Trikes.....a general safety question.

[a.twiddler]

I'm more of a 2 wheel sort of guy, but bought a Sinner recumbent delta trike over a year ago out of curiosity. I suppose the nearest comparison would be a Kettweisel, having underseat steering. It's pretty low for a delta trike, obviously not as low as the lowest tadpole trikes. It's fairly narrow track, and I was expecting all sorts of steering peculiarities after reading about riders' experiences with more conventional upright trikes. Reassuringly, there have been no problems at all in that department.

One thing that was hard to get used to has been the effect of camber, not on the steering, but being tilted left while proceeding straight ahead. Felt twinges in my neck and back from this unexpected feature, but I expect it's something you adapt to. Those square speed humps which you wriggle through on a 2 wheeler are something I don't enjoy, just have to take the least worst line. Same thing with potholes. With a single track vehicle you hit the same unavoidable bump twice but with a trike having 3 tracks, again you have to take the least worst line. Fortunately it has rear suspension which helps take the sting out of them, and the front wheel is lightly loaded.

I recently had a drum brake fitted to the front wheel, which I thought might not have much effect due to the aforementioned light loading but surprisingly it feels really planted when stopping now. 3 wheels, 3 brakes, 4 actually if you include the parking brake.

I would think the biggest drawback compared to a 2 wheeler is getting up hills. It responds to the smallest incline, gaining speed easily downhill, running well on the flat, but the slightest uphill has you reaching for the gear changer. You just have to develop the right mindset and pedal steadily in low gears until you reach the top. I've lowered the gearing from the original to make it more comfortable on hills. I can see the attraction of an electric motor set up.

As for comfort, the original set up was too reclined for me, but the previous owner had modified it to be a little more upright, and I've made a home made headrest to improve on the original to suit me. It's quite comfortable now. Perhaps in the future I might go for the full recline though compared with my 2 wheeled recumbent it feels like a luge already.

I've read a lot about foot suck on tadpole trikes but it's not such an issue on a delta. Still, It might be something to think about, using SPDs or similar. There's no need to put a foot down when you stop on a trike.

After riding 2 wheels for years I had concerns about rolling a trike but although the G forces when cornering downhill still feel alien to me and make me cautious I've had no alarming moments so far. Tadpole trikes are reputed to be more stable than deltas, but I'm not that fast on it.

I had a nice ride on frozen snow the other day and I couldn't get it to misbehave even when weaving and braking inappropriately. It was an enjoyable experience crunching along, knowing that I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much on 2 wheels.

 

[presta]

Cant get my head around a recumbent....they just dont look comfy.

They look like neck ache on wheels to me, but I've never tried one. My nearest experience of that sort of position is driving with the seat reclined a bit too far, and I can't stick it.

 

[a.twiddler]

They look like neck ache on wheels to me, but I've never tried one. My nearest experience of that sort of position is driving with the seat reclined a bit too far, and I can't stick it.

There are a lot of different types of upright bicycles but they all have one thing in common. Your weight is distributed between the pressure points of the saddle, hands, and pedals. Despite the drawbacks of having these pressure points a properly adjusted bike can be quite comfortable. It is actually easier to balance if your head is a long way from the ground as your balance mechanism detects movement more quickly. A lot is made of the hazards of cycle accidents, which are actually pretty rare, but the most likely scenario due to the high centre of gravity is that in the event of an accident or panic braking you would go over the bars and land head first.

There are a lot of different types of recumbent bikes but they all have one thing in common. Your weight is spread over a wider area of a more or less reclined seat. Your hands have little weight on them, and your feet only have the pressure of propelling the pedals. The more relaxed recumbents tend to have less reclined seats, the more speed orientated ones generally have more recline. The more reclined, the more you need neck support. More upright recumbents tend to be easier to learn to ride, but the main thing is comfort. Like anything new, you have to give yourself time to learn how to adjust it to suit you, and how to manage it. "Never tried one" is what many who criticise recumbents tend to admit, though it's often hard to find one to try in the first place. And like anything, there are those who find it's not for them. For me, I found a new world of cycling. My once comfy upright tourer became uncomfortable for longer trips despite raising the bars and other adustments, with various aches and pains developing. Buying the recumbent solved that for me, and I can do longer distances in comfort.
One of the features of a recumbent is that your feet arrive before the rest of you. In the event of an accident, theoretically feet and legs are better shock absorbers than your head. It is probably more likely that you would slide off sideways.

Trikes give you the same sort of experience, with the advantage that they are easy to learn to ride, even if you've never ridden a bicycle. It takes the need to balance out of the equation. In fact, it might be easier if you haven't ridden a bike, as you don't need to unlearn skills that you might have used for years. If you add a motor, that gives you another dimension.

 

[numbnuts]

Horses for course - you can not compare a trike to any other vehicle

 

[AndyBa]

Re toppling over, never been an issue. My KMX is very low.

Re comfort it's probably about making sure the seat/boom is correctly set-up since one size doesn't fit all. Also having bigger profile tyres to absorb the bumps.

I'd certainly recommend toe clips since gravity will make your feet drop to the ground if they slip off the pedals and that could be disastrous.

I've only ever used mine on a main road once and that was when the roads were closed for Sheffield Skyride. It highlighted what a commute would be like if there was a traffic free level route to work. Unfortunately too dangerous for me on busy city streets of Sheffield.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Cant get my head around a recumbent....they just dont look comfy.

Whaaaaaaat?

 

[a.twiddler]

Whaaaaaaat?

Whaaaaaaat? Indeed!

 

[cwskas]

One other thing to be aware of . . . if you are taking a picture on the trike face on, it makes you look fat!

But proper framing and context helps.

And the best part . . . short nap time!

 

[raleighnut]

Can't comment on Tadpoles or Recumbents but on 'upwrongs' I have 10yrs experience (see Avatar for mine) basically forget everything you know about riding a bike, some tips,

• Never put your feet down unless getting off or pushing back to manouver
• Do not try to keep the Trike upright, move your body on slopes to balance
• In corners keep as much weight on the inside pedal as possible
• Enter corners quite slowly and for gawds sake don't brake whilst turning, if you are going too fast then straighten up before braking if possible.

 

[PaulM]

Without boring you too much, suffering from long covid has robbed my balance and much of my strength.
In the hope I feel up to in by spring I am (mentally) exploring electric trikes.
I have read worrying comments about them rolling over...... not good if my balance is dodgy.
Any up to date thoughts on this ??

I wouldn't even want to try an upright trike. The thought fills me with terror.

 

[PMarkey]

Upright trikes are great fun but they will bite if you get over confident (Don't ask how I know) and you need to move about a bit when cornering especially at speed

 

[raleighnut]

I wouldn't even want to try an upright trike. The thought fills me with terror.

Nah they're great, you can scare yourself witless at 15.5 MPH on the flat (electric assist limit) and as for going down a big hill

 

[TheDoctor]

Upright trikes are fine as long as you don't expect anything to work like a bike.
Bikes turn by leaning, whereas trikes turn by steering.
Even worse, often you start a bike leaning by a small countersteer. Try that on a trike and you're in the hedge. DAMHIKT.
The easiest way to get your weight in the right place for turning a trike is to keep the inside pedal down.
This is counterintuitive, to say the least.
'bent trikes, OTOH, are so alien and different that they aren't easily confused with a bike. First 'bent I tried, an old ICE trike IIRC, I rode for six miles with no problems.

 

[grldtnr]

If your a complete nooby to trikes , then recumbent tadpoles are really quiet safe, but saying that I have''rolled' 3 in over 30 yrs riding them, first time was on an out and out performance trike the Mike Burrows 'Windcheeter', why the dealer thought it a good idea to let me have go I'll never know.
The 2nd time was on my Pete Ross Trice, I got it completely wrong and lost control on adverse camber, my own fault ,went I to a turn far to 'Hot' ,got into a death roll, hoping from left to right wheel then hit the curb, unfortunately bent my 'bent very badly, but still managed to ride to the finish of the Audax, even if it didn't like turning left !
The last was a prat fall....yes you can still have them ! A brand new to me AZUB T-ris, but no damage done, apart from pride.
The lower you go the more stable they are, the Delta type , one wheel out front 2 at back might be susceptible to the front washing out and losing steerage, I haven't ridden one of those ,so can't comment,
But the higher your centre of gravity the more unstable they are ,so conventional trikes are notoriously difficult to ride from a cyclist point of view, you have to completely unlearn cycling.
Yes, by all means try a conventional trike, but I will warn you they are a steep learning curve, the cheaper ones will be awfull heavy and lumpen, to ride, but recumbents are far better and expensive .
My advice is try to find a dealer and try some, the best place for that is the Netherlands, with many retailers willing to let you try in a fantastic environment for cycling. There are Dealers here in UK , but not many D-tek in Cambridgeshire ,is one of the best ,if you can get hold of him , he will have a large stock of many brands to try ,new or used.

 

[grldtnr]

D.TEK.
Kevin Dunsheath
01353 648177
He is notoriously hard to get hold off , but if your serious be about trikes, he is worth the effort.