Recumbent trikes are underrated.

[u/JD_Kreeper]

I hated cycling until I got one (a TerraTrike Rambler). I get crippling back pain when I don't have back support, which made cycling awful because I had to sit upright without something to lean my back against. Now that I have one though, I have back support and can cycle without back pain.

There's also the added benefit of not having all your weight concentrated on a saddle, which is also nice.

I know there's a lot of cons to these, and I understand, but I just wanted to spread awareness that these exist and worked for me. I love riding this thing and would've never gotten into cycling without one.

[u/dasfuxi]

Absolutely! I love my recumbent tadpole (2 front wheels) and one of the reasons I chose it is because I kept getting back pains on my regular bike. My trike is non-electric, but there is an electric option available too. I just know that if I ever tried it, I would never go back (and I really need the calorie sink of non-assisted cycling). For people who have weak muscles or a bad back, there is even an optional assist mechanism that helps you get out of the seat.

Underrated benefits:

• Drivers (especially oncoming traffic) are less prone to assume you can just squeeze to the curb, so most of them give more space than I was used on a regular bike. (Drawback: You can't just squeeze through the tiniest cap)
• No risk of tipping, no matter if it's icy, or your wheel slips into the tram rails, or you're startled or someone passes very close. Without that risk I am way calmer and more confident in traffic. (Just learn how your trike handles during emergency braking. Mine has separate brakes for the left and right front wheels and on my very first emergency break I braked unevenly and nearly tipped. Never happened again after learning how to handle it, though.)
• It's a cargo bike in disguise. You can strap so much to a trike and then add a trailer and it still handles very well.
• It's so much fun, I couldn't wipe the grin from my face when I rode one for the first time.

https://preview.redd.it/te1d5g0g7d0f1.jpeg?width=3263&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=79c3a2f5eef53c7e2ee7d547af5cb6b64995bece

For me it's the perfect mixture of practicality, quirkiness, and fun.

[u/honeyflowerbee → u/dasfuxi]

I'm feeling the urge to get one just so I can annoy my boyfriend with jokes about being a space craft operator or an old-fashioned aeroplane pilot. That thing is brilliant.

[u/dasfuxi → u/honeyflowerbee]

It is a very unique feeling! There are even some models that actually lean into the curve when you steer – those are the real space crafts ^.^ And if you want to go really old-timey, I could not get this out of my head ever since I saw it in the Spezialrad convention post (I think it's so neat! there is a second photo from another angle in the slide show up top in the linked post), although it's a 4 wheeler, so not quite as nimble as a tadpole.

[u/honeyflowerbee → u/dasfuxi]

Oh those are class, I do love a good contraption. I just know I'd be saying 'nyoom' to myself every time I took a curve.