a.twiddler
Veteran
I'm more of a 2 wheel sort of guy, but bought a Sinner recumbent delta trike over a year ago out of curiosity. I suppose the nearest comparison would be a Kettweisel, having underseat steering. It's pretty low for a delta trike, obviously not as low as the lowest tadpole trikes. It's fairly narrow track, and I was expecting all sorts of steering peculiarities after reading about riders' experiences with more conventional upright trikes. Reassuringly, there have been no problems at all in that department.
One thing that was hard to get used to has been the effect of camber, not on the steering, but being tilted left while proceeding straight ahead. Felt twinges in my neck and back from this unexpected feature, but I expect it's something you adapt to. Those square speed humps which you wriggle through on a 2 wheeler are something I don't enjoy, just have to take the least worst line. Same thing with potholes. With a single track vehicle you hit the same unavoidable bump twice but with a trike having 3 tracks, again you have to take the least worst line. Fortunately it has rear suspension which helps take the sting out of them, and the front wheel is lightly loaded.
I recently had a drum brake fitted to the front wheel, which I thought might not have much effect due to the aforementioned light loading but surprisingly it feels really planted when stopping now. 3 wheels, 3 brakes, 4 actually if you include the parking brake.
I would think the biggest drawback compared to a 2 wheeler is getting up hills. It responds to the smallest incline, gaining speed easily downhill, running well on the flat, but the slightest uphill has you reaching for the gear changer. You just have to develop the right mindset and pedal steadily in low gears until you reach the top. I've lowered the gearing from the original to make it more comfortable on hills. I can see the attraction of an electric motor set up.
As for comfort, the original set up was too reclined for me, but the previous owner had modified it to be a little more upright, and I've made a home made headrest to improve on the original to suit me. It's quite comfortable now. Perhaps in the future I might go for the full recline though compared with my 2 wheeled recumbent it feels like a luge already.
I've read a lot about foot suck on tadpole trikes but it's not such an issue on a delta. Still, It might be something to think about, using SPDs or similar. There's no need to put a foot down when you stop on a trike.
After riding 2 wheels for years I had concerns about rolling a trike but although the G forces when cornering downhill still feel alien to me and make me cautious I've had no alarming moments so far. Tadpole trikes are reputed to be more stable than deltas, but I'm not that fast on it.
I had a nice ride on frozen snow the other day and I couldn't get it to misbehave even when weaving and braking inappropriately. It was an enjoyable experience crunching along, knowing that I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much on 2 wheels.
One thing that was hard to get used to has been the effect of camber, not on the steering, but being tilted left while proceeding straight ahead. Felt twinges in my neck and back from this unexpected feature, but I expect it's something you adapt to. Those square speed humps which you wriggle through on a 2 wheeler are something I don't enjoy, just have to take the least worst line. Same thing with potholes. With a single track vehicle you hit the same unavoidable bump twice but with a trike having 3 tracks, again you have to take the least worst line. Fortunately it has rear suspension which helps take the sting out of them, and the front wheel is lightly loaded.
I recently had a drum brake fitted to the front wheel, which I thought might not have much effect due to the aforementioned light loading but surprisingly it feels really planted when stopping now. 3 wheels, 3 brakes, 4 actually if you include the parking brake.
I would think the biggest drawback compared to a 2 wheeler is getting up hills. It responds to the smallest incline, gaining speed easily downhill, running well on the flat, but the slightest uphill has you reaching for the gear changer. You just have to develop the right mindset and pedal steadily in low gears until you reach the top. I've lowered the gearing from the original to make it more comfortable on hills. I can see the attraction of an electric motor set up.
As for comfort, the original set up was too reclined for me, but the previous owner had modified it to be a little more upright, and I've made a home made headrest to improve on the original to suit me. It's quite comfortable now. Perhaps in the future I might go for the full recline though compared with my 2 wheeled recumbent it feels like a luge already.
I've read a lot about foot suck on tadpole trikes but it's not such an issue on a delta. Still, It might be something to think about, using SPDs or similar. There's no need to put a foot down when you stop on a trike.
After riding 2 wheels for years I had concerns about rolling a trike but although the G forces when cornering downhill still feel alien to me and make me cautious I've had no alarming moments so far. Tadpole trikes are reputed to be more stable than deltas, but I'm not that fast on it.
I had a nice ride on frozen snow the other day and I couldn't get it to misbehave even when weaving and braking inappropriately. It was an enjoyable experience crunching along, knowing that I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much on 2 wheels.