Recumbent - Suitability of trikes for touring hilly routes?

I'm doing long trips on regular bike, but am looking into trikes for future long tours. I carry light loads, but do carry tent and sleeping bag just in case. I don't cook meal, and will not carry groceries. The question I have is can a trike climb fairly steep and long hills? I'm not a good climber, but persistant. If the trike can be put on brakes for rest stop, and will climb from standing stop, then it's OK. I guess that it's not practical to push a trike up hill like you can with a bike. I'm not concerned with down hill speed, but how safe is a, say, Cattrike going down hill, both long straight and steep bends? Also, how good is a trike on rolling hills where a regular bike can carry momentum to help going over the next crest? Thanks.

When I test rode three different trikes I stopped on the steepest hill I could find and started pedaling again. Easy is the only word I could use to describe it. I had no trouble at all doing that. I did find some trikes were better at climbing hills than others. All trikes just like any other bike are different. Test ride as many as you can before getting one.

Thanks for a prompt reply. Regretfully, trikes are not available in Thailand, so I'll have to gather opinions and reccommendations before I place order for same.

That's what trikes can do best I think. You don't have to maintain a certain speed for balance. You can tool along at walking speed no problem. The Catrike Road can definitely do that and still be stable down hill. If you look for trikes that have low gear inch ranges in the teens they will probably have very little problem doing slow and steady climbs.

As long as the gearing is low enough a trike can climb any hill, slower than a bike climbing but doesn't seem to require as much energy and is quite happy hauling a load.
I run a GT3 in a very hilly area but have changed the gearing at the front to a 42/32/22 that will allow it to climb just about anything without unduely stressing a bad knee.

geebee
Do you feel like you spin out too easily with that setup? I am looking at a tandem trike that comes with a 44/32/22 front group. I was all for the low end, but I was afraid we wouldn't get enough speed out of the upper gear.

Thanks for all replies. Your advices are reassuring.

geebee
Do you feel like you spin out too easily with that setup? I am looking at a tandem trike that comes with a 44/32/22 front group. I was all for the low end, but I was afraid we wouldn't get enough speed out of the upper gear.

I can run to about 50kph in top gear (I tend toward a high cadence), on hills I let gravity do the work above that and save the energy for climbing. I personally would go with the stock gearing on the trike you are looking at, you can always change the front rings down the track if you find it to low. If where you are is hilly I think you will appreciate the lower gearing.

geebee
Do you feel like you spin out too easily with that setup? I am looking at a tandem trike that comes with a 44/32/22 front group. I was all for the low end, but I was afraid we wouldn't get enough speed out of the upper gear.

What type of tandem are you looking at with a setup like that? I've never seen a tandem with the gearing up front. I think your worries of spinning out are well founded unless you have a speed drive or something. Your lg. ring at 44 is just two teeth larger than my small ring. With that 44 and a cadence of 100 rpm your looking at a top speed of around 20,21 mph

To answer the other question of suitability, Megaman said about right Easy is the only word I could use to describe it. With the right gear package there isn't a hill you can't climb and stopping and starting's not a problem.

I am looking at a tandem trike that comes with a 44/32/22 front group. I was all for the low end, but I was afraid we wouldn't get enough speed out of the upper gear.

You could try shorter cranks. My experience is that the difference in the bottom end is minimal (it climbs just as well) but you can spin much faster in the high end. On my 26/26, I have 44/34/22 and a 34/11 cassette, and I can still pedal the bike somewhat comfortably above 35mph with 150mm cranks.

You could try shorter cranks. My experience is that the difference in the bottom end is minimal (it climbs just as well) but you can spin much faster in the high end. On my 26/26, I have 44/34/22 and a 34/11 cassette, and I can still pedal the bike somewhat comfortably above 35mph with 150mm cranks.

What is a 26/26? The only way I see 35mph on a 44 tooth chain ring is on a down hill or possible the use of a speed drive.

What is a 26/26?

A recumbent with two 26" wheels. Sorry about the shortcut.



The only way I see 35mph on a 44 tooth chain ring is on a down hill or possible the use of a speed drive.

Oh yes, I meant downhill, or with a good back wind, but what I meant was, with shorter cranks, you can keep pedalling when you reach higher speeds and go even faster, as opposed to having to let gravity alone propel you, or max out, because you can't spin any faster, which is frustrating.

My personal rule of thumb is that for every centimeter you take out of a crank, you roughly gain 10 rpm in spinning and all your chainrings behave like they have 2 more teeth. So for example, if you have a 44T chainring and 170mm cranks, if you install 150mm cranks instead, the chainring now feels like a 48T ring. What's more, since you can spin faster, you can go even faster with your "virtual" 48T ring.

A recumbent with two 26" wheels. Sorry about the shortcut.




Oh yes, I meant downhill, or with a good back wind, but what I meant was, with shorter cranks, you can keep pedalling when you reach higher speeds and go even faster, as opposed to having to let gravity alone propel you, or max out, because you can't spin any faster, which is frustrating.

My personal rule of thumb is that for every centimeter you take out of a crank, you roughly gain 10 rpm in spinning and all your chainrings behave like they have 2 more teeth. So for example, if you have a 44T chainring and 170mm cranks, if you install 150mm cranks instead, the chainring now feels like a 48T ring. What's more, since you can spin faster, you can go even faster with your "virtual" 48T ring.

Ok that I'd almost buy that on a 26/26,but you can't do that on a Tandem Trike no matter what size cranks us use, it won't work.

Ok that I'd almost buy that on a 26/26,but you can't do that on a Tandem Trike no matter what size cranks us use, it won't work.

Why not? It'd work if both riders had (and liked) short cranks.

Why not? It'd work if both riders had (and liked) short cranks.

It won't work and here is why. First off you are in two different worlds, Bike vs Trike and tandem vs single.You are talking 35 + mph on a down hill. Your recumbent weighes 27 to 30lbs you weigh say 180 lbs total 210lbs. My Tandem Trike weight is 65 lbs riders weight combined is 231lbs total 296 lbs. Because of the combined weight the trike will coast faster than any cadence that anyone can offer it. Considering that a 65/11 @ 100 rpm gets you 35mph on a flat,I don't think I'd want to try that kind of cadence on a downhill. :eek:

geebee
Do you feel like you spin out too easily with that setup? I am looking at a tandem trike that comes with a 44/32/22 front group. I was all for the low end, but I was afraid we wouldn't get enough speed out of the upper gear.

BK Here is a calculator, you can see what speeds the trike can do
http://www.wisil.recumbents.com/wisil/gearinches.asp
hope it helps

Two quick points my trike has 9 tooth rear bottom sprocket and re the short crank high rpm, when I was using 52.5 cranks I could maintain for a reasonable length sprint a cadence of 180 rpm, my normal cruise is in ther 105 to 120 range with 170 cranks.
If you are going to calculate gear inch to speed take into account YOUR spinning speed.

Two quick points my trike has 9 tooth rear bottom sprocket and re the short crank high rpm, when I was using 52.5 cranks I could maintain for a reasonable length sprint a cadence of 180 rpm, my normal cruise is in ther 105 to 120 range with 170 cranks.
If you are going to calculate gear inch to speed take into account YOUR spinning speed.

Question Ok, what purpose does a 52.5 crank serve? I think most riders use between 165 and 175 cranks when riding, that seems to be the normal range. IMO to far either direction and your working yourself to death. Another question, at 180 rpm what size chain ring / sprocket are you running.

Question Ok, what purpose does a 52.5 crank serve? I think most riders use between 165 and 175 cranks when riding, that seems to be the normal range. IMO to far either direction and your working yourself to death. Another question, at 180 rpm what size chain ring / sprocket are you running.

First up a typo it was meant to be 152.5 cranks, they allow you to ride with less pressure on your knees as your legs work through a smaller arc therefore decreasing the knee angle.
It is a mixed blessing though as you loose torque but pick up rpm's, this means you must be in a low enough gear to get off the line or you will crawl of to slowly, you can cruise along at 120 rpm with the short cranks and blast up to 180rpm almost instantly which equals massive acceleration (you can push back into the seat with impunity with the short cranks) and crazy top speeds with very low gearing, BUT the reason I am back to 170's is that the loss of torque meant some of my hillier routes were impossible as I could not economically lower the gearing far enough to climb ultra steep hills.
Without digging up the front ring gear I think it was 44/36/24 the 180rpm was in the 44 and 9 rear sprocket (although it was not an exceptional rpm with the cranks for any gear combo) 16" rear tyre and yes I was moving!
With this combo I overtook some slow riders on the bike path and when I pulled back over to the correct side I was still accelerating to the point that the back tyre screeched, not your usual scrubbing noise but screeched.
If I lived where it was flat I would be ridding short cranks without a doubt, but I like spinning fast and have relatively short legs for 5'8", YMMV.

geebee,
You say you cruise at 120 rpm, can I ask what speed you are showing and how fast is your top end.

According to Sheldon Brown's Gear Calculator, 44/9 drivetrain and 16" wheel @ 120RPM = 28.0MPH

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/index.html

Where I live, Hobart Tasmania there is no such thing as a flat area :)
Even our bike path has small hills and no true flat areas so giving a consistent speed is close to impossible, I have a bad knee so the high rpm allows me to ride 7 days a week and still be able to walk, I basically maintain cruise rpm in whatever gear is needed, I'm not particularly fast but can sprint pretty well.
I just finished a ride, my top speed was 59.8 kph I would be around 30~35 kph a lot around the flatter areas and crawl back up home at speeds down to as low as 6 kph :).
If it helps I used to do 1 or 2 loops of 25 klm on the bike track and averaged 26kph on a MTB, 30 kph on the trike and about 33 kph on a road bike. I don't ride the track anymore as I prefer riding on the road.