Recumbent Vs Road bike comparison with metrics

[Riding in Circles]

That's an amazingly small difference considering you hadn't acclimatized to the trike! I seem to remember it took me 2000km before I felt up to speed on my Hurricane. I believe recumbent trikes are slightly slower than recumbent two wheelers, all else being the same.

We'll see about that! Next icy day we will have a race to decide this.

 

[BentMikey]

All else being the same, LOL!

 

[andharwheel]

My road bike is way faster than my Windcheetah and I have been riding them both for a long time. I regularly time trial and I would say that I am way faster on these courses than I would be on any of my recumbents. Had the oppurtunity to use both in these events. However if I had a carbon lowracer(with or without a tail box) then the story might be different.
Having said that with a bit of mileage/training you will be come a lot quicker on a bent than you when first start using it.

 

[ufkacbln]

A different perspective......

I bought an HRM to increase the effort in my cycle commute, and to lose weight. What amazed me was the diffrence in performance form the zones.

On a Brompton I reach 75 % at about 14 mph, and on the Catrike at about 22 mph whilst the Nomad is at about 15, and the Street Machine 18. The Airnimal is about the same as the Street Machine.

So faster - that is on spect, but the other is that at 15 mph on the Brompton I am using far more effort than on the Catrike at the same speed.

 

[squeaker]

On a Brompton I reach 75 % at about 14 mph, and on the Catrike at about 22 mph whilst the Nomad is at about 15, and the Street Machine 18. The Airnimal is about the same as the Street Machine.

Is that with the fairing on the Catrike? Interested in with / without comparison at same HR if you have it!

 

[Fiona N]

A different perspective......

I bought an HRM to increase the effort in my cycle commute, and to lose weight. What amazed me was the diffrence in performance form the zones.

On a Brompton I reach 75 % at about 14 mph, and on the Catrike at about 22 mph whilst the Nomad is at about 15, and the Street Machine 18. The Airnimal is about the same as the Street Machine.

So faster - that is on spect, but the other is that at 15 mph on the Brompton I am using far more effort than on the Catrike at the same speed.

Is this taking into account your different HR max for the 'bents?
Bent riding is closer to swimming (body supported by water so muscles supply movement rather than maintaining posture) than running (muscles must maintain posture as well as movement) and thus has a lower achievable HR max, thus target zones, than upright riding. Usually it's 10-15 bpm lower than your upright max, depending on how reclined and supported you are.
The numbers above for the Airnimal and Streetmachine suggest that you're relatively much more efficient on the Airnimal than the Streetmachine and it might be worth looking at why that is.

 

[ufkacbln]

Is that with the fairing on the Catrike? Interested in with / without comparison at same HR if you have it!

Never ridden it without!

 

[Riding in Circles]

Never ridden it without!

Don't you find your feet are cooking in this weather?

 

[NickM]

It sounds as though we would need a HRM, a speedo, a comfort measuring doobrie and a funometer to compare upright and recumbent...

I'm glad you enjoyed your flirtation, Dodgy, and reckon you'll be back someday

 

[dmb]

The main problem with bents is that harldly anyone else rides them, when I used to ride mine I found that I was always on my own. So went back to DFs really to be more social. As for difference in average speed the high racer was on average faster,s lower on the hill but much faster down them hence not really compatible with club riding.

The trike is a far better tool for touring that a DF you can load it up and pootle away

 

[Tim Bennet.]

There's a good number of 'bents that do long events like the Paris-Brest-Paris, including fully enclosed ones that looked like Spitfires.

I was struck by how mixed all the finishing times where with results reflecting the riders physical prowess rather than any machine type. There was also no correlation between lack of physical problems and machine type. Lots of recumbent riders had numb bums and loads of shoulder and neck aches, as did lots of upright riders.

The secret to riding very long distances in comfort on either type seemed to be 'core condition'. The strength of one's back, abdomen and shoulders is often neglected by cyclists and anyone thinking that one type of machine will compensate for any short falls in this is likely to be disappointed, especially if they have ambitions to cycle a long way.

 

[CopperBrompton]

I did some data comparisons also, comparing a Bianchi Via Nerone 7 with a TRICE Q.

Over the same 20-mile loop:

Biachi:
Funometer peak 3.7 grins per hour, average 1.2 grins per hour

TRICE:
Funometer peak 9.2 grins per hour, average 4.7 grins per hour

Ben

 

[Auntie Helen]

Recumbents & calories

Hi all (I'm new).

Having read the above about comparisons with normal bikes, I'd be interested if anyone knows about the difference in calorie usage when cycling. I've got a Trice Q and I cycle for about an hour per day on it, usually averaging 14mph. I'm doing an online dieting program and that gives me best part of 1000 calories burned for this hour's riding. However my husband on a normal bike can't keep up with me - and he's much fitter generally. I'm assuming that my Trice takes less effort and so I'm concerned that I'm not really burning those 1000 calories (which I'm eating back over the day). Does anyone know if calorie burning is less with a recumbent trike?

For info, I've had the Trike 3 months and am definitely getting faster and more efficient in my cycling now that my muscles are adapting. And, despite having a mesh seat, I still get a sweaty back

 

[dodgy]

My guess is you're still probably near(ish) 1000 calories per hour, but you'd be going a lot slower on an upright on the same 1000 calories per hour.

If you're really interested in applying some science/structure to your traininer, it might be worth investing in a heart rate monitor?

Dave.

 

[CopperBrompton]

My very unscientific comparison of my speeds on TRICE and road bike says the reclined position is worth about 2mph, so maybe 20% less effort. I'd say if the standard calculator says you're burning 1000 calories an hour, it's more like 800.

Ben