Electric Tricycles Steering & Gears

[Aurora]

Hi Folks,

So this is my second and I think most important post so thank you in advance for any and all help I can get.

As a complete newbie to all this cycling malarkey I probably have the dumbest questions ever! Lol

So I'm in my mid 40s and last time I was on a bike I was under 10 years old I do remember the last time as I was going down a wee incline and breaked and did a somersault- ouch! I still recall the bike too, it was an orange Raleigh. I do also remember riding a tricycle and preferred that but the parents wouldn't get me one.

I have some health issues as I've said previously which means I'm looking to buy an electric trike. I can't drive a car so it will be amazing to have some freedom! I've never had that before!

I was feeling confident about the whole thing until I came across some google posts about how much trouble people had with steering and having it pull left or right depending on the cambrence of the road etc. I'm now more than a bit concerned as I would not have the strength to 'wrestle' a bike constantly... I guess I assumed I would just hop on and off I would go!

So is the steering thing as big an issue as I've read about? Are there any tricycle brands that are better than others with this issue? I was looking at a powatryke as I definitely need something with the pure power option although I prefer the look of the Jorvik ones.

Also I've never ridden a bike with gears before, how does that work? Yeah I know that's probably the stupidest question anyone has ever asked in these forums before lol!

So yeah Don't laugh too much folks!

 

[TheDoctor]

Hello and

There is indeed a knack to steering a trike, and it's this.
You steer a trike by steering, whereas you steer a bike by leaning, with a bit of counter-steering to initiate the lean.
Experienced cyclists will invariably crash a trike a few times before they twig this. Non-cyclists generally have no problems.
For electric trikes @mickle is your man. Shame you're not near York, as his workplace could probably let you try some.
But getting used to a trike is no great drama. I use one sometimes for shopping, and my first ride on it was collecting it and riding it fifteen miles home. It took a while...

 

[Aurora]

Hello and thank you. That sounds pretty simple to me, - the steering thing. It's a bit like riding a horse then! Not that I've done that in years but I did drive a pony and trap for many years too and there's no leaning involved- comparing it to something I've done that sounds similar!

The whole leaning thing is where I would end up falling off a normal bike so there's still hope for me yet!

So when the people were talking about the tricycle pulling towards the kerb I wonder what they meant..?

 

[mickle]

Powatrike and Jorvic trikes are 'to be avoided'.

Give me a call if you want and I'll talk you through it.

01904 636 812 ask for mick

 

[TheDoctor]

Well, I wouldn't say it's a pull towards the kerb, as such, but you do notice the camber on the road.
I never found it a problem. I learned how to ride a trike at cycling try-out sessions (including one where I met @mickle!), but my first time on a road was going from Peterborough to Huntingdon. It really wasn't an issue, apart from the thing being heavier than my usual bike and having the aerodynamics of a baby elephant.

 

[Aurora]

Powatrike and Jorvic trikes are 'to be avoided'.

Give me a call if you want and I'll talk you through it.

01904 636 812 ask for mick

Thanks when would suit?

 

[Aurora]

Well, I wouldn't say it's a pull towards the kerb, as such, but you do notice the camber on the road.
I never found it a problem. I learned how to ride a trike at cycling try-out sessions, but my first time on a road was going from Peterborough to Huntingdon. It really wasn't an issue, apart from the thing being heavier than my usual bike and having the aerodynamics of a baby elephant.

Brilliant!

 

[raleighnut]

Trikes are easy to ride once you've realised that they're nothing like a 2 wheeler. My trike has been fantastic over 3yrs of ownership but it isn't an 'off the shelf' machine, I'd bought the trike for physiotherapy after snapping my femur and quickly realised that whilst I was OK on the ridge my house is located on I couldn't get back up the hill once I'd got off it so purchased an electric front wheel conversion kit.
The conversion wasn't easy but due to me previously having worked as a car/bike mechanic and building/rebuilding my own cycles since 1971 no problems could not be solved (although a bit of lateral thought went into the solutions)

As others have said @mickle is the best qualified on here to advise.

 

[TheDoctor]

Thinking about it, with trikes you have the camber coming into play, but you also have only one driven wheel, which is (obviously) somewhat off-centre.
These two things might cancel each other out, in ideal circumstances. I have no idea if trikes in left-hand drive countries have the other wheel driven.
I tried working out the forces involved and got a headache that could only be cured with ethanol-based medication

 

[mickle]

Thanks when would suit?

Sort of office hours type thing.

 

[Salar]

I recently treated my better half to an electric trike to allow her to ride with me again. She had an accident a few years ago, breaking her leg in a couple of places requiring lots of titanium which put her off riding on two wheels and now cannot ride continuously.

After a few hours riding in a quiet area and some sound advice from @raleighnut she has mastered the technique, the trikes do seem to pull to one side and camber does have an effect, but you learn to compensate for it.

As already stated you steer them, completely different from a two wheeler. Going at a slow pace also looks elegant.
And, don't put your feet down when you stop.

Me? I had a go, first time I tried it being too clever, having never ridden a trike I nearly ended up in a deep ditch!

 

[steveindenmark]

This would solve your problem, maybe.

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/another-20-wheeled-e-trike.207892/post-4824929

 

[Aurora]

Sort of office hours type thing.

Thank you for the chat, I Appreciate the help Mick!

 

[Aurora]

This would solve your problem, maybe.

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/another-20-wheeled-e-trike.207892/post-4824929

That looks really scary! I'm guessing you would be pretty close to th ground, and with cars wizzing past me I'd need a nappy or two!!

 

[raleighnut]

That looks really scary! I'm guessing you would be pretty close to th ground, and with cars wizzing past me I'd need a nappy or two!!

Nah, car drivers tend to see them and think 'WTF is that'