byegad
Legendary Member
- Location
- NE England
The widest gear ratio possible is always the way to go. My three trikes all use 11-34 rear cassettes and have variously 22-34-48, 24-40-50 and 26-40-53 triples up front, all with a 20" drive wheel.
Ignore those who suggest you can get away without a triple up front, the weight of a tadpole trike makes going up hill slow work and having a gear low enough to do this without too much heaving and straining is well worth the extra weight and complication of setting it up. It also saves your knees! The riding position on a recumbent allows you to press much harder on the pedal than you would on a DF which is not good in the long term for your knees, so learn to change down early and spin rather than heave up hills. Running out of a gear low enough for this too often is a bad thing! Having as high a gear as you can get as well as the lowest you need means you can power down hills in rolling countryside and use the speed you gain to help you part way up the next rise.
As for setting up the triple, it is exactly the same process as a normal bike so any half way decent bike shop should be able to do it for you.
Ignore those who suggest you can get away without a triple up front, the weight of a tadpole trike makes going up hill slow work and having a gear low enough to do this without too much heaving and straining is well worth the extra weight and complication of setting it up. It also saves your knees! The riding position on a recumbent allows you to press much harder on the pedal than you would on a DF which is not good in the long term for your knees, so learn to change down early and spin rather than heave up hills. Running out of a gear low enough for this too often is a bad thing! Having as high a gear as you can get as well as the lowest you need means you can power down hills in rolling countryside and use the speed you gain to help you part way up the next rise.
As for setting up the triple, it is exactly the same process as a normal bike so any half way decent bike shop should be able to do it for you.