Commercial recumbent trikes are not like light weight upright diamond frame road bikes.

I've been riding high end light weight road bikes for 35 years and have ridden well over 60,000 miles during that time. At 65 I still average 17 mph on my after work 30 mile bike ride.

At the start of 2015 I bought a Catrike Expedition and rode the same 30 mile route for 2700 miles over the summer. My average speed drop from 17 mph to 13 mph. The majority of the loss was from slow uphill climbs. I can go up most hills on my bike at 10 to 12 mph. On the trike I very seldom go over 5 mpg. On flat roads I'm usually 2 mph slower than the road bike, down hill is about the same as the road bike.

I would suggest getting a trike with an electric wheel assist if you need to go up many hills. If you're stuck on speed don't buy a recumbent trike.

On the other hand in my experience the fun out weighs the loss in speed.

Commercial recumbent trikes are not like light weight upright diamond frame road bikes.

I've been riding high end light weight road bikes for 35 years and have ridden well over 60,000 miles during that time. At 65 I still average 17 mph on my after work 30 mile bike ride.

At the start of 2015 I bought a Catrike Expedition and rode the same 30 mile route for 2,700 miles over the summer. My average speed drop from 17 mph to 13 mph. The majority of the loss was from slow uphill climbs. I can go up most hills on my bike at 10 to 12 mph. On the trike I very seldom go over 5 mph. On flat roads I'm usually 2 mph slower than the road bike, down hill is about the same as the road bike.

I would suggest getting a trike with an electric wheel assist if you need to go up many hills. If you're stuck on speed don't buy a recumbent trike.

On the other hand in my experience the fun out weighs the loss in speed.

Commercial recumbent trikes are not like light weight upright diamond frame road bikes. I've been riding high end light weight road bikes for 35 years and have ridden well over 60,000 miles during that time. At 65 I still average 17 mph on my after work 30 mile bike ride. At the start of 2015 I bought a Catrike Expedition and rode the same 30 mile route for 2700 miles over the summer. My average speed drop from 17 mph to 13 mph. The majority of the loss was from slow uphill climbs. I can go up most hills on my bike at 10 to 12 mph. On the trike I very seldom go over 5 mpg. On flat roads I'm usually 2 mph slower than the road bike, down hill is about the same as the road bike. I would suggest getting a trike with an electric wheel assist if you need to go up many hills. If you're stuck on speed don't buy a recumbent trike. On the other hand in my experience the fun out weigh's the loss in speed.

Len

Commercial recumbent trikes are not like light weight upright diamond frame road bikes.

I've been riding high end light weight road bikes for 35 years and have ridden well over 60,000 miles during that time. At 65 I still average 17 mph on my after work 30 mile bike ride.

At the start of 2015 I bought a Catrike Expedition and rode the same 30 mile route for 2700 miles over the summer. My average speed drop from 17 mph to 13 mph. The majority of the loss was from slow uphill climbs. I can go up most hills on my bike at 10 to 12 mph. On the trike I very seldom go over 5 mpg. On flat roads I'm usually 2 mph slower than the road bike, down hill is about the same as the road bike. 

I would suggest getting a trike with an electric wheel assist if you need to go up many hills. If you're stuck on speed don't buy a recumbent trike.

On the other hand in my experience the fun out weighs the loss in speed.