Leisesturm wrote:
"The last poster had me sucked in behind for the ride until s/he mentioned 'looks'."
thanks, I guess you got my point. My collection has been Linear, Stratus, bikeE, EZ1 and Corsa, two different Catrikes, including a Speed, currently a Cheetah and RS24, oh and a couple of tandems too. I would have had a Bachetta Aero (is my memory failing me yet again, their fastest, Ti job) except I am too big, 6'4", 200# and the Bachetta boys didn't think their machine would hold up, so I got the steel Corsa.
Aerodynamics is more important than wheel size for speed, the trikes are faster than any of the two wheelers I owned, except the Corsa, because they are all inefficient, upright riding positions, catching lots of wind. The Cheetah is faster than the RS because it is more laid back, same enigine, same road 26 on the Cheetah, 23 on the RS. I would guess i was fastest on the Stratus going up long grades, 6% for a mile or more, because its position suited me better, but i had to upgrade the wheels/hubs to get it there.
Climbing is all about power to weight, speed is, at some point all about aerodynamics, never about wheel size. Until suspension is more developed, ie lighter and more responsive, I'll take a wider, lower pressure tire to solve the ragged road problems.
a small diversion...
I was very pleased with the Speeddrive on the 20" drive Catrike Speed, I have never liked the convoluted three speed hub with seven gear ala Greenspeed. i've yet to try the Roloff that is supposed to be woderful solution to the small drive wheel dilemma. 26 works great, and because of my size, I appreciate the long wheelbase that it brings along with it.
And why doesn't anyone want to take my bait about small wheels causing my crashes....
Mike