In the 1970s interest in recumbents and other HPVs resurfaced in California. When engineers set to work to meet this challenge, they determined that the recumbent design was at least 25 percent more efficient than a conventional bicycle, and in 1986, a rider on a recumbent bike captured the Dupont prize. Recumbent bikes are still judged to be the fastest bikes on the road under most conditions, and they are still banned from sanctioned races. The association would like to see more people using recumbents as basic transportation, which will not happen until they are more affordable. Right now only a few small companies produce the bikes, and that has kept costs high.
Many people are now interested in recumbents for reasons other than their speed.
Jim Hawkings, a biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service, is waiting for his new recumbent bike to arrive. He says he based his choice on the fact that the bikes are so much more comfortable than road bikes. Riding one feels awkward at first, but once you get used to it they are really comfortable, and time just sort of passes when you are on a recumbent. Hawkings already owns another HPV, a water bike. He says these craft make sense because people have more power in their legs than in their arms.