_{Photo by Adam Tremblay}
The author with his Giant Revive, a semi-recumbent bike, which is no longer produced.

By Wyatt Tremblay
As the Rolling Stones songs says, you can't always get what you want.
But, sometimes you can.
I was suffering from carpel tunnel in one hand and a reoccurring injury in the other. I have always been an avid cyclist, but if I was to continue that lifestyle, I needed a bike that wouldn't put pressure on these spots.
Enter the Giant Revive.
I bought this semi-recumbent bike in 2008. Tooted as the "ultimate comfort bike," that was fully adjustable for any person of any height, the Revive gave me what I wanted.
Check out this early review.
The Revive was extremely popular with Boomers, but not with the generally younger need-for-speed crowd. Sadly, due to plummeting sales, Giant quit making it in 2012. They have yet to make anything comparable, leaving that field to smaller, independent companies.
But, the Revive served me well. I rode that bike for 5 years, racking up more than 4,000 miles before I broke the rear tire and a replacement was so cost prohibitive that I had to lay it to rest.
Now you might be tempted to ask, what is a semi-recumbent bike? You've probably heard of recumbents, those expensive, low to the ground, super fast bicycles that motorists despise. Because of their low profile, they're sometimes difficult to spot. Hence, you often see them with colourful flags atop tall fibreglass polls attached to a rear fender or strut.
A semi-recumbent is similar, except that it isn't as low, or as fast. It has the small wheels and seat back of a recumbent, but sits higher, somewhere closer to a cruiser style of bicycle.
Now, while the Giant Revive is no longer in production, there are several other products that are close to what the Revive provided.
6 Day Cycle is similar to the Revive and is sold as a comfort bike for the Boomer generation.
But, the Revive served me well.

I rode that bike for 5 years, racking up more than 4,000 miles before I broke the rear tire and a replacement was so cost prohibitive that I had to lay it to rest.

A similar comfort style called the crank-forward has a stretched wheelbase with the seat moved rearward on the bike. This allows a lower seat height, which provides a more comfortable riding position. Crank-forwards have full size wheels and no seat back, both of which is what separates them from the semi-recumbent family.
Having just had carpel tunnel surgery, I may gravitate back to a more "normal," upright bicycle, but I still miss my Revive. People always asked me if it was a fold-up bike, or an electric, but they never asked me if my butt was sore.
You could just tell it wouldn't be.