Recumbents - an alternative?

Sniper8052(L96A1) said:

What I need to know is the cadence and gearing of a few recumbents with
the rear wheel sizes logged against the sustainable speed and maximum
speed. The watt output at those speeds would be useful info too if any
of you have got it.

my M5 28/20 has yer normal Shimano triple gearing, and a normal 700c
rear wheel. WHen I fit a speedo I'll let you know.

The M5 web site ( http://www.m5-ligfietsen.nl/main.php?sNewLang=GB )
compares expected speed for given power inputs for their different models.

Quoted message said:

So any recommendations of type and makes? I figure a boom type with a
shorter wheelbase is best?

big fan of 700c rear + 20" front wheel (not that Ive ridden anything
else >20 miles).

Phil

Sniper8052(L96A1) said:

What I need to know is the cadence and gearing of a few recumbents with
the rear wheel sizes logged against the sustainable speed and maximum
speed. The watt output at those speeds would be useful info too if any of
you have got it.

Try this site for power vs speed calculations for many types of upright
and recumbent bikes: http://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm

More or less, whatever speed you can sustain in a full-on TT crouch on
an upright you can also do on a high BB recumbent. So for equal wheel
sizes the gearing will be the same.

I could go count the teeth on my Speed Ross, but as I can't do 25mph
without gravity assistance I don't think it's going to help....

Mike

Phil Clarke said:

Sniper8052(L96A1) wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What I need to know is the cadence and gearing of a few recumbents with
the rear wheel sizes logged against the sustainable speed and maximum
speed. The watt output at those speeds would be useful info too if any
of you have got it.

Quoted message said:

my M5 28/20 has yer normal Shimano triple gearing, and a normal 700c
rear wheel. WHen I fit a speedo I'll let you know.

Quoted message said:

The M5 web site ( http://www.m5-ligfietsen.nl/main.php?sNewLang=GB )
compares expected speed for given power inputs for their different models.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

So any recommendations of type and makes? I figure a boom type with a
shorter wheelbase is best?

Quoted message said:

big fan of 700c rear + 20" front wheel (not that Ive ridden anything
else >20 miles).

My 'bent is pretty slow because it is set up as a tourer, and I don't have
plan to fit a speedo to tell me that 🙂

For speed think about fairings - or go the Velomobile route, something
like this:
http://www.ligfiets.net/fietsen/type.php3?id=88

Roos

Sniper8052(L96A1) said:

It seems from many of the web pages that most recumbents can reach a
sustainable speed of around 20-25mph.

"Some", rather than "most". It's all about aerodynamic improvement, and
while a lowracer has considerably less frontal area than an upwrong
something like an urban compact along the lines of the HPVel Spirit
isn't really any better aerodynamically than a "normal" bike.

You need a 'bent designed for speed to get high sustainable speeds.
Fairings are a large part of the equation too.

Quoted message said:

So any recommendations of type and makes? I figure a boom type with a
shorter wheelbase is best?

Try everything you can, is the Golden Rule. They differ far more than
uprights and no matter what the paper specs say, if your back doesn't
like the seat it's really just a smart piece of junk.
For high sustained speeds then rule of thumb is lower the better.
Overseat steering tends to be aerodynamic than underseat steering, and
if a tailbox is available (or you're happy you can build one) then that
will push up the speed too.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Roos Eisma said:

My 'bent is pretty slow because it is set up as a tourer, and I don't have
plan to fit a speedo to tell me that 🙂

I tend to find that no matter which one I test ride, they all have
really pathetic engines..

...d

David Martin said:

Roos Eisma said:

My 'bent is pretty slow because it is set up as a tourer, and I don't have
plan to fit a speedo to tell me that 🙂

I tend to find that no matter which one I test ride, they all have
really pathetic engines..

Isn't that because, as Helen found out recently, you use different
muscles/muscles in different ways so that no matter how upwrong fit you
are, you are starting again on a bent?

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

Tony Raven said:

David Martin said:

Roos Eisma said:

My 'bent is pretty slow because it is set up as a tourer, and I don't have
plan to fit a speedo to tell me that 🙂

I tend to find that no matter which one I test ride, they all have
really pathetic engines..

Isn't that because, as Helen found out recently, you use different
muscles/muscles in different ways so that no matter how upwrong fit you
are, you are starting again on a bent?

No, it's because I'm not very upwrong fit, and downright unfit... ANd
far to heavy, and there are too many hills around here. Actually, I'm
only kidding about the hills.

...d

Response to Tony Raven:

Quoted message said:

Isn't that because, as Helen found out recently, you use different
muscles/muscles in different ways so that no matter how upwrong fit you
are, you are starting again on a bent?

As a mostly-just-commuting cyclist -

On the little uphill on my embarrassingly short commute, I'd hit maybe
15mph on the upright, on a good day. (My commute is short enough to be
treated as a sprint!)

The first time I did it on the trike I struggled to reach 6mph, and had
to have a short rest at the top; my legs felt *just* as if I was
learning to cycle from scratch again - at which point I began to wonder
if I'd just [censored] away a great deal of money. ;-)

After a couple of months of recumbency I'd do the same hill at about
12mph without too much trouble. Don't know my speed now: both my
computers have gone to the great gig in the sky, and I don't bother with
them any more.

--
Mark, UK

"True religion is the life we lead, not the creed we profess."

Tony Raven said:

Isn't that because, as Helen found out recently, you use different
muscles/muscles in different ways so that no matter how upwrong fit you
are, you are starting again on a bent?

Not all over again, as the basic cardiovascular transport is at least in
place and it's more a case of tuning up things for a slightly different
mix rather than starting again from scratch. It's not like changing
from a bike to a kayak, for example.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Tony Raven said:

Isn't that because, as Helen found out recently, you use different
muscles/muscles in different ways so that no matter how upwrong fit you
are, you are starting again on a bent?

Not starting again as such, as Pete says. You do need to tune up the
muscles slightly differently, but the fact that Rob English rode both
'bents and stick bikes competitively shows that it's fundamentally the
same muscles.

I found it took me a couple of months to get my "'bent legs" to the
point where I was as fast as on a wedgie, but I can now switch between
the two without noticeable loss of performance. Or rather: I am now
equally hopeless on both :-/

--
Guy

"Sniper8052(L96A1)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

I think we haunt some of the same areas, so you'd be welcome to have an
extended go on my Challenge Hurricane if you care to meet up.

Quoted message said:

For speed think about fairings - or go the Velomobile route, something
like this:
http://www.ligfiets.net/fietsen/type.php3?id=88

Boy, and don't those things zip along. I can here them cut through the
air when I'm being lapped at the bhpc meets :-)

Garry

LSMike said:

"Sniper8052(L96A1)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

I think we haunt some of the same areas, so you'd be welcome to have an
extended go on my Challenge Hurricane if you care to meet up.

Thanks LS that's incredibly generous of you, would you mind if I take a
rain check until nearer the date of purchase?
I am drooling over the Speed-Machine range at the moment and confess I
am minded toward a 700c rear wheel.
Thanks to Mike for the speed calculator, if I decide to build a light EV
as well it will be invaluable for calculating motor speeds and power
consumption.

Sniper8052

Sniper8052(L96A1) said:

Thanks LS that's incredibly generous of you, would you mind if I take
a rain check until nearer the date of purchase?
I am drooling over the Speed-Machine range at the moment and confess I
am minded toward a 700c rear wheel.

Don't get the Speedmachine if you want a 700c rear wheel... The only
readily-available machines thus equipped which spring to mind are certain
varieties of M5 - 559 (MTB size) rears are much more numerous.

--
Dave Larrington - <http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/>
And then there was light and He thought it was good, so He threw the
receipt away.

LSMike said:

"Sniper8052(L96A1)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

I think we haunt some of the same areas, so you'd be welcome to have an
extended go on my Challenge Hurricane if you care to meet up.

I can vouch that it goes like manure off a shovel as well

MartinM said:

LSMike said:

"Sniper8052(L96A1)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

I think we haunt some of the same areas, so you'd be welcome to have an
extended go on my Challenge Hurricane if you care to meet up.

I can vouch that it goes like manure off a shovel as well

IME that was onto the ground with a splat ;-(

bit too laid back for me.

...d

"David Martin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

MartinM said:

LSMike said:

"Sniper8052(L96A1)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

I think we haunt some of the same areas, so you'd be welcome to have an
extended go on my Challenge Hurricane if you care to meet up.

I can vouch that it goes like manure off a shovel as well

IME that was onto the ground with a splat ;-(

LOL. That was me on my upwrong yesterday after a BMW prat knocked me off.
Nothing serious mind.

Quoted message said:

bit too laid back for me.

More comfortable that way, besides, if you want lower air resistance you got
to compromise.

in message <[email hidden]>, Dave Larrington

(') said:

Sniper8052(L96A1) said:

Thanks LS that's incredibly generous of you, would you mind if I take
a rain check until nearer the date of purchase?
I am drooling over the Speed-Machine range at the moment and confess I
am minded toward a 700c rear wheel.

Don't get the Speedmachine if you want a 700c rear wheel... The only
readily-available machines thus equipped which spring to mind are
certain varieties of M5 - 559 (MTB size) rears are much more numerous.

There seems to me to be a certain disadvantage to having differently
sized wheels on your every day transport bike, namely the need to carry
two different sizes of inner tube.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; not so much a refugee from reality, more a bogus
;; asylum seeker

Simon Brooke said:

There seems to me to be a certain disadvantage to having differently
sized wheels on your every day transport bike, namely the need to
carry two different sizes of inner tube.

This is true, but after the inner-tube related low-jinks on the Rural South
300, I carry four spare 406 tubes on the trike, while the tool kit used on
the other machines has two 406 and two 559 tubes. In it.

One of the panniers should still have a brace of 622s and a 305 lurking in
its Stygian depths, but I haven't been minded to check recently.

--
Dave Larrington - <http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/>
Every establishment needs an opposition.