10 solid reasons to add electric-assist to your Catrike with a Neodrive Z20 hub-motor.
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29 September 2015 - 10:46am
ICE shows Fat, racks, apparel, and support for electric-assist at RCC
ICE owners Chris Parker and Neil Selwood both came in person to the Recumbent CycleCon show in Cincinnati (Sep 25-27, 2015). They brought one of their surprisingly popular Full Fat all-terrain trikes and a representative lineup of ICE models:
- race-oriented VTX
- Sprint 26-FS touring trike with full suspension comfort
- Adventure FS high-seated full suspension touring trike
- SprintX 26-RS comfort-oriented sport trike
- Rohloff-equipped Full Fat 26" all-terrain recumbent trike
ICE has spent its R&D time working on the "niggly" things -- fixing things that could be better. They also make their first foray into apparel developing a much-needed jersey for recumbent riding.
New cycling jersey for recumbent trike riders
In the words of Chris Parker, they have obsessively over-designed and engineered a cycling jersey for recumbent trikers.
- high-tech fabric stays dry
- windproof front material
- maximum ventilation on the back
- soft non-chafing material on the inside of the collar
- light-reflective accents on the sleeve sides
- front gather to keep it from scooping air
- zippered pockets to keep change and sundries
Manufactured in Spain and Poland. Expected price will be near $90.
Rear carrier / rack redesign includes optional top-mounting capability for 26" wheels and battery attachment point
ICE rear racks have been re-designed to NOT attach to the back of the seat. The new racks have a nice pannier hook point at the bottom and attach to the trike at the suspension pivot.
A solid battery mounting point is integrated into rack for electrified ICE trikes.
A new optional racktop structure will be available for 20" wheel-sizes and an ultra high structure for 26" wheels. The racktop structure is intended for lighter-weight top-mounting packs rather than heavy stuff.
Structurally, the sides of the rack are independent of the top, so full-weight panniers are supported without the top-structure.
Pedelec electric-assist convertability
With an eye toward the future of pedelec recumbent trikes, ICE has incorporated a battery mounting point at the bottom leg of the rack.
The attachment point is perfectly designed for ICE trikes in order to allow the chain through without interference and so the battery will not interfere with the folding of the trike.
This year (2015), ICE offered its first pedal-assist models equipped with the well-engineered 250W Neodrive electric-assist system from Germany. However, due to international battery shipping restrictions, the only dealer in the U.S. who actually sold Neodrive-equipped ICE trikes in 2014 and 2015 was AlphaBENT.
Until ICE works out a supply-chain to other dealers in the United States, this will remain the state of things.
Redesigned suspension pivot
An integral part of ICE suspension trikes is a pivot pin or axle.
When it was originally designed it was seen as a rather mundane item and not thought about much. However, as time as progressed, it has become apparent that the pivot pin is an ideal solid spot at which to mount other load-bearing structural members.
This idea was pioneered by HP Velotechnik years ago. Unfortunately, HP Velotechnik designed their original systems such that the pivot had to be disconnected in order to attach things like racks. This made installation and removal of racks a dealer-only proposal. [Newer HP Velotechnik designs have an innovation that circumvents this issue.]
ICE has redesigned the suspension pivot to have a thicker, compression-bearing sidewall and it incorporates a 45-degree chamfered edge at the ends. The chamfered edge allows racks and battery-mounts stay in place with compressional friction. This is the same principle pioneered on certain Mavic bottom-brackets long ago and then integrated as a fundamental design of most Schlumpf-drive installations.
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Information
Hand-cycling is vigorous full-body exercise that builds upper body strength. HP Velotechnik's new Hands-On Cycle is available for the Gekko-26 model with a weight rating to 320lb.
AlphaBENT offers the German-made Neodrive Z20S torque-based hub-motor electric-assist upgrade kit for Catrikes -- even those with 142mm through-axles.
This elegant e-kit upgrades non-motorized Catrike recumbent trikes with a smooth, powerful motor built into the rear wheel. The intuitive system ihas a simple, comprehensive control / display that mounts efficiently onto a shifter.
A fire in the early morning of 5 June 2024 destroyed our neighbor business, MidCentury Sacramento. AlphaBENT escaped the worst of it and is back up and running.
Catrike introduces a new trike with a wider stance and higher seat and weight limit.
Catrike has discontinued the venerable Road recumbent trike model.
This event has taken place and the notice is simply part of our articles archive
Face-time with ICE. Ask all of your questions. Find out what happens behind the scenes. And, try trikes, trikes, trikes... including the fully automatic ICE Adventure electric trikes.
An inexpensive hitch-mount rack for folded recumbent trikes. For example, the ICE Full Fat big-tired adventure tricycle.
Classifieds
FSA, Patterson, Pinion, Schlumpf, Rohloff
Find out about options to standard drive systems: planetary gears, continuously variable transmission (CVT's), Capreo cassettes, Schlumpf drives, Rohloff Speedhub, and Patterson Metropolis 2-speed bottom-bracket / spider.
When are the different options appropriate? When are they on the edge? What works with what? How do you install?
We'll cover the highlights. There will be Show and Tell. Focus this week will be on the Patterson Drive. We'll put one on a test boom for a trike and see what it takes to do it.
Cost: FREE