Commuting on the trike

This last week has been great. Mostly because there were only four work days, but also because I got to commute with my trike. Riding on the trike is much better than riding the bike. It is so comfortable and makes going to work a totally different experience. My wrists and hands don't hurt anymore an d I'm having a lot of fun.

The first day of riding in the streets with cars it became very evident how much lower I am in the trike. Instead of being able to see over small cars I am now at the height of their doors. I also can't ride all the way in the shoulder anymore due to the width of the trike, which means I have to depend on the mirror a lot to see if there is anyone behind me. The mirror that came with my trike is nice, but it doesn't stick out far enough. I get a good view of my bicep, but can't see behind me very well. So, my first modification was to extend my mirror out an extra inch. It took me about 1/2 hour at Home Depot to find the right parts, but I was able to tweak it for less than $3. I got a 2" machine screw to replace the 1" default screw and then I was able to find some 1/2" spacers that had the same outside diameter as the mirror rod. The inside diameter was two big to allow the assembly to be screwed together straightly, so I found two smaller spacers that fit inside the larger spacers. The whole thing screwed together nicely. The spacers were white though, so I used a black Sharpie pen and colored them in to make them match. The whole project worked out very well and made a huge difference. I now have a much better view of cars coming up behind me and I feel much safer now.

Besides the mirror, my only irritation with the trike has been the loud rumbling from the rear idler. Everytime I pedal I can hear the chain bumping over the plastic wheels. I really wanted to get a better idler like the one in the front of my trike from Terracycle. According to their website, they only had a front unit available for sale. I decided to email them and see if they had something that would work. I heard back from Robert at Terracycle, and he told me that they actually did have one, but they weren't shipping it quite yet. If I was interested in one they could send me one. I told him to ship it to me and I got it today.

The new unit mounts in the same place as the stock idler but is considerably longer. On the drive side it has a sprocket and on the return side it has a strong super-slick plastic ring. The unit has two Abec-7 bearings and a modified shaft that allows the whole idler unit to slide to the left or right allowing it to line up with the chain best. The whole unit installed in about 5 minutes. When I got on the trike to test it out I was immediately impressed. There is no more noise from the idlers. The only noise I hear now is the chain rolling over the front sprocket and rear derailer. It is a stealth trike now. Riding home with the new idlers was great. It feels very smooth now instead of the previous bumpy feeling. I recommend the Terracycle idlers to any recumbent rider.

I've noticed that when I encounter people while riding the trike their reactions tend to be different than when I'm riding a bicycle. With the trike they tend to give me more room on the road. They wave a give me the thumbs up. I constantly hear comments like "I want one of those!"

My New Trike

My Trike finally arrived on Friday. After my initial ride around the block I adjusted the seat forward a little and removed 4 links of chain. It took a little tweaking to get it to fit on my rook racks but I did get it securely situated and was on my way home. You can see it here decked out with flags for Memorial Day. Also, you'll notice the reflective strips on the tires glowing from the camera's flash. I guess that what it looks like to cars when I ride at night.

My First Ride

When I got home the family insisted on going out to dinner, so I didn't get a chance to ride it immediately, but once the kids were asleep I strapped on the light and went for a ride. I ended up riding from about 11pm to midnight. It was smooth and responsive. Although the weather was quite windy I didn't really feel it because of the trikes low position. Because of my headlight's relatively low range and the generally poor condition of the Benjamin country roads, I didn't ride it real hard. I did manage to take it up to about 24mph, but I averaged about 10mph for the duration. The trike is very comfortable. I seriously feel like I could ride all day without hurting. The steering felt very sensitive, and the faster I rode the more the back end would shake during pedaling. Also, I noticed a consistent rumbling sound from the rear idler whenever I pedaled, but coasting on the machine was silent. About midnight Sonia called me and wondered where I was. When I told here I was out riding she told me to get home, so I did.

Bad Weather

Saturday and Sunday were not good days for having a brand new Trike. A storm came in and it was cold, windy and rained most of the weekend. Since I couldn't go out and ride I stayed in and started some tweaking.

Here you can see the front of the trike. I got it with a Schlumpf High Speed drive instead of the standard 3-sprocket derailer. With the stock rear cassette it gives me a gear-inch range of 15-116". In addition to the nice range, it eliminates the front derailer and shifter, frees up the front post, and that small sprocket just looks dang cool. The Schlumpf drive has a button in the center poking through the cranks on each side. You push the right side with your heal to engage overdrive and push the left side to engage the 1:1 sprocket. The overdrive is a 2.5:1 ratio, so with the 27-tooth sprocket, overdive gives the equivilent of a 68-tooth sprocket. You can also see in this picture the front idlers, which I had replaced at the factory with the upgraded Terracycle idlers. These idlers are smooth and produce no noise during riding.


In this picture you can see the front end well, with my "empty" derailer post. I had my dealer mount the extra accessory mount on the top to give me some more room for mounting gadgets. On the vertical shaft of the accessory mount I put the Garmin Edge 305 GPS computer. On the horizontal shaft I mounted the DualCross headlight. The empty derailer post is the perfect place to mount the light's battery pack with enough room for a front reflector. You'll notice on the left side I mounted the Edge 305's cadence sensor. Normally the sensor mounts on the back of an upright bike's frame by the rear wheel, since this isn't possible with a recumbent's bottom bracket placement I had to turn the sensor sideways. I used an 1/8" piece of rubber between the sensor and the tubing to get the sensor close enough to the crank to read the magnet. It works very good. I also got the Shimano 520 clipless pedals to go with my new shoes. I'm new to clipless pedals, but I gotta say that I absolutely love them!

Here's another picture of the front end. If your wondering why I got the Cruiser instead of the more expensive Tour, I'll tell you. After doing my research I found that the main cost difference between the two models is that the Cruiser frame is welded overseas (but otherwise identical) and the Tour has better drivetrain components. Since I knew I was going to immediately replace the Cruiser's front derailer with the Schlumpf drive and will be eventually replacing the rear derailer and cassette with an internal gear drive hub, I would be paying extra for components that I wouldn't be using anyway. Besides, I really like the blue color.

Speaking of the trikes rear components, here's a picture of the rear derailer and sprocket assembly and also the rear idler. The rear idler is the one part of the trike that I do not like. It is the only part of the trike that makes noise. I emailed WizWheelz about it and the tech suggested that I look at the chain guards and adjust them if necessary to make sure that they aren't rubbing against the chain. I did check them and they are not rubbing. I think that the noise I am hearing is normal and I'm probably just being too picky. If Terracycle had a rear idler option I would buy it immediately. The Terracycle idler, seen on the front, is slightly larger and has a sprocket gear on the drive side. This means that the chain isn't just bumping along on the plastic groove like with the stock idlers. The return idler uses a slicker harder material on the return side to eliminate more friction than the stock idler. Eventually when I replace the back gear assembly with an internal gear hub, I am hoping to eliminate the need for the rear idler altogether.

One reason that I really wanted the trike is that it gets hard to carry a lot of stuff on a bike. So, I got the trike with the Aluminum Rack, Seat Bag, and the Trunk Bag. When I picked up the trike, they had mounted the Seat Bag and the Trunk Bag, and while they looked very sharp, it was obvious that neither bag would be big enough for my laptop that I commute with everyday to work. A bag made by Ortlieb from Germany is the size of a small briefcase and has a plate on one side that locks onto another plate mounted on the rack. It looked perfect to me. It took me a little work to notch out the brackets with a jigsaw to get the mounting plate to bolt on to the Aluminum Rack, but it was worth it. This bag is the perfect size, and being so easily removable will make it perfect for the trips to the supermarket, in addition to meeting my commuting needs.

My First Real Ride

When I woke up on Monday morning the weather was beautiful, so I decided to go for a ride to really test it out. My goal was 20 miles. I went around on some of the back roads and then followed the edge of the mountain. I road past a lot of farms, the local dairy, and then ended by the local park which is just a mile from the house. By the time I had gotten home I had gone about 17 miles. My average speed was 13.5mph according to the GPS, which is about 2mph slower than my typical upright speed. My top speed on flat ground was about 22mph. I probably could have gone faster but I need to learn to control the trike better. The faster you go the more sensitive the steering becomes. The harder you pedal, the more the tendency to sway back and forth with each power stroke. With concentration, I was able to pedal hard and stay straight, so I'm sure that it is just a matter of technique that I will pick up with experience. The one thing that I noticed overall is that for the most part I don't have to concentrate on riding the vehicle. There is no upper-body pain to focus on and it is, for the most part, like driving a car. I just let my legs pedal and in the meantime I can look around and view the surroundings. The ride is very comfortable and smooth. Bumps in the road feel much smoother than my upright bike.

Overall, I am very happy with my new trike. I plan on doing some more tweaking on the rear drivetrain components in the near future, but other than that I like it the way it is. I'll be commuting to work with the trike starting tomorrow, so I'll really be able to compare it with my other bike.