[OHPV-list] My Upright vs. Bent Experiment

[John Climaldi]

I would like to wager 2 cookies and a power bar. My prediction, short  
and sweet. The Bridgestone is not much lighter then the TE, so the  
times will favor the TE by 4:00 to 8:00 minutes on a 25 mile route.  
Now if you were on a light Road bike (17 pound job) then you would be  
faster on it assuming there are a lot of climbs. Just My $.02.

BTW, bents climb just fine and do well on the flats when you compare  
apples to apples. A 17 pound bent will climb just as well as a 17  
pound df, even if you can't stand on the pedals!

John
On Apr 12, 2006, at 5:35 PM, Carolyn Devine wrote:

> hi Folks!
> here's the scoop -
> I'm going to answer for myself which I'm faster on, my 'bent or my
> upright on a loop that has a variety of conditions (hills, flats,  
> city).
> The route is 25+ miles, a conglomerate of 3 different commutes I've
> had since moving to PDX - so it's  tried and true and I don't have to
> think about where I'm going.
>
> There are some big hills ( the cemetery and the zoo)
> and some great cruising flats (Mult. Blvd, oaks bottom trail)
>
> I'm going to do each route a few times in each direction on each bike
> (still figuring out how many replicates are required for good
> data...it may depend on how much I vary in time after a few trials)
> and intend on taking note of times at 3 or 4 points along the way
> (top of Sylvan Hill, top of Cemetery, etc.).
> Or maybe it'd be better if I wasn't aware of how I am doing and just
> pushed myself the whole time...I'd like the data (am I really
> climbing that much slower on the 'bent? am I really going that much
> faster on the flats?), but don't want my psyching myself out one way
> or the other to skew things. any thoughts? maybe call myself on the
> cell phone w/out looking at the time so that i have a time stamp?
>
> What's your guess on which bike will be faster? or will I average out
> to be about the same speed for the entire route?
> My question to myself is:
> If "recumbents can't climb" can I make up for it on the flats?
>
> I understand that the conclusion will only be for me/my body on this
> particular route with these not necessarily comparable bikes (the TE
> weighs a lot more, for one thing!); the Bridgestone was marketed as a
> "sport touring" bike).
> So while I'm not going to over extrapolate the data,
> i'm just curious....are you? or do you think one will be faster as a
> foregone conclusion?
>
> Carolyn
>
> Not a perfect experiment:
> I rode the TE 5,560 miles since May 1 2005; and the Bridgestone <50
> since April 1, 2006 --
> but f it's "not about the bike" then I should be approximately the
> same speed on both, right?
> wanna take some bets? cookies to the one who guesses closest? -- do I
> need to establish a line? ;*)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> OHPV-list mailing list
> OHPV-list at ohpv.org
> http://ohpv.org/mailman/listinfo/ohpv-list_ohpv.org