Sports Car Steering? I Don’t Think So…

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A recumbent cycling forum member was describing a bicycle made with what he termed “extreme rake”:

Here.. let me sum it up. That extreme rake makes it fast, fun and fantastic!! My Tour Easy handles and steers like a Chevy Silverado, not bad mind you but like a truck. My Mach II handles like a Mustang Mach 1. Quick and responsive.

It also allows one the have the handle bar closer without increased tiller effect. Important for folks like me with a 50 x-seam.

When I read this several things came to mind:

1. My RANS Stratus had a similar steering geometry and I have never known anyone to describe that design as extreme. It does eliminate the feedback ordinarily associated with a bike design like that of that of an Easy Racers model where there is a bit of wheel flop. But this wheel flop makes it easy to ride the bike no-handed and greatly improves low-speed handling.
2. My RANS Stratus was anything but sports-car like in its handling. In fact the one time I attempted to try and ride it no-handed I suffered a rotator cuff tear trying to regain control of the handle bars.
3. Having the handlebars “closer to you” is often accompanied by a fair amount of tiller effect. One of the very first things I noted about the bike the commenter is describing is how weird the handlebar setup looked. These bikes are made from discarded frames bought sometimes at a police auction. The handlebar stem was a bent piece of metal that was clamped into an upright handlebar riser. It looks pretty crappy if you are unaware of the bikes origins.
4. But removing wheel flop in the RANS design does not result in a lack of tiller effect. Instead it means that the handlebars are mounted with an extension that is designed to reach rearward to allow the rider to adjust their arms extension.

Note the bent tubing to accommodate the handlebar riser.

On an Easy Racers bikes this sort of kludge is avoided for the most part by seating the rider on a bike meant for someone their height. That is why Easy Racers has some seven frames sizes, a fact that seems absurd until you consider the steering issues with a long wheel-base (LWB) bike. Easy Racers bikes use a fairly upright seat position and when installed properly and used by someone who height matches the frame size means that the arms are out at a comfortable distance on what is arguably a shorter than usual steering column.

The secret to designing any LWB bike is to keep the length consistent with X-Seam measurements and to avoid having the steering column be offset using a bent piece of frame tubing. It should instead go directly into the headset as it would on any well made upright.

So the next time you hear someone extolling the virtues of a no wheel flop design challenge them to ride their bike no-handed. Upright designers often question the lack of ability of most recumbent riders to do this. It is not so much a mater of rider skill as it is steering design. When you remove wheel flop the rider no longer gets the feedback necessary to do what you can see Gardner Martin doing in the vide clip below. He is riding no-handed. Try that on your bike when you are next out. Be careful however to keep your hands near the handlebars until you have satisfied yourself that you can do it safely.

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