[retromike3]

I may have a skewed outlook on recumbents but I live in a part of town that is nothing but a group of hills and I don't have the shape to get up the hills with that liability. I have a training ride I have been trying each morning and it starts out fairly flat but ends up very steep. When I was twenty eight I could do it without to much fuss but now that I am twenty years older I don't think I could manage it.

I know that I have to develop a different set of muscles to make a recumbent work and I was using clip in pedals when they first came out so I could finally get a good spin on those cranks. The cranks I had on that bike were 180mm and I was pushing some big gears for back then.

As for the motor idea it kind of makes my point, if you need assistance going up the hills maybe you should just use a bike that doesn't require it. I actually own a motorized bicycle that I put together myself. It's an old giant mountain bike frame that I welded track bike dropouts on and a derailleur hanger. The reason for that was so that I could tension the chain from the motor without a chain tensioner that inevitably winds up in the spokes.

I have been using it to get around town out here in the suburbs when I need to get there faster and less fatigued than when I ride my road bike. I actually have been putting more miles on my various bicycles than I have on my motorized bicycle. Something about internal combustion that makes a standard bicycle very appealing.

I generally stay away from electric drive systems, because it's very hard to store a decent amount energy in a battery without spending way too much money. The value of all the bicycles I own would not buy the battery power equal to the half gallon tank on my motorized bicycle.

Don't get me wrong I love recumbents and if I lived in a town that was less hilly I would gladly ride it all over the place. I really like the response that I get from the public, its always positive and really miss that riding a standard road bike.

mike

[digitalmouse]

Originally Posted by retromike3

As for the motor idea it kind of makes my point, if you need assistance going up the hills maybe you should just use a bike that doesn't require it.

wait... what? why would I want to give up comfort, all-year-'round weather protection, larger cargo capacity and over-all speed improvement for a bike that has essentially none of these? just for some hills? when muscle-power isn't enough, we turn to mechanical/electric support in every other aspect of transportation. cycling should not be any different.

we should be conquering the hills, not buying extra vehicles. a BIONIX-like motor, while initially expensive, recoups it's investment very quickly in daily use and improved commuting and current technology batteries can last for several years before needing replacement. most have a 4-6 hour "range". it is a perfect match for a 'bent or velomobile to offset hills or slow starts. you arrive at your destination faster and typically less-tired and sweaty.

*any* human-powered vehicle should take advantage of motor-assist when needed, whether electric or gas or cow-farts or whatever. cycling doesn't always need to be a muscle-only endeavor, especially when one gets older or less fit.

please don't assume my tone is angry or condescending - just trying to point out that there *are* solutions that make a 'bent or VM a better all-around vehicle over other classes of cycles. i also know that different cycles accel at different functions: a cargo-bike for large transport, mountain bike/hybrid for offroad, racing DF for the masochistic muscle riders, Pederson for touring in comfort. my 'evangelical ranting' is more to show that 'bents and VMs can *and have* covered all those classes too, and the platform has proven to be very flexible for *any* kind of transport needs. they should not be discounted for minor 'failings', especially when the failing can be fixed with - in this case - an electric motor assist.

[retromike3]

The road bike I am currently riding is one I built just for my needs. its a True Temper tube set with Columbus lugs and believe it or not Shimano dropouts. It would probably not pass the UCI specks because I set it up to copy the riding style of the "Super Man" Graeme Obree and boy does that bike like to move fast. Its kind of heavy in todays parlance (it weighs in at over twenty one pounds) Its a steel frame with aluminum Kinesis forks.

I have made some mechanical adaptations for my lack of fitness. I did it with a modified mountain bike gear set. Its got a very low gear of 22-32 and a pretty high gear of 46-11. thats over an 111 inch gear. my middle chainring is a 32 so I can go up hills pretty well. Unlike my old touring bike I feel like all of the energy I put into the pedals goes to the rear wheel.

I do admit that it is not the best bike for all situations. I went on a ride with my dad a year ago on a ruff road and it felt like I was riding a jack hammer. The road was a converted rail line so it wasn't steep at all and I would have given my eye teeth right then if I had my old recumbent.

mike

[BlazingPedals]

pedal powered bike = bike
motor + pedals = moped

Not that there's anything inherently bad or evil about mopeds, but they're a different class of vehicle than bikes. Why would I eschew getting help on hills? Because I prefer bikes.