Recumbents and Hills

[a.twiddler]

I have been a bit remiss in not updating this thread. Things remain pretty much as before, that is, I am still getting up anything locally, as easily (and as slowly) as I was before lowering the gearing. What I haven't done is have a rematch with That Hill to see if there is any difference in getting up it.

Overall, having had it over a year now, I am quite pleased with the Linear. It's not particularly speedy but then neither are any of my other bikes with me on them. It's a lot more comfortable over a longer distance than any of them, though the folder is more er, foldable, and the tourer can get through spaces where the Linear can't go. Also both of them will go on a train whereas the Linear, even when folded, won't kid anyone that it's luggage and you would be at the mercy of the guard on the day whether you could complete a journey or not.

I have been quite surprised where the Linear can take me and even though it's not an off roader it copes well with most of the rail trails, unsurfaced roads and bridleways that the tourer would manage.

It has led me to buy a Dawes Low Rider to see how I would manage a SWB recumbent. It is turning into a bit of an unexpected project however so it might take a while before I have something to report on that.

 

[a.twiddler]

Just an update on an old thread started in April 2021 when I had to walk up part of Alsagers Bank in Staffordshire. This was not from lack of low gears or running out of energy but a sheer inability to steer in a straight line at low speed. I'd not had the Linear for a year at that time but already felt that it could climb anything my upright tourer could, even better than it, actually. Certainly I'd not failed to get up anything until that day when I went to Newcastle via Halmer End and Alsagers Bank. It has bugged me since, as it has no chevrons or unusually crowded contour lines on the map. In fact it's only about a hundred yard stretch of that steep residential road, in about a 45 mile round trip. Perhaps I ought to have sucked it up and accepted it. Perhaps it was time to get an electric motor. Anyhow, being the stubborn git that I am, I couldn't let it go. I rode up other hills in the meantime, and had no issues. I'm not fast. but I can get up and over them.

So it was that a couple of days ago I had the opportunity to go that way again. I rode the same route, though it was an extremely hot day, from the Newcastle Road towards Audley, Crossing over the M6, right on Carr Lane then left on to Shraleybrook Road, which is the start of a continuous climb through Halmer End and Alsagers Bank. I was expecting the worst but what happened was -nothing! I just kept rolling, with no weaving, having to stop by the War Memorial on the way up to cool off, and again near the top, then carried on over the top and down the other side.

So what was different? Four more years of riding recumbents is my guess. I have added a frame stiffener, which might have helped. I've added a lower bottom gear, but I don't think I actually used it! I haven't done many longer rides this year but that didn't stop me being able to do it. Maybe if the weather had been cooler I might have done it without stopping to cool off. It's been a bit of a non event, apart from being able to confidently say once more that the Linear will climb anything I point it at.

 

[rydabent]

Or, my Linear and hills.

Yesterday I went to Newcastle (Staffs) on the old Linear. I went via an indirect cycle friendly route and included a steep road which runs through Halmer End and Alsager's Bank before getting over the top and going downhill through Knutton into Newcastle. There are no indications such as chevrons on the OS map to indicate any ridiculous gradients and since I hadn't met a hill I couldn't eventually climb on this recumbent to date, I was up to the challenge of getting over the top.

Now that I have access to a lower gear range including a 20" bottom gear (which is kept as the nuclear option and rarely used) I felt that I could tackle anything my upright can manage, even mild off road if the comedy dimensions of the frame would let it fit through any barriers.

Anyhow, the trip went well for the most part. The road was pretty much all uphill anyway once into Staffordshire, and a gradual (and not-so-gradual in parts) climb brought me to Halmer End where the gradient steepened. It slowed me down, but I had plenty of gears in hand so felt optimistic at this stage. I carried on through Halmer End to Alsager's Bank where the gradient steepened again. I began to find not problems in keeping going, but a struggle to keep the front end pointing where I wanted it to go. I glanced over my right shoulder at one point, and the front wheel wandered to the left, causing me to stop. I restarted and found it took all my concentration to stop the front end wandering, even with fiercely concentrating on a point far up the hill rather than the road in front. Eventually I reached a slope of at least 20% and just couldn't keep a straight line. I got off and pushed for about a hundred yards to where the slope eased to a more moderate 14% or less and was able to ride from there over the top in a fairly normal manner.

I was a bit disappointed about that. The key seems to be the ability to keep going above 4mph as once you get down to 3mph it's a bit hit or miss unlike a conventional bike where you can maintain balance and direction almost to a standstill.

The rearward weight bias and lightly loaded front wheel seems to be an issue. Whether lower tyre pressure in the front, or a bag of spuds at the front would help, I don't know. Compact LWB bikes such as the Bike-E are reputedly even more prone to this problem with further rearward weight bias and a tiny front wheel. I don't think it's just me, I think it's the design. Fortunately it has enough virtues to outweigh the drawbacks for me. An occasional walk up a hill is not the end of the world, despite what my younger self would say about needing to ride up anything without getting off, or even getting out of the saddle.

I am curious how highracers, lowracers and other SWB recumbents manage on such extreme hills, potentially having more centralised weight distribution. Is it a balance thing, related to your head being relatively low, or is it an inherent recumbent thing? Even tadpole trikes have issues on really steep hills, depending on the design. They can climb really slowly on low gearing but can have rear wheel traction issues.

Despite that surprising hill climbing revelation, the 44 mile odd trip was quite enjoyable overall and taking 5 minutes to descend what took me 35 minutes to climb was quite a buzz, as was the high geared low effort trip back to Cheshire down the lesser hills I'd climbed on entering Staffordshire.

Most bents come with a triple in front. The granny gear is the bail out gear that will get most riders up any hill.