Dragon By Dennis Renner

Because my blog is about Recumbents, Art and Poems I thought it was time to upload one of my drawings on to my page. This picture of a dragon is my own design done in pencil and then adjusted on the computer to give it an old yellowed look.

Maggie's Recumbent

Maggie's Recumbent is my most recent project. Maggie is a very petite woman that we could not find a small light weight recumbent manufactured that fit her. Every thing we did find was in the 30Lbs range and up. So our solution was to custom design and build a recumbent just for Maggie. I hope you enjoy the video.

Front Wheel Drive Rear Wheel Steer Recumbent

Many of you might wonder why build a recumbent with front wheel drive. Why not stick with rear wheel drive? Well front wheel drive provides may advantanges. First is that it requires much less chain than a normal recumbent. Second is it reduces weight by needing less chain and chain guides. Third in slippery situations like sand or an oily road the front wheel pulls the bike through the mess which is easier than the rear wheel trying to push the bike and rider through slick situations. The same holds true in cars.

So if front wheel drive is so good why do most bikes have rear wheel drive? Well there are more and more recumbents entering the market all the time with front wheel drive. The difference between my design and others is that my design steers with the rear wheel. Most other front wheel drive recumbents still steer with the front wheel. Others like the Flevo and Python articulate just behind the front wheel. Still others like the Cruz Bike steer with a head tube in a normal fashion. The problem with these designs are that they have a lot of pedal steer that has to be compensated for by man handling the handle bars at high pedal power to stop excessive wiggle. This uses a lot of energy and strain the arms. The rear wheel steering removes pedal steer. This improves peddle energy efficiency. This makes for a smoother more efficient riding machine.

So what is the down side of a front wheel drive rear wheel steering recumbent? I suppose it is the learning to ride such a bike. It still feels like a bicycle but has a slower rhythm. At least that is the best way I can describe its handling. It is a very relaxed ride. Still learning to ride one is a new adventure.

Summery: It is my opinion that this design has very good potential to make a more efficient recumbent. In a lowracer design this configuiration could push the efficency envelope farther forward. I am currently working such a design.

Recumbents

I hope you enjoy watching it.