I’m selling my car and buying a bicycle - actually, a tricycle. I don’t feel sufficiently strong or athletic to be dealing with balancing a bicycle at my age and weight (old and fat, 45 pound and counting weight loss notwithstanding).
I’ve researched quite a bit online, but I’d like to hear from people with direct experience. I’m pretty sure the smartest thing for me to do is get the best-made trike I can within my budget and forego any fancy tricks like being foldable. But never having seen one of the foldies up close, I don’t know.
The biggest reason I am drawn to a foldable at all is for the possibility of such foldability making it possible for me to utilize bike racks on buses: I like the idea of being able to combine bike & bus, which together would make nearly every kind of errand I would normally do possible for me. But I don’t even know if the folding trikes are usable on a bus bike rack anyway, and I’m simply assuming that no trike will work on a bus bike rack, but maybe I’m wrong.
I know I want at least 3 speeds, I want to replace whatever seat it comes with with an extra wide that has a back of some kind, and I want a foolproof lock. (My biggest concern about bikes is having it stolen, although I think a trike is less attractive to thieves anyway.)
I also saw an electric motor upgrade for arund $400 that looked interesting. Depending on various things, I might decide to add that on down the line.
So do you own one, use one, have any tips, tricks or cautionary tales?
I have a recumbent trike – specifically a Catrike Pocket but use it for fitness, not for commuting. I enjoy riding it more than my upright especially because after an ankle injury last year I like not having to worry about balancing as much.
The downsides of recumbent trikes:
Even if you are in great shape, you will still be slower, especially climbing hills than some one of same fitness level on an upright.
Being much lower to the ground, you have to be extra careful riding on the road and do everything possible to increase visibility (flags, wear bright clothing).
Although the trikes are not super wide, you still need a bit more room passing on trails, etc.
This is not a big deal for me because I use it for fitness and my model has a small zipped pouch on the back of the chair – big enough for a screwdriver, my phone, etc. but you have to think about if you are commuting how you will carry a backpack with you.
They are more expensive than uprights.
Although I’ve had a couple of snide comments from people on uprights, I’ve had so many more people when I’m on the trail ask me questions about where to get one or what it is like. At least four people in my neighborhood have now bought ones after talking to me/seeing me ride it.
The best thing would be to go to your local cycling shop and try out several models.
ETA: I saw that you are not really considering recumbents but it is hard for me to pass up an opportunity to talk about them!
You might want to post your question at BentRiderOnline in the Trike forum. They live and breathe trikes there.
A recumbent will be a far better choice than an adult trike for a car replacement. Unless everywhere you need to go is within a mile or so, you’ll be frustrated by the lack of speed and carrying capacity.
Don’t say no to a regular bike until you have tried one.
I’m going to be 60 here in a month and a few weeks, overweight and enjoy the hell out of riding my bike.
I’m considering buying an adult trike for Burning Man transportation. They are stable at rest and at slow speeds and have excellent traction in dust. This makes it great for my mobile ice chest and BBQ. That said, they are shit for just about everything else.
Most adult trikes are driven one wheel only. This makes for weird handling characteristics, but I believe makes turning possible as a solid live rear axle means that the wheels turn at the same speed, making turning difficult.
The only foldable trike I’ve seen has a hinge on the down tube, meaning that it folds into a slightly smaller but much more cumbersome package. Are you trying to sneak the trike onto the bus using wheelchair space? Our buses here take a really long time to load a wheelchair. I’d be pissed at someone loading a trike using the wheelchair facilities. Handicapped people don’t have a choice, so everyone tolerates it.
All the bus bike racks I’ve seen are designed for conventional bikes. The spacing probably would not accommodate a trike, not to mention taking up two or more spaces. They are ridiculously heavy and I don’t envy anyone trying to lift one.
Trikes are insanely unstable at speed, so don’t go speeding down a hill.
I’d suggest buying a 20 year old mountain bike (Trek/Specialized/name brand) WITHOUT a suspension, tossing on some commuter slicks, put the seat down so you can put a foot on the ground and practice riding a conventional bike.
You kinda lost me here… what’s a suspension and why don’t I want one, and what are commuter slicks?
Another reason I like the trike is because they have real space in the rear to carry more than a bottle of milk and the whole point is to run my errands, which include store trips involving big bottles of water and the like.
But if there’s some way I could make a go of it with a regular bike that can be hung on a bus, that would be great. I was testing a recumbent last week, the kind that’s mostly a normal bike, just a laid back seat, and I was very surprised and bothered by how difficult I found remaining steady while NOT moving ON carpet. Kinda convinced me that I’m better off with a trike, but maybe with practice…
You can put racks on the back of many bikes to allow you to haul stuff. You can even get a trailer if you need to haul more stuff.
You won’t be able to buy out the local Costco but you will be able to shop.
As far as balance goes, no 2 wheel bike is stable when not moving. It is the rotation of the wheels that generate the forces that make it easy to stay upright.
Of course, but when I was younger, slimmer, and in better overall condition, my two feet firmly planted on either side was completely effective at steadying myself and the bike. Not so much anymore.
I’m not giving up, though, you’ve given me something to think about.
You might want to condider a low-slung, pedal forward, two-wheeled comfort bike. They are exceedingly comfortable, you can put both feet on the ground, and the pedal forward configuration means full leg extension and is easy on the knees. Try to get as many speeds as you can. The more speeds you have, the easier you’ll have it going uphill or against the wind.
Just saw your post to Rick. If you’re worried about keeping your balance while underway then no two-wheeled bike is going to suffice. I really think that is probabably a needless worry though, unless you have some sort of medical condition that causes you to have problems with your balance. I’m 63, overweight and have knee problems, and I’ve fallen twice since I took up biking last May. Both times it was because I had to stop suddenly and couldn’t get a foot on the ground in time. With a low-slung pedal-forward bike you would have no such problem.
Do you have any examples of exactly what you mean about low-slung pedal forward? I looked at “comfort” bikes and didn’t notice anything in particular…?
[pedant]It’s not actually the rotation that matters, just the motion. The gyroscopic effect from bicycle wheels is almost completely negligible. It’s the motion: A bike that’s leaning one way will tend to cause the front wheel to turn that way, too, which (if the bike is moving) causes the bottom of the bike to move back under the center of mass. You could get the same effect with skids.
[/pedant]
“Crank forward”, which runner pat linked to, is what I was talking about (thanks, rp). They are extraordinarily comfortable and safe-feeling. I would have bought one but I was looking for something with a little more speed and more of a workout.
Then you haven’t seen the Di Blasi R32! It folds smaller than most folding bikes, small enough to carry onto a bus. Well built too. The major downside is that it’s very heavy (46.5 lb); you wouldn’t want to carry it into a subway station, for example.
I’ve done 55 mph on a recumbent trike (downhill, obviously) with no handling problems at all. I haven’t tried it on upright trikes, but there’s no reason to think they’d be unstable at speed - as long as you learn to lean your body into the turn (because you can’t lean the whole trike).
Upright trikes feel unstable to most cyclists because the motion is all wrong. To turn right on a bike, you first countersteer to the left to make the bike lean to the right (all this happens unconsciously). But that won’t happen on a trike, so you keep turning the handlebar to the left until you realize you’re veering off course. It’s an eerie feeling, especially at high speed, and takes a while to get used to.
Electra Townies are nice, too: 7-speed or 21-speed if you have hilly terrain. You can easily put your feet down flat on these bikes and your weight or starting fitness level should not be an issue. All you need is to be able to balance. If you can walk upright, you can probably ride a two-wheeled bike. And the more you ride, the more fit you’ll become.
