ok now is a bit late to add a further post to this thread (tread? do not remember the spelling)but:
I live in Italy
I have a Slyway
I often climb
I often think about the best bent for climbing
I think one of the things are overlooked in recumbent design is the hip angle: bent allowing to ride with proper hip angles are very few: I think one is the lightning p38. I think that to have an effective push on pedals you've got to reach a 120 degrees hip bend; of course this means less aerodynamics.
Slyway, which is a very good climber do not allow to reach that bend. Nevertheless I can catch up on climbs with many wedgies (I think this stands for "upright rider"...) and some time pass them by.
I think that if we want to address properly climbing issues we have to consider:
- hip angle
- bottom bracket and seat height: the latter must be definitely lower
- frame and seat stiffness (I think lightining's seats are not that stiff; and a straight tube frame is less stiff than an upright diamond frame, lwb recumbent frames with several triangles feature a better stiffness with the same weight)
- correct rider position in terms of distance from the front wheel (this is very important for SWB geometries: if the wheel size is too big smallest riders have to place their seat too near to the front wheel to avoid heel-wheel overlapping and this can cause instability on climbs too, not just on descents.