For those who have quick release wheel axles there is a matter which should be taken into consideration if you never have before. When tightened down the lever should not be pointed forward as many people often do. When they are pointed forward they can easily and readily do catch sticks, weeds, etc. A lot of people just tighten them up in whatever position that they happen to be in. I have seen the result of having these levers positioned facing forward. They are very good at snagging twigs, etc. as we ride along. So I highly suggest positioning them to face backwards if possible or “tucked away” somehow to avoid this problem. Here is one pointing up which is okay.
And here is one sort of tucked in where it would be hard for a stick to get snagged by it.
This applies to both the front and back axles.
This one on a front axle is positioned ideally.
This may sound like nit picking and silly, but from personal experience it can help avoid problems as we ride along. Just be sure that in changing the position of the lever the entire axle skewer assembly is sufficiently tight. You sure don’t want a wheel falling out of it’s proper position like in this picture of a mountain biker. Actually I photo edited this as I couldn’t find a picture online to demonstrate it. Hopefully we won’t be flying thru the air like some bikes do.
Snagging sticks is not a game to be played while out riding. It is much better to just …
TerraCycle, not to be confused with TerraTrike, is a gold mine for recumbent folks. They have much to offer and if you have never heard of them you really need to get acquainted. Here are their own words:
“TerraCycle has a simple mission: to make parts for recumbent cycles that considerably improve the riding experience. Every day, the TerraCycle Team shows up and uses their hands, hearts and minds to create those parts. We know were doing well when Tom Caldwell writes us and says: “Great work, great product, great companyI love doing business with professionals!” When a customer comes back to the shop just to see what new add-ons we’ve created for our accessory mounts, when a team of college kids asks for our idlers on their human powered vehicle, or when a couple comes by to show off the new ways they’ve figured out to use their cockpit mounts, then we know we’re doing it right.
With our website, we hope to create a library of information on recumbent cycling and the technologies that empower those who ride. Over the years, we’ve demonstrated our dedication to making the perfect part, which requires knowing just about all there is to know about recumbent cycling. If you haven’t had the chance to try us out, we recommend it. Otherwise, let this site be a place for you to come to learn about that wheeled craft you’ve been riding around. Who knows, you might realize you need something after all.”
They also have a FAQ page which you may find very helpful. Here is a sampling:
“FAQ Directory
Here at TerraCycle, we strive to be the world leader in recumbent cycling knowledge. Below are some topics that have caused more head scratching than brand new helmets, and our best attempts to alleviate the discomfort!
They even speak (or at least write) Latin. You’ll have to look thru their website to know what I am referring to here as I am not going to tell you.
TerraCycle also has some videos available on YouTube.
Please note that there is another company called TerraCycle which deals with recycling waste so don’t get confused with them. Because of the shared name our TerraCycle has to use a different name in their website …” t-cycle”.
For those who have followed my personal triking life you know that I recently had my trike motorized with a pedal assist setup. A TerraCycle mini-cockpit T bar was used to mount the display console on. Here is a picture of it. It is the bar furthest forward with the green area and the white 0 (zero) displayed on the screen of the dispaly console. The TerraCycle part is only the section shown where their company icon is seen. It is where the display console is mounted. The bottom part is made by a different company (it is the Catrike mirror and accessory mount). The two parts look like they are made as one unit.
Well, that’s all I have to say about that. I have ordered a couple of items from them in years past and they always provided excellent and quick service. Their parts seem to be very well made … top quality. With their help we can …
China has long been known for blatantly illegally copying products of others and selling them … often on the black market … at least many years ago. But today they are so bold as to even display a picture of the real McCoy with manufacturer’s name clearly displayed on it. Those who don’t know any better might be deceived and go ahead purchasing the item thinking they are getting a really great deal. Of course, what they get is altogether different. It may look somewhat the same externally, but the components used are el cheapo. And I am pretty sure that even externally there would be some obvious differences in the trike you would receive. Here is an example of what I am talking about. I think this is a picture of an older model (2012 or earlier) Catrike Trail trike. It is the non-folding “space frame” design (my favorite). As you can see it has the Catrike name shown clearly on it. I think sells for about $1200, but I am not sure of that as they don’t show the prices on their website. I have emailed them to ask what the price is, but they haven’t answered back. Anyway, that is less than half price of what Catrike sells their trike for today. I would think that the Chinese businesses involved in this illegal knockoff production would at least take a couple of minutes with a photo editing program and remove the manufacturer’s name from the picture they use. Better yet, why not just use a picture of the trike they are building and selling? Here is the Chinese website (one of them) where this is found: http://www.made-in-china.com/…/hot-chi…/Recumbent_Trike.html
And here is the specific trike’s webpage: http://www.made-in-china.com/…/China-New-Design-Hot-Sale-Re…
I know Catrike is aware of this, if for no other reason than the fact that I emailed them about it several years ago when I first discovered it.
Does this not look like an ICE FULLFAT trike? It is another Chinese knockoff they are selling. No doubt it would probably look a lot like the ICE FULLFAT trike. Again, they don’t show any prices so I have no idea what they are charging for it. I am sure it is quite cheap especially when compared to the cost of a real ICE FULLFAT trike (about $5000 for the base model).
I wrote an article about another Chinese FAT trike. It is shown in the picture above. As far as I know it is not a knockoff though. It is a “mini-fat” … that is it has 20 inch FAT tires all the way around instead of 26 inch. It certainly is cheap … $1,460.93 total which includes shipping ($950 for trike & $510.93 for shipping).
Alibaba is another well known Chinese website selling lots of different Chinese made products. They show the prices and as far as I know are legitimate … they just sell cheaply made trikes like the FAT trike I wrote about and linked to above. I have not seen any advertised that I identified as a knockoff.
The prices are definitely cheap, but the shipping costs are pretty high so the total cost isn’t as attractive as it starts out.
So … back to my original question … would you buy one of these Chinese knockoffs to save money? I don’t think I could do it. I could probably buy one of the other Chinese trikes though. It is just the knockoffs that I don’t think I could deal with. Well, I don’t have any money to buy any of them anyway so I won’t concern myself with it. I am happy I was able to get the real McCoy and it continues to serve me well year after year. I do really miss my 2009 space frame though. I always …
Another new velocar is attempting to be birthed into the market place. It’s a cute little thing called a Podride. HERE is their website. Both a 3 wheel version and a 4 wheel version are planned. It will be available with or without electric pedal assist.
Their website states that they hope to have their product available in Canada and the United States by late 2017 … first in a non-motorized quad and soon to follow a motorized trike.
A couple of years ago I managed to get the wax in my ears pushed back inside to where it was “impacted”. I suddenly transformed myself into the world of silence. I can remember driving myself to the doctor’s office to have them clear my ears of this wax impacting. It was really eerie driving along not being able to hear. Fortunately they got me fixed up and I could hear again. I can’t say that I enjoyed being deaf, but it was an interesting experience to go thru.
Now I said all that to lead up to my topic of this posting. Basically I am talking about all the different sounds we hear as we ride our trikes along … whether it be around many others and lots of sources of noise or by ourselves with very limited sound sources. Most definitely my favorite riding is away from the maddening crowd and all the noise associated with and generated by it. I enjoy hearing birds singing, squirrels chattering away, frogs croaking, animals rustling the leaves and brush, and even the faint sounds coming from my trike as I pedal along.
Yes, I can truthfully say I enjoy hearing all those sounds. And then back to civilization I hear sirens, horns, car alarms, trains, traffic (trucks, buses, motorcycles, cars, etc.), outdoor speakers at businesses, loud so called music coming from motor vehicles and the list goes on. All of it is noise and not pleasing sounds. Yep, there is a world of difference between noise and sound. One is usually rather unpleasant and objectionable while the other is welcome and soothing.
This subject matter is one reason I like trails that take me away from the noise. I definitely don’t care for trails that run right along a busy roadway where all that horrible noise is present to contend with. I feel sorry for those who only have those sorts of trails where they live and ride. Of course, it is even worse for those who only have bike lanes on busy roads. And then there are those who don’t even have bike lanes … just busy roads to ride on.
Yep, I like the call of the wild as the silence I find out there can be deafening. 😉
Some people impose while others simply pose. Here is one more reason I like our Vice President …. that is a Catrike he is sitting (posing) on … I wish I could just post the picture here, but I don’t have permission so I will simply link to it …
I wish I knew more about this photo and what was going on. I wonder if he rode it and, if so, what he thought of it. It would be neat if he would get “hooked” on tadpole trikes and get one of his own to ride. There is no reason why a Vice President couldn’t …
We see the abbreviation “FAQ” frequently and I am sure most of us know it stands for frequently asked questions. Many websites and printed material have a FAQ area where people can go to try to find answers to frequently asked questions. Q&A is also commonly used. I have thought about going to the effort of trying to make a FAQ page for this blog, but I have never felt ambitious enough to tackle it. So what is a guy to do? Well, we can always let George do it, right? In all seriousness TerraTrike has a FAQ page on their website which covers a lot of different topics. HERE is a link to it. Maybe they can answer your question. I am just not into to it at this time. Woe is me! I guess I need to be thankful for what others have contributed and made available. Of course, some of their answers are TerraTrike trike specific so they won’t be of any help if you have another brand. Even some of the questions which may sound “generic” on the surface they are responding to in regards to their own trikes … so their answers may not be as applicable if you have a different brand of trike.
Here are some fun and thrilling rides, but certainly foolish and dangerous … not to mention harmful and damaging to the trikes. There is a lot I could say about all of this … tempting fate, endangering life and limb and treating brand new expensive trikes like this … but I will refrain and let you think whatever you want about the matter.
If we were talking simple mathematics the answer to that would be simple enough. The fraction and the decimal are always the same. But in the world of bicycle tires it is an altogether different ballgame. The answer is no, it is not the same. I know … it sounds crazy and as far as I am concerned it is crazy. It is one very confusing messed up system which has been developed. When I was a kid it wasn’t this way. It was all pretty much straight forward and simple … easy to understand. I have written about this subject before. Click HERE to read about it.
Just take a look at this chart below and you can readily see what I am talking about. It almost gives me a headache.
Schwalbe has information on tire sizes HERE. I like their chart as it seems easier to read than some others I have seen. HERE is an article by the late Sheldon Brown about tire sizes. He has a section a short ways down the page he has called “Does Point Seven Five Equal Three Quarters?”. HERE is another article on tire sizes.
Be certain what size wheels you have on your trike before buying new tires or inner tubes. Most tadpole trikes with 20 inch wheels have 406 rims, but a few may have 451 rims. The tires and inner tubes for these two sizes are not interchangeable. This is what happens when you try to install a 451 inner tube in a 406 tire:
As you can see the 451 inner tube is much larger in diameter than the 406 tire. Some of the sales people in bike stores don’t know this and will hand you a 451 inner tube even if you specify you need a 406 inner tube. It has happened to me. I got clear back home before discovering the sales person selected the wrong tube. I had to return to the store to get the right one. Now I look before buying it since I learned you can’t entrust the matter to the store.
For most of us we don’t have to concern ourselves very much about all of this. It is when you go trying to make major changes in wheels and tires that you encounter the complexity and need to “get it right”. If we simply stick with buying pretty much the same tires by the size shown mounted on our rims we should be safe enough. Just remember about the 406 vs 451 matter. Try to avoid getting a headache and simply …
TerraTrike offers a webpage concerning how to determine your X-seam. X-seam is a measurement similar to inseam which is used to determine how to adjust the boom properly to fit the rider of a tadpole trike. When seated properly on a tadpole trike the rider’s leg should be about 85 % fully extended when the pedal is rotated to its most forward position.
I have written about this subject previously. HERE is one of the articles.
HERE is another webpage on this offering a good illustration. And HERE is another.
I have noticed that the instructions given for this vary somewhat in the matter of how much distance the bottom of the board is out away from the wall. To my way of thinking the safest and best method would be to duplicate the seat back angle more so than a measurement off of the wall. Of course, one must be careful not to move the board while sitting down and going thru the process of obtaining the measurement.
A quick and easy way to adjust the boom to its proper position for the rider is simply to sit in the seat and place the “heel” of the foot (while wearing shoes) on the pedal in the furthest forward position. The boom can then be tightened down and when the balls of the rider’s feet are positioned on the pedals the legs should be about 85 % or so extended.
It is good to know our X-seam measurement as it can be of value for a mechanic to set up a trike for the rider without them being there to go thru this process. Having a trike set up properly helps us to …
Tadpole Rider 