals or other suggestions. A different trike that a GTO is worth looking at as well - if he can fit it properly and then use it consistently...

Please advise. Thanks.

[zebee]

If no one here can (or even if they can) then try the ozhpv mailing list, sign up at ozhpv.org.au - lots of Vic riders there.

His overall weight may matter, if he's more than about 120kg then he might be over the weight limit of a trike.

The other problem is getting in and out, if he's not that flexible or good at getting out of low seating he might need grab bars, not all trikes have them.

try http://mrrecumbenttrikes.com, they may have things in stock he could try but I think they are in the Mornington Peninsula so a bit of a trip.

My first thought for a big man would be a Greenspeed Magnum as that's the target market. High rider weight limit, large seat, adjustable seat height, optional grab bars, wide range of gearing options. Issue will be he'll have to buy new as they aren't about much 2nd hand.

IN many ways it is a leap of faith on his part. You can get a decent diamond frame bike 2nd hand for a couple of hundred, a trike is a couple of thousand 2nd hand and a good trike for a large man twice that. I note that I took the leap of faith 10 years ago, and paid $2600 for a 2 wheel recumbent to ride the 17km to work on. Having paid that much I had an extra incentive to do it! (I didn't start with that trip of course, I did a lot of shorter rides first and the first ride to work I allowed 2 hours and used all of that time and came home on the train)

However... if I hadn't been riding it to work it would have been money wasted. Owning it isn't enough, you have to ride it and ride it regularly even if you don't feel all that much like it. Very hard to do if your motive for riding is solely weight loss as it won't happen quickly. You will get fitter quickly then plateau and the incentive drops. So as part of this he needs to work out what trips can be made as a part of daily life. Incorporate the exercise into the routine is the only thing that works long term. It takes some time to get to the point where riding the bike is normal and enjoyable and just What You Do.


Zebee