Hills on a recumbent

[arallsopp]

I've tackled a fair number of hills on my 'bents.

£ for lb, a 'bent is likely to weigh more than a comparatively priced upright, so physics alone will dictate that lugging it up hills is harder than a 'normal' bike. Harder doesn't make it prohibitive, of course. For me, hills come at two speeds.

1. Momentum powered rocket ship. Top gear, burst up, hit the top before I run out of oomph (surprisingly effective)
2. Winching myself up on the cranks. Bottom gear, overtaken by snails, ladybirds, etc...

You'd think after 7 years I'd have developed a better technique, but all I'm really doing is holding onto approach one for longer.

After the first 6 months, I found my legs had adapted and I could climb better on the 'bent than I'd ever done on an upright.

 

[classic33]

I’m no expert [at anything] but with regards to the balance question! I have seen a program about mountain unicycling, if they can go up hill on 1 wheel you should manage on 2.

how do they manage this? Practice, and there centre of mass is high which means they fall over more slowly.

Practice

 

[paul fellows]

An Automatic Constant Load Variable Transition for Bikes

ACLVT

The idea is that you are speeding along at a pedalling load that is right for you. As the road gets steeper, the force needed to turn the pedals stays the same as the gear ratio changes smoothly.

To make this work will require a belt and pulley drive, rather than chain drive.


Any interest?

 

[classic33]

An Automatic Constant Load Variable Transition for Bikes

ACLVT

The idea is that you are speeding along at a pedalling load that is right for you. As the road gets steeper, the force needed to turn the pedals stays the same as the gear ratio changes smoothly.

To make this work will require a belt and pulley drive, rather than chain drive.


Any interest?

What does it cost and what are its limitations?

 

[Encephrich]

Must admit I was initially daunted by the prospect of Triking uphill, with the extra frame weight over the DF, until I developed my strategy thru experience.

Approach hill change to suitable gear & ratio,
start climb, then-
spin,
rest,
spin,
tea break,
spin,
finish book,
spin,
more tea,
spin,
succeed...

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

An Automatic Constant Load Variable Transition for Bikes

ACLVT

The idea is that you are speeding along at a pedalling load that is right for you. As the road gets steeper, the force needed to turn the pedals stays the same as the gear ratio changes smoothly.

To make this work will require a belt and pulley drive, rather than chain drive.


Any interest?

Sounds like the NuVinci Harmony to me: http://www.fallbrooktech.com/cycling/harmony

 

[paul fellows]

Phill that look a lot better than what i was thinking.
i had in mind to use two deep V pulleys, both of have been cut in half such that the gap between the two faces can be adjusted, there by changing the radius around witch the belt has to travel.

as to the cost
1 belts are less efficant than chains.
2 in it automatic version its acceleration would be SLUGish
3 you would have to build it your self, i am selling nothing.

 

[voyager]

After 2 years or more on three wheels I don't know a lot of difference ,
3 wheels on a hill is slower but all the concentration can be put into climbing and not trying not to fall off !!

I remember the pain of doing the IOW randonee 3 or 4 years in a row about 1986 on a DF road bike .

Some guy did two laps one year .with an hours break between !!!!!
I found the weather change in such a small island was also a challenge - rain and wind one side and sun the other .
The military road with a headwind . then waiting for the ferry in brilliant sunshine

After buying a Trex trike that I was not satisfied with, I built my own trikes and having passed 21 (three times ) I have gone the e-assist route ( with a built-in freewheel unit ) , now with gears from 18" to 88 " I don't have a problem with hills even without the assist .I haven't ridden around the IOW for almost 30 year years - might be time to come over with the trikes . Black gang chine watch out !!!!!!

regards emma

 

[starhawk]

I can do a hill without e-assist, have done it once with my tires not properly inflated, that was tough! But the problem for me was that you have to gear down which gives a very slow "creeping up hill" experience, I don't like that So I bought the e-assist kit and the problem was solved. But if I run out of "juice" in the battery I can do it "the old way", but I much rather do it on three wheels then on two!

 

[JimN]

Unfortunately, the Kettwiesel has gone (the seller hadn't updated his website) so I think a communication with Kevin at D-TEK and a visit to Ely is the next thing on the cards. I'll keep you posted.

Kevin is indeed a great guy - IF you can get hold of him! If you do, please remind him that Jim (from Bradford) has been trying to get hold of him for a while.
For the last five years I have had the choice of doing a 25 mile round commute on a DF or a Trice. I much prefer the Trice. Partly because I feel so much safer on it (two leg #'s, left femur and left hip, off DFs - both my fault), but also because it is so much more enjoyable and relaxing. The longer the trip the better. On a short journey timing on the road is about the same overall as a heavy expedition bike - but 10% slower than a road bike but this gets better the greater the mileage as you don't have the same compulsion to get off and have a break. As others have said, hills give you time to read a book or chat on the phone, but then you need to put them away to really enjoy the downhill. I have also passed 21 almost three times and am looking forward to putting even more miles in. Best memory? Trying to beat a Reliant Robin to the top of a hill on an ice covered road with neither of us being able to get any real traction.

 

[henshaw11]

Not sure I'm adding that much to what's been written before, but a little more 2-wheel perspective. As arallsop wrote, there's keeping momentum on the downs to get you up most of the following climb, powering up the last bit - this works well on rolling terrain, and typically stuff that's less steep or v short. Longer and/or steeper climbs and you quickly drop down the gears to find one that's manageable - obviously riding with a bunch of roadies is a problem 'cos they often do neither. The more problematic bit is on 2-wheelers you need a minimum speed to keep stable, and at some combination of incline/leg strength/gearing one runs out of spin speed, and have to winch up. My lowest gear on the (35-40 lbs) Speedmachine is 30 (f)-32(r) with a 26" wheel (I forget the gear-inches) I can just about get up 18%-ers on that (and we've a few in the Surrey hills) - at some point I'll try swapping for a 26 granny but it probably needs to be a little lower still to spin up smoothly. With a trike you've the luxury of stability, with various combinations of triples, wheel sizes, Schlumph (?) mountain drives etc you should be able to get up anything albeit v. slowly.

It's worth adding that some use short cranks on 'bents - the 140-155 range- there's less leverage but for some makes spinning quickly easier... obviously you need a low enough gear for that.

Some of my riding is with my local road club at the gym, keeping up with roadies in a group is a bit more important, even shallow climbs were killing me trying to keep up with a 10 kg difference. So to that extent I've just ordered a 9-10kg (20-22lb) Fujin SL2 lowracer from Laidback- I'll probably have to play with the gearing but at least puts me in the same weight/gearing range as my hardtail mtbs, and I used to get up most stuff seated with that.