Questions about adult tricycles

Factual Questions
1

Has anybody ever ridden one of these things?

I’ve thought of getting one for exercise. It’s embarassing, but I’m 39 and I’ve never learned to ride a bike. (I was riding horses when I was in single digits and I’ve even ridden a cow and driven an DeSoto, but bikes… nope.) I also have, frankly, a bit of a fear of bicycles because the last time I did try to ride one I got pretty banged up (though I was riding it like Lance Armstrong for about two seconds), and since I have back and more especially neck problems I’d be even more reluctant now.

So for anybody who owns one of these things or knows somebody that does:

  • Are they decent exercise? I know they aren’t as fast as bikes but are they at least significantly faster than walking? Are they easily maintained? How much would you expect to pay for a good one (not top of the line necessarily, just reliable and durable)?

Thanks
J

2

My SO rides one - she got it after a knee injury, and still rides it even though she can (probably) get back to a bike now. Of course they’re much faster than walking. But they’re not quite as easy as they look. The problem is that the center of mass of the rider+trike is very high, and you can’t lean the whole trike. So you have to lean your out of the trike during turns, which takes some getting used to.

I’ve seen adult trikes starting around $300, but you probably want to spend more if you want one that’s durable and reasonably easy to maintain. Sorry, I don’t know how much exactly. I strongly recommend you buy from a real, local bike shop - not mail order and not a department store or WalMart (though I doubt WalMart sells adult trikes). As for maintenance, a regular bike shop can do most of the work, but there will be some special drivetrain parts that you can only get from the original manufacturer.

In my opinion, a better alternative is a recumbent trike. The Sun EZ-3 is the lowest priced one (about $800) and should be perfectly adequate for your purpose. The Actionbent Trike and KMX X-class are also reasonably priced, as far as these things go. I myself own a Catrike Pocket, which is a more performance-oriented model.

3

I’d love one, but my main concern would be the extra width. Even the handlebars and my shoulders seen dangerously wide when I’m riding a regular bike between a row of parked cars and the traffic, or trying to negotiate my way between the poles they place at the ends of cycleways to stop cars driving down them. Even the cycleways themselves are generally only wide enough for two bicycles to pass comfortably. Introduce a wide axle into the equation, and I don’t know how you’d fare.

I think you’re better off just biting the bullet and learning to ride a bike. I don’t think being an adult would be a particular impediment. And once you learn (in a single session, often), it truly is “like riding a bike”.

4

They’re a precusore to death. If you want to ride a senior citizen tricycle, you’re less than 6 months from death. If you’re over 80, get a motorized scooter, if you’re over 70, get paratransit. If you are over 60, take a walk. If you’re over 50l get a mustang… Don’t get a death machine.

5

I haven’t seen one in years. Th last time I saw one (two, actually) there were a pair of older women riding them, and they were riding pretty slowly.
I know that when I ride my bike, if there’s any velocity at all I lean when I make a turn. I don’t know of a tricycle that can do this, so you’ll be limited in your ability to go fast, unless your using some innovative design (like a recumbent trike that keeps your weight really low, and maybe has a differential).

6

Trikes are a whole other world compared to their two wheeled counterparts.

First off, most cycle riders cannot ride a trike !

Strange but true, the first time they ride one, they creep around at one mile per hour and at the first turn they fall off.

Trike riders who also ride two wheels also fall off the two wheelers, but the reason is that on a trike, when you stop at lights and junctions, you don’t need to put your foot down, and so the trike to two wheel converted rider forgets that on two wheels you must do just that, and…over he goes!!!

One issues that you may not have considered is the camber of the road, bicycles stay upright unless leaning trhough a corner, even if the road has a bad camber, but a trike cannot do this.
If you are considering putting lots of miles on such a machine, and you already have a bad back, you might want to do a little physical preparation.

You can’t squeeze through quite as small gaps, as a bicycle, but actualll in practice there is not much in it.

Trikes are slower, but they can carry much more and can go far slower when riding up a hill, so you can use the extreme low gears far better than a bicycle can.
This is just as well too, because trying to push a trike uphill is a real pain due the back wheel catching your leg, make sure you get one with lots of very low gears.

Brakes are always fun on these things, some have a double brake on the front wheel alone, the problem with having back wheel brakes is that if you get uneven grip, it’ll spin you around so quick you just do not have the time to react.

Others have a back brake attatched to the rear axle on either a drum(heavy not not cool at all) or a disc(fairly cool), but the best arrangment I have seen is a back axles that allows drive to go to either wheel or both, a bit like a differantial and also has the disc brake attatched so that it affects both wheels(extremely cool and will draw an audience)(most trikes only drive one back wheel)

One significant benefit of a trike is that you don’t need to remove the back wheel from the machine to repair a puncture, you just lever your tyre away from the rim, check for protruding objects and replace the tube, keep the old tube and repair it at your leisure.

I have seen these at fabulous prices, several thousand $, especially the tandem trikes, which are ultra ultra cool.

I don’t advise you to get a conversion kit, unless you are prepared to spend a great deal on it, as the cheaper ones are usually a bit of an ugly lash up and they don’t tend to have many of the options available like two wheel rear drive.

Of course you could always go for a recumbant trike, they are pretty cool, you can pay rather a lot for them and I personally would not recommend one in busy commuter traffic, they place you just out of the view of drivers.

Here’s some more info,

http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3507

It has to be said that this is possibly one of the best cycling sites on the entire net.

Ask any questions you might have on their forums.

Here is a link to a frame builder that is renown in the UK for their superb handbuilt trike frames (at a price)

http://www.longstaffcycles.co.uk/

I think trikes are great, even though I don’t ride one.

7

When I used to work in Cambridge MA, I frequently passed a recumbent trike commuter (I think he went to and from MIT). He did this in heavy commuter traffic, at all times of year, in all weather. He used a fluorescent pennant on a long stick to make himself visible to cars.

8

No offense, but riding that close to parked cars is a really good way to win a ‘door prize.’ And that’s not the kind of prize you want if you enjoy being healthy and alive.

It may not feel like it, but studies show over and over that you’re actually safer riding out in traffic where drivers can see you.

Bicycling Street Smarts goes into more detail.

9

No offence taken, but when I’m riding uphill on a narrow Sydney road, and the cars are doing 40mph, I fear I have little choice. I just scan ahead for occupied cars, ring my bell, and if I have to, slow down to walking pace.

As for riding in the traffic, I am both a cyclist and a motorist, and as the latter this practice is really annoying. You’re cruising along at the speed limit in the kerbside lane when all of a sudden you’re stuck behind a bike at bike speed, and you can’t change lanes because the speed differential with the lucky buggers in the unobstructed lane means you’re unable to merge safely, so you wait all day for a gap. As a cyclist, I just don’t trust the maniac car drivers. :smiley:

10

I’ve seen racier models than those in the OP’s GIS.

One time I pulled up behind one at traffic lights - although it was a trike, it was clearly built for performance; razor-thin tyres, alloy parts instead of steel, the rider had streamlined helmet and goggles - and this was back when most riders wore neither.
A guy on an ordinary bike skirted around the side of my car, pulled up alongside the trike and stopped, waiting for the lights. He looked the trike and its rider up and down a bit, then he grinned, pointed at the trike and said something.
I don’t know what it was he said, because I was in my car, but the trike rider dismounted and punched the bicycle guy in the face, really hard, sending him and his bike sprawling to the ground in a tangled heap. The lights changed to green and the guy on the trike just rode off, leaving him there.

11

I ride one of these three-wheelers, which is very much like one of these. I finde them to be great exercise, very stable, very fast, and you don’t need to know how to ride a bike to use one.

12

Personally I haven’t found this to be a big problem. Drivers mostly look at the road surface ahead, and they’re unlikely to miss a wide low obstacle like logs, rocks and recumbent trikes. Also, most trikes are equipped with a tall flag, and some owners add more flags, streamers and reflective tape. I admit the rider’s view is not very good, like driving a sports car when everyone else around you has an SUV, but it just means you need to be more cautious at intersections.

Anyway, the EZ-3 that I mentioned above is much taller than other recumbent trikes, and should do well in traffic. Actually my SO has one of those as well, and I think it’s a very well-built machine. She still prefers the old upright trike for some reason. Lightfoot Cycles also makes nice tall trikes but they’re a bit expensive.

13

scr4, sometimes I think it would be easier in these threads if you just listed the types of bikes you don’t or haven’t owned, instead of the ones you do or have :wink:

14

We have these kind of trikes all over the place where I work, it can be a long walk from point A to point B in an airplane factory. After reading some of the above, it is obvious some have never ridden one. You won’t fall off, you won’t crash, nothing bad will happen. They are not as fast as a 2 wheeled bike and you have to take corners a little bit slower. After a bit of practice you will learn how to take turns on 2 wheels. Some guys I work with can pop wheelies on them. When I’m a bit older I will consider getting one myself.