Climbing Devon hills on a recumbent

[Stradageek]

First, an admission, the Devon hills are proving more of a challenge to my nearly septogenarian legs than I imagined. However, I've only been beaten once ( just recovering from a cold) and successfully climbed that hill a few days later.

This left me pondering the issue. Long climbs are not a problem, neither are short steep climbs, the problems come when long climbs have steep kickers at the top and the roads are very narrow and Devonian.

Here's the picture, my tiring body hits the last kicker and I slow down. As I get slower and start approaching 'stall' speed the wobbling necessarily increases. The challenge is then to constrain the wobbling to the 40cm of road surface between the grass and mud in the middle of the road and the potholes at the edge. As nerves begin to jangle, muscles tense and the wobbling increases as I know that I'll only have micrseconds to de-clip and risk a wheelie on a restart.

No disasters yet but I do need to get a) a little fitter and b) more confident.

All this being said, the views, the river valleys and the seaside ambles mean that the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages of abandoning the beautiful Northamptonshire lanes.

[Jdsk]

Thanks for sharing the experience.

What's the lowest gear?

Jonathan

[nobrakes]

I know exactly how you feel. We have similar in the Borders. Very thin roads, bad frost heaves, extremely steep kickers. Gravel and mud everywhere. All conspire to make some ascents quite stressful. The worst is Talla which has kickers up to around 25% on a very thin poor quality back road. I crashed or had to get a foot down pronto 4 times in my quest to conquer it. I think it's one of the things you just have to suck up on a bent. Roads like that are no problem on a DF other than the effort needed to get to the top. It's one of the downsides of bents I think. Trikes solve this issue quite nicely.

[Stradageek]

Thanks for the encouragement nobrakes, I do intend to persevere

My trike option has one shortcoming, being a single wheel drive Kett, it crabs across the road rather badly on anything steeper than a 1 in 6, especially in the wet. I did manage a wet 1 in 6 recently but only by ascending on the wrong side of the road so that the crab was against the camber.

To answer Jonathan, my Strada and Speedmachine both have a bottom gear of 21.4 inches, approximately 4mph at 60 rpm. Not sure I'd want to go much slower, or spin much faster

[Jdsk]

Thanks

Jonathan

[UpWrong]

On the Strada? Platform pedals and a smaller front wheel would lose the fear of having to stop suddenly. You don't want to land on a hip at your age, or mine. I don't want to make you more anxious, but that is a risk with high racers.

A 21" gear is arguably on the tall side. I believe Squeaker has a bottom gear of around 17.5" on his Grasshopper for climbing the South Downs.

[pjclinch]

My new (upwrong) off-road tourer has a 16" bottom end. I think much lower on a bike would be pointless (I'd be walking as fast) but on a 'bent trike (which tends not to walk very well) I could see going lower would have a point.

On a Kett it could well be the versions with a rear differential would do better at very steep hills.

Pete.

[a.twiddler]

A high racer might not be the ideal set up for low speed climbing, and being clipped in gives a delay, no matter how slight, in getting your foot down and avoiding a fall. Perhaps something as simple as double sided pedals, clip-in on one side, plain on the other might just give the edge to your ability to keep going in these circumstances. It would be a psychological thing rather than a physical thing, but every little helps.

I lived in North Devon as a teenager and having a single speed bike walked up many hills. Narrow lanes with high hedgebanks are not the most pleasant places to be, even without the climbing as there's nowhere to go when faced with impatient traffic unless you come across a field entrance just when you need it.

When faced with a long hill I'm not afraid to stop and rest if there's convenient spot before pressing on to the next stretch. If it's a regular route you will get to know where the field entrances or passing places are. I'm speaking from the viewpoint of an actual septuagenerian.
Stopping places on a long narrow hill are a bit like toilets when you get older. They might not be exactly where you need them, but might as well take the opportunity to use them while you're there.

Everone is different but my experience with the Grasshopper confirmed that at least for me, a relatively upright seat and lowish bottom bracket was the way to go if you want to get up hills. The BB on the grasshopper was not even particularly high compared with a Speedmachine or Strada but I couldn't develop enough power to get up decent speed or get up hills easily. It was bloomin' hard work!

The same principle might apply to Devon hills even for those who would normally zoom around elsewhere with the well reclined/high BB set up. Perhaps a reduction in seat recline might just make a difference in the OP's case? I can only go from my own experience with decidedly non sporty recumbents but in the case of the HPV Spirit, just a matter of a few degrees more upright made a huge difference in perceived ease of climbing. I'm not suggesting that the OP changes his well loved familiar recumbents for something slower but easier on the hills, but a few tweaks here and there from the settings you are used to might just make the difference.

My Linear and Spirit both have bottom gears of around 17.5 inches and even if they are rarely used, it's nice to know they're there. I'm confident that they will get me up anything within reason, and some unreasonable hills. As they have relatively long wheelbases, there's no worry about lifting the front wheel. Of course I don't live in Devon, and the hills here are a bit different.

[hercule]

My Kettweisel with a differential will go up steep hills like a ferret up a drainpipe. Its predecessor which was one wheel drive (right, being a German machine) had a fondness for front wheel hopping and heading for the ditch if the hill was too steep. A motorised front wheel might have helped. The Lepus I have which is also single wheel drive doesn’t seem to have as much of a problem on hills,, perhaps because the CoG is a bit more central in the machine.

[Tigerbiten]

Climbing silly steep hills on a tadpole trike with a 10" first gear is great until the going gets a little sub standard.
Even with a camping load in the trailer it's only +20% that are hard work.
It doesn't take that much damp/gravel/etc on these hills for you to loose traction on the back wheel and spin to a stop.
Then it gets even more fun because as you take your weight off the seat, the back wheel with less weight on it breaks traction again and whole trike/trailer rig starts to slide downhill.
I've been known to back the trailer into a hedge just so I can get off ....

[Stradageek]

Thanks to all, especially Twiddler. I have experimented with seat angle and pedals but need to stick with SPDs as I have lost my footing occasionally without.

I will try 46/36/26 chain rings as you guys seem to think a 17" gear will leave me with enough speed to still balance. I just need to find the rings, check BB compatibility, make sure the front derailleur can cope, shorten the chain......

[Stradageek]

Climbing upgrade completed. 50/40/30 is now 48/39/26, middle ring cannot be smaller than 38t as BCD is 130mm. Chain shortened, FD lowered, useable gears are 1-9 on 48 and 39 and 1-5 on the 26. This gives me an 18" bottom gear.

Now I need to find a gap in the social/grandparenting schedule to cycle out to hills for a trial run

[UpWrong]

Climbing upgrade completed. 50/40/30 is now 48/39/26, middle ring cannot be smaller than 38t as BCD is 130mm. Chain shortened, FD lowered, useable gears are 1-9 on 48 and 39 and 1-5 on the 26. This gives me an 18" bottom gear.

Now I need to find a gap in the social/grandparenting schedule to cycle out to hills for a trial run

Sounds good. What's the cassette, 11-34?

[Stradageek]

Yup, 11-34

[Stradageek]

Grandparent duties cancelled so I tackled the climbs from Ide to Haldon ridge. Maintained a normal cadence throughout, had breath to spare and wobbling well under control.

So many thanks again for the encouragement and advice. Dartmoor beckons