Recumbent Gearing in the Mountains

The steepness of climbing and the overall amount of climbing that I do in the hills and mountains determines which bike I use.

The Bacchetta Ti Aero has 650 wheels.  I've set it up with a double (50/34) up front and an 11/36 ten speed SRAM cassette in back.  This is the bike I use if the course has inclines greater than 6% for long stretches.

The Bacchetta CA2 has 700 wheels.  I've set it up with a 58/42 up front and an 11/36 ten speed SRAM cassette in back.  This is the bike I use if the course has less steep inclines.  As well, on the descents I can continue to apply power for longer before I spin out (i.e., pedal RPMs greater than 110 or so).

The chart below illustrates how many forward inches is gained with every turn of the crank by bike.

Gear Inches		KEY: With every complete turn of the crank the THIS is the number of inches the bike is moved forward.
175 mm crank
23-622 tire
SRAM 11-13-15-17-19-22-25-28-32-36 10-speed Cassette
	TI	CA2			TI	CA2
Wheel	650	700			650	700
	50	58			34	42
11	111	139	125%		75	100	134%
13	93.5	117	125%		64	84.9	133%
15	81	102	125%		55	73.6	134%
17	71.5	89.7	125%		49	64.9	134%
19	64	80.2	125%		44	58.1	134%
22	55.3	69.3	125%		38	50.2	134%
25	48.6	61	126%		33	44.2	134%
28	43.4	54.4	125%		30	39.4	134%
32	38	47.6	125%		26	34.5	134%
36	33.8	42.3	125%		23	30.7	133%