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Aesquire
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 27, 2024 - 10:54 am: | 
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I just learned that the short double wheel steering bike above is called a "Circus bicycle". 
I've been doing about one ride a week with a much stronger rider, and getting very slowly more confidence in returning skills as he pushes the pace.
So I've been carefully ramping up the power, both electric assist and painfully recovering muscle.
On wet leaves, I'm still properly cautious, turning the assist level down as 3 of 5 electric boost & high cadence gives a "surging" ride that spins the rear wheel and I fishtail on the low traction surface. Tire choice doesn't help when leaf slides on leaf.
Seems silly to brag about speed, @ 100 mph slower than my Cyclone.  |
Ourdee
| | Posted on Sunday, December 01, 2024 - 10:49 am: |
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Aesquire, You want to avoid a 120 cadence. It will allow the body resonance to effect stability. When training I used to try for a cadence just over 90. Spin training was the time when I would push for a cadence over 140. Then I'd work on being smooth. If I got into a race and had to sprint I would push past 140. My best speed in a sprint was 41.9 mph. I ran a separate cycle computer on a crank sensor to monitor cadence. Most important monitor I used was a heart rate monitor with the sensor strapped to my chest. |
Aesquire
| | Posted on Sunday, December 01, 2024 - 12:25 pm: |
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Ah! The "choppy zone" of resonance!
I'm going to guess that's body/personal dependent?
I had a cadence sensor on my "pre-gravel" bike, and before I trashed the wiring going through brush, I got fairly good at estimating my spin. ( old man quavering voice ) "Back in the day..." I was comfortable around 90-100 and got choppy over 140 cadence, heavy legs and long cranks. Don't have cadence on my bikes today.
I do have a Watt reading in real time for electric assist, which I can often use to measure my own output. If the motor needs 250 Watts to hold a speed, and I push that down to zero...
Over this last 2 years I've regained my spin. Early rides were down in the 50-60 rpm range and I'm now back to a 90+ comfort zone.
With the recumbent bikes/trikes you can't stand up and stomp the pedals for sprints and hills. It's more like a leg press machine, pushing back against the seat. I want to power spin up the hills.
That's why the serious racers use hard shell carbon fiber seats for power with less give & wasted energy than the mesh and frame designs. My Catrike Expedition is an aluminum space frame with a mesh seat, and I have a Ventisit pad that keeps my back cool, ( and water goes straight through! ) but gives a very solid surface to brace against.
My Rans bicycles have the tube frame and mesh seats that I'll keep for comfort over bumps, I still get a pretty solid connection to the seat back for power.
At 200+ pounds, the physics is a bit different than the skinny bicycle racer physique in both the weight on contact points and loads on equipment. I don't use carbon fiber handlebars, I've bent enough light aluminum ones to learn money spent on lightness has to be considered brutally honestly. Saving 7 grams on a part is buried in the noise of personal weight, which day to day can vary 1-5 pounds. $300 derailleur pulley? Skip a cupcake after dinner does more for far less.
My biggest ( relearned ) lesson besides the learning curve on recumbent riding, has been speed is easier... Specifically in the hills, where, if I slow down, it's high power and more work to keep straight. If I keep the speed up, I get the momentum and aero advantage.
The aero advantage is real. It's hard to draft on me, and head winds are less work. TANSTAAFL applies, I'm low in drag and viewpoint, can't look over the bike in front of me, and it takes a bigger vehicle to transport. ( or disassemble and roof rack ) |
Crusty
| | Posted on Sunday, December 01, 2024 - 02:06 pm: |
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quote:I'm low in drag and viewpoint
My viewpoint is that I hope to never see you in Drag.
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Aesquire
| | Posted on Sunday, December 01, 2024 - 04:14 pm: |
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Other than Viking era calf length tunics, which might be mistaken for a dress, don't worry. ( And those are more modest than 14th century tights with a codpiece. Fashions are weird. ) I'm far too self aware to dress in drag. I'd be an ugly girl! Might mistake me for one of the American 4b girls if I dye my hair blue.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/4B_movement |
Aesquire
| | Posted on Saturday, December 07, 2024 - 06:55 pm: |
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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4PYAT53HmzE
Short form, put really low gearing on a bike and pedal slower than walking.
Some comments are funny.
And there's little new in the concept that we hadn't figured out last century.
What makes me laugh is my Gravel bike has a 24 tooth small front ring. ( predates the name, same concept from the late 1980's )
Why? So I can climb steep hills where it's a balance between rear tire losing traction, and lofting the front wheel into a half loop. Furiously spinning the cranks in the saddle and shifting weight to keep control at walking speed is still less work than pushing a bike uphill. Or at least more fun.
Current fads in bicycles don't have as wide a range as I prefer for the hills. So to climb the local steep stuff, I run out of RPM on descents, which is ok, but limits me on the flats, which is annoying. I've put a lot of time & some cash experimenting with gearing to get the best compromise, on my old acoustic bikes.
The good news is that the electric mid-drive motor I'm using will spin the front gear faster than the cranks in the higher assist settings, so I can have my cake and... |
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