Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

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Does anyone know anything about tricycles? Whats available and what you'd need to spend etc etc

I've seen a couple out and about but not sure what to look for and ebay only has the $500 jobs that seem OK but I have no idea.

I've tried to convince my mother in law to get a bike but she refuses and frankly she needs the exercise (not fit and quite overweight). I showed her the above picture and she was quite keen and given that she refuses to ride a normal bike I thought I'd see what the BNA collective brain could offer in the way of advice? It would be a once or twice a week cycle path/road ride, so we're not talking big distances or use!

Cheers

My mother in law leaves her trike in our shed Walrus, it's an "Indi" brand one bought second hand for $450. They're pretty basic and yet pretty expensive, i think it's a six speed rear cluster/derailleur with a thumb shifter. For most people who are used to riding a 2 wheeled bike they are a death trap, but for my MIL who can't/won't ride a bicycle she gets along just fine on it but probably because she's so slow. They are definitely pretty handy for runs to parties/shops/beach as the basket on the back is quite large and it's easy to fit an esky and a bit of krap in there. They are pretty popular up here in the bribie area with the old roosters who want to get out there but are scared of bicycles. They are pretty awkward to move around too, i had to weld up some special brackets for the back of the in laws motor home to carry the thing and the FIL has a bit of a wrestle on his hands to get it up ready for transport.

A tadpole trike, like the Greenspeed trike is better for handling, and lower wind drag. Depends on her age and flexibility, but plenty of older people take to using these. It doesn't have a basket though carrying capacity would have to be in panniers. These trikes are generally not cheap at new prices.





New version, the Magnum, has the option of higher seating position

Posted elsewhere in another thread. An alternative to the tadpole trikes is a delta trike like Greenspeed's Anura.



The main benefits of a delta vs a tadpole trike are a much more upright seating position, and easier access to and from the cockpit, although the Magnum that il padrone has noted can also have the seat raised pretty upright. For the more elderly and 'ahem' well padded types it works pretty well. My 86 year old grandmother has one of these that she still puddles to church and the shops on. She's had a knee replacement and doesn't exactly do a lot of interval training in her spare time, and she still manages at a leisurely pace.

You'll need a bit of coin to get one though...

Thought experiment - imagine what happens on an off-camber corner when riding a delta (single front wheel) trike.

Or swerving and braking at the same time.

The trike does a pretty good combat roll. The rider may not.

At least with a tadpole (single rear wheel), when weight shifts forward due to braking, they have a wide stance so are less likely to flip over diagonally.

tim

barefoot wrote:At least with a tadpole (single rear wheel), when weight shifts forward due to braking, they have a wide stance so are less likely to flip over diagonally.

Well I took my grandmother's Anura trike for a spin as I was interested in seeing how it handled, and I can say that you would have to do something extremely radical to achieve this, hardly what the OP's mother-in-law is going to be attempting! Because you are very low to the ground on one of these, your centre of gravity is correspondingly low, so a flipping the trike is a tough ask. Additionally your weight is at the rear, so most of the traction is on the rear wheels, and since there is a differential on the Anura trikes, you maintain that traction when cornering rather than getting wheel scrub. The only way I could get one wheel to lift (inspired by all those trike you tube videos!) was to seriously lean outside the trike on a sharp turn. Sitting flat, the front wheel lost traction and slid well before there was any wheel lift.

The Walrus wrote: Does anyone know anything about tricycles?

Well as it happens, this was the family transport when I was a kid. It now lives in my mums garage, but we have yet to take it for a spin. Needed a bit of work to get road worthy-ish.

The Walrus wrote: Whats available and what you'd need to spend etc etc

Cannot honestly say about price. They are more expensive as they are not such a commodity item, if one at all. The high-end racing tricycles (yes, they do exist - I have seen one on the M7 cycleway and one on a Calga time trial), tend to be vintage, custom designed/built or you buy a roadie and a tricycle rear and essentially replace the rear wheel of the roadie with the tricycle rear.

For the price, and for the potential owner, I don't think you could go too wrong - other than her not really liking it at all - with the ebay one. Interestingly, it looks as if it is two wheel drive which might mean some kind of differential...? Ours is a humble single wheel drive. Both are certainly not speed machines .

Thanks everyone. Great picture Simonn. You should get that restored, it looks fantastic!

A tricycle for your mother in law ??

Doesn't sound like a fair swap.

Cash my way ?

wurtulla wabbit wrote:A tricycle for your mother in law ??

Doesn't sound like a fair swap.

Cash my way ?

Depends what you are offering!