Building a recumbent trike

[rtz]

Was looking at these. Sure they are nice. Expensive too.

Recumbent Trikes

Recumbent trikes are 3-wheel adult bikes with laid-back seats. Riding a recumbent with three wheels alleviates many pain points that many riders have while riding a regular 2-wheel bicycle including balance, fatigue, joint pain, and more. Laid Back Cycles is the top recumbent tricycle dealer on...

laidbackcycles.com

That got me looking at these. Has anyone here built one? I want to put an ebike kit on it.

ChopZone / AtomicZombie DIY Recumbent Trike Plans

Download Easy to Follow Plans for Recumbent Trikes and E-Bikes

www.chopzone.com

 

[amberwolf]

I haven't built one of the AZ trikes, but I have built the SB Cruiser (not from plans, but by experiment; see signature link) and am designing another based on what I learned from SBC.

Which type of trike and design you should build will depend on what you want to use it for, under what conditions, at what speeds, etc. The more detail you post about that the more useful the advice we can give will be.

You may find that a "kit" doesn't do what you want, or won't work on a specific design, so you may have to pick and choose specific components to do the job you want and have the specific features and functions you want. So...here also, the more detail you post about that the more useful the advice we can give will be.

 

[PaPaSteve]

Electric Assist Recumbent bicycles

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[ccihon]

There have been kits and plans for recumbents for a long time, and I have at times been interested in them. If you have the experience, tools, and knowledge, I think some of the frame variations I have seen would be nice. In my case, I motorized a commercially available aluminum frame trike, and have really liked the way it works. Sourcing a used trike or trike frame might be a way to shortcut to a ride. I would make sure the frame you source or build is strong enough to handle the extra weight an loads (wheels, brakes, other parts too). Suspension and/or compliant tires are helpful on these low slung things with three contact patches, and no real way to get off the seat. The ICE trikes you link to from laidbackcycles are among the nicer ones out there, and also expensive. The reality is I have seen more of those for sale (steel frame ones) with broken frames than others. If I were doing it again - as a wealthier man - I would motorize the HP Velo Scorpion FS20.