Strange trike

[glasgowcyclist]

Last May we were in Mallorca when the Ironman was on and we saw this odd trike next to a couple of cargo bikes.

The ramps are too short to take a wheelchair but I can't think what else they would accommodate.

Any ideas?

 

[lenfield]

A pushchair?

 

[Seevio]

It's a device for flipping other trikes like in robot wars.

 

[ColinJ]

It does look a bit short to accommodate a wheelchair but that's what Google image search thinks it is for!

 

[glasgowcyclist]

It does look a bit short to accommodate a wheelchair but that's what Google image search thinks it is for!

Yes, it's way too short for that and whatever it is must either fit entirely on the flats or it'll be tipped forward all the time.

 

[mickle]

It's a very clever, and quite elderly wheelchair carrying tricycle. The handlebars drop backwards almost all the way to the floor and with it the platform, so that the chair can be rolled backwards up the shallow ramp and secured. Then the bars are raised, lifting the platform off the ground. The whole front end turns - wheelchair, passenger and all - to steer. And it's not as awful handling as you might imagine. I mean, it is awful, but.

I think it's an early Van Raam? or maybe a Nijland? I seem to remember that this was the first pedal thing I ever met that had a very clever adaptation of a coaster brake rear hub that operated as a brake quite normally, but then, once the behemoth had drawn to a stop, you could pedal it backwards for a reverse gear. Very canny. Very useful on such a heavy rig.

 

[mickle]

Note that the steering axis is behind the front wheel contact points, so it has a negative 'castor'. Not ideal, but not as awful as things like the Pashley Ice cream Truck whose steering axis is behind the box, and terrifying to ride at speeds in excess of 4mph. You can see the steering damper which is fitted to reduce the destablising effects of bump forces and uneven terrain on the handling.

The lever which drops the platform can be seen half way down the LH handlebar.

 

[mistyoptic]

and there was me thinking it was a pedal powered fork-lift

 

[glasgowcyclist]

It's a very clever, and quite elderly wheelchair carrying tricycle. The handlebars drop backwards almost all the way to the floor and with it the platform, so that the chair can be rolled backwards up the shallow ramp

I'd ruled out something like a wheelchair because I thought it would be tipped forward. On looking more closely I can see that the flats are actually dropped, meaning the rear wheels sit in ‘troughs’ and will be level with the fronts.

The lever which drops the platform can be seen half way down the LH handlebar.

I had spotted that part but thought it was maybe a handbrake until I saw where the cable went.

There were certainly plenty of disabled participants.