the Easy Racer and my own athletic prow- marketplace has not agreed with my between “whether to walk into the store” Cyclesense ess by winning the race, but I think I preference, and under-seat steering bikes and “Mastercard or Visa.” It’s a legitimate finished third. (The prize for third place are rare today. concern. Questions can thwart sales. was a Huffy bicycle!) I thought third place On the question of long wheelbases, I have long said that another reason was pretty good for riding an unfamiliar I remain undecided. A long wheelbase for the relative obscurity of recumbents TESTING,TESTING, TESTING recumbent, considering I was unsure of costs maneuverability, but on shorter was the introduction of the mountain These comfortable bikes have been actively sold to the public for 30 years now the steering and slowed down to jogging recumbents, you have to learn to avoid bike. In the 1980s, the bike business was speed for the curves. overlapping your heels with the chain- barely ready for one new choice, and by John Schubert No Easy Racer rider with a modicum wheel during sharp turns. the mountain bike filled that slot. (Given of experience needs to be so dainty. The And there’s the rub: Recumbents have the way mountain bikes cannibalized Easy Racer, and its near-clone Tour Easy (long wheelbase, handlebars in front of In the winter of 1980, an odd road-test assign- ing. Most of the time I logged on the the rider) are known for excellent han- Avatar was night riding, and night was dling. The head tube angle is 59 degrees ment hit my desk at Bicycling Magazine: the problem-free. I was charmed by the fact and the fork rake 3.5 inches — radically that the recumbent puts your head in slack by the standards of most bikes, Avatar 2000 recumbent. It was the first a forward-looking position, rather than including most recumbents, but it works recumbent sold to the public, and it was my a downward-looking position, which well with the recumbent position to allows recumbent riders to see much deliver neutral steering and balancing. job to review it. Recumbents had been in the more scenery, and my back, shoulders, The Easy Racer is easy to corner hard, news, of course. During the 1970s, they trounced and butt were always comfy. despite its 67-inch wheelbase. The Avatar was not a sales success. I later learned that Martin had been upright bikes in time-trial events sponsored by the Its $1,575 price tag was pretty stiff in close to giving up on selling recumbents International Human Powered Vehicle Association 1980 dollars; you had to order it sight when he went to Cleveland. It’s been said unseen; and owners had to put up with that the road test I wrote kept him afloat (IHPVA). And it never took long for being the center of attention. (Riding and paved the way for his continued suc- On his Avatar 2000, Schubert challenges Jimmy Cool and his TransAm to race. someone to dredge up the memory of one quickly dispelled the “too low to cess. France’s recumbent Velocar, which in be seen” myth, however. Heads jerked The years went by and other recum- never decided what they want to be. On touring bikes during that decade, one 1932 set a slew of records. The Velocar’s and jaws dropped, pretty much without bents came and went. The fully-enclosed upright bikes (“wedgies” in the argot of could argue we were ready for zero new success led to recumbents being banned exception.) Leitra tricycle, which I rode in Denmark ‘bent fans), the designs have been stan- choices.) Moreover, the bicycle business from racing by the ever-retrogrouch The Avatar gave birth to a similar in 1982, is on my short list of the best dardized to a huge extent. But ‘bent rid- has its roots in people’s passions and the Union Cycliste Internationale. tribute bike, the Ryan Vanguard, which I utility bikes ever. The Lightning P-38 ers are on their own to pick among vast recumbent is a frontal assault on tradi- But until 1980, you couldn’t go buy a reviewed in this magazine in 1989. had a wheelbase around 44 inches, design differences. Wheelbases vary over tions wedgie bike drivers hold dear. recumbent. You had to fabricate your own. My second recumbent road test hap- removing the “too-long wheelbase” a 20-inch range. Handlebars are directly None of this matters if you feel free to Then, a small Massachusetts company The Velocar, circa 1930. pened when I attended a 1981 consumer objection. The Vision Sabre had the best or indirectly attached to the steering, set your own trends in life, and there’s called Fomac took the plunge. Their expo and racing event in Cleveland. handling, but then the company went under your arse, or in front of you. (On little doubt the recumbent’s superior claim to credibility was that the Avatar 1 inch diameter, a down tube of 1.125 There, I met Gardner Martin, who had out of business. one prototype Easy Racer tandem, the comfort makes it an excellent choice for had been designed by David Gordon inch, and a frame made from lugged come to show off his Easy Racer recum- So what conclusions do I draw from handlebars were a pair of side sticks.) those willing to think differently. Wilson, professor at Massachusetts steel. Mountain bikes and aluminum bent. riding all these bikes? Bike geeks love all this choice. So Institute of Technology and author of the frames didn’t exist. The Avatar stood out Martin’s Easy Racer had won first-place I really like under-seat steering, much to talk about! Bike salesmen hate it, Technical editor John Schubert sallies forth from his book Bicycling Science. like a pterodactyl at a dog show. People finishes in IPHVA races in 1977 and 1980. because the rider’s arms can be so because they want the customer to face website at Limeport.org. You can write to him at [email protected]. Back then, the bike business was didn’t even know what to ask about it. (In those races, it had a full fairing with relaxed while exercising vigorously. The the smallest possible number of decisions I logged a few hundred commuting tiger teeth painted on the front.) Five miles on a familiar four-lane commercial years hence, an Easy Racer named the highway and slowly got used to the Gold Rush would be the first bike to go Avatar’s many unique qualities. It had 65 MPH on flat ground, earn a permanent under-seat steering, connected via an air- display in the Smithsonian Institution, craft control rod to the front wheel; the and earn Martin national prominence far 63-inch wheelbase was tandem-length; beyond the IHPVA circuit. But this was and my head and eyes were farther 1981, and Martin had nothing better to behind the steering axis than I was used do than to talk to me. to, and I couldn’t even look at my hands. Was I interested in the Easy Racer? Gardner Martin and the Easy Racer. Over time, comfort came. I found Sure! I could take photos, maybe do a myself U-turning on narrow roads, road-test article. What sort of test ride conformist to an extent that’s hard to maneuvering in traffic as I did on a stan- would I do? Martin knew: there was imagine today. If you examined the adult dard bike, carrying the Sunday paper a six-mile citizens’ race the next day. I bikes in your favorite shop, every one of under one arm and dancing through its could ride his bike in the citizens’ race! them would have a top tube of precisely seven-cog half-step-plus-granny gear- I’d love to tell you I vindicated both 32 adventure cyclist june 2010 adventurecycling.org adventure cyclist june 2010 adventurecycling.org 33.