Catrike Speed

I have been enjoying my newest ride, a Catrike recumbent trike, the Speed model, since the spring of  '08.  I have been riding it to work about everyday, and building up my trike muscles.  Pedaling a recumbent trike uses different muscles from riding a DF (diamond frame), and it takes several months to build them up.  My ride from home starts with a fun little hill that gets the heart racing.  I have hit 38 on this hill, then on flat sections of my route I have hit 26 mph for short bursts. This video was shot after I had the trike for a week, and shows the fun part of my ride to work.

I have found that riding a trike is a lot of fun, but no way is it as fast as a road bike.  However, it is fun and comfortable.  There is back support, no need for padded crotch pants, nor padded gloves.  You also can't fall over, and can crank up a steep hill as slow as you want. 



To the stock trike I have added a chain guard, locking handgrips for the brakes, a rack, an air horn, and a speedometer.  The speedometer mount is a triangle of foam that is strapped to the telescoping boom.





I am using a powerful tactical flashlight for a headlight, and it puts out 240 lumens.  Its a Surefire flashlight with a replacement lamp that really boosts the light output from the stock output of 80 lumens.  A special rechargeable battery lasts for 8 hours on a charge.  I have no idea who the old guy on my trike is in the picture below.

Comments

[Matt Weyen]

That looks like a ton of fun! Just curious as to why you chose the two front wheels vs. two rear wheels?

The tadpole configuration (two wheels in front) trikes are lower to the ground, lighter in weight, and higher quality components. Turning on a tadpole is like riding a sports car, and is a lot of fun. I never got that feeling of speed from a delta (two wheels in back) trike.