Human Power vs. Electric Assist on a Recumbent Trike

You may be wondering, what's the difference between having an electric motor or not when going up a steep hill? We wanted to put it to the test to show the realistic difference.
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[@agasdoc]

Great video! Most casual cyclists tend to ride with too little proper leg extension ( seat height too low ). Your leg extension appears to be too much as you are rocking side to side and having to extend your toes to reach the pedals at full leg rotation. You might get more power with a slightly shorter seating position to your cranks.... electric power or not. Just an observation.

[@mikldude9376]

Good video mate , we have a bunch of bike paths not far from home , and on leaving home access to junction of bike paths is entered from a court( dead end street) , the bike path from that court is lovely steep downhill , unfortunately I have to come back up that path on my heavy duty trike , and several times I’ve tried different methods of getting up the hill, and every single time I’ve failed and had to lock the brakes on the hill get off and push trike up . Recently I put a motor assist on , and I was still somewhat sceptical that I would make it , but wow what a difference I it makes , and I did it with about 50% of power . Worth it !

[@darrellanderson6650]

I have been thinking about a motor for hills and this video was extremely helpful.

[@lawrose4]

Thanks. I really enjoyed watching that and was rooting for you all the way.

[@darwinstubbie860]

What do you call the lowest gear {How many teeth front/rear)?? I built my own trike, very basic, with one On-Road gear 32/16 and one Off-Road gear 16/16. Would it be possible to motorize this vehicle?

[@brybb3775]

You are climbing using a trike with a motor and a battery but without electric assistance? Perhaps the problem is with the extra non-contributing weight and the lack of gearing? Wouldn't climbing with the proper gearing and without the extra weight achieve similar results (i.e. you get over the hill with similar effort)?

[@AMorgan57]

I'd like to see more detail on how exactly you have your pod of displays etc set up.

[@AMorgan57]

About the bell. Once concern I have riding my ICE Adventure HD (extra wide) is curves on bike paths I can't see around. These trikes are new enough that other bicyclers don't expect them filling as much space, and we simply don't have as much space on many paths to dodge well. So I've started slowing down and ringing the bell once or twice as I approach such curves.

[@LaidBackCycles]

I use my bell all throughout my ride. It's a simple but useful accessory.

[@mikldude9376]

Good move mate , as an old dude , and pedestrian , a cyclist, a triker, and an ex trucker , watching some people’s technique for sharing roads and walking and riding paths just fills me with anxiety, using bells or some other means to alert others to your presence is not only a safety thing , but also a courtesy thing and a bit of common sense. Some videos where you see people on their own personal forms of transport be it a scooter a trike or a bike , riding through blind bends , street corners shared packed pathways with people including much more unpredictable kids and not even slowing down nor let alone not alerting them with a bell blasting through is just reckless and wrong. Even on roads , I watched an E bike video the other day with a dude blasting down between two lanes of stopped traffic jam at around 35 mph, if someone stepped out between the cars , it would have been all over for both of them. It doesn’t take much effort to slow down when appropriate and or use a bell and practice good etiquette on the roads and paths we share. Sorry for the rant.

[@garyp.7501]

How low is that lowest gear? (In inches, or front cog/back cog) Also how heavy is that motor/battery? I find weight is critical for climbing hills.

[@LaidBackCycles]

The gear inches can have a large range depending on internal/external gearing. The motor kit is around 16 lbs., with 6.5lbs being the batt.

[@koyamamoto5933]

Yes, but the motor type & location are critical. You have to take into account a) how big a hill are you going to be worrying about; b) how capable are you; c) will your motor have enough power. I bought a trike and experienced exactly what you're talking about.... I live on a (big) hill. After pushing the trike up the hill a few times, I went & got a hub drive. Sadly, it didn't have enough power either & did not take advantage of any gearing. I ended up getting rid of the trike for a bunch of reasons. For reference, I'm fat & out of shape. My hill is substantially bigger than the one in the video. I had a 250W hub direct drive. I wish I had gotten at least a 500W hub geared drive or a mid-drive w/ granny gearing. Thanks for the video! One day, I hope to return to trikes.

[@LaidBackCycles]

Yep. A hub drive pushes you and needs to be powerful enough for your weight. They are useful when done right. The mid drive seam to work really well because your have a lot of gear options for the rear wheel.

[@peterbilta]

Your lowest gearing seemed to be much higher than mine on my ICE Adventure with a Rohloff 14 speed hub. I can only do short hills in my lowest gear. I crawl up hills, all runners and some pedestrians even will pass me at times, but that really doesn't bother me...!

[@debbieschwartz3132]

Im waiting for bafang to release their torque sensing motor in the next few months. Pushing the weight of a much heavier trike empathizes leg strength imbalances due to back issues and wind up with more pain. The trike has certainly been a learning experience. For me a motor is necessary. Im still riding upright as well and find it less straining. Pushing down ( with gravity) as opposed to pushing out and away is quite different.

[@Nick-hl5pk]

Great video. How does the ICE trike compare to the Catrike Dumont so far?

[@LaidBackCycles]

They are both great in their own way. You'd have to sit in each one to see which one fit your butt best :)

[@darrellanderson6650]

Quick question. Does the battery charge when pedaling downhill?

[@LaidBackCycles]

The battery is not regenerative, but it can usually last 40-60 miles on ECO which is plenty for most rides. Just charge once you're back home!

[@davidhenry4356]

Yepper, Hills can be and ARE a challenge , but I need to admit that I need them to keep going (gotta keep my legs strong by using them constantly . So I EMBRACE each and every Hill that I come across (Yepper, I'm that guy that some ti men even LOOK for a steep Hill just to climb - I challenge myself to go up it fast than I did last time, and to my surprise, God gives me the strength to actually do the climb quicker, but regardless I always try!!! I do not know if you remember much about the ... disorder I live with (Atixia), but life experience has tough me that if I want to keep going that I need to keep using the muscles as much, hard (Hill challenges) and as consistently as He allows mr to - so NO assistance meter for me thank you.(NOT bashing them at all, if they get you "doing" GREAT,! However, I kn ow me, and its WAY to easy to start using them more than we actually need to.)

[@LaidBackCycles]

Keep on hitting those hills 👏

[@debbieschwartz3132]

I'm waiting on bafang to release their torque sensing motor in the next few months. Pushing much heavier weight of the trike magnifies muscle strength imbalances much more than riding and upright bike. I wind up straining the stronger leg to much.

[@bobm3477]

2 things, stretch and watch your knees! I came from an era where stretching wasn't a thing so you probably already know this but it's really important. I'm getting my knee replaced soon, I could climb any hill and my job requires climbing many stairs. I can't do either one now but my legs are still very strong. I need to use an electric bike now and the pain only lasts for the first 5 minutes. All I'm asking is for you to watch out, it's a steep downhill.

[@otasan99]

I live with ataxia too...I'm planning to activate with recumbent bike also

[@davidhenry4356]

@@debbieschwartz3132 one legged pedaling

[@garyrobinson8991]

Is that a new controller for the Bosch motor ? Definitely not the standard Purion unit.

[@LaidBackCycles]

It’s the COBI.Bike app for Bosch. I’m always trying out different displays.

[@garyrobinson8991]

@@LaidBackCycles Ahh, ok, thanks ! I’ll have a look at that !

[@bobt2522]

My All Terrain has a very low lowest gear, so there are very few hills I can't eventually climb. I have just added a Bosch kit to my All Terrain, but the weather and schedule haven't let me ride it since my test ride. Thanks for the guidance on when to use each boost level.

[@nsixvl]

Your test isn't realistic. My trike has a very small 24T granny gear up front which makes climbing much easier though quite slow. Your trike doesn't have multiple rings in the front. That's because you have the Bosch installed. If your trike had a regular crankset you could spin your way up the hill.

[@LaidBackCycles]

There's many ways to get lower gears to climb, a triple crank with climbing gears, a Rohloff 14 speed hub, a Schlumpf Drive, etc. But this is just showing how much easier and faster a motor is. And there's many reasons to get a motor other than climbing hills. Realistic is relative to what your are doing and what you want :)

[@nsixvl]

@@LaidBackCyclesSorry guess I'm thinking like an engineer. There's no way you could easily restore the trike to its non electric components in a few minutes. I'd love to have a Bosch on my trike, but it's not happening in my current situation.

[@thomaswaldridge3759]

There are motors that can accept more than one chain ring with a derailleur.

[@MUBANDGEEK]

Can you add a motor to an existing ice adventure hd trike?

[@LaidBackCycles]

A hub drive can be added, but ice does not sell a mid drive aftermarket.

[@MUBANDGEEK]

Ice needs to get a setup out there that can be added

[@larryturnertclan]

That does not look like a very low gear. I'm looking into a tadpole because of the hills and I can not ride a bike any longer.

[@LaidBackCycles]

I was in the lowest gear possible. But you can get even lower gears using a Rohloff drive or some Mega range cassettes. I usually don't need them with a motor though.

[@larryturnertclan]

Thanks. I have just started my quest in getting a recumbent tadpole.

[@markfeldman6509]

Tough ride. Point of interest….if you had a hub drive instead of mid drive you would have three rings up front instead of one and could climb that hill a lot easier. Your “granny gear” combo,will goup any hill although slowly with a manageable effort. I don’t need e assist YET but when I do it will be a hub drive on my 559. My 700 will stay a lean pure machine forever. Btw…after viewing this grand effort by you it is quite obvious why 2 wheel recumbents are a thing of the past due to stability issues and they are totally impossible to,climb with. Stop a lwb recumbent on a hill and see if you can ever get started again. Useless.

[@LaidBackCycles]

This is one of those hills I fell over on over a decade ago on my two-wheel recumbent.

[@markfeldman6509]

@@LaidBackCycles..I totally understand. I have a lwb 2 wheel sun which I have basically stopped riding since I got my trikes and have been unable to sell it at any price. I don’t even get responses while on many selling sites. Hills are a breeze on a 3x10 trike for me…..so far…..