Yet Another Cycling Forum

General Category => Freewheeling => The Dark Side => Topic started by: Denis99 on 23 August, 2018, 10:24:07 am

Title: New recumbent trike owner
Post by: Denis99 on 23 August, 2018, 10:24:07 am
Hi,

After years of indecision I have finally bought a recumbent trike.

Bought direct from ICE, one of their fleet of demonstrators, ICE Adventure.

I have had one short ride of 20 miles as a shakedown ride, everything was fine.

Very comfortable, loads of space given by car and lorry drivers.

Didn't realise how much more you can see when sat comfortably on the recumbent with your head up more.

Title: Re: New recumbent trike owner
Post by: Torslanda on 23 August, 2018, 10:49:08 am
One more of us. Welcome to the Dark Side . . .  ;D
Title: Re: New recumbent trike owner
Post by: Wobbly John on 23 August, 2018, 11:02:41 am
Did the trike come with the free toothbrush...



...for getting flys out from between the 'recumbent grin' teeth?

Being low, you sometimes miss out on views over hedges/walls.
Title: Re: New recumbent trike owner
Post by: Torslanda on 23 August, 2018, 11:06:19 am
Wobbly's new project. Recumbent TALL trike...
Title: Re: New recumbent trike owner
Post by: Wobbly John on 23 August, 2018, 11:55:29 am
Velomobile wiv a periscope? ;D
Title: Re: New recumbent trike owner
Post by: Kim on 23 August, 2018, 12:01:36 pm
Velomobile wiv a periscope? ;D

I need one of those.  But not in the Thing 1 (NOTP) (https://flic.kr/p/28TghXg) sense.
Title: Re: New recumbent trike owner
Post by: cycleman on 23 August, 2018, 05:29:00 pm
Did the trike come with the free toothbrush...
Just bring a big hammer out with you  ;D



...for getting flys out from between the 'recumbent grin' teeth?

Being low, you sometimes miss out on views over hedges/walls.
Title: Re: New recumbent trike owner
Post by: Denis99 on 23 August, 2018, 05:31:55 pm
Had my second ride on the recumbent today.

Getting used to this, adjusted the neck rest and found it easier to ride than the first outing.

Still getting an uneven pedal stroke though, causing a bit of side to side rocking. I am sure as I ride it more I will be smoother and more relaxed.
Title: Re: New recumbent trike owner
Post by: Kim on 23 August, 2018, 05:42:59 pm
Still getting an uneven pedal stroke though, causing a bit of side to side rocking. I am sure as I ride it more I will be smoother and more relaxed.

Try not to pull on the handlebars.  If you're used to upright bicycles you probably do it without thinking, and only causes unhelpful wobble on recumbents.  If you want to put lots of force through the pedals, push back into the seat with your shoulders (best done sparingly for the benefit of your knees and drivetrain).
Title: Re: New recumbent trike owner
Post by: andytheflyer on 23 August, 2018, 10:03:12 pm
Still getting an uneven pedal stroke though, causing a bit of side to side rocking. I am sure as I ride it more I will be smoother and more relaxed.
If you want to put lots of force through the pedals, push back into the seat with your shoulders (best done sparingly for the benefit of your knees and drivetrain).

^+1 for what Kim says.  It's very easy to really push too hard with the knees and pressing back on the seat - but you'll eventually get a twinge in a knee that takes a very long time to go away.  DAMHIKT.

Spinning not mashing is the way to go as you can't use body weight to press on the pedals, particularly on climbs.  You may need to think about a lower bottom gear with a smaller bottom ring, or a larger sprocket in the cassette, and maybe shorter cranks.  The default crank length seems to be about 170mm, but may 'bents can need something a bit shorter.  Mine are 160mm, for e.g., with a 24 tooth granny ring and an 11-36 cassette, gives me a 19" bottom gear.  Gets me up 10% hills relatively easily.

I cannot over emphasise just how much you need to look after your knees riding a recumbent.  But at least you can forget about back and butt pain!

Expect many weeks of minor tweaks of many variables: head/neck rest position, boom length, cable runs, bottle cage locations, mirrors, GPS bracketry etc etc. All part of the fun.
Title: Re: New recumbent trike owner
Post by: Denis99 on 23 August, 2018, 10:34:44 pm
Thanks for the advice.

The rocking is worse on the flat sections, climbing is actually quite smooth.

Thought about shortening the boom length just a tad, thinking that if it is too long then it is contributing to the rocking motion.

Cranks are 170mm, 24/34/44 with 11-36.
Title: Re: New recumbent trike owner
Post by: Kim on 23 August, 2018, 10:44:19 pm
Yeah, expect to muck about with the boom length for a while.  Don't worry too much about the chain length unless it's too short - with the chain tube weighing it down, it's pretty tolerant of the chain being a couple of inches too long.

Boom length interacts with seat adjustment, so you may find it needs tweaking if you play with the seat adjustment.  It might also change with your pedalling style - some people find they ankle more on a recumbent.  Top tip: Adjust for the position you find yourself settled into in the seat after half an hour or more of riding, not where you plonk yourself when you first get on.
Title: Re: New recumbent trike owner
Post by: Denis99 on 29 August, 2018, 01:57:05 pm
Thanks for the advice Kim.

I have now ridden about 100 miles on the trike, I adjusted the boom length as you suggested when I had ridden for about 30 minutes, lengthened it a bit.

Felt much better, coupled with me pulling back more on the clip less pedals.

Was more conscious of my pedalling technique and didn’t have as much rocking , felt smoother with a slightly lower cadence.

I’m getting there, albeit a little slower, but enjoying it a lot.
Title: Re: New recumbent trike owner
Post by: Spooner on 29 August, 2018, 08:37:44 pm
Dennis, I’m pretty new to my ICE Sprint too, having clocked up my first 700 miles on a recumbent after many years on DF bikes.

Kim’s advice was very helpful to me too, and here are a few extra pointers from my own r cent ‘growing pains’ in case it helps you....

Like you, I started off with the 170mm cranks ICE supply as standard, but having met the guys from ICE at the York Rally, two of them (both over 6’) have apparently switched to 152.5mm cranks and their average speeds have improved as a result they tell me. I changed to 155mm cranks (TA Carmina) with twin AbsoluteBlack oval chainrings. I increased cadence and got much smoother in my pedalling action.

My knee trouble has greatly reduced and it’s getting easier to increase speeds and mileages. I have no doubt at all that some of it is just down to putting in the miles, but the combination of shorter cranks, upping the cadence, tweaking boom length and switching to oval chainrings made a noticeable difference for me too. Reclining the seat to the max may have helped somewhat too, as I seem to have less pressure on my lumbar spine when pedalling hard now.

It’s been a difficult transition for me from DF to recumbent. I’ve had to start off with much shorter mileages at lower speeds than I used to do just to build up slowly as my fully specked trike weighs in at 29kg without luggage and liquids. On hilly rides like a recent weekend bash of the Peak District with 2,000’ a day climbing ive found it very tough.

I wish there were more recumbents around York to ride out with as its been tough keeping up with some of my friends who still ride DF. Maybe an ICE VTX one day for that sort of thing....if I win the lottery!

Best of luck, relax and enjoy!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Title: Re: New recumbent trike owner
Post by: Denis99 on 29 August, 2018, 08:53:45 pm
Thanks Spooner.

I have a 165mm Shimano triple crankset in my spares box which I will be trying soon. The stock arms rom ICE are 170mm.

Another addition will be to use the speedplay pedals which have a greater degree of float / rotation to assist any potential knee issues.

I feel this will be a evolution over the short to medium term.

But I am enjoying the increased comfort and general sense of being relaxed whist riding.
Title: Re: New recumbent trike owner
Post by: tonycollinet on 13 September, 2018, 08:26:56 pm
Winch it up your nearest hill, then fly down the other side - even better if it's not to straight.

The most fun you can have lying down :D
Title: Re: New recumbent trike owner
Post by: Denis99 on 13 September, 2018, 08:52:06 pm
Getting better at climbing.

Smoother and now using a slightly higher gear, but still not slogging a too large a gear, must be gaining some recumbent legs.