Making the switch to a trike, seeking opinions...

Wow, in these temps, it's under 40 today? I commend you but I couldn't find that enjoyable.
Any other trike riders in your Club?

 

It was beautiful. Anything 35 or more is fine with clothes.

Two trikes. One went back to a bike after years. The other has health problems and can't ride. I'm going to refurbish my 20 yr old Lemond and ride that once I fully recover from a dog.

The trike will be for anytime I'm not keeping up with a group. I was getting 6 days/week from April to October when I went down. That mileage gets one in good shape.

 

Just making the transition to a trike myself. My reason for doing so is stability at low or no Velocity. I took a pretty bad tumble when I slid on a patch of oak leaves while turning. My balance is not what it was and instead of recovering, I tilted over on. my left side. Ending up sliding about a dozen feet on my left arm. I also thumped my shoulder pretty good on the initial impact. Luckily the bike was not damaged other than where the left pedal dug into the road and I was close to home. I was able to ride it back. I took the bike the next day to the local shop for a checkup and replaced the pedal. The bike was fine; I was not. At 55, it took me two weeks to heal.

I was also starting to suffer issues with my wrists after riding, especially dealing with bumps and transitions. And swinging my legs over the step-through bar was becoming an issue. So the crash was the final straw.

I wanted a ride that allowed me to stop at lights and stop signs without the need to dismount. A trike was ideal, and I tried an upright trike. Good for balance but not for my wrists. Talked with a fellow rider who had a Catrike Dumont and picked his brain. Tried a Villager and Dumont at the local shop, read a lot, and thought. The added stability of the Dumont made the difference for me. After two months, I got a Dumont. It is heavier, and I am slower than I was (average speed dropped about 2mph to 11 mph or so, depending upon my route). I am no speed demon, but I no longer outrun my wife on rides. I like the lack of brake steer, my wrists do not hurt, and I still get my cardio exercise.

 

I'm normally an A+ rider. I can drop the A group almost at will. I have a Catrike Speed. When I take that to a club ride instead of a highracer or lowracer, the 'B' riders drop me in the first mile or two. If you want to limit damage from falling, get a lowracer. Crashing a lowracer will lose you some skin, but breaking bones is pretty uncommon.

 

I've been back on the Lemond riding 125-200 miles/week. The 559 sits in the dining room only seeing road time on Sundays if I go out by myself. Sometimes my wife goes along on her mountain bike.

I may ask the local bent dealer to let me try and trade for a 700 if/when he gets one in. The other issue is hills. We normally have 700-1000' every 10 miles and they're a grind on the trike. I notice inclines that I don't even consider when on an upright.

 

Trikes lose out in hill-climbing ability, I think mostly because of boom flex. Virtually all Tadpole trikes have a fairly long, unsupported monotube boom. And when you pedal, it deflects down. That's energy lost with every pedal stroke. Sure you have extra aero and rolling losses, but the frame flex is a performance killer. The 700 is about as good as you'll find without paying huge bucks for a CarbonTrike/Bacchetta, but still may get dropped on climbs. Unless you're much lighter than me and don't need a lot of power to ascend.

 

I don't mind getting dropped on hills but want the average around 14-16 depending on how the hills are.

The 559 gets me around 11-12 and I feel like I'm always digging. The bike even my ole steel Lemond I'm not working as hard.

 

FWIW, I love my Cattrike Expedition

 

Not sure how to interpret that statement. I like and don't have a problem with the 559 except that I can't come close to keeping up with my friends that are on road bikes.

There isn't a good way locally to ride different models long enough to know how living with the machine will be. I have a 20 yr relationship with the bike shop and could take any bike for a week or two to try it. Not so with the trike shop The trike shop has all of the manufacturers sewn up and the bike shop can't buy them.

 

What tires you got? My expedition came with 1.5 marathons that were slow as hell. I changed out to Schwalbe Duranos 28-406 and speed improved dramatically

 

Schwalbe Racers are what came stock on the 559. They are hardly worn.

 

To all whom think a 30 to 40 lb. trike will have the same speed as a two-wheel bike LOTS OF LUCK. I have a Expedition and to maintain 9.5 to 10.5 is a hell lots of work. Speed is not what I bough the Cat for, but for comfort and the ability of still being able to pedal due to bad knees and hips and also 76 yrs old. So why not just enjoy

 

I'm only 69. The oldest is 84 with many in between. All routinely get between 100 & 200 mi/week. Lots of rural roads with approximately 800 ft of elevation/10 mi to keep us healthy. We are enjoying.

I had the pleasure of watching Wild Kingdom in my youth and note that the young and old elk are the ones at the back of the pack and got picked off by the lions

Hips and knees can be replaced and work as well as when the original had 30 yrs on them.

 

AS THE SAYING GOES "VERTICAL AND BREATHING"

 

This is just MHO. If you want to keep up with your friends, a trike is not the platform to use. I have seen guys do it, on Windcheetahs or Catrike 700s; but they were fast riders who could make up for the machine.