Tire Speed

Tire Speed and Weight (Updated January 2022)

With the tires I have laying around, and a some new ones I decided to figure out which tire combination is the fasted. Over the course of a few rides I came up with the results. 

No science involved here, just going downhill and keeping track of the downhill speeds when weather and road conditions seemed to be about same for each ride I measured. 

Max speed measured on ICE Sprint FS E8000 with max pressure in tires, no breeze and Panniers. Fastest and slowest speed have been eliminated. 

It seems like the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 42/559 (26 x 1.60) on the rear makes the difference between fast and not so fast. It's too bad Schwalbe no longer makes a 406 (20") tire. The Supreme is an expensive tire but I feel it is one of their best tires.

Note; I posted on this subject back in January and July. This post is inclusive of those two posts.The last tire addition is a Schwalbe Big Ben 55/559 at the bottom of the list.

Note; I currently use the standard mesh seat
not the Ergo-Luxe you see in the picture.

Front tires and Back Tire

Schwalbe 406 Marathon Green Guard  and  Schwalbe 559 Marathon Supreme

40/406 - 530g   1.16 lbs

40/406 - 530g   1.16 lbs

42/559 - 440g   0.93 lbs

Total    1,500g  3.25lbs

Speed Average: 38.8

Speeds: 38.9, 38.5, 40.8, 38.1, 39.9, 38.1

___________________________________

Schwalbe 406 Marathon Racer  and  Schwalbe 559 Marathon Supreme

40/406 - 340g   0.75 lbs

40/406 - 340g   0.75 lbs

42/559 - 440g   0.93 lbs

Total    1,120g  2.43lbs

Speed Average: 38.6 mph

Speeds: 40.8, 38.1, 38.5, 38.5, 38.1, 39.4

___________________________________

Continental 406 Contact (E25)  and  Schwalbe 559 Marathon Supreme

37/406 - 420g   0.93 lbs

37/406 - 420g   0.93 lbs

42/559 - 440g   0.97 lbs

Total     1,280g  2.83 lbs

Speed Average: 38.2 mph

Speeds: 36.5, 38.2, 39.4, 38.7, 37.8, 38.0

__________________________________

Schwalbe 406 Marathon Plus  and  Schwalbe 559 Marathon Plus

35/406 - 560g   1.23 lbs

35/406 - 560g   1.23 lbs

40/559 - 870g   1.90 lbs 

Total    1,990g  4.36 lbs

Speed Average: 36.5 mph

Speeds: 37.1, 35.8, 36.8, 36.5, 37.8

___________________________________

Schwalbe 406 Marathon Green Guard  and  Schwalbe 559 Big Ben (added December 2021)

40/406 - 530g   1.16 lbs

40/406 - 530g   1.16 lbs

55/559 - 760g   1.68 lbs  (Race Guard)

Total    1,820g  4.00lbs

Speed Average: 35.5 mph

Speeds: 35.7, 35.3, 34.9, 36.0, 35.5, 35.3

___________________________________

Schwalbe 406 Marathon Green Guard  and  Schwalbe 559 Marathon Green Guard 

40/406 - 530g   1.16 lbs

40/406 - 530g   1.16 lbs

47/559 - 875g   1.93 lbs

Total    1,935g  4.25lbs

Speed Average: 35.3 mph (Only one ride so far) 

Speeds: 35.3

___________________________________

Shoulder Surgery

This time my left shoulder got a repair job. My right shoulder was repaired in 2008.

 October 20th

Carrie dropping me off. She can't come in because of COVID protocol.

I'm getting used to structural repairs.

(repair list here)

October 23rd

Bandage removal, nasty!

Nice to be married to a retired nurse.

Not so bad. Only five holes.

November 24th

Arthroscopic holes healed up

"Popeye" muscle after surgery on left arm.

A cosmetic deformity that can occur after a Tenodesis. The bicep tends to bunch up because the damaged section of the long head bicep tendon is cut and the shorten tendon is relocated from the Glenoid and reattaches lower down to the Humerus. 

Normal muscle right arm.

The details;

1. Rotator cuff repair

2. Bicep tenodesis (reallocation of bicep tendon)

3. Munford procedure

4. Debridement labrum

5. Decompression paralabral cyst

Where and who;

1. Southern California Orthopedic Institute (SCOI)

2. Dr. Mark Getelman

At home care provided by nurse Carrie, my beautiful wife.

Bike Index

My trike and batteries and their serial numbers are now all registered on Bike Index. It's free except for optional stickers with a unique code linked to my trike and batteries.

 

People For Bikes

People For Bikes

I recently noticed that People For Bikes inclusivity program neglected forms of cycling other than traditional bikes and abled cyclists. I brought this to their attention and I was pleasantly surprised that after only a couple of days from the time I sent a comment to them they responded to me. And it was not a simple boiler plate letter that I usually get when sending comments to organizations.

I will include People for Bikes on my list of organizations I support.

Here's their response;

______________________________________________________

Hi Mark - 

Thanks so much for your generous donation to PeopleForBikes and for taking the time to write to us about the need to include people who ride recumbents, trikes, handcycles or other types of cycles in our advocacy work.

Your comment was both timely and absolutely correct. Telling the stories of, advocating for, and sharing images of people who are disabled has been a gap for us. It is one we are working to fix. 

A few current or upcoming examples:

- PeopleForBikes hosts the Bicycle Leadership Conference for members of the bike industry every year. The virtual event in November will feature two keynote speakers who participated in this year's Paralympics in Tokyo; https://www.bicycleleadershipconference.org/

- We are publishing two blogs in October that feature these stories. One from an adaptive rider who is documenting all the trails in his hometown for how they accommodate him and others like him, and one from a Seattle planner who is disabled and speaks to her experience and the need for more people who are differently abled in the transportation field. 

- Our imagery does not reflect the diversity of people who ride cycles and we are working to change that. In the short term, we will use more stock imagery (as available), and in 2022 we will host our own photo shoots to ensure the diversity we are looking for. 

Finally, since I manage our Community Grants program, I'll add that I am seeing more proposals for infrastructure projects that accommodate handcycles and trikes. We have helped fund a few and hope to support more.

Thanks again, Mark, for reinforcing that our path is the right one and that we need to move faster. If you have specific ideas or suggestions, please don't hesitate to share.

Best,

Zoe

Di2 and Shifter Switch

After wearing out two SW-E6000 switches used for shifting my Shimano Di2 rear derailleur I decided to dump the Di2 and go back to a cable. I have barely 6,000 miles on my ICE Sprint FS E8000. There are other reasons for getting rid of the Di2 but the switch problem was the final motivating factor in making the change. The switch used for shifting gets a lot of use.

Rather than trying to figure out how to mount other types of Shimano switches I instead removed the Shimano  XT Di2 derailleur and went back to a cable actuated derailleur connected to an indexed bar end shifter.

Once again I'm enjoying the tactile experience of shifting with a cable. The Di2 is a push of a button and cluck the chain moves to another cog at a predetermined speed. The speed of the shift can be adjusted but not while riding. I like to be able to subtlety adjust the speed of a shift depending on how I'm riding. 

It's hard to avoid a loud sloppy gear change while the E8000 is in the Boost mode. The Boost mode puts a lot of pressure on the chain while climbing and you need to be really focused on pedal pressure and the timing of the gear change to avoid the awful gear crunching sound. It's difficult to truly know how much pressure you're putting on the chain while shifting in the Boost mode making it hard to "feel" the gear change using the Di2. The bar end shifter and cable allows me to adjust the timing of the shift more precisely.

Also there is peace of mind knowing that I can still shift gears if there is a complete failure of the electronics on the E8000. In addition if a cable breaks I can easily replace it while on the road. If the Di2 wire fails I'm out of luck.

It seems to me that the Di2 system works best on a bike or trike without an electric pedal assist.

SW-E6000 Switch used by ICE for the E8000 assist and for the Di2 rear derailleur.

BEFORE

Top switch used to adjust boost level,
lower switch used to change gears.

 

The before view looking into the cockpit.

Shimano Di2 XT Long Cage

AFTER

Only the boost switch now.

New view into the cockpit. Boost switch on right and a MicroShift indexed bar end shifter on the left handlebar. I prefer a Sram bar end shifter but I've only seen them sold as a pair for rear and front derailleurs. But MicroShift as upped there game since the last time I used one of their indexed bar end shifters so I'm happy with it.

New Shimano XT Long Cage cable version.

Cane

I keep a carbon fiber cane in my pannier. 

Watching the Tokyo Paralympics gave me a WTF reality check. So I need a cane to stabilize my wonky legs. So what? Is that all I have to complain about? Up until now I was embarrassed to pull the cane out of my pannier and have to use it. I don't give a shit anymore. I'm just being my best and enjoying life.  

So what gives?

I have nerve damage to my lower legs and feet caused by either years of back problems and back surgeries but more likely from bi-lateral hip replacements. The timeline suggests the butcher job the surgeon did on my hips not only caused nerve damage but also left me with a scared and chronically inflamed Piriformis muscles and sciatic nerve entanglement in the scar tissue. Also Heterotopic Ossification in my right hip (more here) and an uneven pelvis. 

Slowly over the years, after my hip replacements, my calves muscles (particularly the Gastrocnemius) have weaken to the point where I can't stand on my toes, My right leg is worse. The medial head of the  Gastrocnemius has totally atrophied. Try getting around with weak calve muscles. I feel like a drunken cow if I'm not using a cane. I would not pass a sobriety test walking a straight line. So I use a cane to stabilize my walking because my calves aren't helping much. 

When riding my trike clipping into my pedals helps to stabilize my calves but then I have to deal with lower leg numbness which starts in my feet. When I ride the more I climb and the longer I ride pressure builds on the small compromised Piriformis muscles that are adjacent to the sciatic nerve. And the lower leg numbness sets in and I have to take a short break and stretch. 

And I have some other minor nerve damage issues to my legs that are not worth complaining about. 

And to top it all off the weakness in my legs makes me prone to uncomfortable muscle tightening and occasional full blown cramps. A couple of small muscles in my right leg, the Gracilis (inner thigh) and the Tibialis (shin), are forced in some way to compensate for my wonky calves and they'll cramp if I get off the trike to fast or make sudden cycling movements after I've been riding for awhile. I just have to be aware of this and be careful. I can go for months without a cramp and then I eventually do something stupid like hurry off the trike after a long ride. 

I've kept my upper body strong so maybe time to add a handcycle to my cycling routine.

I'm done...time to look forward.

 

Why E-Assist?

This is why I have e-assist, averaging 70 feet of gain per mile last month with my dysfunctional legs. So far this year I’ve pushed pedals up 132,000 feet of hills while averaging 72 feet of gain per mile. Nothing but hills where I live in So Cal. No way I could do it without e-assist. I have my 250 watt Shimano E8000 on my ICE Sprint and it makes all the difference in the world in keeping me moving.

Screwing Around with Tires Updated

I added Schwalbe Marathon 40/406 front tires to my original "Screwing Around with Tires" post from January 2021.

Tire Speed and Weight

Max speed measured on Lynn Rd downhill east of Felton on ICE Sprint FS E8000 with max pressure in tires and no breeze. Fastest and slowest speed have been eliminated. 

Front tires and Back Tire

Schwalbe Marathon Racer and Schwalbe Supreme

40/406 - 340g   0.75 lbs

40/406 - 340g   0.75 lbs

42/599 - 440g   0.93 lbs

Total    1,120g  2.43lbs

Speed Average: 38.6 mph

Speeds: 40.8, 38.1, 38.5, 38.5, 38.1, 39.4

___________________________________

Schwalbe Marathon and Schwalbe Supreme

40/406 - 530g   1.16 lbs

40/406 - 530g   1.16 lbs

42/599 - 440g   0.93 lbs

Total    1,500g  3.25lbs

Speed Average: 38.8

Speeds: 38.9, 38.5, 40.8, 38.1, 39.9, 38.1

___________________________________

Continental Contact (E25) and Schwalbe Supreme

37/406 - 420g   0.93 lbs

37/406 - 420g   0.93 lbs

42/559 - 440g   0.97 lbs

Total     1,280g  2.83 lbs

Speed Average: 38.2 mph

Speeds: 36.5, 38.2, 39.4, 38.7, 37.8, 38.0

__________________________________

Schwalbe Plus and Schwalbe Plus

35/406 - 560g   1.23 lbs

35/406 - 560g   1.23 lbs

40/599 - 870g   1.90 lbs 

Total    1,990g  4.36 lbs

Speed Average: 36.6 mph

Speeds: 37.1, 35.8, 36.8, 36.5, 37.8

___________________________________

Latest Pics on My Instagram

I post on Instagram a few times a month. I feel that it may help to normalize recumbent triking. It also makes me feel more connected in a world where a traditional bike is the "accepted" form of cycling. Although Instagram is favored by a younger crowd trying to look happy and pretty, some with thousands of followers I can still make my way through the maze of Instagram users and find a fair number of like minded cyclists. I get trike and velomobile riders following me but for the most part I'm followed by other cyclists and assorted characters. The cyclists I follow, average partypace cyclists and adventure cyclists, help motivate me to get out and ride when I'm dragging. 

I'm also on Facebook and on my personal Facebook page I pretty much just automatically re-post the stuff I put on Instagram. Even though Instagram is owned by Facebook it's a lot less cluttered.  On Instagram I've learned to simply stay on topic (trikes of course) if you want people to stay interested in what you do and hopefully get cyclists and others to look at trikes as a normal cycling option.

I get a lot of interest in my trike but people have a hard time getting out of their comfort zone. The two biggest issues are 1. safety and 2. being different. Issue one is easy to talk about but issue two is a tough one. It takes a lot of convincing for people to accept not being "normal". My hope is that in time a recumbent trike will become more common. Maybe a decade or two? 

 

ICE Elastomers After 5000 Miles

 Two years and 5,000 miles later I installed new rear elastomers on my ICE Sprint 26 FS E8000. I love the minimalist suspension of the ICE Sprint. Eases the ruts without any noticeable impact on performance. And the cost of maintenance couldn't be less expensive, just a couple of new elastomers. 

The old ones are a bit compressed after 5,000 miles

Two Years with ICE E-Assist

It has now been two years sense I started riding with e-assist. I picked up my ICE Sprint FS 26 E8000 from Dana at Bent Up Cycles May of 2019. Averaging 71 feet of gain per mile on local routes was a limiting factor in how far I would ride. Even though I wanted to ride longer my fucked up leg muscles, courtesy of my hip replacements in 2013, said otherwise. My riding logs made it clear I was slowing down. Then came ICE's e-assist trikes. I test rode an ICE Adventure E8000 that Dana had in his showroom and the rest is history. 

Avoiding hills is a thing of the past. I now look for hills because it is usually followed by a sweet downhill. I love a good downhill run, which is the reason I did not consider a hub motor which will act as a brake when not in use. The ICE Sprint is a solid trike and it can handle just about any speed. Even when the speedo touches on 50mph I feel the Sprint can handle more but I will need to find longer and steeper hills to get my fix. Age and a broken down body doesn't mean I have to forego a shot of adrenaline now and then. 

Now I plan my rides based on battery range. My Blog posts for the last two years with my ICE SPRINT 26 FS E8000 are HERE.

Pic from my Instagram Post 5/6

12 Years of Trikes

_____________________________

My current ride ICE Sprint FS E8000 as of 2019. When we moved back to Thousand Oaks after screwing around with living on the Central Coast for three years and I was quickly reminded of all the hills to climb. For the last year I've averaged 71 feet of gain per mile. E-assist had come a long way so I bought a new ICE Sprint FS E8000 but the mesh seat is from an ICE Adventure (click here for info).
Love it!

Staying strong…kinda. I love riding bent trikes. I’ve been riding recumbent trikes since 2009. They’ve kept me moving with little pause through three back repairs, two new hips, carpel tunnel release to both wrists, heart attack 10 years ago while pushing my old bones too hard riding my Catrike 700, nerve damage to my right leg from a shitty hip replacement and now a pandemic that is screwing with all of us. I’ve lived a physical life and doing nothing is not option I can live with. So when the hills started to feel longer and steeper I added an e-assist trike from ICE trikes to my stable and I just kept on going.

The biggest problem people seem to have with a recumbent trike, is that it’s not “normal”. But normal is boring. Most people have a problem with “different”. I get it, you have to be comfortable with people staring at you when you ride a recumbent trike. People staring at you while they’re driving is actually a good thing. 

2013 to 2019 Catrike 700 with 20" front wheels.
Fun fun trike. But after about 20 to 30 miles it
 starts to feel a little too laid back. 

In time maybe more people will consider a recumbent trike. Whether a fast road trike, touring trike, off road trike or an adaptive trike, it’s all good. Plus it’s really hard to fall off a trike. Every now and then I’ll see somebody on a new standard bike and they look so uncomfortable and I can just bet that their bike will probably be on Craigslist soon and they’ll give up cycling. Doesn’t have to be.

2016 to 2018 Catrike Expedition. Sense the Sprint
wasn't working out for me at the time I went back
to a Catrike Expedition for awhile. Always a 
reliable ride. I still feel that the Expedition is one
of the best all around trikes at a reasonable
price for a solid well built trike.
 

The UCI won’t allow recumbents in UCI sanctioned races, yet world speed and distant records are on recumbents bikes and trikes (the 24 hour distance record is on a velomobile trike). Knowing what I know now, if I were young again and all my parts were still working I would still only ride a recumbent trike. I would never go 50mph down a hill on two wheels at any age. I’d probably break my face. At 67 it’s always partypace, except when coming down a steep hill. Old guys need an adrenaline fix every now and then.

2015 to 2018 ICE Sprint FS with Carbon Seat

Same ICE Sprint FS as above but with a mesh seat.
The carbon seat was a killer on my Piriformis.
But eventually I parted with this trike because of the
seat. The mesh seat felt too short for my 6'1" frame. 
I felt like I was constantly on the edge of the
seat and it was a uncomfortable feeling. I tried making
adjustments that helped but in the end it just didn't
work for me.

t

2014 to 2015 my "Red" Catrike 700. This was a
bit of an experiment to see if I could set up a 700
for longer rides and maybe even short tours I had
planned at the time. It didn't meet my expectations

2011 to 2012 Catrike 700 with 16" front wheels.
An old classic long ago discontinued in favor
of 20" front wheels. The lower profile of this
700 gave it a low center of gravity and was 
awesome for taking tight turns at speed. The
new 700s are good too but the old 700 beats
it on the turns.

2009 to 2014 Catrike Expedition, my first trike. A really
fun ride and a great first trike for breaking into the world 
of trikes and for touring. With proper tire selection the lack
of suspension is not missed.

Suburbia and Parks

For a year now my rides have taken me to many local suburban parks to escape the suburban streets for a few minutes and down some trail mix. 

A second vaccine dose will be in my arm March 11th and two weeks after that I'm good to get out of here. First stop for Carrie and me the Central Coast and back riding Hwy 1. 

 

ICE Ergo Luxe - Cover Tear

Update; As of April 2023 I've using the seat for most of my riding and the tear has not gotten any worse.

_________________________________________

As always ICE costumer service is the best.

The ICE Adventure Ergo Luxe seat cover I use on my Sprint developed a tear at 1,400 miles. Andy at ICE offered to send me a new seat cover but I may opt out and use this situation to change over to the Sprint Ergo Luxe seat and frame instead of the Adventure frame seat I currently use on my Sprint. The frame of the Adventure seat base is a bit longer and I find it more comfortable when using the mesh. However using Adventure Ergo Lux cover now seems a little long when I'm fully reclined. 

For now I'm using the mesh cover and find it a nice change from using the cushy Ergo Luxe cover. 

Moving on, here are the details via emails with Andy at Ice.

______________________________________________________

Hey Andy,

Are others having this problem with the Ergo seat? It's starting to tear as pictured below. Any advice?

I have 1,400 miles on the seat. I weight 185 lbs (83.9kgs).

_____________________________________

Hi Mark,

 

We have not had reports of this issue, however in the picture you sent over it clearly shows the material between the pads fraying & separating. If you could please let me know your trikes frame number which is located underneath the main frame spar stamped into the frame this number begins with a Y & is followed by 5 numbers.

 

I can then arrange a replacement seat be sent out to you, could you please also supply me with you Full Address & Telephone Number.

 

Just to be certain is the seat & cover the standard size Sprint Ergo Luxe not the Shor Back version it is not clear in the picture you sent through I would hate to send you the incorrect cover. If you would not mind doing so when the replacement cover arrives with you would it be possible to send the damaged cover back to us for testing & examination. Do not worry if you are unable. It would just be nice for us to inspect the damaged cover.

 

Thanks,

 

Andy

_____________________________________

Hey Andy.

Thanks for the offer but I'll use this opportunity to purchase a proper Sprint frame and Ergo cover. Let me explain.

I bought my Sprint FS E8000 in 2019 with an Adventure seat frame and mesh cover and updated it with the Ergo seat cover in 2020.  I found the Sprint seat with the mesh cover to feel a bit short in the seat. Testing an Ergo cover on the actual Sprint seat frame has changed my opinion. With the tear I might as well change over to a proper Sprint seat with the Ergo cover.

I'll be happy to send the seat cover back to you as soon as I change the seat out. Can I buy a Sprint seat frame and Ergo cover through you or should I find a local dealer?

Mark

__________________________________________

Hi Mark,

 

I think I understand your thoughts on the change of seat, if you are near to an ICE Dealer then we would suggest you purchase the required seat & cover through them. If you are not & are very far away then you would be able to purchase these items through us if you would like.

 

If you are sure you do not mind it would be great for us to be able to examine the cover.

__________________________________________

Hey Andy,

The cost of sending you the seat is prohibitive so I'm sending the enclosed pictures of the seat cover removed from the frame.

Pictures 1 and 2 are looking at the seat cover from behind. The last two pictures are from the front.

The tear (on the right side of the seat) seems to not have gotten any worse while riding with it in this condition and looks like it stopped at the blue stitching. 

 

FYI..

I weigh 185lbs (83.9kg). I use the front wheels for support when I get on and off the trike, not the seat. Sometimes I might plop my ass down a little hard to sit down. I keep the straps tight. As I mentioned before the seat has a little over 1,400 (2,253km). Due to hip replacements my dominant leg is my left leg, my right leg has had some atrophy thanks to the doctor who butchered me. Any other questions?

Hopefully this helps. 

_____________________________________________

Hi Mark, 

 

Thank you for the pictures & the information regarding your seat cover, we have not seen this kind of failure before & as such am a little unsure of what could of caused this issue. I understand your thoughts on not sending the cover back to us I greatly appreciate your time in taking the pictures & sending them over to me I will pass this email across to the design team who had/have the most experience with the seats & covers to see what they think.

 

Thanks,

 

Andy