Abstract des Autors

A recumbent pedaling position is one having the pedaling axis substantially in front of the rider. Further recumbents of the type where the rider is in a sitting position may be designated as semirecumbent and those where the rider is lying down, as fully recumbent. For this chapter, the boundary between semirecumbent and fully recumbent is set as a seat-back angle of 450 with the horizontal. Abbott defines four possible fully recumbent positions: the supine position with face upward, the prone position with face down, and on the right or left side, the right or left decubitus positions (Abbott, 1988). In general, full recumbents are used only for speed-record attempts, because of the position's inherent problems for both seeing and being seen. Technically speaking, the first pedaled bicycles were "recumbents", but this chapter briefly traces the development of just geared recumbent bicycles, from the first known examples that appeared 1895 to the Cheetah of 1992. Case studies of the Avatar bicycles are covered in greater depth. Variations such as front-wheel drive and front-steering recumbents are introduced. Verf.-Referat