FWD 'bent

I too have read this claim, but I also have "seat of pants" data to
support this claim. My FWD bike is much better climbing hills than my
lwb TE clone. Granted, there is a weigh difference between the two,
but I believe the more closed position that the FWD bike gives allows
me to power up hills better than the lwb bike. It's like taking the
tucked position of a DF rider and rotating it back.

Rich said:

Quoted message said:

I'm in the process of building a Front Wheel Drive 'bent, from a set of
Tom Traylor's plans
( http://traylorfwd.home.mindspring.com/bike_plans.html ) and wondered
if any of you have done this, too?

This looks interesting, but I'm a little puzzled by the claim:

"The front-wheel drive gives it the ability to climb as well as a
standard bike and much better than other types of recumbents."

Why would front wheel drive offer any climbing advantage?

And if this is a false claim, is the rest to be believed?

Rich

In article <[email hidden]>,

atombikes () said:

I too have read this claim, but I also have "seat of pants" data to
support this claim. My FWD bike is much better climbing hills than my
lwb TE clone. Granted, there is a weigh difference between the two,
but I believe the more closed position that the FWD bike gives allows
me to power up hills better than the lwb bike. It's like taking the
tucked position of a DF rider and rotating it back.

Arbut that could equally be done with an RWD bike. The Lightning P38,
for example, has a closed riding position and a rep for being a good
climber. With most FWD bikes the comparatively low loading on the front
wheel can lead to loss of traction on wet or skog(tm)-strewn surfaces.

--
Dave Larrington - <http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/>
Dead pigs make perfect, if heavy, earrings.

Yes, I was going to bring up the P38, as it's riding position is
similar, and it does have the rep of being a good hill climber.

And while you are probably correct about the hillclimbing capabilities
of some FWD bikes in wet conditions, I have never experienced a
wheelspin problem on my FWD bike. I suppose part of this may be
contributed to unloading some of the weight off the drive wheel due to
a shift in the center of gravity of the bike. Perhaps I have not
experience this as the CG of my bike is low.