# Thinking of getting a trike, advice please...



## SoulOnIce (13 Dec 2008)

In the new year I think I may investigate getting a Trike. And I'm after some advice. I currently ride a hybrid, which does me fine but I'd like another bike.

Firstly I want a trike and not a two wheeler bent cos I want to be able to use it for my commute in the winter when it gets icy. And I've guessing a trike is the way to go. Plus I just like the idea of having something very different these trikes look like so much darn fun to ride.

The trike will be used mainly for a 30 mile round trip commute (with panniers) but also for general leisure cycling and fun.

I reckon I can afford a max of £1,300 (including any accessories, which must include a rack and fittings for lights). I've read some bits on the boards and I know I really need to go and do some test rides before I commit, but any suggestions as to what to be looking for - and also shops near the Midlands that I could go and visits would be much appreciated.


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## mickle (13 Dec 2008)

How tall you are?


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## SoulOnIce (13 Dec 2008)

mickle said:


> How tall you are?



5' 10"


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## byegad (13 Dec 2008)

As usual with this, contact 
D Tek Kevin always has a huge stock of second hand trike.


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## Auntie Helen (13 Dec 2008)

D-Tek's details as follows:

01353 648 177 

Main Street
Little Thetford
Cambridgeshire
CB6 1BR

Worth ringing before you go so he can schedule an appointment for you to ride a variety of trikes. It's all great fun!


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## mickle (13 Dec 2008)

I have a Speedy in your size for sale. It doesn't take a rack but it does have a Carradice saddle bag fitted under the seat and would take another.


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## SoulOnIce (13 Dec 2008)

mickle said:


> I have a Speedy in your size for sale. It doesn't take a rack but it does have a Carradice saddle bag fitted under the seat and would take another.



Sounds interesting.

What is a "Speedy?" Can you post a link to a relevant site. Any pics of how the saddle bags fit underneath? Also how much do you want for it?


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## mickle (13 Dec 2008)

Here's t'website; http://www.windcheetah.co.uk/


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## mickle (13 Dec 2008)

here's mine; 

http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=16907

There is a rack available apparently, dunno how much tho.


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## mickle (13 Dec 2008)

£loads!


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## SoulOnIce (13 Dec 2008)

mickle said:


> here's mine;
> 
> http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=16907
> 
> There is a rack available apparently, dunno how much tho.



Wow - that looks nice. I don't know much about recumbents but am I right in saying the Windcheetah's are pretty top notch bits of kit?

If you really are selling it, can you e-mail me or PM me and let me know how much you want for it?


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## SoulOnIce (24 Dec 2008)

OK - am still thinking of getting a trike and may well take Mickle up on an offer of his speedy. But I'm still unsure as to what type of trike I should be going for. I will of course vist the D-Tek place as suggested, but a bit more info form the oracle that is CC would be helpful.

My requirements are:
1. Must be able to take a rack so I can use it for my 30 mile round trip commute
2. Must be good quality and reliable
3. Must be able to take a faring if I decide to upgrade it.
4. Want mudgaurads on it
5. Would like it to be as fast as possible given the above constriants
6. Also I apprecaite these are not cheap and I will have to fork out but money is a bit tight so it does come into things. So being able to fit a standard rack or get cehaper mudguards or fairing could make a difference.

Not bothered about it being foldable or being able to go off road.

As far as I can see the main options are:
- Catrikes
- Velotechnik Scorpion
- ICE trikes
- Windcheetah of some sort.

Final question is about suspension. Is it worth getting one with rear suspension(such as the Scorpion) or does it make inefficent use of the pedaling like with a mountain bike?

So given the above, which, if any, of the above trikes are worth me considering.


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## Riding in Circles (24 Dec 2008)

You are quite welcome to test ride Catrike, pm your address and contact details and I will arrange something with you when I am on a delivery. I have a couple of ex demo machines about to go on sale to.


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## Auntie Helen (24 Dec 2008)

I have a Trice with rear suspension and my husband has the same version without (his is three years old). They've done the same amount of miles now (or mine's done more) but I definitely think the ride is much more enjoyable on mine. I also have Big Apple tyres all round that make for a very comfy ride, even over bumpy roads.

I'm really happy with my Trice (which I bought from D-Tek) and it ticks all your boxes except for maybe the price issue! Mine cost (including mudguards, rack, headrest, chain guard etc) £1,900 which seemed an awful lot at the time but feels better and better value the more I use it.

I was also interesting in the HP Velotechnic Skorpion but the seat didn't look as comfy to me although I didn't actually have a go of one in the end.


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## SoulOnIce (24 Dec 2008)

Catrike - you have a PM

Helen - thanks for the comments. I was guessing I'd have to pay a few quid for a trike so the price is not surprising. A question:

1. On DF bikes with suspension a lot of the pedalling power is lost through the suspension. Is this the same with a suspension trike? I take it you have ridden both yours and your husband's trikes - does his ride faster?


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## Auntie Helen (24 Dec 2008)

Hi SoulOnIce,

I'm not very technical about these things but because my husband's bike is set up differently than mine (shorter boom as he doesn't have as long legs as me) I've only ever ridden it very short distances. All I notice in those distances is the rougher ride. He has the narrow track version on skinny, slick tyres with different gear ratios as well so I'm not sure I could ever make a fair comparison on speed, although he does seem to go faster downhill (less wind resistance?)

My entirely uninformed opinion is that the suspension makes minimal difference to the ride effort because most of the time the elastomer isn't doing much, it's just over the bumps that it gets a workout. But Catrike will know far better than me just what a difference suspension can make on a trike.


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## byegad (24 Dec 2008)

Can I add my two penorth?
The Trice suspension moves at right angles to the pedal effort. So while I CAN make my QBT bob it does now do it of its own accord, whereas my full sus' MTB, now long gone bobbed like billy oh! 
I have a Kettwiesel with no suspension as well as the QNT with and the only difference is the harsher ride on the Kett. They are now both on Big Apples.


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## Night Train (24 Dec 2008)

My gut feeling would be that suspension on a trike wouldn't sap energy in the same way a Df or MTB frame would. 
On an upright a lot of the energy to the pedals is in the vertical direction causing the suspension to bounce up and down sapping energy. 
On a recumbent the energy to the pedals is more in the horizontal direction and so less likely to cause energy sapping suspension movement.


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## mickle (25 Dec 2008)

One thing determines whether a design will suffer from pedal force induced suspension movement or not; swing arm pivot location and it's relationship to the driven portion of chain. The further the chain is from the swing arm pivot centre the greater the effect.

Suspension bob may also occur if the resonant frequency of the suspension is close to pedalling rate.

Modern platform damped shocks are capable of differentiating between road bump induced suspension movement and rider generated movement but the technology hasn't had much of a showing on recumbents yet. Maybe it's not the big issue on short travel recumbents as it is on mountain bikes.


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## ufkacbln (25 Dec 2008)

CatrikeUK of this Parish is the importer of the Catrike series, I have been delighted with my Expedition and there is a wide range of models and prices.

Or contact Wheels n.v.

Of course you could go for Ian's "ultimate trike"







(Edited - sorry - skip read the thread and missed the above conversation with CatrikeUK)!)


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## squeaker (25 Dec 2008)

SoulOnIce said:


> 1. On DF bikes with suspension a lot of the pedalling power is lost through the suspension.


Bllx!!! Unless you are talking about supermarket BSOs, that is. As Mickle says, most decent full sus MTBs use 'platform' damping and/or virtual pivot positions these days, which minimise pedal induced bob. Even 10 years ago, those with a Horst link, or sensibly placed pivots (e.g. Marin) were reasonably immune unless you really lept around on them.
As for ICE trikes, IME pedal induced bob is not a significant issue, although any suspended vehicle will tend to oscillate in pitch if the wheel drive torque is not kept relatively smooth (a learner driver's kangaroo start is an extreme example of this). That said, I was interested to watch the front end of the fully suspeded ICE Borealis velomobile bouncing under extreme effort at this year's HPV worlds - but that does use simple elastomer springs, and it was striving for the finish line at the time. I certainly wasn't aware of any 'bob' when I had a quick test ride in it during the lunch break.


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## ufkacbln (25 Dec 2008)

One Catrike expedition with XT Fairing, mudguards and panniers






One Catrike Expedition with GTX fairing, mudguards and panniers


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## mickle (26 Dec 2008)

User3143 said:


> >snip< Windcheetah I don't think are all that >snip<




Interested to know why you think that Lee.


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## ufkacbln (26 Dec 2008)

Don't get influenced by personal opinions.... by all means use them to guide you, but each trike is a different beast.

Some love the joystick on the Windcheetah, some hate it...
Some like the suspension on the Trice - others prefer without
Some prefer the low seat of the CAtrike 700c. others prefer the higher, less angled seat of a Villager or Trail
Some prefer a solid carbon seat, others prefer a web seat.


The important thing is to get your bottom on as many seats as possible, and do not buy unless you are comfortable and happy!


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## Cullin (26 Dec 2008)

Best pay Kevin a visit at DTEK in Cambride, he will let you ride the various trikes up and down the quite road outside the store, you will get good advice from him, he has loads of second user gear and new. it is a good idea to try before you buy.
Make an appointment, as he maybe on a mission somewhere.
Got my New ICE Q's from him
Cheers


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## byegad (26 Dec 2008)

I think Lee has a point. The 'Cheetah was a great trike for its day. It has a few quirks like the one handed tiller control that have been ignored by later designs and it is an old design! 

Is it still a first rate buy? Well I find it hard to be totally against the Windcheetah but when I bought both my trikes I didn't take too long to decide against it on price grounds if nothing else.


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## mickle (26 Dec 2008)

Righto Lee, it's just that you said that you 'didn't think it was all that' _and_ that it was too expensive. I agree that they don't represent particularly good value for money when compared to other trikes on the market. Maybe I'm out of touch but I've always considered the Windcheetah as the benchmark. So cost aside what do people think? Is it still the best trike on the market?


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## ufkacbln (26 Dec 2008)

Yes - and no.......

It has a pedigree and was also better supported with fairings. Poor though as a tourer as the racks were fragile (Allegedly).

The joystick improves aerodynamics by bringing the arms inside the profile.

So as a machine for racing itw as unsurpassed when you look atthe heavier Trices etc. which were the main contenders.

However with the Catrike 700 on the market at under £2000 (depending on spec) it is facing more competition as a race machine as well.

I am biased as I felt unhappy with the seat and joystic - butthis is personal and not a reflection on the trike.

After some 14 years on a Peter Ross Trice in various incarnations, I tried the Trice Windcheetah, KMX and the Catrikes. 

I had only considered the Catrike as an option before buying a new Trice, but I was so blown away by the handling, responsiveness and sheer comfort, however this merely shows the important point - you must sit on the machine and ride it so you can make your own mind up.


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## byegad (27 Dec 2008)

On the other hand the fastest unfaired multi track at the worlds was a Trice Micro.


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## dmb (5 Jan 2009)

I have a trice s and 700, the 700 is hand down a better trike, much lighter! The only down side was the poor mudgaurds but I belive these have been improved recently. Bigger tyres and tyre pressures make more difference than the suspension.

The biggest difference is the recline angle. This is really personal as is the seat as already mentioned.


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## ufkacbln (5 Jan 2009)

dmb said:


> I have a trice s and 700, the 700 is hand down a better trike, much lighter! The only down side was the poor mudgaurds but I belive these have been improved recently. Bigger tyres and tyre pressures make more difference than the suspension.
> 
> The biggest difference is the recline angle. This is really personal as is the seat as already mentioned.



Yep - I have the new guards on the Expedition and they are much more solid and vibration free, although the clearance on 1.75 tyres is close.


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## wafflycat (10 Jan 2009)

I'm very happy with my ICE T (no suspension). It has mudguards on each wheel - indeed I'd go as far as to say that mudguards are an essential item to have to stop the splashing from front wheels in poor weather.

I also got rid of the chunky tyres and put on Schwalbe Marathons. Much easier cycling and no p*nct*res so far even on Norfolk's finest flint strewn and potholed country lanes.

The other *must have* for me are mirrors. I don't need these on an upright, but have found them *essential* to have on the 'bent.

Then - clipless pedals - a *must have* to keep the feet secure.

Lights - I have mine (front) mounted on a Minoura Space Grip on the front boom and this holds my two lights.

These days, if I was in the market to buy another 'bent, I'd be needing to go second-hand - probably from Kevin at D-Tek as he's my nearest 'bent dealer and where Mr Norbert Frosty was purchased from.


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## squeaker (11 Jan 2009)

*700 vs S - curious....*



dmb said:


> I have a trice s and 700, the 700 is hand down a better trike, much lighter! ...... Bigger tyres and tyre pressures make more difference than the suspension.


I'm curious: are you comparing a (rear) suspended 'S' with a 700? And what tyres / pressures do you use on each?
Regarding the 'bigger tyres' comment, do you mean tyres or wheel size, as the 700 has both bigger (rear) and smaller (front) wheels compared to a suspended 'S'.
(For reference, my suspended 'S' currently runs on Marathon Racers - old type - at 60 to 65psi.)
Thanks!


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## Riding in Circles (11 Jan 2009)

The bigger rear wheel makes a huge difference to the ride quality.


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## ufkacbln (11 Jan 2009)

I must admit that this was one of the factors when I was short-listing trikes.

I was replacing a (much modified) Peter Ross Trice with 26" rear wheel.

The ones I had tried were all smaller wheeled (Trice, KMX, Hotmover, Greenspeed) all had small rear wheels and the ride was certainly less comfortable. I had listed the Catrike for the stronger frame, but was still uncertain whether the Road / Speed with small rear wheels were going to be any better.

As it was the Catrike Expedition came out which is exactly what I wanted.

Although the newer Trice 26 may be comparable, I found the Expedition faster, stronger more responsive and assured than the Trice. It was absolutely comfortable from the outset.

As I have always said - personal choice and you need to get your bottom on a seat before buying, but do not write off the bigger rear wheels.


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