NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi,
These are recumbent trikes and are heavier?
I was under the impression that recumbent two wheeled were faster, when I last did audax I was chasing down a recumbent two wheel and he was happy at 24 mph on the flat I was happy at 22 mph on the flat, but i stayed with him for a few miles or more until I dropped my water bottle and he got away
So what gives on a trike?
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/recum ... ics.12344/
The third wheel and larger frontal area will slow a trike down over a bike. The added stability might increase confidence and therefore top speed downhill, and certainly allows *slower* climbing of hills with appropriate gearing. I climbed every hill on the WWC for a couple of years on the trike, which is more than can be said for many of the (DF) two wheelers.
There is also additional weight associated with the third wheel, and additional structure required, which is only really relevant when climbing, on the flat it makes little odds (slightly higher rolling resistance), downhill it's of marginal gain, more than negated by the aero effects.
The third wheel also adds it's own rolling resistance of course.
So overall a bike will be faster than a trike, they can be equally comfortable though.
I *loved* my raptobike, it was fast (averaged between 20 and 23 mph over my 15 mile commute), and really comfortable. I carried a lot less stuff with me than on my ICE Sprint 2RS (on which I averaged 15-18mph over the same commute) though, so couldn't really use it exclusively.
I did use the raptobike for the occasional long ride as well, and it was lovely - though doing 40+mph downhill in the driving rain following a lorry that I could only just see so that I could avoid the standing water by going to the side on which he didn't kick up a wall of water was "interesting".
To get those speeds I was commuting 30 miles a day five days a week, so my fitness levels were through the roof.
I did use an upright occasionally, although actually I don't recall using one for the long commute - used to use one for the shorter commute previously every so often. That was always fun, but wasn't a lot faster or slower than the trike (not that I had any real DF fitness, and the bike was a nice slender steel frame with a 5 speed IGH).
I was generally down on the drops though.