Cycling UK Forum

I have a couple of recumbent bikes. I have decided to go rash and get a recumbent trike.

I went for a ride on an ICE and on a Keissel and was surprised at how much I had to lean whilst riding them.

Are all trikes like this?

I am rather surprised to hear this. Which ICE model were you riding?

Do you mean leaning into bends at speed? That I could understand, but just pootling, nah, surely not.

I'd ridden upright trikes before I ever rode a recumbent trike, so I was surprised how little leaning was required!

You can't quite sit on a trike like a sack of potatoes, it does need a bit of finesse for cornering at speed. If you were just trying out in an empty car park or similar, that wouldn't be at all typical of normal riding. The usual tyro wants to zoom up and down, corner hard and enthusiastically, and generally have a bit of fun. You don't corner that sharply on the open road. Most riding on the open road will not need much in the way of leaning at all.

The leaning is all part of the fun, on my trikes I'm often hanging over the inside wheel to keep all the wheels on the ground as I career recklessly down twisty roads. On the flat, I'm generally not going fast enough to need to. There is always the odd off-camber turn that can catch you out even at walking pace. You need to keep your wits about you. Generally the wider the track and lower the seat the less weight shifting is required.

You could always go for a leaning trike like the Tripendo that would do all the leaning for you. Very expensive, pretty heavy, lots to go wrong!

tank wrote:..... and was surprised at how much I had to lean whilst riding them..

To keep the inside wheel on the deck when cornering, or just to feel 'comfortable'? I'm always 'surprised' by cambered roads when I haven't ridden a trike for a while, disconcerting but not dangerous, but transferring from an ICE Sprint to a 'T' usually sees me flying a wheel at some point

I agree with the rest, a little leaning is required at high speeds but this becomes instantly second nature after which the fun really starts.

Even lifting a wheel really requires significant daftness and on slippy surfaces there is no other machine to ride. I can use my Kett on greasy and icy roads with complete abandon. I keep telling myself that the tyres will last longer if I don't power-slide corners but...

Yes, I'm sure I could get more mileage out of my tyres, but rwally...

Having just acquired an ICE Trice S I can comment on this. Compared to a two wheeler I have felt the need to lean a little when going through bends at speed (18 mph+). As has been stated an adverse camber feels odd on the trike compared to a two wheeled bent. I have less than 20 miles on the trike so far so I am not an expert! I'll post a review when I have more miles on the Trice. I can already report it is great fun and was quite surprised at my 12.5 mph rolling average on a hilly ride though this is 3 mph down on my Fuego. Hope this helps a little.

Thanks for the replies.

I should have been a little more descriptive in my original post. When I was trying out the trickes I rode an ICE Spirit and a very old Keissel just to see the difference between the two types of trikes. I was pootling along at maybe 6mph and less on a mixture of roads and cycle/walk ways. The leaning was only required into the corners and it was just a little more than I was expecting rather than being completely over the top.

I suppose the problem that I have is that I have a bad back and part of the reason to get a trike is so that I can sit on it and not have to worry about riding it when my back is bad. It sounds like a lower trike would be better for riding but definately on getting onto and off of as the Spirit may cause me trouble on a bad back day and will be unridable on a very bad back day.

More thought needed me thinks.

ICE do "helping hands" which are effectively props to help you get on/

I don't notice leaning when tootling, but then I don't have a bad back, so I wouldn't...

tank wrote:I suppose the problem that I have is that I have a bad back and part of the reason to get a trike is so that I can sit on it and not have to worry about riding it when my back is bad. It sounds like a lower trike would be better for riding but definately on getting onto and off of as the Spirit may cause me trouble on a bad back day and will be unridable on a very bad back day.

As a fellow occasional bad back sufferer, I'd add another consideration - rear suspension or not? (But then I see you have a Metaphysics, so maybe have thought of that ) My current easy comparison is between a rear suspended ICE 'T' and a rigid ICE Sprint 26: the former feels really soft compared with the latter (both have mesh seats, and the Sprint is running tyres 0.5inch wider than the 'T').
As for hauling yourself up from a trike, if you use a DF bike stem as a lighting bracket (like the attached on my Grasshopper), then one hand around that and a good heave really helps

bromt3 wrote:Having just acquired an ICE Trice S I can comment on this. Compared to a two wheeler I have felt the need to lean a little when going through bends at speed (18 mph+). As has been stated an adverse camber feels odd on the trike compared to a two wheeled bent. I have less than 20 miles on the trike so far so I am not an expert! I'll post a review when I have more miles on the Trice. I can already report it is great fun and was quite surprised at my 12.5 mph rolling average on a hilly ride though this is 3 mph down on my Fuego. Hope this helps a little.

I'm interested in the Fuego / ICE comparison. I have recently taken to The Dark Side after suffering increasing discomfort on an upright, on longer rides, thinking it might allow me to ride further / longer and more than compensate for the slower recumbent position.

I tried a couple of stick bikes and didn't really take to them and then by chance, had the opportunity to borrow an ICE 'Q' trike with a rear elastomer. I found this such fun that in a rush of blood to the head, I went and bought an ICE trike. I love it to bits but I'm just not fast enough on it - nothing to do with the trike, it's the inadequate and overweight engine! But my theory was that I'd train up my 'recumbent legs' and hopefully improve my fitness and then try a two wheeled 'bent again.

But I want to try a tiller steering one rather than the 'open cockpit' I had on the stick bikes but I've read that they're much harder for novices to learn on and that the Fuego is one of the more benign models. How long have you been riding the Fuego and was it easy to learn to ride?

squeaker wrote:

tank wrote:I suppose the problem that I have is that I have a bad back and part of the reason to get a trike is so that I can sit on it and not have to worry about riding it when my back is bad. It sounds like a lower trike would be better for riding but definately on getting onto and off of as the Spirit may cause me trouble on a bad back day and will be unridable on a very bad back day.

As a fellow occasional bad back sufferer, I'd add another consideration - rear suspension or not? (But then I see you have a Metaphysics, so maybe have thought of that ) My current easy comparison is between a rear suspended ICE 'T' and a rigid ICE Sprint 26: the former feels really soft compared with the latter (both have mesh seats, and the Sprint is running tyres 0.5inch wider than the 'T').
As for hauling yourself up from a trike, if you use a DF bike stem as a lighting bracket (like the attached on my Grasshopper), then one hand around that and a good heave really helps

I like that idea for a lighting bracket. Not seen it before. Have used similar for mounting a front basket on a DF, so have something with a bit of bar set up already, hmmm. But... without trying it out for a 'mounting aid', I'd be guessing it's a tad hazardous with regards to pushing down there would lift the rear wheel (with the parking brake), sending the trike skittering away. No?

Do you find the 26 twists/flexes? I've noticed both pedalling and steering causes torsional flexing, and wonder if it's simply the length of frame, which could likewise be a factor in the side forces on the front tyres when turning sharply- admittedly this involves being 'playful', but the poor kojaks get a severe side dragging and will surely go bang at some point...

tank wrote:I went for a ride on an ICE and on a Keissel and was surprised at how much I had to lean whilst riding them.

I've always found, when starting a new experience, that things seem to happen at a pace and to affect my senses in a way that makes for both excitement and anxiety. But, I think this is normal when in a new situation. For example, I've just come back from Munich, where I hired a car for the first time. The first drive in the city centre was a really steep learning curve!!!

I supplemented my 2 wheel 'bent with an ICE RS last summer, and can well remember the initial feelings (just as I can remember the initial feelings of going 'bent some 9 nine years ago). One of those feelings was similar to "tank". I was immediately conscious, when riding on a camber on a straight road, of having to sit slightly eccentrically on the seat (ie to lean slightly) to keep my body upright. On my 2 wheeler, of course, the bike remains vertical on an adverse camber, whereas the trike leans. It felt "wrong". Now of course, I'm quite used to it. So much so that I don't even notice. My body is relaxed and naturally lets the (mesh) seat take up the slight sense of leaning forced by the camber.

Similarly, the first time I hit 45 mph down one of the steep banks here in the Cotswolds, I was sorry not to have taken a spare pair of shorts with me!!!! Nowadays I don't know when I've gone above 45 until I get back and look at my Garmin. I'm just too busy shouting "Wheeeee!!"

It takes time to adjust to any new experience, and get it into perspective. Even the slower average speed has become "normal" and I've (reluctantly) accepted it. The leaning will become second nature and then not feel so exaggerated. It'll be part of the fun. Enjoy.

If you have lots of "fun" then you will trash the front tyres in short order.

If it gives you any reassurance I have had a front wheel blowout at 35+mph, and I felt it in the steering, and heard that they tyre noise had changed. towards the bottom of the hill I slowed to a perfectly controlled halt. No drama at all.

Geoff.D wrote:Similarly, the first time I hit 45 mph down one of the steep banks here in the Cotswolds, I was sorry not to have taken a spare pair of shorts with me!!!! Nowadays I don't know when I've gone above 45 until I get back and look at my Garmin. I'm just too busy shouting "Wheeeee!!"

It takes time to adjust to any new experience, and get it into perspective. Even the slower average speed has become "normal" and I've (reluctantly) accepted it. The leaning will become second nature and then not feel so exaggerated. It'll be part of the fun. Enjoy.

I dunno what I am doing wrong... seeing lots of references to well over 40, and I've struggled to get anywhere near that- thought I hit 40 for the 1st time last week (on any cycle), having my garmin show that, though RidewithGPS said later it wasn't quite there. Again, 39.7 yesterday (as per Garmin, RideWithGPS: 38.2!), pedalling hard down a long steep hill.

But then, my average seems to be equal, if not up! But that could just me being giddy and pushing harder for the novelty.

Also still find the whole business restrictive and considerably more hassle, requiring more planning and consideration. The DFs are still by far the grab'and'go machines for nipping anywhere.

Edit-

[XAP]Bob wrote:If you have lots of "fun" then you will trash the front tyres in short order.

If it gives you any reassurance I have had a front wheel blowout at 35+mph, and I felt it in the steering, and heard that they tyre noise had changed. towards the bottom of the hill I slowed to a perfectly controlled halt. No drama at all.

Cheers Bob. As opposed to on the DFs, I have no fear of a front blowout, bar that of trashing a rim. I wonder though, if the design of the Schwalbe Tryker would mean less side force risk of damage.