Speed
I'd like to start with the obvious. The trike is slow or, at least, I am slow on the trike. Uphill I can understand; the trike is heavier and on a trike it's not clever to mash. To protect my knees I've been very careful to feel I've been spinning, especially on the uphill sections. It's not just on the slopes that the trike is slow. Three wheels increases the rolling resistance and, to date, I've struggled to get it up to speed on the flat. Downhill is a different matter. It's actually not as quick, or quicker, than the upright bike but it feels very fast at anything over about 25mph. And bends on descents can be 'interesting" when the inside wheel lightens up.
It is this one issue that is my biggest disappointment with the trike. But there's more to the trike than raw speed.
Comfort
The trike is insanely comfortable to ride. I have it fitted with a hard shell seat which I'm sure does transfer more of the road surface to me than a mesh seat would but it also supports me better than the mesh seat I tried. A neck rest provides even more comfort and I'm sure if I stopped up somewhere, tipped my head back and shut my eyes I could quite happily sleep right there. As long as I remembered to set the parking brake that is!
The reclined nature of the riding position allows me to look down the road much more easily than when riding my road bike. My shoulders and back appreciate that. And as a last trick the seat also has two water bottle holders on it, making drinking on the move easy and efficient.
My hands rest nicely on the controls, with the added benefit that I can ride the trike with just one hand steering. This has been crucial to my recovery. With the right hand steering, braking and changing gear at the back my left hand has been able spend time resting on my chest. It's only needed for the occasional braking duty and changing the chainring being used if required (a carefully picked route can result in this not being needed). And all of this mucking about with hands and never a worry about falling off.
All of this physical support and comfort results in getting home feeling quite fresh. Certainly there's none of the sense of relief that sometimes comes with dismounting from an upright bike. I should sound a note of pessimism here. These observations are based on shorter rides, my longest ride to date is just over 40 miles, the usual ones are between 15 and 20. And the longest time I've spent on (in, I'm not quite sure) the trike at one time is probably about 1 hour 45 minutes. Perhaps I will change my mind if I ever do a century on it.
Practicality
One area where I think I need to make improvements to the trike is the area of practicality. Because I can't carry stuff in my back pockets, like I can on a road bike, it makes carrying snacks, a phone, arm warmers and the like that little bit more difficult. And I haven't really found a solution yet. I want to find some storage that I can reach easily for snacks as I ride and somewhere to put the tools, inner tubes etc along with a little space for clothes etc. So far it isn't too much of an issue but it might become one as I venture further from home and as I need to deal with different temperatures during a ride. Currently the back of the seat looks like a good bet, I'll keep you posted.
If you look at this picture you can see where an old saddle bag is strapped to the frame of the trike, right on the fold. There's a little bag for gels and phone at the front and another tiny bag you can't see at between the wheels. And my waterproof jacket is attached to the head rest at the back of the seat.
I've mentioned the fold. It makes it very easy to transport the trike in the back of my car although there isn't much room for anything else. Certainly no people! I'd get some bags for clothes and food etc in but not much else. Still, it makes it easy to transport which makes going places that little easier. Maybe one day I'll work out how to transport it on the roof like my other bikes.
Verdict
I love my trike. Enough said. I just have to remember that it's a different ball game to ripping up the tarmac on a road bike (as if I ever did) but that's the point; it's different. And what a comfortable difference it is. I suspect my next bike might be two-wheeled but it might very well still have a laid back seat....
Confession
I have a small apology to make. It's taken me so long to write this that I've now done 720 miles on the trike. Riding not writing, maybe I shouldn't be sorry for that.
Found your blog through Laid Back Bikes. Nice to read about your experiences triking along. Maybe sometime in the future (after my knee has recovered) we can ride some together?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. No reason not to ride together sometime. Get your knee better!
DeleteI'm on it... unfortunately I need an expensive private physiotherapist due to slow NHS but better that than nothing... Cycling is my life.
DeleteHi. Would you mind sharing what your average speed on the flat usually is? I also feel I'm horribly slow on a trike so I found it refreshing to find someone else confessing the same thing. I take it you had a break or two on your 4 mile ride, 'cause I wouldn't consider 4 miles in 1:45 slow on any kind of cycle. :-)
ReplyDeleteHmm, I don't remember any 4 mile ride. And certainly not at that speed. :-)
DeleteBack to what I do know. If you look at my Strava bar on the right hand side of the page you can see my latest rides. There will be standard DF ones and tandem ones there too but mostly trike rides at the moment. And the trike ones will mostly show an average riding speed of around 13 mph. Which I'm learning to see as ok on the trike.
I'm not really sure what my flat speed is. The problem is that while it's not mountainous around here it's not exactly flat either. And this year in particular I always seem to be riding in a wind. If I had to guess at my cruising speed on a nice flat smooth road surface I would probably say around 13-14 mph. Note my emphasis on a smooth road. I would suggest that road surface is one of the major reasons that the trike is slow. As soon as I get on rougher roads the speed slows down. There are notable roads round here (up, down and flat) that have sections of very smooth tarmac and very rough tarmac within a few hundred yards. And it is so hard to keep the speed going (whatever it is) when the surface is bad. I would say it's worse on the trike than a DF.
My advice (such as it is) would be to keep riding the trike. Learn to enjoy the slower pace and the excellent views. Enjoy the fact that you can stretch back and put both hands behind your head while pedalling along. And if you need a blast of speed, get to the top of a nice steep hill, put it in the big ring and the little cog and spin!
All the best, Al.
Lost a zero there, didn't I? :-P
DeleteThank you. I'm even a little slower than you. I seldome do over 12 miles/h on the flats and often below that and average maybe 10 or just below. But you are probably fitter than me (I'm working my way back from illness and obesity). Good to know not everyone zips around at 25 and above anyway. ;-)
Oh, you are right about the surface. There are two slopes near me where different asphalt is used on the slope than before it. It's the super smooth kind in the slope. I go faster up the slope than I do on the flat bike lane leading up to, and the asphalt isn't bad there either, but noticeably coarser. Strange feeling, accelerate when you hit a slope...
DeleteLost a zero, and I didn't quite make myself clear either. I didn't do the 40 miles in 1 hour 45. More that was the longest I'd managed to be on the trike at one go. The 40 miler had many stops (mostly of the "comfort" kind). I've managed 3+ hours on a DF at one go, though not often.
DeleteAll out speed is only important if the breaks are also small; otherwise it becomes a tortoise and hare situation. This tortoise likes cake though, which doesn't help the overall average speed.
Since the article was written, I have done a 50 mile ride, with only one break of 10 minutes or so (getting water and refilling the bottles). That was an encouraging effort, getting back to DF style distances.
Don't worry about your own fitness, just keep riding and it will all come back. Nothing like repeated actions to get a body stronger.
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ReplyDeleteBut speed is important, because it's one of the factors that determines your range. I think you can go so many hours, if you go faster you get farther. I want to go places.
ReplyDeleteOddly enough I do have stamina. I can ride for many hours without breaks. I beat you there. But no matter how much riding I do, I don't seem to get much faster. Maybe it takes proper training. You know, pushing yourself, doing intervals, that sort of horrid things.
Yes, indeed. And, interestingly, that's exactly the same argument I raised when doing a little bit of my own complainin about how much slower I am on the trike compared to my DF.
DeleteHowever, let's assume we both want to do a century. If I could maintain my 13 mph I'd do it with a riding time just under 8 hours. You, at 10 mph, would be riding for 10 hours. Unless there's a daylight issue I'm not sure there's much of a real difference. And by that I mean that we are both going to spend a large part of our day travelling. And sometimes it's the journey that counts. Unless you're racing, which I'm not!
Once you get past 100 miles you get into the sillier full day, or multi day audax style rides. I've a few full day rides under my belt (all on a DF) but no multi-day. And I actually think the trike might help with the mega distances.
You are correct though, extra speed will probably only come with proper training. Intervals and getting the body used to extra speed until you find yourself pootling along at 15 mph some day.