Catrike 700 ordered in Hyper Yellow

[busa5504]

Great looking trike, grats

 

[PaulM]

I pootled around the neighbourhood yesterday on it, and have ridden it to work today sans flag and mirrors. I've got the gearing and the boom length just right I think. I'm still not sure about the headrest position - noticed that it's pressing on the mudguard. There's little clearance between the tyre, the mudguard and the headrest so more tweaking needed here. It felt strange going back to cleats and I think they need adjusting too, I also need to revisit the luggage options. I have the Arkel framebags but went with the throwover ICE side pods today which worked fine on my Catrike Speed but somehow don't fit the 700 as well.

Comfort is ok with the Duranos set at 70 psi and the trike responds well when you give it some wellie

 

[PaulM]

Got caught in the rain cycling home yesterday. Rear mudguard kept repositioning itself and rubbing. The Planet Bike fenders used plastic thumb screws to alter the stay length. When I got home I used some pliers on the plastic screws (carefully). We'll see how that goes. I don't think it's a clever design.

Also set the headrest bracket more vertically to reduce pressure on the mudguard, and moved the headrest pad rearwards on the bracket - there are 3 positions for the headrest on the bracket. Remounted the Arkel framebags. They're pretty small on the 700 but I managed to get tools and enough bits in there for the ride to work this morning. I have the pump and a 20" inner tube in the seat pockets.

I think I might put the off-side mirror back on. Whilst I've been happy using an eyeware mirror on two wheeled bents, a fixed mirror as well on the trike might be useful. Having said that, it's going to catch muck from the front tyre. Will also move the bars further from the kingpins, I'm finding the steering a little stiff and over-geared which gave me some instability when hitting 40 on a downhill this morning.

 

[PaulM]

Now the distraction of Christmas is over, I can start riding the trike again. So last night I put the right hand mirror on, moved the grips away from the kingpins, lowered the neck-rest and rigged up a throwover bag support on the chain side of the frame. All of these adjustments proved to be beneficial. Must say I like the moderate BB height, it suits me well. I felt more at home with it today though the neck-rest is not exactly comforable. I needed to lift my head off the rest when crashing through rough sections of road at 30 mph.The rear mudguard clattered a bit but seems to have held postion today. I'd say I'm using the rest about 30% of the time to a greater or lesser degree - most of the time only lightly. I will probably switch the front Duranos for a spare pair of Marathon Racers I have. I'd like to try a pair of Shreddas but perhaps that is best left to the summer.

I'm still impressed with the responsiveness even though I can't say it's a light weight machine.

 

[steveindenmark]

I expect I'm gonna have a problem with my varifocals. I think I'll need new glasses.

I wonder if you can get glasses that can swivel on the horizontal. That may solve the problem.

 

[PaulM]

So far I've not felt the need for new glasses. I have my head pretty close to vertical (even when resting my head on the neck-rest it's quite close to vertical) so am not looking through the bottom third of the lenses at least.

 

[PaulM]

I've ordered a Lazer Blade Aeroshell helmet to get even more speed . Actually, it's because it has the roll-sys adjustment fitting and I'm hoping there will be less interference with the head-rest compared to having the usual tightening wheel at the neck. The Aeroshell clip on is a bonus.

I'm getting used to it now. I like the long wheelbase. The trike rides like a racing machine, it has a nice taught feel. Love the feel as I power over the bumps.

 

[PaulM]

Loving the Laser Blade Aeroshell. Kept my head nice and warm, and more room at the back to accomodate the head-rest:

review here: http://road.cc/content/review/161935-lazer-blade-helmet-aero-shell

 

[PaulM]

Whilst I think of it, sizing of the Blade Helmet was strange. I'm on the small side of medium but the medium was only just long enough for me fore-aft. Maybe it's designed for rounder heads.

 

[PaulM]

I had the chain come off the big ring on the way home tonight and get wedged between the ring and the chain guard. It took me half an hour in the cold and dark to free it. It was really stuck in more than one place and the RD was in 3rd gear at the back so I couldn't get much slack on the chain to try and work it free at the front. Fortunately I kept my cool and managed to pull it free without damaging it or hurting myself. It would be better if there wasn't a big enough gap between the large ring and the chain guard for the chain to disappear into . I will turn the limit screw a fair bit before I next ride.

 

[markg0vbr]

Also a old plastic light bracket mounted on the dirailor post will stop it jumping of the small ring and rubbing the bb.
The long chain length and bouncing along on rough roads is the problem.

when riding in the wet, a zip up rain jacket put on back to front may make you look like you are going to the funny farm but keeps your arms dry from the spray coming of the fron tyres, if the rain stops you can pull the front down keeping you cool but still protecting your arms from spray.

Helmets are a pain with the neck rest remember it is not a head rest if it is in the correct position.

 

[PaulM]

Photos showing the bag support I rigged:
https://flic.kr/p/D7xAsV
https://flic.kr/p/DcvyjL

bag support 1

• PaulM
• 17 Jan 2016

bag support 2

• PaulM
• 17 Jan 2016

 

[Smokin Joe]

Without being funny that chain does look a tad slack. From the photos it looks to be running very close to the top jockey wheel.

 

[PaulM]

It's ok, there's no chain wrap - it's still under tension. With a 11-36 cassette and 30-40-52 chain rings the RD only just manages the 47T capacity. I'm ok unless I have to adjust the boom.

 

[BlackPanther]

when riding in the wet, a zip up rain jacket put on back to front may make you look like you are going to the funny farm but keeps your arms dry from the spray coming of the fron tyres, if the rain stops you can pull the front down keeping you cool but still protecting your arms from spray.

Good idea, never thought of that. It would also stop the sweaty back.

That's why these Forums are great!