New to Recumbents; need some advise

I just moved to Ft. Collins and this is a very bicycle friendly place. I have wanted a recumbent for a while now and have lots of trails nearby.. I am considering a Trike but don't want to invest a lot just yet. I am considering a couple of used models. One is a TerraTrike Rover but its only 8 speeds. Can that handle the hills of Colorado? Does anyone know how to tell an i8 from an x8 model? There is a price difference and don't want to overpay. I am also considering a Catrike Villager that is used but a little more costly than the TerraTrike. I feel the Villager would be a better investment. Any advise is appreciated!

 

Oh. and one other question: Are there accessories available for both the Rover and the Villager?

 

Welcome to Colorado and Recumbent Trikes!!! Your question, it's MHO, that 8 speeds IS NOT ENOUGH as Colorado trails have hills!! The I-8 Rover is a "Internal" 8 speed hub, ie: No Rear derailleur or cassette, the X-8 Rover is a "external" 8 speed, 8 speed Cassette and rear derailleur set up..

I'd HIGHLY recommend going with the Catrike and having a local shop, change the STOCK chain wheel set (could be a double, 2- chain wheels or a triple, 3-chain wheels) to a MOUNTAIN BIKE Triple chain wheel set of 22/32/44 gearing this will help give you MORE LOW gearing for hill climbing with the stock rear cassette! IF you feel you need more low gearing you can have them change a cassette to say a 11x40 or 42 cassette. The ROVER doesn't have a "front derailleur post" so you can't put a "triple chain wheel set on it"!!!!

There are some very expensive "internal gear" drive unit's on the market but again, I'd recommend going with the Catrike or a upgraded Terra Trike with a "front triple and derailleur" set up here in Colorado, JMHO, YMMV. Have a most excellent day!


Colorado has some really nice trails, the 4 major in the mountains paved trails are. 1. Vail Summit Trail 2. Rio Grande Trail, (Glennwood Springs to Aspen)3. Glennwood Canyon Trail (Glennwood Springs) 4. Mineral Belt Trail, (Leadville), these are the major trails from 12 to 40+ miles (one way).

The Denver area has several trails in various lengths, C-470 trail, Cherry Creek Trail, etc. these are mostly paved and cover from Parker, CO. south up to Northgleen, CO. north. You can get a Denver Trails Map from the city webside, (note: a lot of URBAN trails make up with mix with rail trails).

Fort Collins has some trails at the northern part of the state and Pueblo, CO. has the Pueblo Reservoir Trail in Lake Pueblo State Park (21 miles one way, mix of urban and by the Arkansas River wetlands), on the southern end of Colorado. Colorado Springs, has a good mix of shorter (less than 20 miles one way), urban and rail trails BUT they are not "connected to each other well, it's best to have a "local" show you how to connect them to make really nice LOOP rides! The main North/South trail is the Pikes Peak Greenway, made up of the Fountain Trail starting in Fountain, CO. then the Monument Valley Trail thru Colorado Springs to the New Santa Fe Trail, thru the Air Force Academy, Monument and Palmer Lake, CO. up to it's ending point at the Greenland Open Space, south of Castle Rock, CO. 50 miles one way but softer to hard packed DIRT except thru the city of Colorado Springs then it turns back to dirt (can be slick in spots on the hills from Woodman Ave. through the USAF and Monument/Palmer Lake, CO. all they way till it ends) 50+ miles one way.

Other nice trails are the Cottonwood Creek Trail, Midland Trail (from America the Beautiful Park in down town Co. Spgs. to Manitou Springs.), Templeton Gap Trail, Rock Island Trail, Shooks Run Trail, Sinton Trail, Foothills Trail, but NONE of these are long trails they just make nice LOOP trails. FYI. BTW, we have 1000's of miles of mild to very serious MOUNTAIN BIKE and SINGLE TRACK trails all over the State!

 

Lot's of accessories on the brands website's and at your local recumbent dealers, in Ft. Collins, https://www.rockymountainrecumbents.com/ There is a shop in Denver and the BEST recumbent dealer in Colorado is in Colorado Springs, called: AngleTech, www.cycledifferent.com and they have a lot of used trikes also! FYI.

Note: I would HIGHLY recommend that you go to a Recumbent dealer and RIDE several different brands and styles of TRIKES as DEMO's before you purchase a trike!! They are usually very happy to set you up an appointment to test ride what they have to see what FITS YOU the best! It would be well worth the trip to set up an appt. with Angletech in Colorado Springs as they have several brands and styles of trikes and several USED trikes in different price ranges.

719-687-7475 Talk to Joshia or Kelvin. Also see what the Ft. Collins dealer can set up for a demo ride for you, JMHO

 

BTW, the 1st. photo that A.D. put up is of the brand new Terra Trike Maverick model which comes in I-3, I-8 and X-8 versions with the "single" front chain wheel, it DOES have a "front derailleur post" (but since it's a single chain wheel, it doesn't come with a front deraileur!) The Terra Trike Rover models, NEVER came with a front derailleur post, FYI.

 

Thanks A.D.for the info.

 

Thanks BJjoondo for the advise and the tips for trail rides around Colorado. I have only been here for 4 months and look forward to getting out there on the trails. This is confirmation to go with the Catrike. I visited a local store, Rocky Mountain Recumbents who was very helpful and let me try a couple of trikes.

 

Yes, the more gears the better. I had a "Granny" (read smaller for this old guy) gear put on the chain ring which replaced the smallest gear ring up front on all my recumbents (both trikes and bikes) so I can get up our Tennessee hills. Otherwise plan to walk up hills a lot!

to the world of recumbents!