HooDoo 500: When someone says recumbents Cant Climb (short vid)

[Frito Bandito]

All of them were outdoors. To be honest, I have not ridden indoors since 2002. As for power output I have higher power when leaning pack and pulling on the bars. Some riders write about pushing their butt into the seat but when I am putting out max power I don't feel that. I can't say I am changing the angle between my torso and legs by yanking on the bars, but I definitely feel like I put more power out that way instead of trying to get the feeling of pushing my butt into the seat. I do have a left side 4iiii power meter so I might give both ways a try to see exactly what it shows. When climbing after I run out of gas and my legs are screaming, I lean up. I don't think it is because I can put out more power that way. I think it is more "Let's use different muscles or try to get more body weight on the pedals."

 

[3bs]

no question the s40 seat angle provides a better backboard for climbing. it is pretty amusing however to go back and forth between the v20 and the s40 when it comes to riding the flats. whenever i ride the s40 i feel like i am a giant object sticking in the air causing drag. the first few times i thought it was a headwind causing the wind sound and feel, but then i realized it was me. the disruption of airflow on the s40 compared to the v20 is gigantic. it makes me wonder what the tailflows look like, since that tends to cause more drag then penetration, but it is pretty comical.

 

[Frito Bandito]

I've been doing a little CdA work on my V20, and while I can't really perceive any speed difference while riding with lower or higher CdA numbers, it surely shows in the power/speed data. I can only imagine what difference there is when swapping between the V20 and S40.

 

[chicorider]

I ride sans data, except for what Strava tells me after my rides. I can hold roughly the same average speed on my S30 as I can on my V20, but the sensation of speed is noticeably different. I feel slower on the S30 because my head is a bit higher from the ground, while the V20 feels faster with my head lower (like how a sports car feels faster than a pickup truck, even though both might be going the same speed). I have been surprised several times after rides on the S30, to have Strava tell me that I went faster than I thought, and perhaps as fast as I would have gone on the V.

 

[3bs]

i think the v20 is good for 3 mph at ordinary speeds between 15 and 25, so that s40 would be 17 and the v 20. i think this margin would increase as speed would increase over 25 as a factor of drag