Author: Bruce Boysen
—report by Bruce Boysen
Kickbikes… I had one for a couple of years and had a little accident that destroyed it a year or so ago. I really miss my Kickbike. [He had a Millenium Racer, see it at: www.kickbikeamerica.com/mrktng/sub_pages/millr.html.]
I’ve written about them before on iBOB [this is a reprint of an iBOB post].
They are very fun. Taking a downhill at speed is amazing. If you get down in a low tuck/squat they coast down hills very fast and since you can squat all the way down until your butt is within ten or so inches of the pavement the sensation of speed is great.
At a cruising speed of ten or twelve mph it’s pretty effortless to
kick all day on the flats, yet if you kick as fast/hard as you can it’s
quickly tiring. Climbing a long steep hill is very tough. Like a
singlespeed, you are forced to climb steep hills at max effort. If you
don’t go hard and let your speed drop too much the kickbike slows
greatly between kicks and it feels like you’re riding in molasses. It
gets easier as you gain technique and fitness; and at some point I
personally found myself enjoying the challenge of a tough climb.
There is quite a bit of technique to riding one well. The hop
switch takes some practice. Until you can do it without thinking you
can’t *really* ride a kickbike, IMO. It’s both a lot more efficient and
much more fun to hop from one leg to the other instead of stepping on
to the footbed with the kicking leg and then removing the other foot.
On steep hills it’s the only way that works. Working on your stride and
kick speed is an ongoing process and something I worked on every ride.
You get a lot faster in the first couple of months of regular riding.
Riding up and down curbs is fun & useful to learn too. You can’t just
ride off the curb since the bottom of the kickbike is too low to clear
it. You have to pop up the front of the kickbike with your kicking leg,
going up or down.
Switching legs. On the flats I switched about once every twenty
kicks, sometimes a lot less than this if I was just cruising along
enjoying the scenery. On climbs I switched maybe once every five kicks.
I varied it quite a bit, but this was what I generally did.
Rides were the same length of time as on my bicycles. Kickbikes are
perfect for getting around crowded cities. They feel very safe to ride
on busy sidewalks as it’s so much easier to ride with walkers all
around you. Low speed control is much better than a bicycle and it’s
completely effortless to step off and on constantly…..after all,
that’s what you’re already doing when you switch legs. I loved taking
mine up to my daughter’s college (Hamilton in upstate NY) and riding
around campus. I’d have no problem touring on a kickbike, though it
would have to be a tour with minimal gear. There isn’t a lot of room on
one and I wouldn’t want to pull a trailer.
Advantages over a bike? They are a lot warmer in the winter. I
think it has to do with the upright position and the fact you’re using
and moving your whole body, but it feels very much warmer and more
comfortable than a bicycle on a cold winter day. Your feet never get
cold with just sneakers and one pair of socks, on even the coldest days
in NJ. I think it’s a much healthier exercise than bicycling. It’s
weight bearing and really does use your whole body, much like cross
country skiing. It also feels like it stretches the rear chain,
hammies, lower back, upper back, calves and hips. I always felt light
and loose after a ride.
Disadvantages? It’s slower. It doesn’t work well for technical
offroad, and that’s my favorite riding. Word of warning, you can wreck
one offroad doing stupid stuff. I know this for a fact….ha, ha. The
dork factor is high. Bicyclists are the worst. I don’t know if they
feel threatened, but they often said insulting stuff, usually just the
*serious* guys in matchy, matchy ballerina outfits. Some kids yell too,
but lots of them love it. Anyone who’s ridden a recumbent knows how it
is.
I’m going to get another one sometime…….maybe tomorrow, or next
year. I loved riding mine.
