Tricycles

[Derek Smith]

My wife has a balance problem and is unable to ride a bicycle. I've been trying to find an adult tricycle that doesn't look like a self-powerd zimmer frame with shopping basket.

I like the idea of recumbents but my wife is more than a little cool on the subject. All she's after is something that looks adult not just through frame size.

Can anyone help?

[Uriel]

Seems to be a thing of the past, but you do get proper trike coversions for classiv road bikes, or purpose built ones. They show up on ebay now and again.

There is this on there at the moment - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/George-Longstaff-tricycle-tr...


http://www.freewheels.co.uk/recumbents_150110.htm

http://www.flickriver.com/groups/1063134@N22/pool/...

Edited by Uriel on Monday 16th May 08:38

[Derek Smith]

Thnaks for that. That's just what I was looking for.

Derek

[shalmaneser]

Pashley still make trikes but they do look a bit 'more tea, vicar?'.

http://www.pashley.co.uk/

[Mr Will]

This might be a silly suggestion, but if it is so you can go cycling together, would a tandem do the trick?

[DrMekon]

If you'd prefer two wheels at the front, then you want a Newton trike

http://www.roman-road.co.uk/trikes/index.htm

We have a trike (not a Newton), but it's for cargo. It is an absolute hoot. So well balanced, I can even ride on two wheels with a kid in the front. It's suggested max load in the box is 150kg. I've had 125kg in the front, and done 35kph downhill. Still really stable. God it for my wife to cart our kids about in, as she can't drive (failed her test umpteen times). It's been brilliant.

.

[Derek Smith]

Mr Will said:

This might be a silly suggestion, but if it is so you can go cycling together, would a tandem do the trick?

My wife doesn't want to take the lead and the option , she feels, has a poor outlook.

[DrMekon]

If she really doesn't like recumbents, that's a shame as the ICE trikes are amazing. The handling is incredible. However, the Nihola trike has similar steering geometry, and is meant to be a very capable tourer. Not cheap, mind.

http://www.practicalcycles.com/page49.htm

[ShredderXLE]

Private commission?

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[MikeTiger]

Suggest you look at this site

www.tricycleassociation.org.uk/Tricyclingforthedis...

Edited by MikeTiger on Monday 16th May 19:11

Edited by MikeTiger on Monday 16th May 19:12

[James_N]

Hope you dont mind me butting in here, but Im pretty much looking for the same thing. Im 27 and have Cerebal Palsy, so balancing on anything 2 wheeled is a no no! I just fall straight off it.

I only live 2.5 miles from work, so im looking for something i could possibly ride to work, it would be nice if it was electricly powered as well.

My main issue is riding it on the roads. Some roads round here, normal 2 wheeled bikes get in the way, let alone a trike! Im not entirely comfortable with riding on the roads. Id be heading to work at 06:00 in the morning, so its not so bad using the roads / paths at that time in the morning, but coming back at 3pm its likely to be busier!

I can take a few backroads and use the paths, but for the most part, theres no cycle paths!

I know riding on footpaths is frowned upon, but as long as your not furiously cycling at pedestrians and being sensible, how much do the police care?

Id love to be able to ride a bike to and from work and round the local area, and as most of my driving is done in and around town in the car, a bike would save me a fortune in fuel!

Cheers
James

[Mars]

Few of the trikes pictured have a differential, which means only one wheel is powered. I would have thought this would be quite irritating when riding one but as at least two have a diff, and upgrade seems possible.

One of the diffs appears "conventional" compared with an automotive diff (the one on Ebay), where one from that link with loads of trikes pictured uses a very complex-but-fascinating Campagnolio chain-drive differential.


To the chap above ^^^ Many of the previously designated "footpaths" in my area have been reclassified as combined foot & cycle paths which seems a very pragmatic approach given that:

1. Cars/motor-vehicles impact upon cycles far more than cycles do on pedestrians (yes, there are exceptions)
2. The amount of foot-traffic is absolutely minimal in most suburban environments these days

You should perhaps campaign for your council to adopt a similarly pragmatic reclassification programme in your area. Where I live (Redditch) we now have literally hundreds of miles of cycle paths - many of which are nowhere near to roads (footpaths in "new towns" often describe a completely different route to the roads).

Good luck.

[Mars]

P.S. I would have thought that hydraulic disc brakes would solve the problem of braking the rear wheels (using a T-piece - dead easy to implement), and would provide enough stopping power for the fronts (have you noticed how many of those trikes have two lots of rim brakes on the front wheels?).