Just a silly question how do manage to ride a trike/ recumbant

[peter.c]

Right built the trike how do other people get on going round corners at speed? without a rear diff fitted, with a mid drive and single rear wheel drive its heart stopping even at low speed on tarmac its the first time I have turned the 250watt right down 10 mph but off road its great fun I can now see why most trike are front wheel powered
found a diff from Utah trikes in the US and the Samagaga website has any one any cheap ideas

 

[Woosh]

I set the speed limit at 8mph on converted trikes without differential.

 

[peter.c]

Yes 15.5 is a bit much on tight corners at 10 mph its stable but the 0-10 time is very quick.
Before I fitted the new tyres the rear burn out smelt good when the wheel lifted put the laptop on and turned it down the battery range is excellent
have you fitted a rear diff Woosh

 

[Alan50]

When cornering, lean towards the inside of the corner using your body weight to keep the wheel in contact with the road. If you are travelling at speed, hook your leg over the saddle to stop you falling off .

Good luck.

It's been 50+ years since I raced and toured on a barrow, but it's an experience that's hard to forget - great fun once you master corners and road camber.

 

[anotherkiwi]

So we are talking about a delta trike?

My trike (tadpole) came with a manual and in bold it is written "don't go too fast in corners"... Even slowely in off camber corners bad things can happen!

1. go slow in corners
2. go lightly on the steering
3. use the correct tyre pressure even a tenth of a bar is important

In the US they have a nice t-shirt with "trike pilot" printed on it, that about sums it up for me. I have progressed to drifting in corners I know well, costly in tyres...

 

[peter.c]

It is like a motor bike and sidecar with a flat tyre or my old lotus sunbeam on ice but a lower speeds its great fun and off road at walking pace just like a trials bike shift your weight and hold tight

 

[Alan50]

Just to clarify that I am talking about an upright trike - like the one in Peter's avatar only with drop bars and no motor.

Check out: https://tricycleassociation.org.uk/

 

[peter.c]

Have checked out tricycle association helpful but to costly, yes it is the upright trike in the avatar . How some you ride laying flat down a mountain side nerves of steel, just need to get used to the new style now the power is turned down its working well

 

[grldtnr]

Have checked out tricycle association helpful but to costly, yes it is the upright trike in the avatar . How some you ride laying flat down a mountain side nerves of steel, just need to get used to the new style now the power is turned down its working well

Riding upwrong trikes is always going to be lairy, the main problem is that if you have ridden a solo for years,is that you have to relearn how to ride a trike, I have seen some scary stuff from experienced trike pilots over the years.
You can never master a trike,a 3 wheeler is the boss!
Recumbent trikes are easier to ride parodoxly ,but can still catch you out, I have twice rolled a tadpole trike,one of them mine! But still managed to ride the wreck 40 miles home, it didn't like going round corners after that!
Anotherkiwi, drifting a tadpole trike is such dirty fun, I have wrecked wheels doing it, never mind tyres, seeing as you live in a warmer part of the world, Ice triking is a but of fun you won't experience.

 

[anotherkiwi]

You wouldn't see me dead on one of those upright delta things!

Even ordinary cornering has my rear wheel spokes screaming for relief! My only roll was at extremely slow speed on a very off camber access to a cycle path. Taught me that I didn't want to do that at speed... I have gotten the weight distribution right so even lifting a wheel 1 cm off the ground means "you are going too damned fast you silly old fool" territory. Riding by ear you can hear the tyre scuffing just before it goes airborne.

 

[Jimo]

Wifey’s Trike is a Batribike 20”, I’ve ridden it once with its swiveling frame locked and Wo-ho its a touch dodgy taking corners and bends! But its ok if one unlocks the frame before riding off, - then it rides and leans like an opdinary bike. As the weather warms up into summer I hope to persuade wifey out on it but as she’s 85 we have to be a bit careful and always have to remember to lock the frame before trying to alight.

Jim

 

[peter.c]

Still working on the wife's step thru trike with front hub this is ok to ride even round corners an update on an old trike in the end the only thing not changed will be the frame
but the trike in the pic is no more it morphed into a fattie [29er rear with an alfine and 26x4.0 on the front] over the winter ready for the snow that never arrived here

 

[Geoff Sleath]

I've done a lot of miles on a conventional racing/touring trike purely human powered. I always used to say that they're great for constipation on fast corners Mine was a 1956 Higgins with a differential but my wife's Ultralight Higgins was one wheel drive and on icy climbs I'd follow her and give her a nudge with my front wheel if she was getting wheelspin. We used them mostly as winter cycling transport.

TWD is a huge help. Mine had a conventional diff but George Longstaff's solo and tandem trikes used a double freewheel which drove the slowest wheel rather than the fastest (as a standard diff does) but apparently works well. Longstaff trikes are not cheap and I'm not even sure they're still being made - George himself died a few years ago tragically young.

I f I were to electrify a conventional (ie 700c wheels) or a small wheel trike I'd certainly opt for FWD. Driving just one wheel at the back would, I think, make for very strange handling. I don't really see why you would need to restrict the top speed below 25kph if you had pedal assist because you can't really pedal round corners anyway other than very slowly. The usual way is to lift the outside pedal so you can lean to the inside. We were lent a tandem trike for a day when we were in France and my wife got tyre marks on her back side from enthusiastic leaning.

Geoff