#31
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TdF and recumbents
"Tom Sherman" wrote in message
... Whats up with bringing off-road cycling into the discussion? Lost track of which thread I was in. Nevertheless it is perfectly fine in my book to try to race the Tour de France with a recumbent. Just try to ride down those Alps roads fast enough to make up for the time lost on the climb. |
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#32
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TdF and recumbents
"Tom Sherman" wrote in message ... Edward Dolan wrote: "Tom Sherman" wrote in message ... Edward Dolan wrote: [...] Surely there are near professional type races in the mountains which pit uprights against recumbents. Find out the results of such races and report back to me. Go to the article on page 14 about the Trondheim-Oslo event: http://www.bhpc.org.uk/oldnews/Issue51.pdf. An interesting pdf, but too much of that British HPV stuff will rot your brain. I will admit that a recumbent with a full body fairing can be amazingly fast. I still don't think they can be all that fast going up a steep hill though. I remember a tour I was on (BRAN I think) and there was this rather chubby guy who had a RANS Tailwind with a full body fairing (home made). Anyone with a RANS Tailwind and a homemade full-fairing is beyond the pale. Oops, http://www.ransbikes.com/Gallery/Archive/Sherman.htm . His fairing appeared to be made out of some kind of cardboard. It looked clunky, but he was damn fast. No one could catch him once he got going. He was also fast going up hills provided they were not too steep. With the body-sock fairing on my Tailwind, I was faster up grades less than about 4% due to the aerodynamic advantage, despite the extra 10 pounds of weight. I think to be fair about this, you would have to pit a faired recumbent against a faired upright in a largely mountainous terrain. Otherwise, you are comparing apples to oranges and not getting to the heart of the question, which is - can recumbents climb hills as well as uprights? I say no. The faired upright would get blown of the road by the first wind gust. Faired uprights are rare to nonexistent - and for good reason. However, recumbents with fairings can also get blown all over the road in strong winds. In certain situations, it is extremely dangerous to ride a recumbent with a fairing. I recall on a tour in Wyoming in the mountains that those who had fairings on their recumbents had to remove them for fear of being blown off the road into the canyon below. Regards, Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota aka Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota |
#33
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TdF and recumbents
Tom Kunich wrote:
"Tom Sherman" wrote in message ... Whats up with bringing off-road cycling into the discussion? Lost track of which thread I was in. Nevertheless it is perfectly fine in my book to try to race the Tour de France with a recumbent. Just try to ride down those Alps roads fast enough to make up for the time lost on the climb. Note: Opinion stated as fact. -- Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia “Mary had a little lamb / And when she saw it sicken / She shipped it off to Packingtown / And now it’s labeled chicken.” |
#34
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TdF and recumbents
Edward Dolan wrote:
"Tom Sherman" wrote in message ... Edward Dolan wrote: "Tom Sherman" wrote in message ... Edward Dolan wrote: [...] Surely there are near professional type races in the mountains which pit uprights against recumbents. Find out the results of such races and report back to me. Go to the article on page 14 about the Trondheim-Oslo event: http://www.bhpc.org.uk/oldnews/Issue51.pdf. An interesting pdf, but too much of that British HPV stuff will rot your brain. I will admit that a recumbent with a full body fairing can be amazingly fast. I still don't think they can be all that fast going up a steep hill though. I remember a tour I was on (BRAN I think) and there was this rather chubby guy who had a RANS Tailwind with a full body fairing (home made). Anyone with a RANS Tailwind and a homemade full-fairing is beyond the pale. Oops, http://www.ransbikes.com/Gallery/Archive/Sherman.htm . His fairing appeared to be made out of some kind of cardboard. It looked clunky, but he was damn fast. Most likely the material was Coroplast® (corrugated polymer sheeting). No one could catch him once he got going. He was also fast going up hills provided they were not too steep. With the body-sock fairing on my Tailwind, I was faster up grades less than about 4% due to the aerodynamic advantage, despite the extra 10 pounds of weight. I think to be fair about this, you would have to pit a faired recumbent against a faired upright in a largely mountainous terrain. Otherwise, you are comparing apples to oranges and not getting to the heart of the question, which is - can recumbents climb hills as well as uprights? I say no. The faired upright would get blown of the road by the first wind gust. Faired uprights are rare to nonexistent - and for good reason. However, recumbents with fairings can also get blown all over the road in strong winds. In certain situations, it is extremely dangerous to ride a recumbent with a fairing. The most wind I ever rode in with a body sock was 30 mph with gusts to 45 mph. I recall on a tour in Wyoming in the mountains that those who had fairings on their recumbents had to remove them for fear of being blown off the road into the canyon below. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" - FDR -- Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia “Mary had a little lamb / And when she saw it sicken / She shipped it off to Packingtown / And now it’s labeled chicken.” |
#35
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TdF and recumbents
"Tom Sherman" wrote in message ... Tom Kunich wrote: "Tom Sherman" wrote in message ... Whats up with bringing off-road cycling into the discussion? Lost track of which thread I was in. Nevertheless it is perfectly fine in my book to try to race the Tour de France with a recumbent. Just try to ride down those Alps roads fast enough to make up for the time lost on the climb. Note: Opinion stated as fact. Here is Tom Sherman sounding like JimmyMac. He should find a different way of saying it. But Mr. Kunich is right. No way you can make up going down what you lose going up. This is as true of small hills as it is of mountain passes. Regards, Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota aka Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota |
#36
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TdF and recumbents
Edward Dolan wrote:
"Tom Sherman" wrote in message ... Tom Kunich wrote: "Tom Sherman" wrote in message ... Whats up with bringing off-road cycling into the discussion? Lost track of which thread I was in. Nevertheless it is perfectly fine in my book to try to race the Tour de France with a recumbent. Just try to ride down those Alps roads fast enough to make up for the time lost on the climb. Note: Opinion stated as fact. Here is Tom Sherman sounding like JimmyMac. He should find a different way of saying it. But Mr. Kunich is right. No way you can make up going down what you lose going up. This is as true of small hills as it is of mountain passes. Hey Ed, Jim McNamara picked up the phrase from me, not the other way around. Ever see a race stage that was all climbing and descending - no, I have not either. The assumption that the speed penalty climbing would be equal to speed advantage descending is overly simplistic and unrealistic. -- Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia “Mary had a little lamb / And when she saw it sicken / She shipped it off to Packingtown / And now it’s labeled chicken.” |
#38
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TdF and recumbents
On 2008-07-29, Tom Kunich cyclintom@yahoo wrote:
"Tom Sherman" wrote in message ... Whats up with bringing off-road cycling into the discussion? Lost track of which thread I was in. Nevertheless it is perfectly fine in my book to try to race the Tour de France with a recumbent. Just try to ride down those Alps roads fast enough to make up for the time lost on the climb. If recumbents weren't better why would they be banned? |
#39
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TdF and recumbents
Ben C wrote:
On 2008-07-29, Tom Kunich cyclintom@yahoo wrote: "Tom Sherman" wrote in message ... Whats up with bringing off-road cycling into the discussion? Lost track of which thread I was in. Nevertheless it is perfectly fine in my book to try to race the Tour de France with a recumbent. Just try to ride down those Alps roads fast enough to make up for the time lost on the climb. If recumbents weren't better why would they be banned? To level the playing field? so it is the rider and not the bike that decides who wins? F1 racing also bans some technology. JonB |
#40
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TdF and recumbents
In alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent on Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:12:51 +0200
Jon Bendtsen wrote: Ben C wrote: If recumbents weren't better why would they be banned? To level the playing field? so it is the rider and not the bike that decides who wins? F1 racing also bans some technology. Doesn't make sense. If the bikes aren't good enough then no one would choose them. Zebee |
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