Ice trike vortex performance

[Tango]

Has anyone had experience of an ice trikes vortex and a standard road bike.

As I get older I am starting to suffer with arthritis in my right thumb and the trike appears to put no pressure on the hands at all.

Would a rider on the vortex be much slower than they would on a standard road bike?

 

[byegad]

Depends on you and the route. If there's a lot of climbing with twisting descents, expect to be slower. If you are very fit and light expect to burn off roadies on the flat and leave them for dead down any kind of slope, while staying fairly close to them up hill. You will take anything from 200 to 2000 miles to get 'bent fit' as you use slightly different muscle groups.

I'm 62, overweight and average the same kinds of speeds over rolling rides on my QNT as I did 10 years ago on a Thorn Club Tour.

Climbing is slower on a recumbent, how much slower is down to the weight of the rider and trike. A Vortex is probably the fastest un-faired recumbent you can buy, Catrike make a fast trike, the 700 IIRC, and some very expensive Carbon trikes are lighter, but I'd guess there's not much difference between them at this level.

 

[ufkacbln]

Don't get hooked on a single model - yet

The Vortex, Catrike 700 and the faster designs are very low, and you need to use your hands and wrists to support you as you mount and dismount, equally if you have arthritic hips, knees etc then this rising can be an issue.

A taller trike can be better, if less aerodynamic

 

[Tango]

Some sensible thoughts,

I need to consider a few things.

I have been looking at a trike for a while, but need to consider storage, transportation, etc

As you can see from my signature, I currently use a Dawes galaxy and had been looking at getting a carbon road bike, but that would then give me two road bikes, albeit one a bit faster than the other.

Is there anywhere I could try a trike in the north west.

 

[lazytyke]

I ride an ICE Sprint RSX and my friend rides RSX and a Vortex, I also still ride an upright Road bike (Condor Fratello). If speed is the be all and end all the trikes won't be as fast as a road bike even the Vortex, but to be honest if you want to ride around at a CTC club run speed say 15-16 mph then you'll find you can do that all day on a Trike in amazing comfort. As other said hills are slower, but I don't think that much, they are certainly less effort ! One word of warning with the Vortex, lack of suspension saves weigh and gievs you a bit more speed but it makes for a rougher ride. The ICE sprints a very comfortable the Vortex less so.

 

[ufkacbln]

West Country Recumbents are not in fact in the West Country, but in East Yorkshire THey ar Greenspeed dealers, but the only ones close to you.
There are also dealers in Scotland, but that will depend where exactly you are.

Most of the dealers are in the Sarf!

 

[Tango]

I ride an ICE Sprint RSX and my friend rides RSX and a Vortex, I also still ride an upright Road bike (Condor Fratello). If speed is the be all and end all the trikes won't be as fast as a road bike even the Vortex, but to be honest if you want to ride around at a CTC club run speed say 15-16 mph then you'll find you can do that all day on a Trike in amazing comfort. As other said hills are slower, but I don't think that much, they are certainly less effort ! One word of warning with the Vortex, lack of suspension saves weigh and gievs you a bit more speed but it makes for a rougher ride. The ICE sprints a very comfortable the Vortex less so.

Interesting re the suspension

 

[Tango]

West Country Recumbents are not in fact in the West Country, but in East Yorkshire THey ar Greenspeed dealers, but the only ones close to you.
There are also dealers in Scotland, but that will depend where exactly you are.

Most of the dealers are in the Sarf!

I do sometimes get over to Derby so will look them up

 

[byegad]

The rear suspension of my QNT seized over the winter, damp shed and no riding for 8 weeks will do that. Now it's faster than ever. Rear suspension does soften power. I run 2" Big apples and comfort comes from the tyres anyway!

 

[AlanT82]

I don't have experience of the Vortex but I have a Sprint 26 with mesh seat and on a hilly route I am, on average, probably 3 to 4mph slower than I was on what I'd call a standard road bike - the flatter the route the smaller the difference. The Vortex would no doubt be faster than the Sprint but I didn't want an out and out race trike, I commute on my trike and a lot of the roads around here are pretty rough, so that's why I chose the Sprint (with 2" Big Apples like @byegad). The great thing about a trike is that you can ride all day with no aches and pains - as you say there is no weight on the hands or wrists.

 

[Tango]

I am real keen to spend a few hours on one to decide if its for me or not

 

[BlackPanther]

I have the Catrike 700 'R'. I've never ridden a Vortex, but they look pretty evenly matched on paper. Having commuted previously on a Specialized Allez roadbike for a year, I can say with certainty that the Catrike is faster. The Allez averaged 18mph , the Catrike 20mph on my daily 25 mile round trip. Here it is

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTHhN6HP5Fs


There's a lot said about recumbents being slow uphill, but in my experience it'd have to be one mightily steep hill to make me slower than on a roadbike. Yes, 2 wheelers suffer when you're forced down to walking speeds, and become impossible after that, but a trike can just keep on going in a low gear, especially a lightweight like the Vortex/Catrike. That said, if you want ultimate top speed, a 2 wheel 'bent is the best option (my Bacchetta Strada was even faster than the trike) but for all round performance, all round fun, and practicality/comfort (assuming you fit forgiving tyres) a sporty trike is the top of my list. Indeed, for the first time in many many years, I now have just one 'ride', and whilst I'd prefer the Vortex (mainly due to dealer support/spares availability) I'll stick with the Catrike for the foreseeable futre.

 

[steveindenmark]

I used to have an ICE trike but just could not get on with it and went back to an upright. Transporting and storing can be a PITA.

They are not for everyone and you need to borrow one for a while if you can. ICE build quality are excellent and messing about on a trike is good fun but get out and try one before you commit. Because as you will know, they are not cheap.

Have a look on YouTube for recumbent trike. There are some interesting clips.

Steve