Rear-wheel steering

[Pastychomper]

Inspired partly by seajays and partly by increasing taxi work, I'm looking into cargo trikes. Some of them, like the Bellabikes, have rear-wheel steering, which I imagine would take some getting used to. Has anyone tried rear steering in the wild? How does it affect handling at speed?

[Carlton green]

Some years back - maybe ten - I visited a National Trust site near Newport, there happened to be some local fair going on and one of the exhibitors had rear wheel steering cargo trikes. I was persuaded to have a go and took it for a ten minute or so spin around the grounds - apparently I came back with a very large grin on my face.

Trikes need skill to take around corners so let’s put that to one side. At first the rear steering was a bit counterintuitive but really it wasn’t an issue; I just needed to adopt the mindset of ‘where do I want the front wheels pointing’, and then move the back wheel accordingly. Rear wheel steering isn’t something that I’d consider on faster vehicles (like cars), but it worked really well for me on that trike and I didn’t ride it slowly. YMMV.

[Pastychomper]

Thanks, I won't avoid that option then. If I do get a trike I expect to spend a fair amount of time getting used to the handling before using it for anything important.

[Carlton green]

Thanks, I won't avoid that option then. If I do get a trike I expect to spend a fair amount of time getting used to the handling before using it for anything important.

I should have mentioned that the trike that I had a go on had front wheel drive via a differential on the front axle. Had it not got that differential then I’d anticipate a poorer riding experience - I might be completely wrong in that. Whatever, that’s a choice for you to make and I’m just clarifying my reported experience. I got the impression that the chap who supplied the trike that I played on really knew his stuff and that what he built was well thought through and properly engineered - it would have been an expensive machine to buy but as good as they came.

Edit. The more I think about this the more I wonder about component quality and how it affects the ride experience. IIRC the gearbox and diff weren’t commonly used or available items and were likely to be low friction but expensive. My inclination would be to stick to front wheel steering and rear wheel drive using a derailleur. I’m pro hub gears and love my SA AW but the best wide range hub gears (German) are very expensive and the less expensive ones can only be so for a reason, IMHO its better to take the manageable muck and maintenance hit on wide range derailleur gears than to get involved with less than top quality hub gears.

[Cowsham]

Thanks, I won't avoid that option then. If I do get a trike I expect to spend a fair amount of time getting used to the handling before using it for anything important.

I should have mentioned that the trike that I had a go on had front wheel drive via a differential on the front axle. Had it not got that differential then I’d anticipate a poorer riding experience - I might be completely wrong in that. Whatever, that’s a choice for you to make and I’m just clarifying my reported experience.

The wife's Pashley trike only has one deraileur driven wheel ( two rear wheels ) the other just free running. Maybe that's OK when the weight is over them but with front drive maybe it takes two 'baby'

[pjclinch]

Thanks, I won't avoid that option then. If I do get a trike I expect to spend a fair amount of time getting used to the handling before using it for anything important.

I should have mentioned that the trike that I had a go on had front wheel drive via a differential on the front axle. Had it not got that differential then I’d anticipate a poorer riding experience - I might be completely wrong in that.

The basic Kettwiesel 'bent delta has one-sided drive, while off-road versions use a diff. It's perhaps due to the RH drive combined with the steep camber on the roads I tried it on that it did seem to drift left more than expected... Also had the same problem on upright delta Jorvik e-trikes... but I think it was more that it was a trike and I was subconsciously trying to use bike-style weight shift to steer because once I'd dialled in my "trike head" both were fine. Also the case that I had similar initial problems on tadpoles where a diff is moot.
In other words, I think trike steering is probably a bigger basic difference than the difference between trikes: whatever it is, try it out and be prepared for a learning period.

Pete.