First time....

[Chonker]

Woah! I figure that's around 157rpm crank speed in your tallest gear. Had you spun out and were still accelerating on the incline? That fairing must be helping your aero a fair bit

 

[CopperBrompton]

Had you spun out and were still accelerating on the incline?

Good god, yes, you don't think I did that under my own steam, do you?!

That fairing must be helping your aero a fair bit

In roll-down tests I've done with & without it, it's worth about 1mph. The fairing is good for keeping my feet warm in winter, keeping the rain off my legs and making the trike look 42% cooler.

I suspect trikes are faster than DF bikes downhill for three reasons:
- lower, and thus more aero
- heavier, and thus accelerate more
- more stable, making us happy to do ridiculous speeds without braking

 

[CopperBrompton]

What I mean about the gearing is you can pedal like blazes to get up to a decent speed in the first instance, then the hill takes over from there.

 

[BlackPanther]

How much of that is down to gearing differences between the two?

I have 9-34 on the rear and 30/42/52 on the front which gives me 17-112 inches. Maximum speed so far is 54mph, and 40+mph is commonplace.

The Strada has 11-32 rear, and I swapped the front 50 for an FSA 53. The Ice Trice is also 11-32 rear with a 53 front ring. It came with Q-rotor chainrings, which I can't say feel any different to regular chainrings. I think the main thing is that the Strada is lighter, more aero dynamic, and has skinny 23mm tyres. The Trice is a good 10 pounds heavier, has 2x23mm tyres up front and a 25mm behind, and catches the wind a lot more. It's not the gearing......I have a couple of reasonable downhills on my commute, and I can't spin out on the Trice. The Strada I suspect would drop like the proverbial stone given a steep enough hill.

I know that it takes me 7 or 8 minutes longer to get to work on the trike. More importantly, I have to put a lot more effort in when overtaking other cyclists. The Strada just seems to be drawn towards other bikes like a magnet, and then catapult itself past them.

I guess I need to find myself a really steep hill one weekend and have a proper top speed test! I can't see the trike hitting 54 mph, but I think the Strada would be capable of a far higher top speed than my brain would allow me to go. How steep was the hill where you hit 54 mph, and did it feel stable at that speed?

 

[CopperBrompton]

'Twas the far side of Ditchling Beacon, so very long and steep, and yes, it felt 100% stable. The only scary bit was watching the bend at the bottom of the hill approaching at high speed and wondering how late I dared leave it to brake! As it was, braking was totally drama-free.

I'm a bit puzzled that the heavier machine turned out to be the slower one for you: weight is a pain uphill, but downhill it helps you accelerate. For me, top speed is mostly a function of the length of the hill once you hit a certain steepness, it's just a question of how long the speed gets to build.