London on a KMX

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tdr1nka

Taking the biscuit
After a nasty incident with an angle grinder and my left knee, uprights became increasingly uncomfortable to ride.
After some searching and advice I decided to take the recumbent route to a happier knee and see what a man of small means might get for his groats.

All the bents I looked at were very different in design and mostly about 2k above my budget but by this time I had set my heart on a tadpole trike of some description. And then by fluke, in the same week that I seriously started my search, I found an ad on Gumtree for a KMX-X, used once and for about a quater of the full retail price. I arranged a test ride with the seller who had taken a serious spill while riding it off road and had been too scared to ride it again. I left my friend as deposit and took the KMX round the block several times before I noticed everyone was getting bored waiting for me. So I threw caution to the wind and bought it!

Apart from the school run(a tag-a-long tandem and my trusty old MTB)I go everywhere I can by trike.

It IS heavy, it is on average a noticeable 2-4 mph slower than my MTB(come the spring I intend to upgrade the chain set and get it better set for road riding).
At present, and as from new, the KMX is geared for off roading although the 'granny gears' are great for long hills which you can slowly, if not a bit surrealy, sail up grinning in anticipation of going down the otherside.

It is hilarious fun, I ride it in South London traffic and have found I get much more space and respect from car drivers. Mainly because they haven't got a clue what they're seeing or possibly the bright orange flag leads them to belive it to be a disabled chariot of some kind. Either way it's good to feel noticed on bike, something that doesn't apply to uprights.

Anyway, thats my burble, I'm new to this, I've achieved a lot on a low budget and I love it!

Best Wishes,

Tdr1nka x
 

yenrod

Guest
This sounds interesting - any pics ??????????????????
 
Welcome to the dark side o the DARK SIDE.

One warning............................























The Trike grin is permanent!
 
Keep an eye open to the upcoming events page of our website tdr1nka, starting around March every year we run Public Try-Out Roadshows which often have a Free Cycle-Surgery attached. We use KMXes in our roadshows and have about twelve of them at any one time. Because they are so popular with the public they get a lot of (ab)use so we have become adept at running them and servicing them. KMXes have their own particular foibles and we would be happy to advise you how to keep it running at its best. Spandex our Workshop Manager used to own one himself and I'm sure he'll be along in a bit to tell you all about his experiences with his.

The first bit of useful advice I can give you is to turn it over and check around the frame clamps for cracks, if they are badly abused they can fail at the point where the rear sub-frame tube telescopes into the front frame section under the seat.

www.companyofcyclists.com
 
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tdr1nka

tdr1nka

Taking the biscuit
Dear Mickle,

Many thanks for the advice, I've heard tell of poss frame failue and have toyed with the idea of drilling thru the section and having a locking pin as backup?

To everyone else, thanks for your replies and I'll post some piccies soon.

Nice One!

Tdr1nka x
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
What's your route, roughly? I ride Biggin Hill to Hyde Park a few times a week, either going via West Wickham, Crystal Palace and Clapham, or via the A21, Peckham, and the Oval.
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Hey, welcome! Yeah, trikes are fab - if I had somewhere nearer my flat to store mine, I'd ride it much more!

Note to self: New Years Resolution, get out on trike more.
 
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tdr1nka

tdr1nka

Taking the biscuit
Dear Arch,

Somehow Mrs.Tdr1nka and I have shoehorned 2 MTB's, 2 KMX's and the tag-a-long tandem into a one bed basement flat!
The trikes stand up flat against the wall with the back wheel locked and take up less room than the MTB's, then what I've lost in barking my shins against pedals in the hall I have gained in oppertunities to hit my head on them them instead!

There does need to be a certain amount of planning when leaving the flat with the trike aside from the fact it scares the cr*p out of the cat.

In answer to BentMikey, that's a good old run you do, so far I've not strayed much more than a 5 mile radius of New Cross on and around the A2.

I know the run thru Peckham to Victoria all too well, although the stretch of road between Peckham and Camberwell Art Collage is my least favourite in London and for any rider has lethal pothole potential. This is where I'm glad the KMX is so solid, I always dread that run on upright or trike!
Thanks to the bus lane Camberwell Green to Vauxhall can be great for a sprint but I always seem to get either Taxi's up my ar*e or busses that want to overtake just to pull in and stop right in front of me again.
There's a cuppa for you BentMikey if you want to refuel sometime.


Pedal Fast Die Young!

Tdr1nka x
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
Cheers for the offer of a cuppa! I may take you up on that some time. That bus lane is a goodun, isn't it? I don't like the lumpy tarmac section to Peckham either, horrible stuff.
 
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tdr1nka

tdr1nka

Taking the biscuit
Yeah, the wire wheels are lovely, Mrs. Tdr1nka has a standard KMX which has the plastic wheels and only 7 gears, but then she doesn't use it on the road either.

I need to do some saving as I need a complete block and chainset for the MTB and a street or hybrid chain ring set for the KMX.
I will ask Santa for a set of real skinny slicks. The tyres that come with the trike give terrible drag and do need ditching, after the wet weather maybe.

Up next I intend to fashion front mudguards from 3lt. plastic milk bottles!
Stay tuned.

Tdr1nka x
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
tdr1nka said:
Dear Arch,

Somehow Mrs.Tdr1nka and I have shoehorned 2 MTB's, 2 KMX's and the tag-a-long tandem into a one bed basement flat!
The trikes stand up flat against the wall with the back wheel locked and take up less room than the MTB's, then what I've lost in barking my shins against pedals in the hall I have gained in oppertunities to hit my head on them them instead!

That's impressive. There is a nice landing outside my (one room plus bathroom) flat, but being two floors up, I'd never get the trike up and down without tripping over and falling down stairs, or impaling myself on some bit or other. I keep my day to day bike downstairs in the lobby, but there just wouldn't be room for the trike down there. So it sits, probably sulking, in a lockup across town.:tongue:
 
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tdr1nka

tdr1nka

Taking the biscuit
I hear yer Arch,

What trike do you have?
Space was a secondary factor when I bought the trike but thank God I went for three wheels and not two as there would be nowhere practical to store a two wheel bent.

There are friends that I visit that live on 2nd floors and above and when lifts aren't working it is crazy carrying the KMX up and down stairs, like I'm lugging around my own crucifix or an enormous kite. As yet I haven't left the trike locked up anywhere not just for fear of it being stolen but more it being meddled with or broken.

The KMX has brought me kudos with the local hoodies as they either think it is incredibly cool or I must be a psychopath to be riding one in London!

A couple of nights ago I was waiting at some lights a Lotus Elise pulled along side me, the lady passenger was very interested in the trike but the driver looked a bit hacked off, probably as my riding position is a good 3 inches closer to the ground than his!!

Tdr1nka x
 
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