In the world of bicycling, recumbents are the ugly stepsisters. They’re not as sexy or glamorous as road or racing bikes. They’re not cool with the young hipsters, like the mountain bikes or the funky cruisers.

But despite their geeky looks, recumbents have attracted a loyal bunch of fans, riders who say that riding a bicycle in the reclining position is the most comfortable way to see trails and scenery.

"It’s like riding on a couch. Whenever I ride it, my back is a nonissue. It’s a completely different world," says Gary Landwirth.

However, although he loves recumbent bikes, he admits a recumbent is not a looker. "Whenever I would drive into a parking lot with a recumbent on the top, everybody looks - and they’re not jealous."

These bikes, with seats that look like they were grafted from a lawn chair, aren’t cheap - ranging from a low of about $700 to $5,000 for a racing style.

Price, however, has not stopped avid cyclists from hanging up their sleek road bikes and trading them in for recumbents. And as the baby boomers age and get tired of aching backs and shoulder and wrist pain, some predict a mushrooming market for recumbents.

All it takes are converts like Skip Beeler. He used to ride in races of 100 miles or more. Two years ago, tired of the back pain, Beeler tried a friend’s recumbent.

"Since then, I’ve never had any more pain," says Beeler.

"It’s just amazing, when you talk to people who ride regular bikes, they all tell you the same thing: My butt hurts, my hands hurt, my back hurts. But they don’t do anything about it," says Beeler, a physician. "But once you try the recumbent, the people who do try them, it’s very comfortable and they don’t have those problems anymore."

Although many traditional bike riders think of recumbents as slow bikes ridden by even slower riders, Ken Scoates will never forget the day he decided to try a recumbent.

He was on his sixth day of a touring race, riding an upright racing bike and struggling along at 15 miles per hour, "when a guy passed me on a recumbent - he must have been 65 or 70 years old - going 20 miles an hour."

Three years ago, when he gave up triathlons because of a bum knee, Scoates bought a recumbent to ride on his seven-mile daily commute. Next, he bought a high-end, carbon-fiber recumbent racing bike.

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