The old gray mare, she ain’t what she used to be. To be blunt, some of us need help for one reason or another. Getting into the seat of a tadpole trike can be challenging enough for some of us, but getting back up out of the seat can be even more challenging. I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first? 🙂 Let’s just go with the bad news and get it out of the way.
“SKY HOOKS” don’t really exist. It is too bad as they would be extremely popular. My first introduction to the imaginary sky hooks was when I was in the Navy. Along with the “mail buoy watch”, “relative bearing grease”, “batteries for the sound-powered phones”, “shore line stretcher“, “a long weight” and several other pranks the sky hooks were a fun thing to play on gullible newbies. Anyway, a sky hook is a device which has a hook on both ends or at least the top end and a closed strap on the bottom end. One end hooks up to someplace up in the sky and the other end is used to hoist or hold something up. If we had two sky hooks it would be the cat’s meow in helping us get up out of our trike seats.
All joking aside let’s get to the good news. There really are devices available to help us get in and out of our seats. Various trike manufacturers (as well as 3rd parties) offer them for their trikes. Here are some examples:
Note: Keep in mind that I have not looked into shipping charges to know where the best price can be found.
HERE is what Utah Trikes sells. They have several offerings, but I like the ones that they make “in house” which are illustrated in this video below. Although they are made for Catrike they say they will work on most tadpole trikes which have direct steering.
HERE are the UT Custom EZ Entry Aids featured in the video above. $140
HERE are the ICE Helping Hands (shown above) for the Adventure model. $150
HERE are the ICE Helping Hands for the Sprint model (shown below). $155 (most other sources I have seen charge $163)
HERE is what PowerOnCycling sells for Catrike. (I like these & they are lower cost than most others.) $95 plus $13 shipping
HERE is the Thrive Cycling Assistive Arms (shown below). $149
HERE are TerraTrike’s VersaBars (shown above). $90
HERE is the HP Velotechnik Stand Up Aid for the Gekko model (shown above). $89
HERE is the HP Velotechnik Stand Up Aid for the Scorpion model (shown below). $259
And HERE is a product for Catrike from TerraCycle (shown above). $149
And HERE are the extra long version of the Catrike Assist Arms from TerraCycle (shown below). $169
And here are some other offerings for Catrike:
In order to use these Catrike Stand Up Assist bars as illustrated the vertical handlebars would have to be moved much further forward than I would want them. I like my vertical handlebars out near the ends of the horizontal bars coming off of the steering heads. Moving them forward changes the leverage and control feel quite noticeably.
My experience in attempting to pull back and down when trying to get up is that the trike wants to roll/move (slide) backwards, especially as the rider removes his/her weight off of the seat. This makes for a serious problem in trying to use any of these sort of devices. Only straight downward pressure will keep the trike in place. Others have said that these work and they don’t have this problem, but I can’t see how it is possible based on my own personal experience. Definitely I think that the design and placement of these will greatly determine how well they work … meaning some would work better than others. It is just my thinking and opinion as I have never tried any of them.
I think the idea of a sky hook would work best. 😉 Yep, I really think someone needs to get serious and invent the sky hook as it would make all this so simple and work so much better than any of these aids. A “lift seat would be nice though. 🙂
So if you need help getting in and out of your seat you might want to look into one of these aids. They are all we have available for now. Hey, Enjoy the Ride … and …
KEEP ON TRIKIN’
A FREE GIFT awaits you!
Tadpole Rider 
The new 26 inch fatrikes end the ingress/egress issues even for folks with physical disabilities and limitations, this in addition to being FAR more visible to motorists, along with the superior level of comfort afforded by the large tires (and suspension if available for a particular model). My 90 year old mom, who is quite physically challenged to say the least, can easily sit on my ICE Full Fat, and get back up with no problem. In fact, the seat is actually higher than it need be for her, so she just slides slightly forward in the seat and is standing upright (she is about five feet tall). No helping handles are necessary on 26 inch fatrikes.
Steve, your posts are helping a great deal. Again, I’m in Kalispell, MT, no trikes or dealers in the area, I’m still narrowing down the trike brand/model I’ll buy. I have a question re: mirror mount methods that may affect the model trike I’ll purchase. Do most all mirror mounts put the mirror on the steering links so that when the trike is turned the mirror pivots with the turn? I have that problem on my bike and it pivots with the handle bars of course- very annoying. I’d rather that the trike mirror stay aligned with the frame – just like a motor veh. Advice please? When you are able – no hurry. Thanks, for the help and your blog/newsletter pages. D
Doren Renfrow
I have M.S. And I wouldn’t be able to get off my Expedition without them.
I have them on my Catrike, and I don’t know what I would do with out them.. You see I was injured on the job some time ago, and gone thru a bunch of spinal surgeries, which has left me disabled.. I would not be able to ride if I did not have them, As I would not ride again if I did not have a bent cycle…! They are a God send I kid you not… Not only do they help me in and out of the seat, but they are a great place to attach a bunch of extra accessories as well… I love them to say the least, as I said before, and if you don’t have then on your trike, and in your later years, or have back problems, or some other debilitating illness, you need to get them… They are easy to install, or have them installed by your cycle expert… Hay there is no shame in needing a little help, and I believe these are the greatest help you will find in the trike industry for your bent trike…