Eric K. - US
Why ride hunched over on a road bike, when you can stand tall, rising above your surroundings?
In April of 2017, I had been standing for 15 years at my desks at home and work. I had just retired and bought a Halfbike for the challenge, and it looked like fun. The bike arrived in two days, and assembly took a leisurely hour. For my first ride, I just stood on the Halfbike, coasted down a gentle hill for a few hundred meters, then walked back up and did it again. Within 30 minutes, I was pedaling comfortably in a straight line. Within a week, I was at ease with turns and uneven surfaces. Within a month, I routinely rode for two hours on paved paths in a forest preserve.
I've since moved to the Raleigh area in North Carolina (USA), and I still love riding my Halfbike. I find myself smiling most of the time, saying "hello" to often startled strangers, who have never seen a Halfbike. I occasionally ride along with bikers and runners who are curious about my Halfbike and have questions.
It can be a challenge to learn to ride. The experience reminded me of learning to ride a bicycle as a child. And like that experience, I loved the sense of accomplishment after mastering the Halfbike. For me, the stand-up tricycle was like a combination of a unicycle and a skateboard. The difference between riding a road bike and a Halfbike is the difference between walking and dancing. Riding is a whole-body feeling of flow-motion.