Higher gear, learn to spin or enjoy coasting?

[Andrew 1973]

I noticed that when going above 30 MPH, I tend to spin out of my highest gear, 53 x12. At high revolutions on a slight downhill, I begin to feel unsteady and I will back off and coast until my speed begins to drop.

I assume the aerodynamic advantage of my body position on the Silvio allows for higher downhill speeds than my upright bike and I'd like to know how you have adapted your riding style to accomodate this difference.

Thanks.

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi

Hi Andrew,

\begin{lecture}
First, I'd recommend get some miles before spinning out decending. There have been a few instances of new ish MBB riders crashing because of this. If you do feel the bike wobbling, take your feet off of the pedals and let your arms take over.
\end{lecture}

I usually spin to 35 mph. Part of me really wants to get higher gearing so I can go faster. And part of me thinks that's a really stupid idea as 40 mph bike is already pretty *#$& fast.

Cheers,
Charles

 

[Andrew 1973]

Thanks for the advice and I

Thanks for the advice and I know I am still inexperienced on the Silvio, but for the first time in a long time I am able to go fast on a bike. As for taking my feet off the pedals, I think I'd rather stay clipped in. Unclipping at speed doesn't sound like a practice I'd want to try. I don't feel that unstable, it's more like a sligh oscillation that I'd rather do without.

 

[Charles.Plager]

Let me add this

Let me add this then:

Carefully start learning to pedal with no hands. The goal isn't really to ride with no hands, but to minimize pedal steer (so start riding with just one hand, then just one finger, and then if you want, no hands). Teaching your body to pedal without affecting the steering is crucial if you are going to be silly enough (as, well, I am) to pedal zooming down those hills.

 

[John Dorlon]

I tend to stop pedalling

I tend to stop pedalling downhill in the mid 30's. I know I'm going to need that energy going up the next hill. Where I live, down hills are almost always followed by up hills. When I get to the bottom of a hill, I'll continue coasting until I'm down to 30 or so, then I start pedalling again to maintain my speed as long as I can.

I've thought about buying a bigger ring in the front, but utimately I decided that it is my uphill speeds that are ruining my average speed on rides, not my downhill speeds. So I'll just enjoy downhill and work harder uphill.

 

[Andrew 1973]

Stop Pedaling

jdorlon: That seems to be my current riding style too. While the Silvio has proven to be a capable climber with my up hill speeds easily matching what I do on an upright bike, there is still room for improvement in climbing and for raising my average on the flats.

 

[Kim Tolhurst]

coasting

Yes here again is the use of pushing forward with your arms. A great case for relaxed legs. This can be practised of course at slow speeds. Pushing forward with your arms creates a securing triangle to your seat back. As with a DF it is an articulated vehicle and the idea there too is to secure a triangle to the seat,(bottom) which is done by you know what.(hanging on tight)
So, relaxed legs on a CB in coasting is important and security comes from hanging on by arms pushing forward.
cheers,

Kim.

 

[kenhardwick]

Agree with John...except mid 20's

per John Dorlon
"I tend to stop pedalling downhill in the mid 30's. I know I'm going to need that energy going up the next hill. Where I live, down hills are almost always followed by up hills. When I get to the bottom of a hill, I'll continue coasting until I'm down to 30 or so, then I start pedalling again to maintain my speed as long as I can.

I've thought about buying a bigger ring in the front, but utimately I decided that it is my uphill speeds that are ruining my average speed on rides, not my downhill speeds. So I'll just enjoy downhill and work harder uphill."
here is my 2 cents worth...
I fully agree with John's comment..except I stop pedalling in the mid 20's. Most important is to NOT be in TOO LOW of a GEAR when you start pedalling. So, I shift up just as I am starting to coast down the hill then wait up speed has slowed such as I have pressure on the pedals/gears when I do start pedalling. Much better to be in too high a gear and too low.

 

[Andrew 1973]

Well said, Ken

"Most important is to NOT be in TOO LOW of a GEAR when you start pedalling."

That is definitely good advice. In any circumstance, riding a Cruzbike (or any recumbent) requires a concious effort to ensure that you are in the proper gear for the situation. It's no fun rolling up to a stop and forgetting you're running a 53 x 12 combination.

 

[John Tolhurst]

At high speeds, you can use

At high speeds, you can use an aweful lot of watts to lift you speed a tiny amount. Power that might be better placed on the pending climb.

 

[ak-tux]

Adding an 11 tooth cog wouldn't hurt

I think practising to ride at a high cadence generally even at 30Km/h will help you to maintain stable and clean spining even at the higher speeds. And I agree with Charles learning to ride hands free allows your legs to develop a cleaner spin without unwanted pedal induced steering effects.

But all in all adding an 11 tooth cog would not hurt much.

 

[ak-tux]

... wish it was possible to

... wish it was possible to edit a post :-( ... I meant an 11 tooth sprocket.

Generally I find it easy to maintain a higher cadence on my DF than on my MBB recumbent. But it has been getting better with time. So I believe with practice I can probably attain a 110 rpm cadence on the recumbent. At the moment the best I can do is a cadence of about 100 rpm. My sweet spot is about 90-95 rpm on the recumbent.

On my DF road bike my sweet spot is between 95-100. But to be fair, I commute with my DF hence I have alot more mileage on the DF. On my DF road bike I have done close to 120 rpm without loosing control or balance.

On the flip side, I find it significantly easier to ride hands free on my recumbent than on my DF road bike. I can go upto 30KM/hr pedaling hands free with a good cadence on the recumbent with relative ease. However, on my DF road bike, hands free is very short lived for me.