Discussion: grunt

Gear down, dude. That's what you have low gears for. Same as lugging a car engine in too high a gear. Nothing to be proved by grinding up a hill, keep the cadence up where it belongs. Better for your joints, and better for your power output, too.

I'm finding the Slipstream a little sluggish dropping onto the small ring and I lose enough momentum that for most intermediate hills, I don't really seem to be working that much harder in the lowest gear on the middle ring than in the middle of my granny. And when I drop into the granny my forward speed drops right off. So I try to gauge the steepness and length of a hill and if I think I can keep some speed by staying in the middle ring, I'll do it. Its hard work, but not so hard that my joints are feeling it - if it is then I definitely drop down and just creep up the hill.

I read somewhere that on uphills, you input the same amount of power for a given climb regardless of the gear, so it seems to make sense to train myself to ride the hills in the highest gear I can and still be comfortable.

OK, so no hill is really 'comfortable' - but at least not seriously uncomfortable. But I may also have my facts and/or logic all screwed up.

FYI - on the flats I find that 80-90 is comfortable, but that on climbs I will usually be in the 65-75 range (regardless of gear) I'm also still using regular platform pedals - keep vacillating about going clipless - logic says I should, but with so many choices, it seems like a crapshoot choosing which pedal/shoe combo to go with. My inclination from reading is to go with a MTN shoe or sandal with SPD cleats and either eggbeater or frogs. But I do worry about my ability to unclip fast enough in an emergency....

I read somewhere that on uphills, you input the same amount of power for a given climb regardless of the gear

Well, physics says that if you're going uphill at the same speed, then you're putting out the same power, regardless of the gear. That's not the same as saying that you're capable of putting out the same power in any gear. Consider the extremes (very high or very low gear), and it should be clear that a bad choice is going to adversely affect your power — you either can't spin fast enough, or you can't deliver the requisite force. There is definitely a cadence range where your legs can put out the most power, and do so at the lowest cost. Training to ride in a too-high gear isn't useful.

I took a look, and what I've got for my recumbent is old LOOK MTB clipless pedals. What's nice about some of these older pedals is that, although they typically hung at an angle that was inconvenient and annoying on an upright, it happened to be totally nice on a recumbent, just sitting there, toe pointed at the sky, ready to stomp in. Might be some dirt-cheap options along these lines on ebay. I've got Speedplays (Magnums, predecessor to the Frog) that I use on my road bike and MTB, and I think those are excellent, so I could endorse the Frogs. I know my brother had some eggbeaters when I saw him a year or two ago, and I think he had good things to say about them. But I kind of like having pedals that are usable with ordinary shoes in case the need arises, and they don't seem like they'd be so good.

As far as not unclipping in an emergency, it's not really a problem. In a day or so you'll become adept at releasing, and to be honest, falling over on a recumbent really isn't such a big deal anyway. I've done it several times. You just feel kind of stupid, but it doesn't really hurt.

I figure most any crash on the bent is likely to be a very slow speed topple to the side - my concern is mangling the steering. However on the Slipstream the steering pivot bolt is designed with a softer metal so that if something has to 'give' that will most likely snap/bend first rather than mangling the bars, levers etc. So perhaps I ought to make sure to carry a spare one of those just in case.

Hopefully I find some free time soon to ride/run or anything even close to exercise. Off to Arizona next week but hopefully after that I can start taking some more time for me once the semester ends...

Thanks for the input...

Nice ride, Clint. Looks comfortable.