New (to me) Catrike

[belgiangoth]

I started posting about this in the photo topic, but then realised that I am less likely to get fitting feedback there.

Proper madness - strangely it's lighter than my Speedmachine and obviously a lot easier to ride. I was a bit thrown by the seat at first - settled in to what I thought was the way to sit in it and found my shoulders against the top bar. Have now sunk right down to the edge of the seat - I almost feel that I am too big for the seat - which is unfortunate as it's part of the frame. Possibly I am just expecting a different type of fit.

[UpWrong]

Mountain Drive or Speed Drive? I had the 2015 Catrike 700; 20" front wheels, longer wheelbase, lower BB height, higher seat height, more seat recline. So a rather different machine. Sold it becuase it was a bit too reclined and my neck was suffering. The current model has more curvature in the upper seat rails which might have suited me better, and has the seat cross-piece higher up so less likely to dig into the shoulder blades of tall riders.

[belgiangoth]

Speed Drive? I think.
This one is molder than that - the front wheels have been upgraded to 18"
I expected that I should sit into the bottom of the well formed by the back and the seat, which puts my shoulders level with the cross-bar - a more upright position and the headrest as high as it can go. I then dropped the headrest back to its initial position and sit as far forward as possible in the trike. Very reclined but I find it comfortable to the point that I grumbled at my SPM for not reclining any further). Not tried it for a long ride though.

A real downside to it is that I now look at my SPM and think "heavy", "not sure about all that suspension", "I'm not going to use a tourer anytime soon", "I have a cargo trike for shopping" ... etc. Which means I really should be looking at a lightweight no-suspension faster bike.

[squeaker]

A real downside to it is that I now look at my SPM and think "heavy", "not sure about all that suspension", "I'm not going to use a tourer anytime soon", "I have a cargo trike for shopping" ... etc. Which means I really should be looking at a lightweight no-suspension faster bike.

Nice Welcome to the treadmill

[nobrakes]

Is this the one that was for sale on the BHPC forum? I was tempted by it myself. I didn’t know 18 inch wheels were a thing. Seemed like a good buy for the price, congrats on a nice trike.

[belgiangoth]

It is indeed the same. It hit the venn diagram intersection of within my limited budget and local enough to be dropped off.it is indeed very nice, the issues with a trike and a terraced house are not as bad as expected, but it does occupy three bike’s worth of space and it *is* more hassle than a bike.
18” is not that bad, SJS cycles were doing a special on inner tubes and schwalbe make Kojaks, Marathon races and Big Apples in that size.
Surely you don’t need moar bikes, I have read your bike reviews!

[nobrakes]

Definitely don’t need more bikes - nor do I have the cash! I’m still tempted to try stuff out though and sell on something else if I like it. Glad you bought it as now I don’t have to worry about it any more! Catrikes seem rare in the uk so I notice when one pops up.

[belgiangoth]

Question: I tried to swap rear wheel, fitting a 26" wheel (MTB spacing). It was too tight for me to be able to fit, I faffed for ages and couldn't quite get it to fit; this made me think maybe my model has road hub spacing. But then I tried to re-install the road wheel it came with and that was a huge faff and required much swearing!
I wonder whether there is a "knack" to the rear wheel on a trike. I start from a bad position as I don't normally do rear wheels with gears, but I wonder whether the issue with the trike is that as there is little weight on the back wheel so it doesn't "drop" into place?
What are your thoughts/experience?

[squeaker]

What are your thoughts/experience?

IME a 'bent trike is easier than a 'bent bike... With a trike i usually lift the rear up onto a 5l oil container to get the wheel off the ground to remove; re-fitting in the same way.

[UpWrong]

The 700 has road spacing and sometimes you still need to spring the chainstays to get the hub to slot in.

[belgiangoth]

^ There you have it, that absolutely sorts out my issue.

I found that removing the wheel was straightforward it was refitting that was the issue. Found that if I actually sat on the nack of the seat, to put my weight on the back wheel, it sat the wheel straight in good working order.

So, I have an extra 26" wheel and need to build myself a 26" or 650b rear wheel to take Shimano 9-speed.

[UpWrong]

^ There you have it, that absolutely sorts out my issue.

I found that removing the wheel was straightforward it was refitting that was the issue. Found that if I actually sat on the nack of the seat, to put my weight on the back wheel, it sat the wheel straight in good working order.

So, I have an extra 26" wheel and need to build myself a 26" or 650b rear wheel to take Shimano 9-speed.

To refit rear wheel, put drive end axle into dropout then splay the non-drive chain stay using fingers on the stay and thumbs on the end of the hub (not axle). Simple.