Why Recumbents "Can't Climb" (And When They Can)

Everyone says recumbents can't climb. In a lab in Milan, all 12 volunteers lost power when they leaned back. Yet on a real hill, a recumbent beat a road bike by 21 seconds. Who's right? This documentary follows nine years of my own tests – San Colombano (2017), five bikes on the Piccolo Stelvio (2018), the Mottarone, a 95 km loop around the lakes (2020) – and puts them next to the science: posture, heart, muscles, training and geometry. It all started from an email exchange with Roel, chairman of the Dutch HPV club, who asked the right questions. Spoiler: "recumbent" is not one machine, and the real question is still open. CHAPTERS 0:00 Two climbs, one paradox 0:51 The prejudice 2:12 The physics: air vs gravity 3:33 Twelve volunteers (Posture Matters, 2026) 5:31 The bike that shouldn't work: the Rev 6:50 San Colombano test (2017) 8:36 Five bikes, one hill (2018) 11:27 The Mottarone paradox 13:24 The big loop: 95 km road bike vs Rev (2020) 15:41 So, why? Biomechanics, muscles, training 17:41 Roel's questions 19:59 What we know – and the next experiment Have you ever climbed on a recumbent? Tell me in the comments. Personal test data are single-rider, declared values (original FIT files not available); lab values from the cited studies. Clips from my earlier videos are used without original audio. SOURCES Mapelli et al., "Posture matters", Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2026 · Wehrle et al. 2021 · Ray & Cureton 1991 · Telli et al., J Sports Sci 2017 · Hakansson & Hull 2005 · Dossier "Recumbent bikes on climbs" (M. Ruga, 2026) CREDITS Music: Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) – Five Armies, Heroic Age, Impact Prelude, Industrial Cinematic, Movement Proposition, Night on the Docks – Sax, Volatile Reaction. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 – http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... Historical and generic images: Wikimedia Commons (authors and licences in the pinned comment). HPV World Championship 2025 photos: Gruppo Fotografico IPERFOCALE, ASD Velocità a Pedali, Nigel Slee.