Recumbent

I like to ride a bike.


There are many variants of bike on the street, one of which is known as a Recumbent , from what I can gather there main advantage is that they have a smaller drag coefficient than a regular bike (known as a wedgie in recumbent circles) and hence are more efficient.


Increased efficiency on a bike is great, because your legs are the engine, but their are so many disadvantages to the recumbent its a wonder anyone rides them.
They are noticeably slower on even the most gentle up hill inclines, and in a world where a road is rarely as flat as pool table, this is a significant disadvantage to progress.
Because of their low height, they are frequently invisible to other road users, this is often countered by utilising an orange flag, this only acts as a target for most road users, and should probably be a white flag in defeat to regular bikes (the flag would also increase wind resistance somewhat).
All recumbent riders seem to have a beard of some type, I really don't understand why, because beards are so uncommon in bike riding community (they interfere with helmet straps), perhaps the massive expense in buying the recumbent is at the cost of razors.