The Long Wheelbase recumbent is back in a big way. With the possible exception of tadpole trikes, LWB’s are the hottest trend in the American recumbent market. They have supplanted the compact long wheelbase as the hot ticket in the entry-level market and are gaining popularity amongst enthusiasts as well.

One company who is definitely right out at the front of this LWB revival is RANS. Owner Randy Schlitter has been designing and building long wheelbase recumbents as long as anyone in the business and no one could be happier about this recent trend than he is. RANS has had a lot of success with their short wheelbase models, but if you speak to Randy you can tell that his heart is really with the LWB bikes.

The Tailwind and Velocity 2 have done well for RANS, but the Stratus has long been the heart and soul of the line-up. Having been in production for over fifteen years, it has gained quite a following. Nearly every recumbent owner in the world can recognize a Stratus and many of them have at least ridden one in the past.

With the LWB on the comeback trail, Schlitter rightly figured that it was time to freshen up the venerable Stratus and reintroduce it to a new generation of recumbent enthusiasts. They did this by expanding the Stratus line from one to three bikes. At the low end, there is the Stratus LE (review coming soon). The original bike is now in the middle of the group and the dual 26 Stratus XP that we are featuring here is positioned at the top of the heap.

There is also some new design principles applied to the Stratus XP’s frame. The XP uses “Y” braced chain stays and has a vertical tube coming off of the main tube. This allows the use of thinner wall tubing and makes for a lighter frame.

The XP has a slightly higher bottom bracket position than the original Stratus. It’s not quite as high as the Velocity 2 but you will definitely notice the difference if you’re coming from a standard Stratus or an Easy Racers product.

RANS chose a familiar mix of Shimano and SRAM components for the XP. It uses a SRAM 9.0 rear derailleur and shifters, a Truvativ Rolleur crankset, Shimano LX hubs and Avid Arch Rival brakes. The Stratus XP has Alex rims and Primo Racer tires.

Fit and finish on the Stratus XP was excellent. The “Corvette Blue” paint job looked great and the custom laser-etched aluminum fork was a very nice touch.

Before I rode the Stratus XP, I was expecting it to handle like the Queen Mary II. In reality, it wasn’t perfect but was much more manageable than that. At low speed the bike did like to wander and I was always aware that I was maneuvering a lot of bike around, but it was never an issue. Above five mph, the problem was almost completely gone. Randy told me that some sacrifices were made to make sure that the bike had better stability at speed but pointed out that he feels others have sacrificed more than he did with the XP. I tend to agree. Weaving through a crowd of pedestrians while astride the Stratus XP is probably not a good idea, but in daily riding the bike handles just fine.

And if high-speed stability was the primary design goal, Randy gets an A+ from me. With the long wheelbase and the gyroscopic effect of the larger front wheel, you would expect this bike to be pretty damn stable, but whatever you’ve imagined is still probably a bit shy of how solid the XP really is. Our test bike was practically hands off at 50 mph and made some of my favorite long descents almost boring.

The Stratus XP was one of the most comfortable recumbents I’ve reviewed in a very long time. The standard RANS seat is always a plus and I found the bottom bracket height to be even more agreeable than that of the standard Stratus. If you can’t find a comfortable hand position with the 3-Way handlebars, you just aren’t trying hard enough. These are the most adjustable handlebars in the market by quite a wide margin.

The extra-long wheelbase and 559mm wheels also make the XP a very smooth ride. I used our test bike to get re-acquainted with some of my favorite loops once I moved back to New York. Roads that seemed a little rough five years ago were as smooth as glass on the XP. (And they still haven’t been repaved) A real pothole or large crack will still be felt, but rough chip seal and the like are almost completely absorbed.

In the case of the Stratus XP, “smooth”, “comfortable” and “stable” definitely do not equal “slow”. This bike absolutely flew along the flat roads that parallel the Canisteo River. The bikes gearing and high-pressure tires were perfect for long 22-23 mph pulls and shorter bursts into the upper twenties and lower thirties.

The Stratus XP is also a better than average climber. On really steep grades where your speed drops below 5-6 mph the bike does like to meander but on milder grades of 6-10%, the XP can be quite impressive.

Combine the excellent comfort and good performance and you get a bike that can really suck up the miles. The only limitations you’ll have are the hours in the day. Two of my test rides were in the 50-mile range and I was still itching for a lot more. The XP would make a perfect mount for someone interested in a lightweight long distance tourer or a randonneur bike.

With some fatter tires, the XP could also make a pretty good mount for dirt roads. One of my rides ventured off onto a long dirt road climb and similarly paved winding descent. The stock Stratus XP handled these conditions well but with some disc brakes and wider rubber, I think it would have been excellent. Hopefully we can get our hands on an XP for a bit longer to report back on this.

While the Stratus XP is not the first dual 26 LWB to hit the market, it is the one that is best positioned to sell in larger numbers and really kick-start this market segment. After riding the XP and a Lightfoot Ranger that I had at the same time, I do have to say that I wouldn’t mind seeing more of these “Monster ’Bents” on the road. They are large and bit unwieldy when it comes to parking and storage, but they do have a lot of potential.

The Stratus XP proved to be one of the more versatile recumbents that I’ve had in a very long time. Even in the steep New York hill country, it proved to be a pretty fast bike. Yet it was also extremely comfortable and handled poor road conditions with relative ease.

I think my favorite aspect of the design is that I never really felt the need for a fairing like I do on many other “conventional” long wheelbase recumbents. The improved rolling resistance of the large front wheel didn’t totally erase the performance deficit of the less aerodynamic riding position but it was close enough for me. I was also testing a new Bacchetta Corsa high racer alongside the Stratus XP. The Corsa was faster in nearly all conditions but on level ground the cruising speed of the RANS was within three quarters of a mile per hour. That’s not bad for a bike that would also make a great cross-country tourer. RANS is developing a small fabric fairing with the Stratus XP in mind but I don’t think that you would ever really need more than that.

The XP is also priced right. $1950 is nothing to sneeze at, but a new Easy Racers Tour Easy costs over $300 more. The XP’s components are also very much in line with those of bikes costing much more. The XP can also accept most of the accessories that RANS offers from its long list of add-ons so customizing it to fit your particular needs should be relatively easy.

In case you can’t tell, I was a bit smitten with this new RANS model. I honestly do think that we may look back on this bike in a couple of years and point to it as a bike that started a new trend. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that the conventional small front wheel LWB design has been rendered obsolete, but I think that the XP has shown the industry that a properly executed “Monster ’Bent” can be a truly outstanding machine. During a couple of phone conversations, Randy Schlitter commented to me about the Stratus XP’s potential to become a real classic. After riding the bike, I have to admit that he may be on to something there.