Thread: Gearing
View Single Post
Old 08-29-19, 01:27 PM
  #10  
Leisesturm
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 5,970
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2475 Post(s)
Liked 722 Times in 513 Posts
Originally Posted by tomkcook
I'll measure my preferred cadence next time I'm riding but my guess would be somewhere around 30-40RPM. The rear wheel is 20" and yes, this is a significant part of the problem. Yes, the battery life will be affected but then as I only use it for a 9 mile commute, battery life is not a big problem at present.
I'm thinking you can (need to) do much better than 30 - 40 RPM! Like double that. Even at 60 y.o. I get to 100 RPM with relative ease but on a 9 mi. commute in rolling country with few stops I'd probably try to stay in the high 80's with bursts up to 90 - 100. That's on a bike without e-assist so YMMV but 30 RPM seems pretty low. IF the rear wheel size is a problem you need a new trike. No engineering shop is going to take on a re-design of your trike. The SRAM Dual Drive hubs are the go to resource for people needing to get 700C type gear inch range from 20" rear wheels. They are no longer produced but can be found on Ebay. Sturmey-Archer makes an equivalent which for some reason does not appear to get as much love as the SRAM unit did. With a hybrid IGH/cogset rear hub on your trike AND a front triple crankset you would have a very, very impressive gear range. Somewhere in there would be your perfect gear for every situation. Minimal engineering, pretty moderate cost too. It's what I recommend.
Leisesturm is offline