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4.8 Hill climbing
A recumbent trike tends not to climb a hill as
quickly as an upright bike whose rider can get
off the saddle to use his/her weight to put extra
pressure on the pedals. It will climb in comfort at
a lower speed and in a lower gear.
Try to keep your cadence (speed of which the
pedals rotate) up by shifting down early. You
should never need to get off and push, even
when carrying a heavy load. Just shift down and
keep spinning the pedals until you reach to the
top of the hill.
If you brake violently, at low speeds and with
both brakes, you may find the trike wants to lift
its back wheel. In extreme cases, you can brake
hard enough for the chainring to hit the ground.
Brake drums, calipers and rotors will heat up
when they are used. They can get very hot,
especially after a long descent, and it is possible
to burn yourself if you are not careful. Do not
touch them while riding or immediately after
dismounting from the trike. Check that the brake
components have been cooled down
before attempting to adjust the brakes.
4.9 Descending a hill
CAUTION
, take care on your first downhill rides
until you gain experience. It is not unusual
to reach speeds of over 40 mph on steep
descents. You will find you can go faster and
with much more confidence once you are used
to the way the machine handles. Because there
is less air drag in the recumbent position you
will go faster than a bike. Remember you have
powerful brakes with good stopping power.
CAUTION
, the brakes are powerful and if they
are applied sharply on some of our models with
higher seats, you can cause the rear wheel
to rise up. This can result in some loss of
directional control.
4.10 Ground clearance
When going over very rough ground, it is
possible, but unlikely, that the underside of the
frame could make contact. If you think there is
a chance that the underside of the frame may
hit an obstacle, get off first and look under the
trike to see how close things are getting. You will
quickly learn to recognize terrain that your trike
can easily handle.
If you do contact the underside of the frame it’s
unlikely any serious damage will be done (other
than scratching the paint) but check to make
sure everything is OK. A good way of riding over
obstacles is to aim your trike so that the object
goes directly under one of your feet. This way it
misses the front wheel, the central frame, and
the rear wheel.
