Rans Screamer

We bought a Rans Screamer with ISP but just can't get up any hill!!
Okay we are not in the greatest shape but even the smallest hill does
us in. I feel like I am going to die before I get back home! Is there
any help? What are we doing wrong? Should the strongest person be in
back? The heaviest up front? Does it matter? Do I just suffer till I
develop legs of steel?

Cathy,

The first question that comes to mind is: Are you shifting to an easy gear
before getting onto the slope??

Easy means a big gear in the back and/or a small gear in the front.

You read about "spinning" here a lot. That means riding in an easy gear and
turning the pedals "very fast". Doing this helps you to save your knees
while you develop . It also helps you to start up easier and to go up hills
easier.

While "legs of steel" will come and will help go up hills, all those speeds
you paid for are there for a reason. Experiment with the shifter until you
get an idea of what's going on, then, put 'er in a low (easy) gear and head
for the hills.


--
Miles of Smiles,

Tom Blum
Winter Haven, Florida
Homebuilts: SWB
Tour Easy Clone
Speed Machine Clone
High Racer Clone
www.gate.net/~teblum

Cathy,

The first question that comes to mind is: Are you shifting to an easy gear
before getting onto the slope??

Easy means a big gear in the back and/or a small gear in the front.

You read about "spinning" here a lot. That means riding in an easy gear and
turning the pedals "very fast". Doing this helps you to save your knees
while you develop . It also helps you to start up easier and to go up hills
easier.

While "legs of steel" will come and will help go up hills, all those speeds
you paid for are there for a reason. Experiment with the shifter until you
get an idea of what's going on, then, put 'er in a low (easy) gear and head
for the hills.


--
Miles of Smiles,

Tom Blum
Winter Haven, Florida
Homebuilts: SWB
Tour Easy Clone
Speed Machine Clone
High Racer Clone
www.gate.net/~teblum

If you are new to recumbents, you have to continue to be persistant in
your training until you recumbent muscles sets develop. It does take
time. But going up hills will get you there.



--
Derek,
Burley Canto

--------------------------
Posted via cyclingforums.com
http://www.cyclingforums.com

If you are new to recumbents, you have to continue to be persistant in
your training until you recumbent muscles sets develop. It does take
time. But going up hills will get you there.



--
Derek,
Burley Canto

--------------------------
Posted via cyclingforums.com
http://www.cyclingforums.com

Cathy,
Don't get discouraged. Your legs will come with continued riding. Getting
to know what you need to do on this bike and when will also come with
further miles. My wife and I are not light weights by any means, and also
are vertically challenged. We only run about 16 mph on a calm day, with
flat roads. We've just got back from SAGBRAW, and had a weeks' average of
11.8 mph. Not fast by any means. We've had our Screamer since late June of
2001, and have put close to 3500 miles on it so far, including 2 RAGBRAIs
and 2 SAGBRAWs. We have yet to walk a hill with it. Some have really been
close to falling over as we went up, but we made them. I have a rule for
the wife. I told her that if she sees a negative number on her computer
going up hill, she should get off. Neither of us were strong riders on an
upright. But the comfort factor has made the 'bent a better riding
experience for us. Let us know what happens.

Jim Vincent
RANS Screamer - Vision R50

Cathy,
Don't get discouraged. Your legs will come with continued riding. Getting
to know what you need to do on this bike and when will also come with
further miles. My wife and I are not light weights by any means, and also
are vertically challenged. We only run about 16 mph on a calm day, with
flat roads. We've just got back from SAGBRAW, and had a weeks' average of
11.8 mph. Not fast by any means. We've had our Screamer since late June of
2001, and have put close to 3500 miles on it so far, including 2 RAGBRAIs
and 2 SAGBRAWs. We have yet to walk a hill with it. Some have really been
close to falling over as we went up, but we made them. I have a rule for
the wife. I told her that if she sees a negative number on her computer
going up hill, she should get off. Neither of us were strong riders on an
upright. But the comfort factor has made the 'bent a better riding
experience for us. Let us know what happens.

Jim Vincent
RANS Screamer - Vision R50

It is possible that the gearing is not low enough on your new bike. When
my wife and I bought a BikeE E2 last year we had the gearing adjusted
down by replacing all the chainrings with smaller ones. I think we would
not be able to get up hills if we hadn't done that. You might want to
check that your lowest gear inch is 20" or less. You can do this by the
following formula:

# teeth on smallest chain ring in front
--------------------------------------- times wheel diameter
# teeth on largest cog in back

On your Screamer the rear wheel is 26". I think the stock gearing has a
30-tooth small chainring and 32-tooth large cog, meaning your smallest
gear-inch is

30/32 x 26" = 24.375"

In my opinion this is too high, and you'd do well to get a 24-tooth
front chainring (or smaller), which would bring you down to a 19.5" low
gear (or lower). This might mean that you have to get smaller medium and
large chainrings, too; ask your dealer.

Just my two cents,

Alan Weiss
NJ Gold Rush, E2 tandem, and Leitra rider

P.S. Usually the heaviest person is the largest person, and should be in
front, just because it is easier to balance that way, but if the two of
you have roughly similar weights then it shouldn't matter. And it
certainly shouldn't matter as far as getting up a hill.

Cathy wrote:

We bought a Rans Screamer with ISP but just can't get up any hill!!
Okay we are not in the greatest shape but even the smallest hill does
us in. I feel like I am going to die before I get back home! Is there
any help? What are we doing wrong? Should the strongest person be in
back? The heaviest up front? Does it matter? Do I just suffer till I
develop legs of steel?

It is possible that the gearing is not low enough on your new bike. When
my wife and I bought a BikeE E2 last year we had the gearing adjusted
down by replacing all the chainrings with smaller ones. I think we would
not be able to get up hills if we hadn't done that. You might want to
check that your lowest gear inch is 20" or less. You can do this by the
following formula:

# teeth on smallest chain ring in front
--------------------------------------- times wheel diameter
# teeth on largest cog in back

On your Screamer the rear wheel is 26". I think the stock gearing has a
30-tooth small chainring and 32-tooth large cog, meaning your smallest
gear-inch is

30/32 x 26" = 24.375"

In my opinion this is too high, and you'd do well to get a 24-tooth
front chainring (or smaller), which would bring you down to a 19.5" low
gear (or lower). This might mean that you have to get smaller medium and
large chainrings, too; ask your dealer.

Just my two cents,

Alan Weiss
NJ Gold Rush, E2 tandem, and Leitra rider

P.S. Usually the heaviest person is the largest person, and should be in
front, just because it is easier to balance that way, but if the two of
you have roughly similar weights then it shouldn't matter. And it
certainly shouldn't matter as far as getting up a hill.

Cathy wrote:

We bought a Rans Screamer with ISP but just can't get up any hill!!
Okay we are not in the greatest shape but even the smallest hill does
us in. I feel like I am going to die before I get back home! Is there
any help? What are we doing wrong? Should the strongest person be in
back? The heaviest up front? Does it matter? Do I just suffer till I
develop legs of steel?

Diane Krohn wrote:
...
Also, keep in mind that any tandem, and especially a recumbent, is a lot
heavier than a single bike....

Most tandems are lighter than two single bikes, however. Two RANS V-Rexi
are heavier [1] than one RANS Screamer is. Poor synchronization between
the pedal strokes of the rider's [2] is a more likely explanation for
the climbing performance.

[1] Assuming the same value of gravity when weighing the bikes.
[2] Any reports of the climbing ability of tandems with two independent
drivetrains such as Prof. Patterson's WYMS?

Tom Sherman - Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)