The Ultimate Aero Bike | The Weird World Of Recumbent Racing

Recumbent bikes are the fastest type of bicycle thanks to their aerodynamics and low position. But just how hard are they to ride? How fast could James ride one?

Would you like to try one? What do you think about them? Let us know in the comments below 👇

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[LegSpinna]

Had me in tears. 'Smiling, I'm smiling', closely followed by 'crashing, crashing!'. This was a great watch.

[Nova_Avali]

See there's a reason this is in the UK. If they tried it in the US someone would put a V8 in it

[Peds]

Should have raced your regular bike, maybe even the cheap bike too for some other comparisons!
Great vid though, I'm amazed at those time savings!

[christophercervantes]

James: *crashes*
Bonnie: **all because you didn't smile**

[IraklyShanidzeX]

Today I was riding 22 mph working my arse off at 110 rpm, and this SOB on his aero recumbent bike, just like that yellow submarine, zooms past me about twice as fast. What a bloody humbling experience it was...

[kitbradley]

I ride about 5000 miles a year on recumbents. I looked into them, initially, because I was very overweight and remembered that I liked bicycle riding as a child. But *everything* hurt on an upright bicycle, particularly my wrists and butt. Then I bought a recumbent trike, lost 170 pounds, and now I ride a high racer bent at an average speed of over 20 mph. I am by no means an elite rider - my FTP is about 220 watts and I'll never be svelte - but the outstanding comfort of recumbents has allowed me to do something that I would not have otherwise been able to do, ride for hours at a time.


I don't think they're for everyone. Two-wheeled recumbents, in particular, aren't the best at low-speed maneuvering, and sometimes visibility is an issue. Starting on a hill is a little trickier than with an upright bicycle because of the issues of low-speed maneuvering. I'm a fairly strong rider, and at grades of about 5 percent, I start to get wobbly if I need to start. Of course, that's not much of a problem, I don't do a lot of stopping on steep hills, but it is an issue. Experience mitigates these issues but doesn't eliminate them.


While three-wheeled recumbents don't have that problem, they're heavier than even 2-wheeled bents (my wife's weights about 26 pounds and is a pretty light trike; a friend's trike weighs about 50 pounds and it is not a cheap bike) and have greater rolling resistance. Not to mention they can be trickier to transport.


If you do a lot of riding in a city without good bicycle infrastructure, riding a recumbent can be even more daunting than riding an upright bicycle in the same conditions. It might be worth it if comfort on an upright bicycle is an issue - it is for me. And because there are still things that are unknown about recumbents, it is possible future designs will further minimize these issues.

On the other hand, I think the UCI's rules that forbid recumbents are preposterous. They would and I argue *should* dominate track and time trial racing. I suspect that even in flat and hilly stages of road races that a paceline of recumbents would simply pull away from the peloton and never see it, again. Mountain stages would likely be ruled by upright bicycles until the end of time, though who knows what may come if as much effort was made not only to make a climbing recumbent but how to train on a recumbent? Still, upright riders seem to have advantages in hill climbs (if nothing else, upright bicycles are likely to remain lighter than recumbent bicycles which usually need much longer chains and much larger seats).


It also needs to be said, while I think that recumbents do fine as a gravel bike (I have just such a bike), they would utterly fail as mountain bikes. The issues with low-speed stability would make navigating all but the simplest mountain courses. And, of course, you've got to do a lot of climbing with very steep grades, which would be challenging with a bent.

I also think that for many casual riders, recumbent trikes are nearly ideal. The combination of stability and comfort is hard to beat, even when climbing hills. Put your trike in its lowest gear - my wife's trike currently has a gear range of over 600% so her low gear is very low, I believe 30 in front and 36 in back, and many trikes have 20-inch rear wheels that are even torquier than my wife's 700C rear wheel - and you *will* get to the top of the hill. Perhaps not quickly, but you will arrive and in comfort at whatever level of effort that you wish to give. And, of course, not many casual riders spend time climbing steep hills.

I've never been in a velomobile. I can't say about those.

The only thing that would get me to go back to upright bicycles is moving somewhere that I didn't feel safe on a recumbent due to its overall low profile (and thus limited visibility) or, maybe, living somewhere in the mountains.

[nikwhite]

Big shout out to Barney. What a great teacher ‘It’s been crashed, it’s been raleighed and we don’t want you to do either...’ What a welcoming and wonderful character. A tribute to cycling.

[navicto]

Utterly disappointed that no one made a smiles per hour pun

[hsvr]

The smile gives an extra 200watts of power

[andrebartels]

"Smile! Smile!"
What a way to learn something. Great.

[the_mad_ratter]

I broke my back in a motorcycle accident a few years back and lost the use of my left leg. Cycling can be... interesting at times. My comfort oriented recumbent bike means I can go faster, farther and cycle for longer. Recumbent with a fairing means my one good leg hardly even has to work.

"Even idiots might be able to roll them" with regards to the teardrop recumbent trike - you don't have to be an idiot to roll them :P Surface change into a corner can see you slide then grip and tip. Grabbing a fistful of front brakes can see you slam your chainring/pedals. Granted, it's easier to roll a delta style recumbent trike but they're all good fun to ride with one of the wheel in the air :P

Also with regards to the ban in racing - very similar happened in the motorcycle racing world. Limits were put in to restrict the amount of fairing motorcycles could use, as "bathtub" fairing bikes had what was deemed an "unfair advantage" (I see it as great engineering) over other competitors. Craig Vetter has been running competitions in the States to reduce fuel consumption and increase the efficiency of motorcycles. He was able to take a stock Honda Helix 250cc scooter, add one of his fairings and change the seating position so he was lower, and increase the top speed and usable power without modifying the engine, drivetrain or exhaust. He was able to make that little Honda Helix scooter hit 70mph into a 30mph headwind. Other bikes on his competitions have seen in excess of 480mpg. Also - just like the motorcycle world - the bicycle market has followed in the design footsteps of competition world because that's what consumers want.

My next step is building a velomobile (like the last one you feature) for more long distance touring, and then - because I can - incorporating an electric hub and solar/dynamo charging.

[jeroenimus]

I ride a trike as unfortunately my health means I don’t have the balance to stay upright on a normal bike. It’s great how cycling remains accessible to people with some modifications here and there.
Videos like these make the channel much more inclusive.

[andreamarino]

Love this format! Looks like a Top Gear episode but with bikes

[kachimozie]

Love how much his focus is on smiles. It's a beautiful thing.

[ashwinmandan]

16:28
When someone offers you a bar of chocolate and takes it back.

[arnoldligtvoet]

Great video and nice to see people I know in recumbent racing (Hi Barney). Great job James in learning how to race the two wheeled bike. Also very much hats of for GCN for crossing the gap to the dark side :-) It's good fun and on circuits, flat roads and nice tracks recumbents are ideal. In normal every day use the difference in speed might not be as big as you'd think, but that is more related to other circumstances than the raw speed of recumbents. Full disclosure : I am the designer of the RaptoBike.

[sebastiaanghielen]

Recumbents deserve a lot more attention! Great video and I really enjoyed that.

[titter]

The best thing about Recumbent bikes: The seat!
No more sore butt after hours of riding on a normal bike seat.

[kathrynb]

Love that GCN is covering a range of cycling disciplines. What fun!

[PacoOtis]

Here in the States have had a recumbent for 25 years and it is NOT designed for speed, but one of the dogs rides on my lap while I drink a cappuccino as we cruise about and get lots and lots of waves. Great fun! Excellent video and thanks for sharing and the very best of luck!