Trike in the snow - quick video

[CopperBrompton]

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7jwdZ2V1M4


The buggers have gritted the industrial estate and cleared the car-parks of snow, so the only place left to play was my own road.

I tried a headcam first, but as it faced the direction I was looking rather than where the trike was pointing, it didn't really work! A botched trike-mounting didn't work, so finally I resorted to steering one-handed and holding the camera with my other hand. This, and the proximity to parked cars, explains my rather cautious speeds!

 

[ianrauk]

Lol you looney..
Looks top fun... makes me feel a bit peeved that I gave Auntie Helen's hubby's Trice back just before christmas..

 

[ttcycle]

Zippy corners!! That does look fun!

 

[Gromit]

I would love to use my trike in the snow, the major problem I have is leaving at college. Even in an Agricultural college bike thieves are around.

 

[Panter]

My God I want one

Nice vid, thanks for sharing

 

[Auntie Helen]

You want one Panter? There's one For Sale in the For Sale section. Although I'm using it this week whilst mine is being serviced...

 

[CopperBrompton]

The shenanigans with setting up the video did rather convince me that I want a POV.1:
http://www.vio-pov.com/products/pov_1.php

The harness system, allowing the camera to be shoulder-mounted, seems ideal, as you never have to worry about disconnecting anything when getting off the trike:
http://www.vio-pov.com/product_information/vio_chest_harness_gallery/

I think I shall treat myself to one in the Spring :-)

 

[fossyant]

Great !

 

[Wigsie]

Awesome Ben, nice one!

 

[Panter]

You want one Panter? There's one For Sale in the For Sale section. Although I'm using it this week whilst mine is being serviced...

Thank you, sadly though there is too wide a gulf between "I want one" and "I have the funds to aquire one without being throttled by my Wife"

 

[Globalti]

It looks too grippy! It's not drifting much despite your attempts to provoke it. I guess two wheels give good lateral reistance.

 

[bauldbairn]

Aye! Good video.

Just got a link to a site about a guy building a new Trice Q(I think) - very nice, unusual!

 

[CopperBrompton]

It looks too grippy!

Yes, it definitely doesn't slide much without being provoked.

The best way to get a slide is a handbrake turn, but that needs a bit more room than I have in my road. The car-park I was playing in before had been cleared, but it snowed again overnight so we shall see. :-)

 

[dellzeqq]

I'm very impressed. It shows that you can propel a cycle with skinny wheels - making a nonsense of those yard wide tyres on the X5 - and that, as Rigid Raider says, it's darn difficult to throw about.

The Brompton can be pedalled and will go forward, but if the front wheel hits a patch of ice it's soyanara. I can see a trike being a really good utility vehicle (and with Lee 1010 pedalling one it could double up as a guided missile) - it's just the lack of visibility that puts me off the idea.

 

[CopperBrompton]

I'm very impressed. It shows that you can propel a cycle with skinny wheels

Yep, though it's hard work, as you can't use the lowest gears (the rear wheel just spins) and there is some degree of slip while accelerating in any gear. They do corner very well, though - I was provoking the drifts by accelerating as I turned; without that, it Just Turns.

just the lack of visibility that puts me off the idea.

The lack of visibility is 95% myth. Yes, you wouldn't want to make a habit of going round Hyde Park Corner in the rush-hour on a trike (though I have done it), but most of the time drivers notice them more than ordinary bicycles as they are so unusual.

Most vehicles completely change lanes to overtake, and motorised traffic is generally cautious around trikes. I think it's partly that they don't see many, so pay attention, and partly there is that slight doubt in their minds about whether it's a disabled vehicle of some kind, and nobody wants to hit a disabled person!