a.twiddler
Veteran
Two years with a Sinner Comfort Recumbent Trike
It’s been a bit over 2 years since I bought this in November 2021. It was local, and at a good price. I hadn't planned to buy a trike, but being local counts for a lot in the recumbent world when being able to see and at least try for size is a rare occurrence. The clincher was that it's a small frame size, to the extent that I'm about the tallest rider it could accommodate. It took a while to get it to the point where I could ride it (sorting out a functioning headrest, easing the seat recline, mainly, and fitting such things as a chain tensioner so I could change front gear ratios on-the-go). Since biting the bullet and getting a spare drum brake built into the front wheel the adequate brakes have become inspiring.
Though Sinner were better known for their Velomobiles, I’ve not seen one of those, or indeed another Sinner trike of any description, and certainly only one recumbent bike in passing since I’ve bought it.
I’ve tidied up the rear luggage box that came with it and fitted a rack to the top of it.
UK trikes must have two brakes, upright trikes have them both on the front, though historical vehicles and vehicles with smaller wheels are less regulated. Because the seat height of this trike is less than 635mm it falls outside the regulations and I could do as I like, really as long as it has one effective brake (not one that bears on the tyre such as a spoon brake). As it happens, weight distribution on this trike allows for a brake on each wheel unlike a recumbent tadpole trike which could really only have a parking brake on the lightly loaded rear unless you wanted to find yourself unexpectedly facing the way you came. The Sinner trike actually has 4 brakes if you include the parking brake (which is actually a spoon type brake or pram brake). It’s almost like a mobile demonstrator of 3 different types of brake -hub, rim, and tyre.
It has both rear wheels driven by a double feewheel setup, useful on slippery surfaces. Unlike a conventional differential set up, if one wheel slips, the other doesn't lose drive.
I’ve lowered the gearing with a 50/34 double to replace the original unimaginative 42/52 double which gave a lot of unnecessary overlap. Still slow up hills but easier now. Surprisingly, by lowering the high gear range by 2 teeth the big ring has become more useful than I would have expected. The hub gear is a Nexus 7 giving 14 gears overall.
The gripshift changer is not ideal, though it functions well enough. Due to being fitted to the underseat steering which is angled upwards it is upside down compared to its intended fitting, and as the brake lever is integral with it, it can’t be reversed. This means that rather than changing with the first finger and thumb, it has to be done with the little finger and base of the hand. Perhaps the old dodge of putting rubber bands on the gripshift would help, especially when wearing thick winter gloves. Gear range is approx 21” -76” which does the local hills OK, and as for high gear, I am fond of my freewheel and don’t often pedal downhill. In comparison, the Linear 2 wheeler has about 17.5” -110” gear range.
I’ve fitted Schrader valve tubes in all three tyres following a puncture, relegating the original Woods valve ones to spares.
I’m feeling a bit more at home on it now having used it a bit more. I’d been tempted to go for the full seat recline as that’s what it was designed for, once I’d got used to the headrest.
However, I’ve found the recline not conducive to hill climbing and have made the seat even more upright by fitting longer bolts and tubes to support the seat back. I haven't thoroughly tested that out yet on a longer trip, but the better weather is coming.
It’s definitely more of a vehicle for shorter trips so far. Two wheels feel more efficient for the effort put in, particularly over a distance.
So: good stuff
1.Goes well in the snow or on slippery surfaces.
2.Both rear wheels are driven, but can drive independently if one loses grip.
3.Rear suspension.
4.It is deceptively faster than you think. (Feels slower, but GPS shows higher than expected).
5.Gets up speed very easily downhill, freewheels well.
6.More sure footed than I expected (vs what I’ve read about tadpole trikes. Not had first hand experience of those though).
7.Narrow track. Useful for cycletrack barriers, back gate, doorways, etc. The bars are one piece, “W” shaped and tubular steel. Having gently bent the ends inwards it passes through our local “A” frame even more easily now.
8.It’s a small, compact trike despite the LWB.
9.Gear hub mechanism is higher than the rear axle, keeping it out of muck and water even with the small wheels.
10.Underseat steering. Purely subjective, but that’s the way, (uh huh, uh huh), I like it.
11.It’s low for a delta trike, as the seat base is level with the top of the rear wheels. Looks lower than it is. You find yourself looking at passers by squarely up the nostril.
12.Useful capacity box on the back.
13.It was a really good price for a trike in such good condition.
14.Other road users give you even more room than on a 2 wheeled recumbent.
15. Easy to ride. Needs more effort, though less concentration, than a 2 wheeler to avoid falling off.
16. Well finished, which despite its age is holding up well.
17.Cool name -”Sinner”!
18.It weirds people out, even more than my LWB bike. Not something I enjoyed at first, but now I have grown to relish it. It doesn’t look like anything else. The main tube is square, but the flat sides are at 45 degrees to the ground so the top of the main tube has a roof -like ridge along it. The frame slopes up from the rear then cranks downwards from the bottom bracket to the steering head, giving a praying mantis -like appearance.
19.Aluminium frame, relatively light to manhandle.
20. Can be parked upright for storage.
There are a lot of things to like about this trike.
Not so good stuff.
1.Slow uphill. Even with lower gearing. From what I have learnt since owning it, this isn’t unusual, but a trike thing. I had concerns about overloading the hub gear as the ratio of the small chainring to the sprocket is already 2:1. However according to Sheldon Brown the small wheels, and a smooth pedalling style, are likely to cause less stress than full size wheels so could allow the gearing to be reduced still further without problems.
2.Camber and square road humps cause discomfort as it makes you lean while going straight ahead causing those used to two wheelers to feel conflicted and tense up. Practice needed. Could ride nearer the centre, traffic permitting.
3.Feels lower than it is, especially in traffic. I have a flag, bought for the Linear, which I found unnecessary but might be good on this trike.
4.Compared with a bike with a single track this has three tracks so you find all the bumps. Hence the rear suspension, I suppose.
5. Maybe too easy to ride, as you might find kids messing with it. A 2 wheeler is harder to ride, though people might still mess about with it.
6.Highly unlikely to get it on a train.
Definitely more plus points than minuses.
It’s certainly well specified, quite a de luxe model though despite its novelty when I first got it I found myself gravitating to two wheels if I was going far. I suspect that I’m more of a two wheel cyclist at heart. The fact that to get across town you have to cross the river, involving a steep drop down and a steep climb up again both ways might be acting as a deterrent. I definitely find a two wheel recumbent easier on the hills. Having read somewhere that a trike on average would be 10% slower overall than a bike, the hills certainly don’t help. If I lived somewhere flatter, it would be less of a thing. I might even gear it up. I’ll try for some longer trips this year before deciding should it stay or should it go.
It’s been a bit over 2 years since I bought this in November 2021. It was local, and at a good price. I hadn't planned to buy a trike, but being local counts for a lot in the recumbent world when being able to see and at least try for size is a rare occurrence. The clincher was that it's a small frame size, to the extent that I'm about the tallest rider it could accommodate. It took a while to get it to the point where I could ride it (sorting out a functioning headrest, easing the seat recline, mainly, and fitting such things as a chain tensioner so I could change front gear ratios on-the-go). Since biting the bullet and getting a spare drum brake built into the front wheel the adequate brakes have become inspiring.
Though Sinner were better known for their Velomobiles, I’ve not seen one of those, or indeed another Sinner trike of any description, and certainly only one recumbent bike in passing since I’ve bought it.
I’ve tidied up the rear luggage box that came with it and fitted a rack to the top of it.
UK trikes must have two brakes, upright trikes have them both on the front, though historical vehicles and vehicles with smaller wheels are less regulated. Because the seat height of this trike is less than 635mm it falls outside the regulations and I could do as I like, really as long as it has one effective brake (not one that bears on the tyre such as a spoon brake). As it happens, weight distribution on this trike allows for a brake on each wheel unlike a recumbent tadpole trike which could really only have a parking brake on the lightly loaded rear unless you wanted to find yourself unexpectedly facing the way you came. The Sinner trike actually has 4 brakes if you include the parking brake (which is actually a spoon type brake or pram brake). It’s almost like a mobile demonstrator of 3 different types of brake -hub, rim, and tyre.
It has both rear wheels driven by a double feewheel setup, useful on slippery surfaces. Unlike a conventional differential set up, if one wheel slips, the other doesn't lose drive.
I’ve lowered the gearing with a 50/34 double to replace the original unimaginative 42/52 double which gave a lot of unnecessary overlap. Still slow up hills but easier now. Surprisingly, by lowering the high gear range by 2 teeth the big ring has become more useful than I would have expected. The hub gear is a Nexus 7 giving 14 gears overall.
The gripshift changer is not ideal, though it functions well enough. Due to being fitted to the underseat steering which is angled upwards it is upside down compared to its intended fitting, and as the brake lever is integral with it, it can’t be reversed. This means that rather than changing with the first finger and thumb, it has to be done with the little finger and base of the hand. Perhaps the old dodge of putting rubber bands on the gripshift would help, especially when wearing thick winter gloves. Gear range is approx 21” -76” which does the local hills OK, and as for high gear, I am fond of my freewheel and don’t often pedal downhill. In comparison, the Linear 2 wheeler has about 17.5” -110” gear range.
I’ve fitted Schrader valve tubes in all three tyres following a puncture, relegating the original Woods valve ones to spares.
I’m feeling a bit more at home on it now having used it a bit more. I’d been tempted to go for the full seat recline as that’s what it was designed for, once I’d got used to the headrest.
However, I’ve found the recline not conducive to hill climbing and have made the seat even more upright by fitting longer bolts and tubes to support the seat back. I haven't thoroughly tested that out yet on a longer trip, but the better weather is coming.
It’s definitely more of a vehicle for shorter trips so far. Two wheels feel more efficient for the effort put in, particularly over a distance.
So: good stuff
1.Goes well in the snow or on slippery surfaces.
2.Both rear wheels are driven, but can drive independently if one loses grip.
3.Rear suspension.
4.It is deceptively faster than you think. (Feels slower, but GPS shows higher than expected).
5.Gets up speed very easily downhill, freewheels well.
6.More sure footed than I expected (vs what I’ve read about tadpole trikes. Not had first hand experience of those though).
7.Narrow track. Useful for cycletrack barriers, back gate, doorways, etc. The bars are one piece, “W” shaped and tubular steel. Having gently bent the ends inwards it passes through our local “A” frame even more easily now.
8.It’s a small, compact trike despite the LWB.
9.Gear hub mechanism is higher than the rear axle, keeping it out of muck and water even with the small wheels.
10.Underseat steering. Purely subjective, but that’s the way, (uh huh, uh huh), I like it.
11.It’s low for a delta trike, as the seat base is level with the top of the rear wheels. Looks lower than it is. You find yourself looking at passers by squarely up the nostril.
12.Useful capacity box on the back.
13.It was a really good price for a trike in such good condition.
14.Other road users give you even more room than on a 2 wheeled recumbent.
15. Easy to ride. Needs more effort, though less concentration, than a 2 wheeler to avoid falling off.
16. Well finished, which despite its age is holding up well.
17.Cool name -”Sinner”!
18.It weirds people out, even more than my LWB bike. Not something I enjoyed at first, but now I have grown to relish it. It doesn’t look like anything else. The main tube is square, but the flat sides are at 45 degrees to the ground so the top of the main tube has a roof -like ridge along it. The frame slopes up from the rear then cranks downwards from the bottom bracket to the steering head, giving a praying mantis -like appearance.
19.Aluminium frame, relatively light to manhandle.
20. Can be parked upright for storage.
There are a lot of things to like about this trike.
Not so good stuff.
1.Slow uphill. Even with lower gearing. From what I have learnt since owning it, this isn’t unusual, but a trike thing. I had concerns about overloading the hub gear as the ratio of the small chainring to the sprocket is already 2:1. However according to Sheldon Brown the small wheels, and a smooth pedalling style, are likely to cause less stress than full size wheels so could allow the gearing to be reduced still further without problems.
2.Camber and square road humps cause discomfort as it makes you lean while going straight ahead causing those used to two wheelers to feel conflicted and tense up. Practice needed. Could ride nearer the centre, traffic permitting.
3.Feels lower than it is, especially in traffic. I have a flag, bought for the Linear, which I found unnecessary but might be good on this trike.
4.Compared with a bike with a single track this has three tracks so you find all the bumps. Hence the rear suspension, I suppose.
5. Maybe too easy to ride, as you might find kids messing with it. A 2 wheeler is harder to ride, though people might still mess about with it.
6.Highly unlikely to get it on a train.
Definitely more plus points than minuses.
It’s certainly well specified, quite a de luxe model though despite its novelty when I first got it I found myself gravitating to two wheels if I was going far. I suspect that I’m more of a two wheel cyclist at heart. The fact that to get across town you have to cross the river, involving a steep drop down and a steep climb up again both ways might be acting as a deterrent. I definitely find a two wheel recumbent easier on the hills. Having read somewhere that a trike on average would be 10% slower overall than a bike, the hills certainly don’t help. If I lived somewhere flatter, it would be less of a thing. I might even gear it up. I’ll try for some longer trips this year before deciding should it stay or should it go.
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