Here we take a look at what to expect when making the transition from road bike to recumbent trike and how to get your 'bent legs! Music: MydNyte - Noir Et Blanc Vie
Excellent primer on transitioning from the one to the other. There are minor things to inform folks about in a deeper treatise, such as the tendency of newbies to weave as they pedal a trike, what causes it and how to reduce it, but again, those are for Trike Riding 201. 😊
When the narrator speaks about "trike butt," I can confirm that it does occur (DID occur) with me when riding my Catrike 700, but I found the perfect fix, which is to add a wheelchair pressure sore air cushion, readily available from medical equipment suppliers or online. These are essentially mini air mattresses with an egg crate design that relieves pressure on the region by allowing subtle butt movement while sitting so that body weight is both redistributed and constantly varied.
@@bikestrikesrazors In addition, when the butt is a bit freed up, the very slight "instability" results in an automatic (greater) engagement of the core muscles and the result is that your own body is supplying the "stability," and of course, a stronger core provides greater stability OFF the trike for a myriad of activities and can reduce and/or prevent lower back pain. The core engagement occurs because when you pedal the trike in this configuration, you are (very subtly) "shaking your booty" with every alternative pedal stroke--more so than if your butt was planted hard in the seat. This kind of movement is readily translated to paddling a sea kayak, where pushing against the foot braces in the bottom of the boat whilst twisting around side to side with the paddle is the key to a powerful stroke. For this reason, I find that trike riding and kayaking are great cross training for each other.
I started riding a Catrike Dumont about 2 years ago. Prior to that I was a road rat that always rode and raced diamond frame bicycles. As I grew older and injuries from my youth came back to haunting I became impossible for me to ride a traditional bike without experiencing joint and nerve pain that lasted for days after even a short 4 - 5 mile ride. Then I discovered trikes, total game changer. For me it took about 2 months to get my trike legs and be able to comfortably ride 30 miles. My neck took a little longer. As for the dead butt, trike butt, numb feet thing, I just make it a point to get off trike about once every hour. It’s a good excuse to refill water bottles, have a pee break, whatever, just so I’m off the trike a few minutes and then I’m good to go.
Absolutely true! I just picked up my Trike yesterday. WOW, no doubt that I had at least two muscle groups than need more conditioning. I'm so glad mine had a throttle, because I really needed it to get home. I chose a trike for the comfort and for much winter riding to keep my legs in shape all year long.
I started out on a Catrike Expedition from a Look road bike. I was shocked out how slow I was. I was actually disappointed. When I realized I was experiencing different leg muscle pains I understood that I would have to develop those muscles. I am 53 and I have been riding trikes for two years now. A year after I got my Expedition I switched to the Catrike 700 this past March. What a difference. I am a little faster than I was on my Look. Slower going uphill though but that does not bother me. I was never an out of the saddle hill climber anyway. I find it amusing when younger roadies, with all their spandex, pass me on a hill and then I am right behind them on a flat. I can see them putting in the effort to stay ahead. While they are working I am simply cruising. I seem to be getting faster each month. I love it when my Garmin tells me I broke another personal record! I love riding my 700 and I have no regrets at all. Although my build was close to $6000 it is still less than a high end road bike. I do not ride on the road unless I am crossing one. I have seen too many idiots face down looking at their phones. I stay on the bike trails here in the Kansas City suburbs, Kansas side. I love your channel and thank you for the outstanding work you are doing for the community.
The 700 is a beautiful, fast trike, Lawrence! Yep, we also discovered that there is a big speed difference between different trikes. I was actually shocked the first time I took out the VTX (which by all accounts, looks to be the same speed-wise as the 700). It took me awhile too, but like you, now on the flats, I’m faster on the VTX than I am on my road bikes. I’m pretty sure that if we can just get a manufacturer to build a trike that weighs 18 pounds, we’ll be as fast climbing as well. :)
A week or so back I commented on another of your posts. It was the one where you took your mom and dad for a ride. After your reply I took the step into recumbent tricking. I will take delivery of a TerraTrike Rambler - 24 next Friday. It is not a race trike but it fits my needs and wants and I am looking forward to riding it many years. Thank you, again, informative and entertaining video.
@@bikestrikesrazors One week and 49 miles later I am very excited about about my Rambler-24 purchase. Lot of sore leg muscles but I expected that. You are correct when you said, in your video, it is a different set of muscles used on a recumbent trike than a diamond frame bike. That being said I have had NO sore back, neck, shoulder, wrist or butt. That has made my purchase well worth the price. The 24" wheels make for a pleasant ride and make navigating on and off paths and sidewalks effortless. So far the 1X9 speeds have been more than sufficient for my area and needs. Thank you, again, for your information and videos.
@@djwillyb Hi Bill! Glad you're having fun on your Rambler-24! Very happy to hear your body is appreciating your new purchase. Yep, you're neck, butt, back and wrists are so glad you bought a trike. :)
Thank you. Good video and info. Just bought a first gen HP Scorpion non folding trike. Got a good deal on it and it's like new. Snow in Colorado is preventing me from riding for a few more weeks. I know I'll be a trikeaholic soon.
Love your channel. I live in Rocklin and you are giving me some good ideas where to ride in the area. I just bought an Azub Ti Fly X, so I'm anxious to get on the trails 👍🏼
Thanks much, Bob! The Ti Fly X is a beautiful trike! We're really lucky to be living in an area here with both the American River trail system and the Folsom trail system. I think you'll be surprised by how many trikes you see out there on the trails. Enjoy that amazing trike! :)
When the feet get numb, try loosening the shoes, especially around the toes. On a recumbent the shoes do not need to be as super tight as on uprights. And make sure the soles are wide enough and the footbed really fits.
I can’t wait to get into a trike I recently had a 7 level cervical fusion with lamenectomy my diamond frame days are over I tried riding an upright a couple years ago and my balance is hammered and I definitely lack cervicle mobility to look up. I just discovered these contraptions called tadpole trikes and I saw the opportunity to pedal again especially distance for that was my thing on diamond frames. I’ve got my eyeballs on a hp velo fs26se or a catrike dumont if I can pull off the hp velo that’s my first choice I plan on a massive cycle tour and with a twice surgically repaired neck and a less than awesome lumbar I have to have suspension and I have to be as flat as possible in a perfect world I’d have the hp for touring and a catrike 700 for quick speed rips less than 50 miles. I dig your channel and the information I’ve gleened
Those are all fantastic trikes and you can't go wrong with any of them! You're going to find that long distance touring on a trike is a whole different deal from touring on a diamond frame. If you don't try and go nuts with speed, you can cover lots of mileage, pedaling sun up to sun down, without any concern for "contact point" pain. And if you do get a trike with suspension, you'll be that much more comfortable!
@@bikestrikesrazors I figured I’m going to lose the speed on a touring set up but if I can average 12-15mph I’ll be happy it’s only a 25% loss now on a lean 700 that looks like a fast machine that 18-20 average looks very doable and that’s about where I was on road bikes
@@crazycaseyandoldmanangus7143 …I am a retired 69 year old dentist who went from road bike to recumbent long wheel base to Catrike 559. I recently added a Catrike 700( I still kept the other bikes of course.) there is no going back to a Diamond frame. EVER. The 559 is like riding a Lexus luxury sedan and the Dumont is the same but with suspension( and extra weight and an extra $800). The 700 is a Porsche 911 like the Ice VTX. You will find no speed loss from Diamond frame to a 700 after you get your legs. Then559/Dumont is a few mph slower due to weight and riding position, etc. I can ride endless hours on either trike and unlimited miles. I am now doing around 200 miles per week with ease at a cruising speed of 18-19 on the 700 and 3-4 mph slower on the 559. I can easily get the 700 up in the high 20’s pushing 30 on the flats for sprints. The 559 is more comfortable and a less harsh ride and I choose the trike for the day depending on the quality of the riding surface. I can ride with anybody on a Diamond frame when on my 700 and outlast them easily in distance and all of my pains from uprights is gone. 30+ years of leaning over patients just kills cervical vertebrae . Trikes cure it. I position the headrests in an active position for constant support and ride like the wind.buy a great trike and gut out a few thousand miles and you will be amazed by your acquired strength and stamina . I ride all over New England 8 months a year and ride Florida all,winter. Life is good!
@@markfeldman6509 hey thanks for the insight the suspension necessity is strictly to smooth unexpected jolts which send lightning bolts throughout my body of course that was pre surgery but I really don’t want any excessive jostling I only have two cervical vertebrae left that doesn’t contain screws n rods n plates and I’d like to still be crushing it at 69 kudos to you man
@@crazycaseyandoldmanangus7143 i strongly suggest you buy the Dumont with the suspension is you can afford the extra $800. It is slightly heavier but will make a big difference if you are that sensitive to the road surface. You will be able to ride for hours in comfort with adequate speed.
Enjoyed the video! I turned to recumbent triking after I had my first left knee replacement. I already had bilateral hip replacements and a fused lower lumbar. But riding my diamond frame was my goal... Until the knee replacement! I needed two manipulations after the first replacement and ended up with limited mobility. Then I had a revision (second) replacement. After the revision, I chose a Catrike Villager as my first trike. Then, unknown to me, heterotropic ossification occurred in my replaced left knee. I could no longer pedal the Catrike and I switched to a Freedom Ryder handcycle for several years. My left knee kept getting worse and I sought out a third orthopedic surgeon who explained to me what was happening. The bone growth had almost encapsulated my knee. 😮 He gave me two choices... 1. Fuse the knee or 2. Do a third total knee replacement. I chose #2 (3rd left knee replacement). I'm back on an HP Velotechnik Scorpion Plus FS 26 with a Shimano Steps E8000 system. I am so pleased to be riding a trike again after several years of handcycling. Triking is much more fun and comfortable. Keep on Triking!
Glad to hear the third knee replacement was the charm, Tom! I've often thought about hand cycling as a way to build up my upper body, as normal upper body exercise (gym equipment, push ups) is terribly boring. If I could do a couple of days on a hand cycle, maybe I'd get enough bulk in my upper body to stop looking like a marshmallow. :) Did you notice it doing anything for your upper body? I've been noticing some knee pain lately when I'm riding, and I'm getting a little concerned I'm damaging something in there. Guess I'd better start spinning more and mashing less!
Handcycling definitely helped with my upper body strength. The Freedom Ryder sat a bit high and not reclined like some faster/racing handcycles. It wasn't built for speed. It did have lean steering which is quite interesting to learn. I caught on pretty fast... It reminded me of skateboarding back in my youth. I often tell people not to judge knee replacements by looking at what happened to me. My body tends to grow scar tissue very quickly which hampered my healing process. I'm definitely hoping the third replacement is the charm. 🙂
I’m so appreciative of your videos. Thanks for sharing so much good info. I’m a fat old lady with poor balance advanced arthritis in all my joints, and I’m looking to make the switch from my comfort 2-wheeler to a recumbent trike this week! Your videos are helping me so much. My only issue is figuring out how to transport it-I’ve got a Prius, and I have to drive to all the bike paths. Anyone have suggestions for best purchase?
Hey, Patricia! I don't have any personal experience with a Prius, but if you're looking to fit a trike inside, I'm thinking you'd likely have to find a folding trike. There are some older models that might turn up on the used market, like the Greenspeed GT-3, and in the new market, there's the Catrike Eola and the ICE Sprint X Tour. If you can find a local trike dealer near you, I'm sure they'd be glad to fold a few models and see if and how they might fit in your Prius. If you don't get any other Prius-specific answers here, you may want to go post on Bentrider Online's trike forum, and you may find riders that actually have a Prius and can tell you what they're doing. Of course, they do sell rear mounting racks such that you'd be able to carry a trike outside the car on a rear hitch. There are a lot of great things about trikes, but ease of transporting them isn't one of them. :)
Great video, I agree with all your points and have had similar experience. I was a road racer shaved legs the whole bit , my average speeds were around 17 to 19 mph , interesting point on the body adapting , I found same my feet used to fall asleep or feel cold but that seems to have gone away , and the point on being more reclined being more like road , I didn't realize it till you made the statement. But when I'm trying to be most Aero D , I will scrunch up so I can lay more flat and even though my legs don't get full extension it feels smoother and I can pull UP or Back with more power. I guess I've gone full Aero Geek now with all 3 wheels covered and an Aero helmet to top it all off . My averages for a 40 mile ride are now around 17 mph Not far off my averages when I was a road biker . If you are on a road bike and are considering buying a trike, I would say go for it ,you can pick up used trikes for around 1000 dollar in my area . Check Facebook type recumbent trike for sale and you will find listing.
Great point about buying used, Jason. I've found all my trikes (except for one, an ICE Q-26) and all my road bikes and recumbent two wheelers for around half price by buying used. How much of a difference do you think the wheel covers are making on your trike? I've been thinking of trying a set.
@@bikestrikesrazors I believe the covers let me gain about 3 to 5 miles per hour faster with same effort, especially in headwinds . The rear helps way more than fronts , I don't know if you have ridden an indoor trainer , I have one with mag resistance and when spinning the rear wheel feel a lot of wind coming off the wheel , with a disc cover that wind all disappeared, I was frankly amazed at how much more the rear cover helped reduce pedaling resistance, its not just your forward travel creating wind resistance it also comes from pushing what is essentially a fan blade . Pretty sure you won't regret putting a wheel cover on , and likely won't ever go back to an uncovered wheel .
I recently purchased a new icetrike sprint x tour. I would tell you guys that I sometimes ride when I'm tired and because my seat is so comfortable, I have to ride slow starting out because with my headrest I almost feel I can ride and take a nap at the same time...
Ha! I've had that happen at the start of a ride! I sit down in the trike and would rather go to sleep there than start riding. So far, I've always gone for the ride, but someday I'll wind up just taking a nap. :)
I really enjoy your videos. I’m new to Trikes (I’ve own a Catrike 559 for 4 months). To avoid leg-suck, I use SPD shoes. I get hot-spots after 10-15 miles. Do have advice about that, maybe other pedals, etc?
Hey, Garry! Thanks for watching! One thing I've heard of riders trying with hot-spot issues is changing the position of your cleats, such that the cleat on your shoe is closer to the center of your foot. Some shoes allow more adjustment than others. If that doesn't help (or before you even try that) I'd suggest heading over to the Bentrider Online trike forum and asking those folks about any solutions they've found. Always lots of answers over there!
I may be too late to receive an answer here (1 year later) but your comment on not knowing anyone who can’t use a recumbent trike - my partner bought an expensive ICE trike and loved it until her knees began to hurt. We tried adjusting the boom length but that didn’t help. We haven’t tried adjusting the seat angle - do you think that would help? For now, she only rides an upright cruiser bike and does well except having the typical numb hands and sore seat on long rides - my biggest complaint with bikes. That’s why I ride a recumbent trike myself as much as I can!
Hey, Evevangelist! A couple of things to try- The first, and most important thing, would be to have your partner try riding only in lower gears (easier to pedal) so they're spinning the pedals around more often with less pressure on every stroke. This way they'll put more pressure on their cardio-vascular system and less pressure on their leg muscles and knees. Being in too high a gear and "mashing" the pedals can make even a long-time recumbent rider's knees ache. It's easier to get away with this on a road bike, but recumbents/trikes can be unforgiving in this area. Have them try pedaling in a gear that they feel is "too low", too easy to pedal, and take an entire ride like that and see if the knees still hurt. If the knees are alright with that, gradually move to higher gears on rides until the knees start hurting again, and you'll see where you need to be as far as gearing is concerned to avoid knee problems. If that doesn't help, one other thing to try would be to change cleat placement on the cycling shoes. There's a possibility that moving the cleat further back (toward the heel and more toward the center of the foot) might alleviate the knee issue. Changing the seat angle doesn't seem like an obvious way to address the problem, but if it's easy to adjust the seat angle on the trike, it's worth a try also! Good luck!
Do you feel like riding the VTX affects your posture when you're standing/walking? I've seen some trike riders that have a strange posture standing up (like bent knees, hollow back or forward neck) .
Hi Tobi! I think those folks probably had the bent knees and hollow back before getting on the trike. :) The VTX is so reclined that your body position is pretty open. You do have to bend your neck forward, but so far mine hasn't stuck like that. :)
Three years ago I was diagnosed with prostate cancer We treated it with radiation and hormones The radiation fried ( my urologist's word ) my prostate and the lining of my bladder ( see radiation cystitis) The end result is that I can no longer use my road bike bc of the pressure that sitting on the saddle will put on what's left of my innards If I want to continue cycling I will need to use a recumbent bike So my question is; two or three wheels?
Hi Nicky! Sorry to hear about your prostate cancer. My dad went through the exact same process when he was 60 (he's 84 now!). His bladder is also "fried". Two wheeled recumbents are a little harder to handle than a road bike, but have the most "road bike" feel if you get a stick bike like a Bacchetta. They usually go faster with less effort than a trike. Both have very comfortable seats. Trikes don't require balancing, are generally heavier than two-wheelers and are also much lower to the ground, so visibility could be an issue if you want to ride out on busy roads with cars. See if you can check both types out at a recumbent shop.
I've been trying to think of a way to incorporate sex into a trike video, Tim, but I haven't figured a way to do it yet. When I do, it's sure to go viral! :)
