The wait is over....first roadie wasted.

[tongskie01]

i do feel a lot of muscle stress when climbing uphill on df. on my low racer i feel a lot stronger and more effecient in spinning.

 

[GrasB]

I don't have any massive hills to climb on my commute, but I'm finding fairly steep hills are a lot easier than on the road bike. Oddly, I find that I'm doing the opposite and using more brute strength to grind my way up which seems easier than upping the revs, whereas on the road bike I do spin a lot faster. On the road bike I'd be in 2nd or 3rd (middle ring), but on the 'bent I'm holding 5th or 6th (middle ring). The Strada just seems to pull really well with the support from the seat making it a comfortable way to climb.

I did fail quite spectacularly on one of my first rides up a steep hill though, nearly losing balance altogether as I came to a rather pathetic stop.

Hum... I do hit 160rpm on the flat almost every ride.

 

[windmiller]

Watch your knees. You can exert a lot more power and stress the knees more easily than on a DF. I find it's best to power up hills if at least 20mph can be maintained.

 

[byegad]

*trying to find a pedestrian-pushing a-recumbent-uphill smiley*

I rode with a couple of 'bent riders a few years ago for 2-3 days. They pissed me on the descent and, almost, on the flat, but struggled up the hills.

You win some, you lose some, I s'pose.

Exactly and as all racers know you win races going uphill. However the main thing is the riding dynamics on rolling hills. I was told by one DF rider from a group that riding with me from Tan Hill to Northallerton was like riding with a tandem in the group, but worse! I was the only recumbent rider, on my QNT, among a group of twenty or so DFs of varying types and abilities.

He meant I zoomed past the bunch down hills and was passed by the bunch on the next uphill. Once I'd persuaded the DF riders to not spread out across the road on descents!!

After the first downhill I mentioned this at the top of the next hill where they'd all sat and waited for me. I put it that if they really wanted to wait at the top of each hill they'd keep on stopping me using the downs to up my average speed. I wasn't last up any of the day's climbs. I was also far fresher than most of the group when we arrived in Northallerton.

 

[GrasB]

Exactly and as all racers know you win races going uphill.

Really? Talk to the Shleck brothers about that.

 

[byegad]

Really? Talk to the Shleck brothers about that.

Hah! There's always exceptions. But Lance Armstrong and many others won races by climbing faster than anyone else.

 

[GrasB]

Hah! There's always exceptions. But Lance Armstrong and many others won races by climbing faster than anyone else.

Not really. You see I race in the mountains & know cautious descenders don't win races which have long descents no matter how well they climb. You can only gain time when you're not making up for lost time. Take a look at those who 'win on the climb', they also had many aggressive descents under their belts. You don't often see the timid descenders in the pro ranks but down in the middle of the amateur ranks you see many races are won on the descent by an exquisite bike handler.

 

[byegad]

True and I can descend as fast as anybody. but will always lose out on the climbs. You must do both but if you want to gain a shed load of time, climbing wins out. It can take an average rider 45 mins to climb a mountain road and maybe10 mins to descend it. So a fast descent at 10% faster than your opponent will gain you a minute, a similar climb will get you 4and a half minutes! You have to be able to descend but you win, or in my case lose, on the climb.

 

[GrasB]

This is a very technical area. For the same rider on the same bike up the same hill faster when climbing always means higher average power thus you're going to suffer more. Faster descents can mean lower average power & critically almost always mean substantially reduce the number of power spikes. Net result is fresher legs for a faster descent.

 

[currystomper]

I'm keen to try a normal recumbent to see how well they do climb hills as my Cruzbike does seem to climb quite well - its a heavy bike so it does slow me a bit, but its not that slow up a hill.
(Cruzbikes use your arms and legs when you are climbing)

My Cruz is mountain bike based, I remember a day with a howling head wind, I passed my first bike like he was standing still, was great fun!!

CS

 

[tongskie01]

there's no such thing as normal recumbent. every recumbent is unique on its own.

 

[currystomper]

Sorry - what I meant was a rear wheel drive recumbent - when I find a free day, I'm going to do a try out day with laid back bike in Edinburgh.