It is Tour de France rules. When recumbents won they got banned. Much the same way only the rich can afford tax loopholes. The rules must be changed to benefit the establisment
The same rule applies here as in the battlefield. The lower your profile the harder it is for the enemy to spot you . The lower the recumbent tricycle the more difficult it is for folks in cars to see them .A certain percentage of folks who ride these recumbents think that a simple lightweight two meter fiberglass pole with and orange or green high visibility banner flag mounted on the bike is nonsense. I am a cyclist and I want all of us to be safe but I won't suggest that advice to them in person because they will think it's an insult.
@@kookamunga2458 We always recommend a good flag for more visibility laidbackcycles.com/products/terratrike-flag-teardrop?_pos=1&_psq=flag&_ss=e&_v=1.0
I love recumbents. In 2007, after riding a conventional bike in RAGBRAI, I was impotent for nearly a month. But! on that ride I saw my first recumbents ridden by all types of people, old... young... thin... fat.... fast... slow... and I knew that was the solution to keep riding. When I got my trike in March of 2008, I stopped using my car to go shopping, to go to work, and equipped it with high power lights, etc. The funny story... one night riding home a lady in a black suburban beeped at me and then stopped in front. She rolled down the window and told me "you need to get off the road... we can´t see you!". I looked her in the eye and asked... "are you talking to the person you can´t see?... or is there someone else you are talking with?". She rolled up the window and went on. 🤣
My favorite comment was ‘I didn’t see you down there’ to which I replied ‘Did you see the road?’ I also have two headlights, one aimed straight ahead and the other slightly to the right and up in strobe mode. I also remember you saying that you preferred ahead not down at the road in front of you.
I'm riding aHP Streetmachine(two wheels) and have no Mode pain in my hands or neck.You can ride 70 Miles or more without pain. Use a flag when you ride to be seen.Go out and have fun.
All good reasons for a trike. One it seems never mentioned is for folks with low vision. I'm functionally blind and 2 wheels carried a great deal of crash anxiety. I bought an ICE Trice T in 2018 and all that anxiety is gone. If I don't see an obstacle it's not to the E.R. for me (and my wife). I love to get out now and my collection has grown to 4 trikes!
Always quality information on your videos, so thanks ... not to mention, entertaining and uplifting! Trikes are so much fun, no matter what kind you buy or how much you spend, that riding them is just plain inviting, no matter how far you go or how long your ride. steve
#1 TIP!!!! whether bike ot trike...take the time to get it fitted! either by a shop or learn yourself on youtube. I have personally bought bikes for resell that were 5sz bigger then ythe person it came from. Guy tend to think bigger bike makes them look bigger....no, it just makes you look uncomfortable and you sell your bike to me for 95% off
I ride custom Catrike Villager because I have a pinched nerve in my back that left me with a dropped right foot. I cannot walk very for but I can ride for as long as I like with no discomfort whatsoever. I use to ride a very modified mountain bike as a rode bike and do 40 miles on weekdays and a 60 mile route on Saturdays. Since switching to a tadpole recumbent bike I have no neck pain, shoulder pain or hand pain after my rides like I had with a two wheel bike. I’m one happy converted trike rider that loves his trike.
I'm surprised you didn't debunk the bonus with, "Go ahead and buy one even if you don't use it. Most of these trikes have been going up in value...just sell it at a profit if you don't ride it."
safety 😅 the Dimond bike is the worst proving science fact Dimond profile ssso hard to see oncoming or from behind recumbent you have the profile of a car ...those that say otherwise , no brain 😢
Very good mike! We are the only manufacturer of recumbent tricycles in Brazil, we have our channel, on you tube, my customers have many doubts and often ask the same questions that you addressed. With your permission I will be commenting on your content on our channel (gotrikes). Great quality, the next time I'm in the USA I'll visit your company. Sincerely, Ricardo Chede
Here's another reason for some people. I have a large frame, broad shoulders etc. My hips are too wide to comfortably fit on the trikes I've tried. The posts that hold the front wheels on a Catrike bruise my hips from getting in and out of the seat. An ICE trike kindof works because the handgrips have an adjustable width but when I widen them to a comfortable position it doesn't leave much space for steering. It's probably a very small percentage of the population but they just don't make trikes to fit some of us.
I've been riding recumbents since 1989 and have an Tour Easy and a Rans V-Rex. I like them both although the longer wheel based Tour Easy is my ride of choice. I have tried numerous trikes and I cannot say that they stand up to scrutiny. When I was younger I found that my recumbents were about 10% faster than my very nice Bianchi road bike. The trikes that I have tried are all slower and I feel more awkward using them, but to be fair that might improve with more consistent use. My main beef though is that they are, in my opinion, too low to use in traffic. Not being visible is definitely a safety issue and I have commuted to work by bike for 46 years and would not feel comfortable driving on the roads on a consistent basis with a trike. Sure, buy a trike if you have a balance/health issue. I can certainly see them as being useful for a senior citizen with physical issues, but stick to the bike paths and avoid the roads if you can.
This design is to maximize performance and disregards other design parameters. This design is good for a controlled racetrack where every tiny bit of aerodynamics helps. When you share a roadway, there has to be compromises to include visibility. I feel vulnerable on my Vivo and Stratus and have fluorescent backpack covers as well as a good blinky light on the back of my helmet.
You should always feel vulnerable on any bike that you ride, no matter the style. I have one or two front lights, 2 or 3 back lights (depending on the bike I am riding) and a helmet light. And I always wear a bright top - no black. Just makes sense.@@JohnHoranzy
When I got my Catrike Villager, I didn't expect to be able to transport it (mostly riding from home on bike trails). However, I discovered that it fits in our Prius simply by folding the back forward. And it's light enough that I can load it myself, lifting one end at a time - I'm 76 and only 5 ft. tall. Love my Villager!
I had Terra trike cables for 10 years. Changing a front tire flat is easy if you have to you can turn it over on its side and do it easy. But there is no easy solution that I can find in order to remove the rear wheel so you can fix a flat. turning the bike upside down like you can on a standard two wheeler is not an option. Thank you for any information you can provide.
I want a trike w 4 wheels and a round steering wheel but I'm so lost and not bc I live in NYC The prices keep going up and I warned ppl..cars have a 25mph limit and my scooter was 28-30..this can't be legal but the DMV site says anything under 30mph needs to be registered..these 😂 😂 😂 Now it's too expensive and I'm running out of research and saving$ time..=[
Thank you Laid Back Cycles. Your video was the first video I watch regarding trikes it is great. Looking forward to watching more and investing this activity.
i'd be interested in fat trikes vs quads for a PNW beach scenario, potentially with a trailer. A long wheelbase "truck" seems ideal as a grocery getter vehicle replacement.
I built a high racer recumbent which goes very well WAY way better than a normal diamond frame bicycle but is there an option to make a high racer trike ?
Ah!! But will it fit on an elevator? I live in an apt in the 3rd floor. No outdoor storage, so the bike would have to fit in the elevator and be able to go through doors to be stored in my apt
Hey Mickey ever think about making a video of the track buyer's guide sure it would be cool if you could have it in the series in indifferent steps and it's something to think about math anyways have a good one I'll see you when I come up there to make that big payment calculator by
I have an electric trike, my wife has an electric bike. I need a rack that can accommodate both at the same time. The ones I’ve found can’t handle the weight.
I had an encounter with a guy I called "peloton Pete". He was under half our age and was trying out a tricycle that day. We were on our tandem. Leaving Dunkeld he teased us saying tandems were slower uphill. So we challenged him to compete. For the next 60 km we were riding along swapping the lead regularly. We left him for dead on the uphills but he rolled faster on the downhills. His ego took a battering because on his own lightweight racer he would have been able to beat us. But on the trike he didn't have the same performance. When a 25 year old has to fight to keep up with a pair of 65 year olds it hit him. So on the next day he was back on his road bike.
I've never encountered anyone thinking my trike doesn't look comfortable. On the contrary, most comment immediately on how comfortable it looks. I'm down on flags. I think they provide a false sense of security. Even your brief clip of someone riding with flags shows the flags parallel to the camera's line of sight, and are almost invisible. The visibility of a flag ranges from decent to nonexistent, depending on wind direction. trike travel direction. and observer location. Further, a flag is not the sort of thing a motorist is alert to, so it doesn't help with the basic safety rule, "be seen". I say depend on classic safety behaviors, like controlling the lane. And after all, if a car driver can see the road, they can see me. I do ride with front an rear bright blinking lights even daytime. Blinking lights are highly visible and motorist alert to them.
One thing you forgot to talk about in this video was their potential for theft!... I feel like if you live in a city and want to use a recumbent to commute to and from work You'd be a bigger target for bike thieves! Just saying
10 years ago, my partner & I went to see a movie one day. When we came out, the cable lock was cut. Her bike was gone, but my recumbent trike was still where I had left it, in front of the ticket booth.. Apparently the thieves didn't recognize it as a bikeish object or there was no room in their vehicle to carry it. It's still hanging in the garage. As soon as the weather cools, I think I'll take it for a ride.
