A case for a trike

[MitchJi]

Hi Doc,

I'm really sorry to hear about your wife's accident.

Tadpoles are more stable (safer) when cornering which is pretty important for an etrike due to the higher speeds.

I think it might be better to wait until she is well enough for some test rides before making a decision so you are both sure she likes the choice.

She might want to look at Matt's Catrike 700-E build:
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=19290 Very elegant and Matt sells almost all the components off the shelf so a very similar build would be pretty easy.

Would this Catrike with a 29" wheel (possibly with Matt's e-parts) be high enough?:
http://www.utahtrikes.com/RECENTTRIKE-Catrike_Monster_Expedition.html

This Expedition has our Catrike Wheel Extension Kit installed so we could put a MONSTER 29er wheel on the back.…

…When I asked the gang what the biggest wheel we could fit on the Expedition this is what we came up with. We had to kick it back with our Extension Kit and it still barely fits. There is a lot of air in the tire, so it gives a real smooth ride.

 

[sk8norcal]

hmmm, this thing leans, seeems reasonably priced...

not much info and pics...

http://www.belizebike.com/english/electrikelt.html

 

[docnjoj]

Thank you for more suggestions. MitchJi that is what we are going to do. There is a fairly big recumbent shop in Jackson, MS which is about 100 miles from us so we will take the daytrip and she will try out trikes. They have Sun, Hase (gorgeous trikes but alloy forks) and a lot of tadpoles. She really likes the recumbent seat and likes under seat steering so the choices are narrowing. The leaning trike looks cool sk8norcal but the saddle and riding position are not her cup of tea. The big wheel tadpole trike is a possibility but prolly would not be high enough and the stability is less. I just put true 16" front wheels on my Steintrike when the european 349 mm wheels broke spokes. I may try 20" next but she really wants a delta I believe. We will see what the orthopedist says on next thursday as she seems to be recovering well and can walk without crutches a bit. Thank you all!
otherDoc

 

[docnjoj]

Oh yeah! One more requirement. It needs to roll through the front door! I could widen the front door to 40" but that is a bit of a project so a 34" width would be maximum for our regular 36" door. This is in complete opposition to more stability but I think if she just slows down a bit when we ride that would help! Most trikes are 34" or less and my Steintrike is 28" but it is too low for her.
otherDoc

 

[ebent]

"The big wheel tadpole trike is a possibility but prolly would not be high enough and the stability is less" . I am sure the stability is more not less. It seems you want added safety but also have many requirements that reduce safety. Quite a challange.

 

[docnjoj]

That is the problem, ebent. If I could just wrap her in body armor.............. but it is 95 degrees and 100% humidity out there. And she won't wear it! Decisions, decisions..........
otherDoc

 

[Rassy]

Just a couple of thoughts:

As a tadpole, I think the Rover would be good. I recently raised the seat on my TerraTrike Path about 4". I wasn't sure it was a good idea, but after reading the specs on their Rover went ahead. I love the change. Much easier to get on and off, plus sitting higher. As far as stability, I find it easier to lean into corners than before. The only time I lifted a wheel was before the seat was raised.

I am considering swapping out the mechanical disks that operate from two levers for hydraulics that operate from one lever. At speeds over 25 MPH it can be hard to slow down without swerving a bit when I don't keep the pressure balanced. I won't put the mechanicals on one lever because we never could get my delta not to pull a little to one side when first hitting the brakes. Always had to hit the front brake first to prevent the pull.

As far as deltas go, I liked my Sun EZ3 USX. I gave it to my Daughter-In-Law mainly because it was so big and heavy to haul around. They live near a nice city (Eugene, OR) and don't haul it anywhere. She loves it now that they put some 150mm cranks on it (she is under 5 foot tall). It is currently powered by a one wheel short trailer, but I have powered it with a front hub and/or a two wheel two hub trailer.

Good luck on her recovery, and with whatever ride you choose.

 

[John in CR]

She needs a leaner to get the higher line of sight and easy mount and dismount, but I don't know how they handle loss of traction. I think what we need to come up with is some kind of partial fairing that will take the road rash instead of the rider. Sam Whittingham went airborn at over 70mph and slid hundreds of yards in his streamliner bike without injury, so there has to be some real protection possible for the most common types of bike mishaps.

 

[docnjoj]

Hey John
The fairing is a great idea but it will need air conditioning to go with it. Rassy thanks for the suggestions. I'm thinking of raising my seat also on my Steintrike but I would rather get her a higher trike to begin with. The Rover is perfect height but it has a rear wheel system with no deraileur so she could only have 1 rear gear. Also nothing in the front so no gear range if I use a hub motor. Schlumpf costs more than the trike. Utah trikes makes seat raisers for the regular Terratrikes so that is also a possibility.
otherDoc

 

[docnjoj]

Oh yeah! Rassy my trike has separate brake levers for each front wheel and I really like being able to differential brake. The Avid BB7's are pretty well balanced but not perfect but you get used to applying the right amount of pressure. I had a dual brake on my old trike and it also worked fine with mechanical discs.
otherDoc

 

[torker]

Well if you wanted to do like Rassy did you could rig up a hub like a midrive. A little more work but driving through gears would be sweet.

I need to find a place to try a tadpole. Or maybe I better not :lol:

 

[docnjoj]

Thanks torker. Prolly too much work for now and she is leaning towards a delta (pun intended) I love tadpoles and I have a good SRAM 3x8 hub and wheel I could take from the Bike-e. Hmmmm. I wonder how far I could stretch the rear forks of that Rover? Oh S**t that is where the hub needs to go. Too complex for now.
otherDoc

 

[MitchJi]

Hi,

Well if you wanted to do like Rassy did you could rig up a hub like a midrive. A little more work but driving through gears would be sweet.

Like this Hanebrink?:

With a geared hub it should be a good match for cadence without any additional reduction.

 

[docnjoj]

Wow Mitch. That bike reminds me of the old 2wd Rokons that the power line guys in Vermont used to ride to check the lines. Final decision of SWMBO is a Sun USX delta with the spring in the middle and a 9C hub on the front. I hope she likes it because she has to ride 3 wheels now. I can't handle another ER visit for her!

 

[Rassy]

I think the USX trike is a good choice. Just remove the little sticker that says it's not to be motorized!

I mentioned somewhere else that there was always a slight pull to one side when first applying the rear disk brakes (right lever). Probably because of a little more friction in one of the cables. Anyway, by developing a habit of applying a small amount of front brake first (left lever) you could not feel the pull at all.

I didn't like the tubes they used for chain control. They made noise and collected dirt so I removed them. On the power side I just added a little padding on the handlebar because when slack the chain could drop and make contact. No problem when pedaling, and not a problem when the chain was resting. Put one idler for the return chain where the tubes had been attached. Much happier with this setup.

I used a thumb throttle on the right side, mounted on the very end of the bars. The cable was looped up and then into the bar itself, using a small end cap with a hole in the center. The bars are two piece with a little spring loaded alignment tab so the two halves are oriented the same. Remove one tab and there is a hole in the bar where the throttle cable can exit. A pain to thread, but it can be done. The result was worth the effort. Initially I had just looped the cable back outside the bars, and it was both ugly and in the way. The tabs aren't necessary once the bars are tightened in place, but I put a little piece of (copper?) tubing over the wire where it exited the bars so if anything slipped the cable would not be cut. Twist throttles aren't compatible with the shifters, so other shifting solutions would be required to use a twist throttle.

The deraileur hangs very low (20" wheels) on these trikes. At least it is centered between the wheels, so gets raised by the wheels when going over speed bumps (straight on, not at a big angle) and off curbs, etc. Sometimes it is necessary to select a gear that pulls the deraileur as far forward as possible for clearance on rough roads or trails. Cross chained between the large chainrings gives the maximum clearance and works pretty good when using the motor.

Don't forget the torque arms. I never had any issues, but only used 36V at the time, in conjunction with a two wheel power trailer always pushing.

Good luck with this project, and enjoy.

 

[docnjoj]

Thanks for the tips Rassy! She uses a thumb throttle so that shouldn't be a problem. Does Sun put that sticker on all it's bikes not to motorize them? I like the wire idea as neat is good. I don't think the rear deraileur will be a problem but it is unlikely she will need a 34 tooth gear so I could change out to a mid-cage or even a short cage if it does become a problem. Can then go with 14-28 gears. I have some old BarCons if the twister isn't suitable. I wish I could adapt the Sram 3 speed or my SA 3 speed to the rear. 9 gears should be plenty.
otherDoc

 

[whiteblade]

Hi doc

I know you are looking for a trike, but came across the Pedalcoupe a Quadcycle, the seat looks higher up then most trikes from the picture,s.
And adding a front wheel Hubmotor looks to be the easier option on the Pedalcoupe or even 2 small motors.
Just an idea anyway.Proberly need better front forks on it , they look abit thin in the pics.



View attachment 1

http://www.pedalcoupe.com

How is your wife now by the way, hope she is getting better.

Whiteblade

 

[MitchJi]

Hi Doc,

In addition to a poor suspension the Sun isn't the most stable choice (substitute ebike for daredevil and performance below?):
http://www.bicycleman.com/recumbents/trikes/sun/sun-ez-3-USX-recumbent-trike.htm

The EZ-3 USX is too heavy for an enthusiast and not stable enough for the daredevil, who may tip one over. The EZ-3 USX is for casual riders, perfect for sunny days on the bike path and tooling around the neighborhood running errands while getting in shape...

The USX has a spring suspension, but the suspension does not do much to absorb bumps, especially for taller riders who sit right over the rear wheels. Looking for a suspended (with suspension) trike? Check out the Hase, Lepus or Trice trikes. They have much better suspension and are lighter but cost 3 to 4 times as much as the USX HD.

I have been pretty critical of the Sun USX here, I just want to point out three things:
1. It is in no way a performance trike.
2. Its suspension doesn’t do much to absorb bumps.
3. Its folding feature is mot or less useless.

The USX HD is a rugged, comfy, fun and relaxing trike that is easy to get used to. As I said previously, several of our customers just love their USX trikes, but they don’t typically ride over 10-20 miles a day and certainly don’t race. Try one and see if it is the trike for you!

I have been pretty critical of the Sun USX here, I just want to point out that it is not a performance, suspended (with suspension) folding trike. It is a comfy fun and relaxing trike that is easy to get used to. As I said previously, several of our customers just love their USX trikes, but they don’t typically ride over 10-20 miles a day and certainly don’t do races.

 

[amberwolf]

I know you are looking for a trike, but came across the Pedalcoupe a Quadcycle,

The catch with any quad (or other >3 wheels) is that many places define a bicycle-class vehicle as one with 3 wheels or less in contact with the ground. Thus making >3 wheels either flat out illegal on public roads (due to not having a definition of an allowed vehicle that meets them, except for those requiring safety features impossible on a bicycle-class quad), or undefined and leaving it up to the ticket-writers as to whether or not they feel like writing one (and the courts upholding it or not).

Great for offroad or trails (if wide enough for them), or private lands/etc., though.

If I could have a quad-wheel bike here, I would, because it would simplify lots of cargo situations enormously like a delta, while also allowing better stability in turns like a tadpole.

I don't know Doc's situation for sure, and couldn't quickly find the Alabama bicycle definition, so none of this may apply to him or his wife.

 

[docnjoj]

I believe it is 2 or 3 wheels here in LA (Lower Alabama) for bikes. I'm not sure about the electric bike part but we have been riding electric assist for about 10 years and no one has ever questioned it. The cops looked at the bikes when we were waiting for the ambulance last week and one said "I need one of those". They actually have a Segway for in town use.
otherDoc

 

[docnjoj]

Hey Whiteblade. Those quads are cool! Prolly a bit too high up which would mean she would be riding on 2 wheels a lot. She likes to go a little fast. Yeah the quad is all alloy so wouldn't want a front hub. Thank you for asking about Joyce. She is doing better and gets sutures removed tomorrow. The orthopod is counting on her swimming and bike riding (trikeriding) for rehab.

Mitch I saw those reviews of the Sun USX but the ones I have ridden felt pretty stable and if she goes over the wheels should offer better protection than the road! I think it is a fair compromise between the lowness of my trike and no vision over things and the height of the quad which looks like it would end up on 2 wheels a lot. Also we had that additional requirement that it had to go through the front door without rebuilding the door. The Sun does.
otherDoc

 

[docnjoj]

And here is the ebike grin back again!
As usual the installation took much more work than I thought it would but thats life. File dropouts, cut the wires so I could install the 2nd torque arm and connect the European limiter switch She had more than enough power from the 36 volt Ping in that 9C even with the 200 watt limit. Yes her knee hurts, but it is "good pain" she says. I never knew that there was such a thing.?
otherDoc for Joyce

 

[John in CR]

LA (Lower Alabama)

LOL! Now that's a funny one. I've got a good friend from Spring Hill, but I haven't heard that one.

 

[docnjoj]

We in Fairhope are almost as snobby as folks from Spring Hill, John!
otherDoc

 

[John in CR]

We in Fairhope are almost as snobby as folks from Spring Hill, John!
otherDoc

Sorry, I forgot he's from Fairhope and went to college at Spring Hill. Garraway is the family name.