# recumbents and gradients



## Rooster1 (9 Jun 2016)

I don't usually venture into this part of the forum but I am curios.

I was riding up a local hill yesterday (7%) and passed a recumbent rider that was resting, or drinking or had perhaps just stopped.

Can I ask, how difficult are steep hills on recumbents please?

Just wondering if the rider was just chilling, or perhaps recharging themselves to do the ascent.

Looked like a nice machine and the rider looked fit!


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## mjr (9 Jun 2016)

Mike Burroughs answers:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-mXNTF1KSs

Riding up is slightly faster than a regular bike of the same weight until you need to go flat-out and then the regular bike catches up again.

Amusing experience film:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnCOgDnzO8c


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## ianrauk (9 Jun 2016)

It's a different type of riding. In a Bent you can't get out of the saddle and honk up a hill. But you can use the seat to push back on with your back. It takes a while to get used to climbing with a Bent, using different methods and muscles. But at the end of the day it's all down to the fitness of the rider and of course the weight of the machine..
Once I was up to speed with my bent, although I wasn't flying up hills like the legendary @arallsopp , I certainly wasn't hanging around either.


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## BlackPanther (10 Jun 2016)

I've comfortabley overtaken a load of bikes on slight uphills on the Raptobike. However, the steeper the hill, the harder it gets due to the large (60/70tooth) chainrings. Indeed, with the current set up, I wouldn't make it up a really steep hill. However, the Trice trike will get up hills far steeper than a df bike, due to the low gearing, and the impossibility of falling off, whilst being able to creep forwards at speeds of 1mph. 

Lower geared 2 wheelers should be able to get up far steeper hills than the Rapto, but you're always gonna struggle on a bent due to it being harder to balance at low speeds.


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## ufkacbln (10 Jun 2016)

Depends on the hill and the "charge"

if it is a "switchback" then the additional speed and momentum you gain on the down enables a chergee up the other side that is better than on an upright

However a long steep hill with no run in is more problematic

At worst on a trike you simply lower your gear and "winch" with the assurance that there is no point at which the low speed will cause instability


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## steveindenmark (10 Jun 2016)

I found on both my recumbent bike and trike that you could belt along the flat, outdo most things downhill but going uphill was mostly spinning.

I never had a problem going uphills and I suppose there are those very strong recumbent riders who can belt up them, but I couldnt. But what you lose on the swings etc.

Going uphill on a recumbent is time to recover and watch the scenery a bit. But I never found a hill I couldnt get up. Just not quickly.


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## numbnuts (10 Jun 2016)

I'm slow uphills so I have/need a 20 tooth chainwheel from Mountain Goat, looking to fit a electric motor soon


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## starhawk (10 Jun 2016)

I quickly found that going uphill meant one point lower gear than I used on the upwrong, but that was slow enough to get me annoyed, so I bought an e-assist kit and now I go uphill slightly faster than on the upwrong.


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## Smokin Joe (10 Jun 2016)

I find it slower, the trike obviously being a fair bit heavier than a road bike. But it takes less effort once you develop the leg muscles needed for laid back riding You see the advantages, no neck, back or shoulder strain from struggling to keep moving on the really steep bits and no worries dropping to stall speed. And being able to brace yourself against the seat back is a bonus.


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## byegad (10 Jun 2016)

Add to the above.
Spinning gently and slowly up hill I get to examine the local flora and fauna and arrive at the top of most hills ready to continue on without a pause. On Durham Big ride a few years ago one vicious little hill saw me passed by a number of DF riders who were honking hard while I spun away. At the top was a grassy bank, where most of the said DFers were laid out trying to get their breathe back. I on the other hand merely continued past them commenting quite loudly on their lazy attitude!


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## Tigerbiten (12 Jun 2016)

With my trike, the limiting factor is the grip on the back wheel.
Even with a full camping load in the trailer I can climb 25% hills as long as the road is dry.
I admit I climb them at 1.5 mph, but I get up them.
Once the road becomes wet/greasy then the angle is much less due to the back wheel just spins and I get nowhere.


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## byegad (14 Jun 2016)

Tigerbiten, I think this has much to do with the distance from the seat back to the centre of the rear wheel. I know an ICE S (old now but a very low long trike) has less adhesion than my QNT (same vintage but shorter) and my Trail has far fewer issues on greasy roads than the QNT. It is far shorter than the QNT and the rear wheel is tucked well under the reclined back of the seat. 

A friend who swapped from a Peter Ross Trice 26" rear wheel to a 20" Q found it had much less adhesion, this he put down to the smaller rear wheel. A few fellow trikers seem to agree with this, so maybe it's a combination of length behind the seat and rear wheel size???


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## numbnuts (14 Jun 2016)

I've got a 24 inch rear wheel and I can spinout on steep hill in damp/wet weather


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## starhawk (15 Jun 2016)

I had never had any slipping at all but we have tarmac on all upphills I use, or is it that my "super stable" Trice Q also have a perfect "grip geometry"?


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## numbnuts (15 Jun 2016)

starhawk said:


> I had never had any slipping at all but we have tarmac on all upphills I use, or is it that my "super stable" Trice Q also have a perfect "grip geometry"?


Slipping is due to the gearing being very low and how much weight there is over the back wheel.


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## Smokin Joe (15 Jun 2016)

numbnuts said:


> Slipping is due to the gearing being very low and how much weight there is over the back wheel.


I wouldn't agree with that. The bigger the gear the more a tyre will slip, spin up with higher cadence and reduced power and the problem diminishes or goes away.


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## byegad (20 Jun 2016)

Smokin Joe said:


> I wouldn't agree with that. The bigger the gear the more a tyre will slip, spin up with higher cadence and reduced power and the problem diminishes or goes away.


Agree, wholeheartedly.


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