Mid Drive Isn't Adding Up
having now ridden a hub drive for a year and now a mid drive recumbent trike for a month or so (actually a front drive because the trike's bottom bracket is out front), I'm starting to get road experience of the benefits and problems of both. One of the biggest claims made for mid drive is better centre of mass - bollocks. the rider is the largest and highest positioned mass on either an upright or a recumbent. Another factor in center of mass is rotational momentum, and here, a mid drive wins on an upright bike, bumps lift the mass of bike and rider through a shorter "lever." On a recumbent trike, a bump lists the mid drive through a short lever (the trike's wheelbase) vectored back to a lever longer than the trike's wheelbase by a factor of nearly 2, the distance between the pedal bracket and the back wheel. All the center of mass arguments for mid drive ignore the rider's mass and, again, on a recumbent, the rider's rorational moment is reduced but...