summerdays
Cycling in the sun
- Location
- Bristol
Ooh that sounds exciting!
eBay recumbent trike: thoughts needed please
- Thread starter SatNavSaysStraightOn
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
byegad
Legendary Member
- Location
- NE England
Funny, I've never done that on my trikes.I've set off on my bent bike with the stand still down ... err ... "quite a few times".
Tigerbiten
Guru
Congrats.
What gear range are you going for ??
A 48-36-22 triple on the front and a standard 16 tooth sprocket would give you the ideal range of around 10"-114".
A Sora rear mech works fine for a chain tensioner, you just need to fit one longer limit screw to lock it at the correct line.
It's a lot cheaper and has more range than the one from Rohloff.
OP
OP
SatNavSaysStraightOn
Changed hemispheres!
- Location
- ɐᴉlɐɹʇsn∀ 'ɐɹɹǝquɐƆ
Kevin reckons I will be fine with my existing setup of 38 (chainring)/17 (sprocket) on the 14 speed Rohloff hub I have, so no front derailleur needed but it can't be retro fitted if needed at a later date.
I find that is/was fine for me up to about 18% gradients with 2 weeks of camping kit so we reckon I should be fine on the trike with that unladen or with just a single pannier and the crutches and I can always swap out to 38/19 if needed. My existing expedition bike weighs in at around 20-22kg unladen so the trike will be lighter even with the Rohloff hub and mostly unladen so I believe even with the loss of use of my right leg which I reckon is roughly ⅓-¼ loss of strength and use along with the known 1/10 loss in the left which I am used to, I should be OK.
That combination btw gives me a bottom gear lower than a 22 front, 34 rear and up to a 44 front, 13 rear... Rohloff have recently revised their permitted combinations and the 38/17 is now will inside their new permitted range - permitted to stay inside a warranty claim that is... The 38/19 would basically add 2 lower gears of I really needed them.
Using my existing wheel, Rohloff hub etc will also save me issues in the long run as well because of the lane we live down and the state of it and also the hardcore old railway line which in winter is just mud.
Tigerbiten
Guru
Your max power output on a recumbent is lower than on an upwrong because you use less muscle groups.
Your Gluts are less stretched and don't work as well so you rely more on your Quads
Plus because you use less muscles groups and you cannot get out of the saddle to alter how they work, they fatigue quicker.
This is why you hear that recumbents don't climb well and also the reason you need to build bent legs.
My basic rule of thumb for fast/fun downhill runs on a good road is ......
2% down = 20 mph. 4% down = 30 mph. 8% down = 40 mph, 16% down = 50 mph.
The only hard one I find hard to hit is the 30 mph one, all the others are easy ......
With these two points in mind and if you can afford the mods.
At the start I would go for the lowest gearing possible.
I geared my first trike down from the 15" standard first gear to a 12.5" first gear by dropping the inner chainring from 26 to 22.
The trike I have now has a first of only 9.5", 38/21 on a 20" Rohloff Wheel.
I know it's below what Rohloff recommend, but I haven't broken anything in 3 years and ~21k miles.
I found that each drop in first gear helps a lot when hill climbing, especially when unfit.
You may not use them, but they are there.
I'd also at least run a double up front to give you more range.
A 53/38 double will almost give you another 3 full gears up.
That what I run, my front shifter fits perfectly in the bottom hole of the handlebars below the rohloff shifter.
Plus I use a Schlumpf High Speed Drive, which works as a 2.5x overdrive gear just for downhill runs ................
Your Gluts are less stretched and don't work as well so you rely more on your Quads
Plus because you use less muscles groups and you cannot get out of the saddle to alter how they work, they fatigue quicker.
This is why you hear that recumbents don't climb well and also the reason you need to build bent legs.
My basic rule of thumb for fast/fun downhill runs on a good road is ......
2% down = 20 mph. 4% down = 30 mph. 8% down = 40 mph, 16% down = 50 mph.
The only hard one I find hard to hit is the 30 mph one, all the others are easy ......
With these two points in mind and if you can afford the mods.
At the start I would go for the lowest gearing possible.
I geared my first trike down from the 15" standard first gear to a 12.5" first gear by dropping the inner chainring from 26 to 22.
The trike I have now has a first of only 9.5", 38/21 on a 20" Rohloff Wheel.
I know it's below what Rohloff recommend, but I haven't broken anything in 3 years and ~21k miles.
I found that each drop in first gear helps a lot when hill climbing, especially when unfit.
You may not use them, but they are there.
I'd also at least run a double up front to give you more range.
A 53/38 double will almost give you another 3 full gears up.
That what I run, my front shifter fits perfectly in the bottom hole of the handlebars below the rohloff shifter.
Plus I use a Schlumpf High Speed Drive, which works as a 2.5x overdrive gear just for downhill runs ................
OP
OP
SatNavSaysStraightOn
Changed hemispheres!
- Location
- ɐᴉlɐɹʇsn∀ 'ɐɹɹǝquɐƆ
I'll talk to him about a front derailleur and costs... It will depend mostly on that. We only have the one wager earner in this house and this is willing out a fair chunk of our savings and even if I was to sell both my road bike and mountain bike I would not get much for them.
@SatNavSaysStraightOn - this sounds like it is doing wonders for your recovery ! 
Great to read about it all and I really do think it is a wise decision and that you will love it.
Great to read about it all and I really do think it is a wise decision and that you will love it.
Ganymede
Veteran
- Location
- Rural Kent
Been lurking on this thread - just wanted to say congratulations on the trike plan, it sounds amazing. Bents are wonderful! I hope you have a lot of happy times on it.
D
Deleted member 26715
Guest
If the front dérailleur is going to make a big difference to your recovery, I & I'm sure a few other members would be happy to help out by putting our hands into our own pockets for you. oooeerr madam
Ganymede
Veteran
- Location
- Rural Kent
I agree! How do we arrange a whip-round?
byegad
Legendary Member
- Location
- NE England
Yes I work on 15" as a basic lower gear and for real hills at >16% lower is better. My North Yorks Moors and Yorkshire Dales trike has a 12" bottom gear and is as light as I can make it. For loaded touring sub 10" is for me a real necessity.
mrandmrspoves
Middle aged bald git.
- Location
- Narfuk
One good thing about bent trikes is there is no minimum speed going uphill. Granny gear and winch works fine......eventually. If you come to a grinding halt, you can stop, get your breath back and start again. No need to dismount, unclip, or launch. Much harder on an upwrong, not easy on some recumbent bikes - and almost impossible on others.
OP
OP
SatNavSaysStraightOn
Changed hemispheres!
- Location
- ɐᴉlɐɹʇsn∀ 'ɐɹɹǝquɐƆ
Well the ice adventure 26 had ended up being a custom build. We have had to change to avid bb7 disk brakes because of my need for a single brake lever. I've added in the mobility aids to get me out of the seat and ordered a whole list of Rohloff specific parts including a monkey 160mm disk brakes mount something or other than uses the rear disk brakes mount to take some of the load off the Rohloff hub because of the long slot on the external great changer black box. Plus I opted for the long handled gear changer rather than the short one which is the usual option...
What else had changed? Can't remember now, but the price went quite a long way over my budget sadly.
However the good news is that ice have shipped the trike today so Kevin should have it tomorrow or Wednesday and the parts I'm sending him should arrive on Wednesday as well. Hopefully the bits I have had to order for the trike from SJS Cycles will be with him before the end of the week and I will soon have a recumbent trike!
There a few other bits I'll need to purchase, the klickfix adaptor to take my ortlieb barbag, 20" inner tubes and I think breakdown cover could be rather useful because I can't see me being able to repair a flat tyre anytime soon! But they are going to have to wait until either bupa refund some of our private ambulance costs or my oh's next month's paycheck arrives!
My brother is donating a motorbike cover and at some point I will need to get a heavy duty motorbike chain lock for it at home as well.
So that is the progress for those interested. Many thanks everyone!
Piccies will follow when it arrives!
What else had changed? Can't remember now, but the price went quite a long way over my budget sadly.
However the good news is that ice have shipped the trike today so Kevin should have it tomorrow or Wednesday and the parts I'm sending him should arrive on Wednesday as well. Hopefully the bits I have had to order for the trike from SJS Cycles will be with him before the end of the week and I will soon have a recumbent trike!
There a few other bits I'll need to purchase, the klickfix adaptor to take my ortlieb barbag, 20" inner tubes and I think breakdown cover could be rather useful because I can't see me being able to repair a flat tyre anytime soon! But they are going to have to wait until either bupa refund some of our private ambulance costs or my oh's next month's paycheck arrives!
My brother is donating a motorbike cover and at some point I will need to get a heavy duty motorbike chain lock for it at home as well.
So that is the progress for those interested. Many thanks everyone!
Piccies will follow when it arrives!
