Anne, You have a wonderful new bike and one of its unique features is the ability to accommodate really big tires. I'd think you would want to make sure lower gearing isn't the answer before abandoning that big big rubber.
When I stop on a hill because "It feels like I just can't pedal any more" and "I'm breathing pretty darn hard", I find it's because I need to to go slower to stay within my capabilities. Sometimes its because I have been riding too hard and not pacing myself, sometimes its because my lowest gear isn't low enough. When I am stopped by control problems that typically means a quick foot down because I was falling over. Sometimes the two are related because I am pedaling so slow trying to go slow that I have to push so hard on the pedals (and therefore pull on the bars) that it makes it harder to control the bike. Did the gear inches you mentioned in your original post account for the actual measured rolling circumference of the rear wheels on your bikes with the pressures you use and loaded the way you ride them? I think the main reason big wheels seem harder to push up a hill is because the true gear development is larger. If you have, or can borrow, a gps you might check how fast you are going up those steep inclines on the Atlanti vs the new bike. At walking speeds a very small difference is still a significant fraction. Beware the clarion call of the weight sirens. It's true that "Half a pound per wheel isn't nothing", it is a pound per bike. But thats less than a full water bottle (at least mine come in at ~1.5lbs). If you and the bike are ~150lbs and you save 1lb, that's less than 1 percent. If you are on a climb where your effort is all going into raising the weight and you can go 2.5mph that savings will net you less than a tenth of a mile per hour. However if you go 2.25mph on your atlanti, and the gearing on you new bike induces you to go 2.75mph thats a 20% difference in effort. If you want to look into geometry variations not related to steering/control, measure the chain stays and front center. If the bottom bracket is relatively further back on one of the bikes that would probably translate to a further aft center of gravity (and more propensity to float the front end on a steep incline). Or you could just use a bathroom scale and some books or blocks of wood to measure your CGs directly. Hope you get it all sorted out satisfactorily soon ted On Saturday, April 26, 2014 7:00:01 AM UTC-7, Anne Paulson wrote: > > Mike, sigh, you're saying what I suspected but didn't want to hear: it's > just harder to push those big wheels up a hill. I'm already thinking about > trying 2.3" tires, though it does seem silly to buy a bike that takes 3" > wheels and then not use them. In any case, I'm going to replace the heavy > tubes with lighter tubes and see what difference that makes. Half a pound > per wheel isn't nothing. > > Rather than sliding forward, which seems to put my body at the wrong > attitude toward the pedals, I've been trying leaning forward. I haven't yet > become comfortable standing on the steep climbs, but that's the next skill > I need to pick up. > > On Fri, Apr 25, 2014 at 10:50 PM, Mike Schiller > <mikey...@rocketmail.com<javascript:> > > wrote: > >> One thing most people experience when going from 26" wheeled MTB's to 29" >> MTB is that they can't climb as well. I've learned that you need to use an >> even lower gear to be able to turn the larger circumference wheels. I have >> yet to try a 29+ bike but I can guess it will need an even lower gear. On >> my 29er I run a 20-34 low combination. I'd probably go to a 20-36 on a 29+ >> bike. Maybe you can try a smaller chainring up front for your Rohloff >> equipped bike? >> Of course it takes more power to push the wider and heavier tire, >> especially uphill on dirt.. I climb much faster on the same trails on my >> cross bike with 35mm tires. Downhill is another story. >> >> One trick you may not know is to slide forward on your seat a bit on >> steep sections. That will take some weight off your rear wheel and allow >> you to climb easier. The WTB saddles even have a little drop on the nose >> for that purpose. >> >> Another option is to try some 2.3" tires. They will be easier to climb >> with then your 3" Knards. You'll lose some downhill traction but maybe >> gain a better overall ride. >> >> Good Luck >> >> ~mike >> Carlsbad Ca. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>. >> To post to this group, send email to >> rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com<javascript:> >> . >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > > > -- > -- Anne Paulson > > It isn't a contest. Enjoy the ride. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
