Earlier this year I found myself becoming recumbent curious and specifically recumbent trike curious. After speaking to a some of the cognoscenti (nods to bencooper) and reading a lot of stuff (velovision is the magazine for all the is outre in the cycling world) and trial run through the Edinburgh Meadows with David Gardiner on an Icetrike, I put a deposit down on an Azub Tricon 26 (sorry Ben couldn’t stretch to a velotech).
I now have said trike and it is without doubt the most fun you can have with your clothes on and not getting muddy. The sensation of speed and the cornering, wow. Kids I pass all seem to love it, adults usually think I’m disabled, WGAF, I love it.
Work is about 7 miles away and my intention is to commute everyday possible throughout the BST period.
Got some leftover hi-vis clothing which my kindly mother has fashioned into a very striking pennant type flag so hopefully there’ll be no nasty interactions with other road users. I did ask one of my neighbours if he thought the flag was enough, he suggested a banner across the rear of the seat reading “dickhead”.
Only been using it on local rural roads, down at the Kelpies when the wee man’s on his balance bike and on cyclepaths trying to keep up with my mate on his Spesh carbon road bike, ha, aye but he got two punctures on the route from Alloa to Dunfermline.
Trying to get my fitness levels up and get my legs properly “bent”, definitely uses different muscle groups, lots of abs I think.
Anyway its shiny black with red anodized bits, 90mm Sturmey Archer drum brakes, and it’s got rear suspension.
Here’s a picture of two big horses eying it up, and a diminutive man wondering if he can make it gone in 30 seconds.


Oh, and I bought a 29er as well and I’m only 5’7″.
I will now run away and hide.

I really, really like that.
🙂

Is it 26/20/20?

That looks great fun.

Thought I was going to have to resort to a recumbent trike after a bad stack knackered my shoulder last year and although surgery has meant I can ride ‘proper’ bikes again I still have the urge to try a ‘bent trike just for the hell of it.

Yup, 26/20/20 seemed the way to go as the 20″ all-round ties you in to a few very limited cassettes whereas this is using deore stuff and a syntace x12 142mm axle.

Oh, and I bought a 29er as well and I’m only 5’7″

You look a bit shorter than that in the last photo 🙂

S’all perspective innit.

Rio 2016 here you come!

Will need to inflate the tyres a bit more if he’s going to pedal it all the way to Rio 😉

True that

Welcome to the STW trike club. I’ve been on mine, on and off, since my accident in April. They are great fun. Mine is a 3×20″ Catrike Villager upgraded to Durano tyres and a straight through 11-21 nine speed block. I thought the gearing would hold me back, but surprisingly, once I switched to very close ratios, it is not a problem at all. Above 50 km/hr one feels like a passenger!

Mine is aluminium and weighs in at 14 kilos (it’s made of aluminium).

Some tips; use lights! I run a daylight flashing joystick/Redeye on my helmet as this is the level of a normal bike light. I run three extra lights on the back and a Strada on the front.

Spin, spin, spin. Fit a Garmin cadence sensor and try and spin at 90rpm or above.

I fitted a topeak rack and mtx bag for a small permanent carrying solution and option of panniers.

it takes a while to adjust one’s ar*e to the seat. Different tissues get squashed! Takes a while to adapt the muscles too.

Think pothole – three wheels not one to maneuver

Enjoy the extra space cars give you. Seriously it is amazing the difference.

Fit a tripack on the front for the things you keep in your back pockets normally.

Smile a lot! It really is great fun.

Don’t forget the F1 grid wiggle as you slow for the red lights 😉

Those villagers look nice, quite high up though what is it like on the corners.
Azub is ally also think its about 16kg. All the wheels and the shock pivots are quick release and the frame folds, so you can fold it in half with the wheels on or you can break it down completely and fit it in a suitcase.
I take it 50kph was going downhill, must admit if I was getting another one I’d get one a those super light, low down, laid back super speeders like a VTX or similar.
Hoping to get some panniers and do some touring next summer.

+1 on the wide berth motor vehicles give you, love it.
And yeah the grin is there.

sorry Ben couldn’t stretch to a velotech

No worries, any recumbent is a good recumbent 😀

Maybe I should pester STW about doing a recumbent test again – now that HPVelotechnik have the Enduro of-road version which is ace. Had one through a couple of weeks ago:

Those villagers look nice, quite high up though what is it like on the corners.

Not as high as you’d think. It’s wide, and with the inside knee up and leaning in, it corners fine. Mine is a mk1 (without suspension), which makes it very stiff, lighter, but no adjustable seat angle. I wanted a Speedy but was told I needed two hands to operate one properly – which wasn’t an option at the time! Getting in and out is a doddle. And it has the same eye level as a Lamborghini 8)

Had one through a couple of weeks ago

on its way North perchance?

on its way North perchance?

Sure was!

Does anyone have a faired one? I would quite like a go on a fully faired one…

Does anyone have a faired one?

No But I am considering a HP fairing for the winter. Sinner Mango is what I’d REALLY like 🙂

Anyway, today was trike to work day, so here are a few more pictures of the Catrike loaded for my commute. Not as high as you might think, given the reviews. The seat angle means I don’t have to ride with a head rest, unlike some of the more extreme trikes. There is a small mirror on the RHS and the seatpack carries CO2 and a 20″ tube and levers.

Don’t ride one if you don’t like attention. I had a whole primary school cheer and wave last week as they were walking to their Christmas Church service. I also took it into PC World this morning, as I do my normal bikes (Can’t push it round the aisles though!)

whats it like going up very steep hills? or do you try and avoid those?

Would like to give one of these a go, just for the craic

I can see how you might feel vulnerable on the road

Depends how your legs adapt – they’re a bit heavier of course, around 17kgs for a Scorpion. But biomechanically it’s a more efficient riding position. Going up steep hills, you can either power up them, or drop into a low gear and spin up. You can’t fall over of course, so can go as slow as you like.

whats it like going up very steep hills

Not too bad. I spin at about 120 rpm in a low gear. Climbing at above 20 km/h is hard work. You can of course, grind up anything in a stupidly low gear. I seldom resort to the smallest chainring, however, even with 11-21 on the back on 20″ wheels. I haven’t been to up Bar Hatch in the Surrey Hills yet. Maybe next week.

What you will notice if pressing on hard, is that it is harder to keep one’s heart rate in Zone 4 for any period (unless climbing hills). The heart doesn’t work so hard to return the blood from the legs.

Interesting, I hadn’t heard that one before.

I went out for a ride on the trike shortly after getting it and got to the point in the run where I could turn left as I always had done previously or carry straight on up the big hill, I decided it was time to conquer the climb and set off. I fixed my gaze on a point, a bluff I took to be about a third of the way up the hill and aimed to get there and take a break. As I got within 50m or so of the point I could see that it was nowhere near as far up as I originally thought, but worse, a voice behind me said “aye your doing fine son, just keep you legs spinning”, it was one of those ultra fit old geezers ” just out for a wee run” his thing was actually those 100 mile runs and he just went out on the bike for a “wee change”.
Not wanting to lose face (pride is a terrible thing) I kept going, with me asking him leading questions and enjoying the detailed answers, before I knew it we had reached the top, it was the best thing that could’ve happened to me, I always was easily distracted.

“You can’t fall over of course”
Oh yes, you can! 😳

Okay, it’s harder to fall over 😀

Three-wheel drifts around corners are fun too…

Ben, I suspect that most buyers aren’t trying to keep their HR in Zone 4 during training rides 😉 It is noticeable when really trying to go fast. Trike is not as fast as my (fast) race bike.