London on a KMX

[ufkacbln]

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

At this time of year it is worth having something chunky on the rear as slicks can "spin" on wet leaves or ice. Trikes are superb in these conditions as you simply slide rather than fall off, but as the force you exert can be much greater a grip in bad conditions is more inportant than speed.

 

[tdr1nka]

Dear Cunobelin.

The KMX came with Hookworm fat semi slicks but the previous owner put a wide knobbly on the back and I have balanced the breaks so the rear wheel no longer locks or drift out to the right as it was doing when I first got it!
The tyres at the mo are ok for the wet and will see me thru until next spring when I fully intend to start getting the miles up again and will replace the set with some tyres that give just a little less traction.

Thanks again,

Tdr1nka x

 

[ufkacbln]

Must admit after some years of experimenting I settled on Schwalbe Marathon all round on the Trice, and have upgraded to the Marathon Plus on the Catrike

A good compromise between speed, grip and puncture proofing.

The guys who make KMX are local to here (Portchester) and I have photos of my Niece on one ofthe prototypes.

 

[tdr1nka]

I've spoken to the couple who started the KMX and they have been very friendly and helpful. They were quite astonished to find I was road riding it in London!

T x

 

[BentMikey]

I've spoken to the couple who started the KMX and they have been very friendly and helpful. They were quite astonished to find I was road riding it in London!

T x

They are really nice people! I bought miniMikey's KMX K class at the cycle show a couple of years ago, and they were great, even cut down the boom for me and sent another one free for when he gets taller.

 

[tdr1nka]

While researching trikes I was always drawn to KMX, not only because of my budget but they had a sense of really enjoying their product whereas superior machines, for all their beautiful tech spec, mind melting geometry, choice of colour etc, are being sold to me much in the way cars are.

Plus the fact they are astutely business aware, British and very friendly!

Tdr1nka x

 

[Jacomus-rides-Gen]

It is all about going for what you are drawn to - if your heart doesn't like the machine, you will never get the enjoyment out of it, no matter how good it is.

 

[tdr1nka]

Don't get me wrong Jacomus, I'm sure if I had enough funds I would be screaming around on a maybe better machine.
Still, today I rode the trike to my daughters Nativity play at school and had an impromptue Q&A in the playground afterwards the gasps of amazement when they see me out riding on the KMX are worth it.

T x

 

[Arch]

Must admit after some years of experimenting I settled on Schwalbe Marathon all round on the Trice, and have upgraded to the Marathon Plus on the Catrike

A good compromise between speed, grip and puncture proofing.

The guys who make KMX are local to here (Portchester) and I have photos of my Niece on one ofthe prototypes.

Yup, we met them when we did a roadshow in Portsmouth a the end of the epic "9 shows in 9 days in 9 cities" Bikeweek of 2001. We'd been frustrated in some places because little kids couldn't use our adult recumbent trikes, (mostly for safety reasons, they couldn't reach the pedals enough to get a good grip) and these guys were doing a demo and said "can we put a couple of our kids trikes on your track?" and we were really pleased, coz it meant loads of kids could have a go. At the end of the day they said "We're hoping to go into production, do you reckon it's a good idea?" We certainly did...

Tdr1nka, I have an old Trice, from the Crystal Engineering days, pre-ICE. It's been tinkered with a bit to suit me, and needs a bit more tweaking really, but it got me 300 miles through France two years ago, and hopefully, will do double that again this summer.

A few pics:
The trike:

I'd just fitted the SPDs:

I like this, it makes me look fast:

With a borrowed Down Low Glow, doing my best to do donuts in a pub carpark:

 

[tdr1nka]

Arch,
Great pics!
Love the down low glo, I have wanted one to match the blue LED valve caps that I have on all 3 wheels!

I'll ask Mrs. Tdr1nka to take some action pix of the full illuminated KMX!

T x

 

[tdr1nka]

p.s. Looking at your lovely Trice has made me realise I have work to do on the KMX, namely some fixed front light/lights at the end of the pedal boom and some extra padding in my seat to set my riding position up just a little more!

This summer had been mainly about gently building my ouched knee back up to speed, so no long runs, holidays or commuting.
The main thing is that the trike has definately improved the use of the knee, whereas the MTB was becoming miserable to ride and was seriously putting me off cycling.

I can't wait to put the trike on a train next spring and get out of London and onto some open roads again!

T x

 

[tdr1nka]

More pics

View attachment 254

As space ran out in the house, everyone was climbing the walls.........

View attachment 255

A 6' tall man on a trike setup for 5' tall man.......

View attachment 256

I was asked on a U.S. trike forum if I'd taken the KMX off road, I sent him this picture!


T x

 

[ufkacbln]

Two things .......

Arch - was that the one at "Gunwharf" if so - one of your guys borrowed my Street Machine to play with on your track, and I think we had a convertasion about the kids in Paulsgrove or Cosham....


Secondly there is a guy called "LeeW" who frequents BikeRadar - he had a KMX which he heavily modified. It might be worthwhile pinging him for ideas

 

[NickM]

...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...

...because he suspected that she suspected that you have bigger cojones than him

 

[Arch]

Two things .......

Arch - was that the one at "Gunwharf" if so - one of your guys borrowed my Street Machine to play with on your track, and I think we had a convertasion about the kids in Paulsgrove or Cosham....

Yes it was. I wonder which of our chaps it was. Do you remember what he looked like?

I remember when we turned up the centre manager was really snooty, think he thought we were scruffy hippies, made us park our van on a tarp so as not to make oilstains, kept trying to tell us how to set up, until Tom told him we'd done it 9 times in 9 days, and knew what we were doing, whereupon he stalked off, looking like retired military, and muttering a bit.

End of the day, he came over and said he'd been watching us on CCTV all day and was amazed how hard we worked, never stopped for lunch or anything. We were quietly pleased...