trikes

[recumbentgerry]

  I have been looking at different trikes and found the Ice trike Adventure interesting. My question is, how safe are these trikes on the road and touring with them in traffic. I road one and my head was about even with the grill of a car. Is this a normal feeling?

[RussSeaton]

I have a friend with a trike.  That is as close to trikes as I have gotten.  So be forewarned.  All recumbents are as low as trikes.  Recumbents and trikes have similar riding positions.  So having your head at the same level as a car grill is not unique.  I'm guessing recumbent riders overcome it so trike riders must too.  On recumbents and trikes you are sitting on your backside leaning back a bit with your back against a fabric chair.  And your feet are in front of your body pedaling.  Sticking straight out in front of you.  If being so low bothers you, then do not ride recumbents or trikes and stick with regular bicycles where your head is above the car.

As for safety of trikes.  I have not heard any stories of high rates of accidents with trikes or recumbents compared to regular bicycles.  So guessing they are not any more dangerous or safer than regular bicycles.  I have heard stories that recumbents and likely trikes are more noticed than regular bicycles because they are so different.  Car drivers see them because they are unique.  Safer?  Maybe.  Trikes do have the disadvantage of being wider than a regular bicycle.  Trikes are about 3 feet wide total between the outside wheels.  Regular upright bicycles are about 2 feet wide.  The width of the rider's behind.  So its easier to fit between objects with an upright bicycle.  When riding on the right side of the road, you will have one wheel close to the white line.  And the other wheel will be about 3 feet over.  So with a trike you are taking up more space on the road.  Maybe easier to get sideswiped by a motorist not paying attention or caring.  Probably in reality one foot difference in width should not make any difference on the road.

[recumbentgerry]

Words to ponder on, thank you for your advice.

[DaveB]

Never having ridden one but have seen a bunch in use, I disagree that trikes are as high as a  standard recumbent.  Most two-wheel recumbents have at least one 700c wheel or, if smaller wheels, they are under the rider, raising them somewhat.  The trikes I've seen all have small wheels, 20" or less, and the rider is positioned down below the wheel tops so is noticeably lower than on a recumbent.

Are they less visible and less safe?  I don't know and their "unusualness" does make them more likely to be noticed so that is a plus.

[indyfabz]

Did the Bon Ton Roulet last month. There was one trike. While it had a large rear wheel centered behind the chair, the two front wheels were small. The rider definitely sat noticeably lower than most riders I have seen on two-wheel recumbents, incuding the Bachetta one participant was riding.

I would at least get a tall flag for riding in traffic. Also note that you may encunter issues with rumble strips on some shoulders depending on the placement of the strips and the width of the shoulder.

[DaveB]

Did the Bon Ton Roulet last month.

Well, well. so did I.  Great week wasn't it?  And I also saw the same trike but I believe I saw a couple of others too.

[indyfabz]

Did the Bon Ton Roulet last month.

Well, well. so did I.  Great week wasn't it?  And I also saw the same trike but I believe I saw a couple of others too.

It was. I did the event once before--in 2006. I was hesitant about going back after that experience. It was a pleasant surprise to find the event run much better. The food was better. The road markings were better. The overall support was better. The overnight locations were better. Re: that one, we started in Auburn in '06. The bleak school where we stayed was a short distance from the beautiful park we stayed at this year. We met a couple who lives near Youngstown. It just so happens that I had been planning a tour from the Youngstown area to Philly. The place where I drop off the one way rental car is 2 miles from the couple's house. I will likely stay with them the night before I start riding.

The one trike I saw was ridden buy a guy who obviously loved to show it off. He would ride it short distances in camp. I even saw him ride from his tent to the porta potties.

[DaveB]

This was my first Bon Ton and I was very pleased by the overnight locations, the food was great and the road marking were generally very good with a couple of minor glitches.  I've ridden a bunch of GOBAs in Ohio, Bike Virginia and DALMAC last year and one RAGBRAI decades ago and this Bon Ton was one of the top experiences. 

Did you ride the "long route" on Tuesday from Keuka College around Keuka Lake?  That was a TOUGH last 8 miles.

I also saw the guy on the trike buzzing around the various overnights too.  I agree he seemed to love to show it off.

[bogiesan]

Visit and hang out on bentrider.com. There are probably a couple of trike-specific forums on the interwebs and the major suppliers should have customer-focused forums on their sites. There you will find hundreds of posts on how to choose a trike and what to expect when you get out on the road. You will be surprised at the variety of wheel configurations, componentry, countries of origin, and prices. An entry level Chinese-made trike can be under $1,000 or you can get a suspended ti or carbon unit from Australia or Germany for $6,000 and up.

I have toured with (not on) several trikes and the owners are universal in their praise of the form factor. Some of these guys have gone totally self-supported across the country more than once so, anecdotally, there are no downsides to touring on a tricycle.

The tandem trike is one of the coolest touring machines I've ever seen. Long and stable, these things are fast and the stoker has a fabulous seat.

[pat4701]

I have an ICE Adventure trike.  It is an awesome touring machine.  I have found that motorists are much more friendly when I am on the trike than when on a road bike.  I do always have a flag to make sure there is a visual indicator in the line of sight for drivers.  Personally, I feel much safer on the trike than a road bike.

[TCS]

Well, who doesn't love trikes, trikes, trikes, trikes, trikes, trikes, trikes, trikes, trikes, trikes, trikes and trikes?


You can check out this

http://youtu.be/qbv0FrfF67U?t=2m20s

video to see how much lower common tadpole recumbent trikes are than a representative recumbent bike.

Some other recumbent trikes sit higher, like the TerraTrike Rover, the Greenspeed Anura and others.

Then there are many, many designs of standard upright trikes,which have been a part of the cycling world for 125 years now.  They sit about the same height as standard upright bicycles.

Trikes make up such a fractional percentage of pedal cycles on the road that I'm skeptical a meaningful empirical analysis could be done on their relative safety.

Best,
tcs

[DaveB]

Then there are many, many designs of standard upright trikes,which have been a part of the cycling world for 125 years now.  They sit about the same height as standard upright bicycles.

Yes, I've seen them as parts getters in industrial plants and for shopping transportation in retirement communities but i've never seen on on the road.  A combination of weight and odd handling and limited cornering ability are major disadvantages. 

[TCS]

Yes, I've seen them as parts getters in industrial plants and for shopping transportation in retirement communities but i've never seen on on the road.  A combination of weight and odd handling and limited cornering ability are major disadvantages.

Click on some of the above links for lightweight racing versions.

Trikes 'oddly handlinng and limitedly cornering' at a rainy world championship a few years back.

[rtool]

I have ridden an ICE Sprint FSX for nine months now and feel just as safe on it as I did on a diamond frame.  I have two high intensity rear flashing lights and a flashing headlight.  I also have a large flag that is also highly reflective at night.  I mainly road ride, even though I live in the Dayton OH area where we have over 320 miles of paved rail trails.  I have noticed that almost all drivers give me a lot more room than when I rode a diamond frame.  The only close call was when a  young girl cut me off making a right turn in front of me.  Now have over 2,000 miles on my trike this year and I don't really worry about traffic much.  I also have two fender mirrors and a helmet mounted mirror which keep me in touch with what is coming up behind me.  The ICE Adventure is an excellent trike that will give you many miles of carefree riding.  Main things are:  you must be visible and above all predictable.  Drivers need to know what you are doing and what you are going to do. 

[Mark Manley]

  I have been looking at different trikes and found the Ice trike Adventure interesting. My question is, how safe are these trikes on the road and touring with them in traffic. I road one and my head was about even with the grill of a car. Is this a normal feeling?

I was thinking of asking this question myself and you have saved me the bother and have found the replies encouraging, I am now considering buying a trike.

If the question had been how far can you go on a trike the answer seems to be anywhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP8KiXxgEMQ