Will, great video. As the cross member is bolted you have the option to adjust the Caster angle; this is the backward inclination of the king pin. Try 10 - 12 degrees from the vertical in the backwards inclination (positive caster). This and toe-in are the best ways to eliminate flutter.
Spot on, from my perspective, I have ridden 3 versions of the Catrike whilst visiting the states over the past few years, and this trike, the Performer, pretty much looks like the same thing, I pass a chap on my way to work who rides one, and I loved driving one in Florida, managing to easily pedal 20 plus miles in absolute comfort, again suffering from breaking my back in 2012, the comfort is key for me. I shall be taking a punt on one this coming year I suspect, as I sell my big motorbike, with a view to getting a bit fitter :-) Great video, and most appreciated to see a UK citizen riding one.
I have an Actionbent T1A aluminum trike which is pretty much the same trike as yours, made in Taiwan, possibly by current or ex-Performer affiliates. I had a similar shimmy issue with the 20" front wheels - switching from Big Apple tires to Maxxis Hookworm at 55 psi solved the problem - along with also putting an o-ring inside the very top of each headset before screwing down the headset cap and that gives a bit more "stiction" on the headset so that shimmy is dampened out. You can find o-rings in various sizes, one of which will be just right. That was over 5000 miles ago, and I haven't noticed any degradation of the o-rings, and shimmy is definitely not a problem for me, even no hands. I love my trike and run it with a 500 watt rear hub motor and two nice lithium packs right under the seat. I think you will get a lot of pleasure out of your new ride and you won't be disappointed once you tweak it out. I also switched to "Silver" friction shifters, and Avid BB7 mech brakes on the front. And a Terracyle idler upgrade. I use about 1/16" inch of toe-in and the handling is excellent Definitely worth playing with the tire pressure to get the most comfortable ride quality, as well as finding the right tire - fast rolling and flat resistant - the Hookworm is a great tire, but possibly best on an e-trike setup. Otherwise non-electrified, probably a slick like a Kojak or something like that. Regards
+Chris Hvid Hi Chris. That's all interesting info on your experience of dealing with the shimmy; I like the idea of getting some more "stiction"! I'm a little reluctant to replace the tyres just yet (they only have five or six hundred miles on them), but will keep your suggestions in mind when the time comes. I've read many people saying that BB7s are far superior to BB5s (which were fitted as standard on my JC70). Funnily enough, I have a BB7 on the front of my commuter bike and a BB5 at the back; I can see why the 7 is more highly regarded. I love the look of those Kojak tyres - but is zero tread truly the best option? Cheers, Will
Yeah...I like the Hookworms better than the Kojaks for my application - hard wearing, highly flat resistant - strong sidewalls - fast rolling - and pretty good suspension at lower than rated pressures which still roll well (50-60 psi)(i'm old I need the comfort) - all good in an urban bmx pavement assault situation and equally good on my trike on the front. Pretty cheap too. The Kojaks would be better on a lighter unit than my etrike application (no E), for their low rolling resistance and good grip on pavement. A Marathon Racer seems to be the default recommendation for Catrikes and Terratrkes at my LBS which carries both. I originally hoped to use the Big Apples but I had way more shimmy issues with that tire. Hope you're getting in some nice riding in your area - maybe some 100 mile diet produce runs and wineries etc. These machines are so far beyond regular bikes in terms of overall capability that I wish I had switched 30 years ago, but that's the electric difference for me.Cheers.
Hi Will, I enjoyed the video. Nice to see someone else with a JC70 although mines an aluminium model. I've had mine for about 3 years and love it. I had an accident that meant I could no longer ride a normal bike and didn't think I would ride again. Then I discovered recumbent trikes. If it helps anyone I ordered mine direct from Performer. It only took a couple of emails, paid by PayPal and delivery took about 3 weeks. With the accessories I ordered it came to about £1250 with the import duties. Sure there are better trikes out there but I doubt there are any that are better value. I have a video on here of me riding with my son on his KMX K3. Not much to show of the Performer though I'm afraid. Enjoy it!
Hey Bryan, thanks for your comment. Funnily enough, your name rang a bell: Yours was one of the JC70 videos I found about eighteen months ago when I was trying to find out some info on the Performer. I distinctly remember the brilliant moment in your video where your lad shouts, "This is awesome!" - so much so that I've yelled it more than once or twice myself when I've been barreling down hill on the trike! Glad to hear you still love yours after three years: I use mine sufficiently infrequently for it to be an absolute treat every time. Cheers, Will.
Will, Great video. I have a much earlier model recumbent from Tiawan. It is also a tadpole configuration with 20" rear and 16" front. I have had the front end "Shimmy" from new which is a bit of a problem as I only have one arm. I tried a number of fixes, Steering Toe-in, Tire Pressure, tires and overtightening the steering bearings etc, but nothing worked. Having ridden motorbikes with and without sidecars for many years I concluded that the shimmy is due to the overall design of the steering and minimal "Trail" and steep "rake". So like a motorbike with the same issues, I fitted a steering damper. I could have fitted a $600 Ohlins damper but decided in the first instance to try or a $25 adjustable unit from ebay (search motorcycle steering damper). It works just fine and problem fixed, or at least mitigated. If i do slow urban riding, I have the damper on a low setting to keep the steering quite quick. If I am doing speed open road I have it set higher. (I can reach the adjustment from a seated position so changing on the fly is not a problem). Damper mounting is easy. One end on part of the steering that moves (the arm between tie rod and wheel stub axle, which just happened to have a couple of spare disk brake mounting lugs) and the body of the damperframe cross bar. I no longer have any shimmy problems and am confident to take my hand of the steering at most speeds. I still get a slight "pedal steer" at speeds over 35kph but I can live with it. Hope this helps, cheers
+Wayne Sumner Hi Wayne. That's the first time I've heard anyone suggest a steering damper - a genuinely inspired suggestion! Many thanks for this idea: My trike's laid up for the winter (I'm really a commuter cyclist rather than a recreational one at the moment, and the trike's just too wide for the cycle tracks in the dark) but, come the Spring, I'll give this a try. I've just had a look on eBay and, as you say, it looks like I'll be able to pick one up for around twenty quid. Sounds like that could be an excellent bargain... For me the biggest niggle with the front wheel shimmy is the realisation that it's presumably wasting energy and efficiency - otherwise it would be a non-issue as I wouldn't normally have any good reason to take my hands off the handlebars. Thanks again for sharing your solution on this one; I'll aim to post another video around April when I'm up and running again on the Performer to let you know how I get on. Cheers, Will
+Will Serle Will, Thanks for comment. see attached photo of my setup. I made my own mounts but I have seen them on ebay to fit various fork (tube) diameters. Also, the closer the ball joint head of the damper is fitted to the axle the less travel occurs. So you only require something with about a 70mm stroke. On mine I have used some elastic chord to stop it bouncing around on rough tracks. Wayne
I had similar shimmy issues on my Actionbent trike imported from Taiwan. I cured the problem by inserting a rubber o-ring of exactly the right dimension into each headset under the headset caps. The additional "stiction" inside the headsets *(not sure if they are called headsets on a trike)*. This cured the issue, providing a simple damping effect.
Will, good to see your post - there are a few of us with Performer trikes in the UK, but not many uploading videos. I too have a hard seat JC70 - mine's from 2008, but the design has changed little. I'd agree the steel version may well be heavier than the Al, but if my upright bike experience is relevant, an Al JC70 with GRP seat would be a bone shaker. A ride colleague has the suspended Trike-X Performer, but when I've followed behind that, I 've seen noticeable lateral sway in the rear trailing arm. I wouldn't change - even if the prices were similar. To date, I've covered over 7k miles, all seasons, and have only minor problems to report. Once alignment and tracking are correct (builders' spirit level and flat surface for the former; length of dowel with screws each end for the latter), I found keeping a watch on the chain idler / sprocket under the seat is important. Mine worked loose on one ride, and I had to remove seat at roadside to repair. If you have the more modern Al version idler (I bought a replacement from Performer TW), then two 42mm nitrile O-rings either side of the central teeth quieten the chain/idler rattle hugely. Covered 1500 miles since, still quiet. Normal bike maintenance as required - standard components make it no more difficult than an upright bike. I've added rear rack and panniers, full mudguards both front and rear (my arms got very wet without), modifying the stays for front, with inboard mounting - using longer allen bolts to replace brake caliper fixing bolts (use threadlock once you're happy with design). I changed to a 26" rear wheel to allow for wider tyres (I run Scwhalbe Big Apples), and the improvement to the ride comfort was noticeable. If you do intend to ride in the wet, then watch out - the Tektro brake levers seem to collect rain and grit; I made some "cover hoods" for the lever arms out of "Sugru" - they move with the lever arms, but cover the lever mechanism for all other times. The only thing I haven't been able to solve - that "hands-off" front wheel shimmy. And over several years searching on the 'net, I've not found a single owner who has yet.
+Jon Bell Good to hear your thoughts Jon. That's exactly what I was worried about with an aluminium frame! Interesting about the suspension model. One of the reasons I didn't go for that model was the logic that with a - comparatively - cheap trike, I thought it best to keep its construction as simple as possible. For similar reasons I didn't go for the Trike-F also (even though a folding trike would have been *really* useful for me (getting it up the stairs). The other thing about that Trike-F is that it looks from pictures to have a very long wheelbase, the front wheels seem to be a long way forward of the seat (although, an online picture search did throw up one picture of that model which looked like it had a more normal geometry. Odd).
Your front end shimmy is a common problem for Direct Steer Trikes & this is what I have discovered. - Stand facing your front wheels & grab them at the 10am & 2pm position. Now move your hands towards & away from each other checking for end play in your steering. There are several causes of the end play & if you can remove as much as possible along with a front wheel alignment after it will help a lot to reduce the front wheel wobble. Check the Rod End Links for sloppy fit to the fixing bolts. If there is slop between the bolt shaft & inside clearance of the rod end this will translate to wobble in your steering. A good set of replacement end links will have zero play between the fixing bolt & the rod end. The Chinese Rod Ends are pretty loose with their tolerances. Check for movement in your headsets. These MUST be set correctly. Make sure there isn't any movement around your bearings. This will also translate to wheel wobble. Obviously check your tire pressures & front end alignment & you should be good to go. - mid-islandadventures.weebly.com/tips--tricks.html
Hi there. Thanks for watching, and thanks so much for your comment, this advice is really appreciated. I'll be getting the trike out in the next month or so all being well, so I'll have a go at what you suggest and see if I can dial out the shimmy a bit more. Over the last three or so years I've pretty much completely got used to it and it's not something that I'd say is relevant enough to put anyone off a direct steerer as it's not noticeable at all (to me )when you've got your hands on the handlebars - although, having had a go on an ICE sprint last year and loved its silky smoothness, the shimmy on my Performer does start to niggle a bit..! Thank again, all the best, Will.
For those who think trikes are expensive , Design one ,buy your tools and jigs, build it , fix known problems , advertise it as better or the same as the more expensive trikes already on the market and try to get some profit when you put it up for sale !! Yup I will buy one as I can only do so much with limited tools to build my own. Money , you can't take it with you and this trike will keep you healthy if it is comfortable and you ride it , otherwise it might look nice hanging from the ceiling?
Recumbents are slower uphill for a couple of reasons:- 1, it's heavier (a good road bike weighs 9-11kg and a recumbent trike weighs 18-23kg+). 2, It's all leg work i.e. you don't stand up on the pedals & use body weight or pull on the handlebars like you do on an upright bike. Try riding a heavy mountain bike uphill whilst staying seated and you'll find there's not much difference in speed. The steering Shimmy is probably caused by a too steep caster angle! The 20" version doesn't have the same problem but it does have the same frame dimensions, so the 700c version is higher at the back. With reference to feeling like you're slipping of the front of the seat, Try reclining it more. Hardshell seats are made to be more reclined than the mesh seat types so that you're more laying than sitting.
A bike is faster uphill because riders can using their body weight in lieu of leg power to climb a hill. Essentially, you're using gravity to assist in pushing up the hill. On the other hand, with a recumbent the climb is done purely with leg muscles and no weight assistance because of your body orientation.
Yes, definitely the bike is faster on hills compare to laid back. Its faster too to get Prostate Cancer, whilst recumbent slows you down to get prostate cancer or nothing at all, because humans' genitals are not literally touching the seat.
A nice video. I am looking at buying a couple of trikes and was wondering on the quality of these machines. The Greenspeed machines are very good quality but 3 times the price. I have a bad back and neck so I don't want to ride a normal bike.
Ha ha, yes! A Catrike or an ICE would be very nice. I recall seeing a beautiful looking used Catrike 700 (?) going on eBay just before I bought the Performer for about the same price. Probably a better deal, and certainly I'd love to try some other brands of trike to be able to actually form a more relevant opinion of how the cheapo Performer compares. All the best, Will
You have noticed the puzzling fact that recumbents are slower in uphills, even though the physics do not explain it. In fact, nobody seems to have a good reason for it. And indeed, it is not the physics. The power transmitted to to wheel is the same, assuming the bearings are well lubricated. The reason is not physics, but physiology. In upright bikes, a wide range of muscles are used to transfer power, not only the legs. These are used in sequence, so that any particular muscle can have some rest along each cycle. In recumbents, the thigh muscles are used almost exclusively and they get tired sooner. On the other hand, aerodynamics should favor recumbents, which is true, but only for higher speeds. At speeds higher than 25 Km/h, 80% of energy is used to overcome aerodynamic resistance, and recumbents are clearly faster. But in climbs, speeds are tipically well under this range, aerodynamic resistance is very low and can be neglected. (Relation of aerodynamic resistance to speed is not linear but quadratic...) BTW, this means that training can reduce the disadvantage of recumbents in climbs.. though thhey will always be slightly slower, other things being equal. In flats and downhills, they will always be faster, especially when riding fast. Hope this helps
Great video, and explaining a lot about simple things to expect . Its a couple of years pass now, do you still have it or could do do an update if so as I found your information very useful as I ponder to get one myself. thanks
Hi there Peter. Thanks for your comments. As you may have seen, I'm not much of a RU-vid poster! But, now you mention it, I think I might try to put together something in the next few months catching up with my thoughts after what's now almost a couple of years with the Performer. In summary for now though, I still really love the thing and would absolutely recommend! All the best, Will
Thanks for watching and your comment. I'd love to try the Catrike 700, along with a few others from the Likes of ICE and HP Velotechnik - but the Performer JC70 remains the only trike (not including my Velomobile) that I've ever ridden! Cheers, Will.
nice review. im thinking of getting one of these, as they seem a viable alternative to the catrike 700, (similar design and weight) which is almost impossible to find in the uk. i do think trikes in general are way over priced. this one seems about in the right ball park, at about £1200. thats still quite an expensive bike though. with a 250 hub motor (keeping it legal lol) it would be great fun.
Hi there Andy. Certainly, they're a much cheaper alternative to the Catrike! If there's some good snow here in the UK later this week I might get back onto three wheels for the first time in a while. Thanks for watching, cheers, Will.
yes, on slippy roads i expect it would be a lot less lethal than a normal bike (or even walking). in that last snowy weather i fell off my mtb trying to traverse a path which was virtually sheet ice.
i agree, even though convention says trikes are slower because they have bigger frontal aspect, and more rolling resistance, outweighing the aerodynamic efficiency.
andy765gtr well a Velomobile, which is still a recumbent trike is considerably faster then a road bike on the flat and down hills. I would suspect that even a trike is faster on the downhill sections. On the flat it may depend on the trike, and although they have more rolling resistance because of the third wheel some trikes may still be faster on the flat because of the reduced aerodynamic drag, if Velomobiles, are it stands to reason that some naked trikes also maybe faster on the flat. Perhaps the JC70Al is in fact quite a fast trike.
Had an Anura Delta trike by Greenspeed and got rid of it. Not as safe as a tadpole trike with two wheels in the front. Had the first Magnum trike by Greenspeed and got rid of it. I would never go as low in quality as the trike you are riding. I have serious doubts that you remained satisfied with this trike beyond a year at the most of regular riding. If you ever have a chance to test ride some much better trikes, you will want to cry.
Hi Will. Couple of great vids and some really interesting comments below. Where did you get the trike from? I'm possibly in the market for one at the moment but the only dealer I can see is based in Edinburgh - was wondering if there was one closer to my West Midlands home.
+Ivan Robinson Hi Ivan. I got the trike from an Australian dealer on eBay: They'd been advertising them for several months when I bought mine back in May 2015 I think it was - but they now seemed to have disappeared (A1 Adventure sports). I believe you might be able to get in touch with Performer in Taiwan directly - mine was supplied direct from the factory. Agree though, I saw the Edinburgh store on-line, there seem to be very few places selling recumbents, trike especially, in the UK - I guess though that's at least a little part of the appeal of them! Good luck with getting one though, and post a video if you do! Cheers, Will
@Ivan Robinson, By these time you may already had trikes. Anyway, you may get trikes direct from performercycles dot com and talk with Christine Cheng, she is a sales reps for Performer bikes. Also, if you order direct you may choose your own color and your name emboss on a frame. Cheers from California.
+Qasim Eisa Mine came 50% assembled; I had to connect the major parts together, thread and join the chain, fix brake and gear cables, and then set up the gears (3 speed front mech, 8/9/10 speed at rear). They provide a pretty decent set of instructions to follow, and looking at pictures of an assembled Performer helped answer queries I had about whether to put the chain tubes above or below the front cross-member (not covered in the original instructions). Aligning the major components, and tracking (the adjustment of the relative position of the front wheels) are the only unusual - and time intensive - things to do.
+Jon Bell Exactly as Jon describes for me too. I put the return side of the chin *under* the front cross-member, but most people seem to advocate putting it above. All I can say is it seems to work okay under too. Also, I bolted the steering linkage rod to the *underside* of the brackets, but most pictures I've subsequently seen appear to show it bolted to the top - which way did you go..?
+Will Serle I've gone with return chain tube above the cross-member (henceforth to be known as a double-chin). Looking at it, as long as the return chain is not too tight when on big/big, it shouldn't make much difference. Perhaps I will route it below when I replace it and the rear cassette (imminently). Steering linkage underside, like you. I would think it would get in the way if placed above ? Do the ends of your linkage rod have grease nipples for the spherical bearing ? If like mine they do, then re-greasing these by injecting white lithium grease (I use a 5ml syringe pushed hard against the nipple) pushes fresh grease around, expelling old grease and keeping them smooth.
+Jon Bell Cheers Jon. Yes, I do have those greasing points on the ends of the linkage rod - I'll give them a grease. Presumably though you weren't suggesting that doing that would help with the wheel wobble thing I mentioned? Do you get that on yours - where, if you let go of the handlebars, there's quite a strong vibration/wobble from the front wheels? It could be that I just haven't yet - despite lots of adjustments - got mine set up properly. I assume that, because of this problem, it means that when I'm holding the handlebars - ie virtually all of the time - I'm unknowingly fighting that wobble - and that the trike would go more smoothly and faster if it could be dialled out. I must have another look... I'm fairly sure that most photos I've seen show the steering rod mounted on top of its mounting brackets - I sort of assumed that the logic in doing it that way was so that, if the nut worked its way loose, the bolt would hopefully stay in place holding it all together? Speaking of things working loose, the only other significant thing I didn't mention in the video was the bolts that hold the lower seat bracket to the frame kept working loose, so I applied some of that threadlock stuff, which seems to have done the job.
While the video is somewhat interesting, it would be great if you had the camera pointed in the correct direction. You must really love yourself but you must remember not everybody does. - Smile
I must disagree. If I want to learn about a bike/trike I like to be able to see it. A video of your ride tells you nothing of the machine you are riding. I enjoyed this and have already had my JC70AL-FRP for 3 years.
