Has anyone weighed your streetfox?

[trikeman]

I am sure its lighter than my DW, but what kind of finished weights are you guys getting?

[theDude]

I'll let you know tomorrow.

[theDude]

56 pounds but I only really feel it when going up a big hill. And then I feel every pound and wish I was on my 19 pound upright. At least until I'm back on level ground :).

[trikeman]

Thanks Dude. I mostly notice the weight of my DW when going up hills too, or when I am trying to lift it in the garage. I think it is more the fact that I can't stand up and pedal like I can on my upright than it is the weight though. My lightest upright weighs in at 23 pounds, but add my 200 pounds to it and getting up a steep hill is almost impossible for me in my present unfit condition, without standing on the pedals.

I don't have any granny gears on the upright bike, but have a mega-range on the DW. I don't think I would ever build another recumbent without a mega-range on the rear, and a triple or double on the front with as small a ring as I can find. Dropping 50 pounds off my human frame wouldn't hurt either.

[TheKid]

Ditto. I have a very wide range of gears on the Streetfox. Even with the internal gear hub, its lowest gear is 16.6 gear inches, and I started having problems going uphill in the Spring. It weighs close to 50 lbs., if I'm not mistaken. I could easily shave 5 or 6 lbs. off if I change the chain system.
The Hauler will have chainrings of 24 and 38 teeth, along with a megarange rear cluster, and probably positraction, because on my old quad, I found it was easier to climb hills with it. You just have to remember to shift to a lower gear on the inside wheel when making turns.

[trikeman]

I like this double that Sheldon Brown had (scroll down to picture), even though it is not something you could put on an idiot proof bike.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gear-theory.html

Its much easier to find a good stock triple with a small ring, but I mostly ride flats or steep hills, and don't find much use for all the gears in between.

[TheKid]

I would go with a 3 ring set, but the only ones I have are 170mm, and there's not enough meat to shorten them. I bought a 145mm crank set, with 74/130 BCD. I bought a 24t ring, and I have a 38t ring, which will give me a gear inch range of 14-92 gear inches, with 20" wheels and a mid drive so I could incoporate positraction. At 92 gear inches, I'm able to pedal at 60 rpm consistently, which is relatively slow, so I don't need a larger ring. 92 gear inches @ 60 rpm tranlates to 16 mph, plenty fast for me.