I am not, yet currently an owner of a CruzBike. I ride a different SWB, folding stick bike. As I do not yet have the bike handy for a comparison, I have a question on gearing an options.
I live in the piedmont section of NC. The hills are not usually long, but they can be steep. Quick downhills without pedaling Imhit 32mph today. Of course, going up that same stretch requires proper gearing. My current SWB is a 20/26 and drops down to around 23GI which allows me to get up those step sections but some are more mash than spin at times.
Plugging the stock QX100 into Sheldon Brown's calculator came out with something around 30GI on the low end. Should I use such a comparison between the CruzBike and another recumbent? It may be that the QX100 climbs just as well on those steep sections, but I'm at a loss if the comparison is really apples-to-apples.
If I were to look at reducing the low end GI, what advice would you recommend? Compact MTB double? Will a triple fit well even if other components need to be replaced? Would it be better to replace the rear cogs to get a better low end? Both?
For comparison, my current bike has a triple, but I never run the big ring; not enough flat ground to consider it worthwhile
I basically run a 30/42 crank and 11-34 rear cogs. For a non-speedy, this has worked out well and allows me to climb around here.
The really steep hills I don't have to ride often. The rail-trails are not bad at all for hills which I ride more. The steeper road hills are good practice for climbing and I ride those only once every few weeks. It would be months after getting a QX before I would even try to tackle it.
Thanks!
I live in the piedmont section of NC. The hills are not usually long, but they can be steep. Quick downhills without pedaling Imhit 32mph today. Of course, going up that same stretch requires proper gearing. My current SWB is a 20/26 and drops down to around 23GI which allows me to get up those step sections but some are more mash than spin at times.
Plugging the stock QX100 into Sheldon Brown's calculator came out with something around 30GI on the low end. Should I use such a comparison between the CruzBike and another recumbent? It may be that the QX100 climbs just as well on those steep sections, but I'm at a loss if the comparison is really apples-to-apples.
If I were to look at reducing the low end GI, what advice would you recommend? Compact MTB double? Will a triple fit well even if other components need to be replaced? Would it be better to replace the rear cogs to get a better low end? Both?
For comparison, my current bike has a triple, but I never run the big ring; not enough flat ground to consider it worthwhile
I basically run a 30/42 crank and 11-34 rear cogs. For a non-speedy, this has worked out well and allows me to climb around here. The really steep hills I don't have to ride often. The rail-trails are not bad at all for hills which I ride more. The steeper road hills are good practice for climbing and I ride those only once every few weeks. It would be months after getting a QX before I would even try to tackle it.
Thanks!
