Converting from two to three wheels

Geebee

Esteemed Pedelecer
Mar 26, 2010
1,256
227
Australia
Answer found it can not stand on its own :(

"There is an important note that we must stress about the conversion - the Noomad Kit does not make the trike stand up on its own. You still need to balance when riding and stationary. "
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ex-Demo-Noomad-Trike-Conversion-Kit-amp-Accessories-CONVERT-A-BIKE-TO-A-TRIKE-/191508408487

And this doesn't bode well for the kit:
"I got to try one of these kits recently.

First try was on a LWB. I would say it was not impossible to ride, however it was very difficult, and never felt even a little stable.

We moved it to a SWB not unlike in that video (mine is an r200 though, so not exactly the most awesome SWB ever). It showed me why the guy in the video seems all over the road. It is MORE ride able than the LWB but still unstable and difficult to control. Its hard to ride a stable straight line, and to me felt like it could become very very scary at speed.

Lastly I tried an upright MTB and I would say it felt ok at first, I was riding it around trying to get the hang of it and discovered that if you turn too far, the whole thing wants to jerk into a much harder turn, sending me over the bars and breaking my new Giro Bishop helmet (better than my head though!). This happened at about (estimated due to computer sensor being on normal front wheel) 10 mph.

I could not get my wife to even try it after seeing me struggle to make it work on any of the bikes I had to try with.

I would also NOT put any child, especially not my own on that front carrier.

With some significant engineering changes probably including a rake/trail adjustment. An adjustment that controls tilt vs turn, and a good steering damper, I don't see this as more than a dangerous gimmick.

Its also worth noting that for the price of buying a bike plus this you could just buy a real trike. I'd take the crappiest Performer or KMX (I don't know them to be crappy, they are just low cost) over this kit attached to an awesome bike."
http://www.bentrideronline.com/messageboard/archive/index.php/t-93717.html
 

annsimpson

Pedelecer
Aug 22, 2014
133
26
67
thanks very much for taking the time to tell me your findings, sorry one more question if I went for a trike what is the easiest/cheapest way to transport it and one normal bike on a car as we like to go out for rides at the weekends. we have a Nissan Almera so its not a big people carrier and at the moment a tow bar mounted Thule type two bike carrier for both electric bikes and if anyone can point me in the direction of where to buy a reasonable priced one that would be great. Also is it worth asking on here if anyone is selling a decent trike as I can't change my bike to one I'd hope to sell mine to help with the costs which was new this year.
 

annsimpson

Pedelecer
Aug 22, 2014
133
26
67
one thing I a bit concerned about with a trike is whether a standard one would be up to some of the rides we do ie we cycled around windermere and Coniston last week both around 20miles and both with quite a few hills, we also often meet gates etc on some of the trails so theres a bit of jiggling to get through some, I'm wondering whether its poss to buy a cheap bike and put the extra wheels on the back plus fit a motor kit for around the same price, that would give me a more traditional bike maybe a ladies mt bike, cross bike or similar.
 

JohnCade

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 16, 2014
1,486
736
Can you buy stabilisers like they fit to children’s bikes but scaled up a bit? It might be possible to get something made up with a folding quick release for gates. I would have thought trikes are really good for shopping and not so good on narrow trails with obstacles. How about a recumbent? Same issues though but they do go better.
 

annsimpson

Pedelecer
Aug 22, 2014
133
26
67
I doubt I'd be able to get down and up from something low and don't really want something that looks to 'old' yet but now the idea of making something seems attractive. A hybrid bike would give me more gears than an electric or trike and I don't see why it couldn't be made into a 3 wheeler, there was a mt bike that was a trike, home made, on ebay but has now gone, get the bike made then put electrics on to it on a front wheel, I'm in no hurry and it could be done over winter. With more gears I could probably ride it more without using the power and would be able to stop/start without getting off so a normal ladies bike would be fine it wouldn't need to such a low step through as I have now, it would look more normal and be able to go over rougher ground.
 

anotherkiwi

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 26, 2015
7,845
5,785
The European Union
I stand corrected, sorry annsimpon. It looked good on the web site, it even stands on its own in the video...

Carrying, folding, transport, going through bike path obstacles... Oh my you are asking for a lot! If I had mobility problems, could still pedal and had the cash :p this would be my choice but it won't help with bike path obstacles... It will fold and go in the boot of a reasonably sized car.

 

anotherkiwi

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 26, 2015
7,845
5,785
The European Union

annsimpson

Pedelecer
Aug 22, 2014
133
26
67
well I did find a company that could do what I want but unless I win the pools its way out of my range £250 hybrid bike, £599 change to trike kit, and the best part £1000 to add electrics, I still think if done at home it could be less £1000 is my limit.
 

trex

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 15, 2011
7,703
2,671
that tricycle is quite straightforward to convert with a legal BBS01 250W and a 15AH downtube battery. Don't go for high power, the trike is not stable in corners, so you need to limit speed to about 10mph.
If you take your trike to Woosh in Southend, they'll do it for you in a couple of hours. Cost: about £700.