Information

700c rear & 26" front wheels on an ICE Sprint 26

This trike has already been heavily customized. We put a 700c / 29'er rear wheel on with a road tire. It often sports a TerraCycle fairing.

But, big feet are now the problem. With the 700c rear wheel, the bottom bracket is a bit lower to the ground, and its owner, MK, finds that his generously-sized feet sometimes hit the ground. We have examined all the possibilities we could think of to solve this problem, and in the end, settled on larger front wheels.

26" was chosen as a size that would be relatively strong and still have a reasonable selection of tires.

The results are good. There is a bit larger turning radius, and MK reports having to think a bit longer about how to avoid the wheels when getting in and out.

However, the ground-heel clearance is impressive. The handling is good. It's smoother on the rough roads. And, according to MK, there has been no change in overall performance. Perhaps, the better rolling resistance is cancelling out with slightly higher weight.

[Note: the handlebars are folded back in preparation for folding it to put in the back of a Toyota Prius.]

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Recumbent Tandem Rider #50 -- 2015 Summer

Issue #50 of Recumbent Tandem Rider Magazine is in the shop now. Features articles include:

Bacchetta Giro 26 review
Rolf Prima tandem wheels
Nite Ize SpokeLit LED spoke wheel lights
Touring California coast on Bacchetta recumbent bikes
Tandem cycling review
TATAR trike / recumbent tour of American River in Sacramento
Cycle tourism stories

Come get your free copy in the shop, or subscribe online at RTR Magazine.

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Push brakes and paddle shifters on ICE Sprint 26

We are putting together a trike for a gentleman with a neurological condition that inhibits "pulling" action with his hands.

He has settled on an ICE Sprint 26 recumbent trike and we have determined a configuration that will allow him to operate his trike with "pushing" actions.

The pictures show a prototype solution. We intend to mount the brake levers backwards so they operate with pushes rather than pulls. Trigger shifters mounted upside down and on the "wrong" side allow the paddles of the shifters to be actuated with pushing action using the palms of his hands.

The cost to configure this is nominal.

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Patterson Metropolis on Terratrike Rover

The Patterson Metropolis is an economical way to extend the gear range of an 8-speed Terratrike.

This morning we put one of these on an 8-speed Terratrike Rover. The drive installation went smoothly. Then, a Terratrike front light mount was used to reposition the front water bottle cage to a much more vertical angle -- much improving its ergonomics.

Simultaneously, a cable stop was positioned on the end of an attached bracket. The bracket was custom fashioned in the shop.

Shifting is via a Microshift twist shifter with the cable run along the mainline of the frame.

The result looks great!

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Trigger-shifters on Gekko FX26

We have converted an HP Velotechnik Gekko FX 26 to use trigger shifters as an experiment. It seems to work well.

Trigger shifters offer full thumb control and have excellent ergonomics for regular horizontal handlebars. On recumbent trikes, they present some logistical difficulties, with the primary one being the cabling must go up into a loop and then get routed through the handlebars.

The main downsides are:

a mounting point (the top of the handlebar) for the sideview mirror is lost;
the shifting mechanism is somewhat vulnerable.

On the positive side:

there is no twisting input into the steering when shifting;
they use the parts of your hand that they are designed for, so the ergonomics are good.

The converted trike is available at its original price, and can be tested while it lasts.

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Patterson Metropolis on a Terratrike Rambler

Patterson Metropolis 2-speed geared crankset extends gear-range of 8-speed Terratrike Rambler

Using the Shimano Nexus internally-geared 8-speed hub on any trike gives you the enclosed reliability of planetary-geared hubs, but it's a bit slim on gear range -- particularly with a small 20" wheel on the back.

We installed a 2-speed Patterson Metropolis geared crankset on an 8-speed Nexus-equipped Rambler and economically extended its gear range up and down from the OEM spec while satisfying the owner's desire for internal (rather than derailleur-based) gearing.

There are several options for geared cranksets in the world, but the premier one is the Schlumpf drive. Schlumpf drives come in three flavors -- Mountain, Speed, and HighSpeed. They all have a 1:1 gear setting and a geared setting. They all shift by pushing a button across from one side to the other with your heel. As the dominant brand in the market, the Schlumpf drive is priced above newcomers.

The Patterson drive is a cost-effective alternative. It lacks the extensive options of the Schlumpf for satisfying all permutations of possibilities, but weighs in with a solid 28T integrated chainring and a 160% upwards gearing mode. Best of all, by just concentrating on one permutation, FSA is able to get the Patterson Drive into the marketplace at a lower cost. The Patterson drive uses a conventional shifter and incorporating a satisfactory cable stop is sometimes a barrier -- particularly on a recumbent trike.

We used a Minoura Water bottle mount on the front derailleur post for a cable stop. The mount is still useable as a front light mount.

For shifting, we used a 9-speed Microshift shifter. We had the choice of left (front) or right (rear) shifter, and decided that the rear shifter mounted upside down would give good tactile and visual feedback, so the rider can monitor the shifting position.

The gearing of this trike went from approximately 17.5-54 gear-inches to 15.4-78 gear-inches.

Our gearing calculator is quite handy for quickly doing these sorts of calculations.

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Bluebird tests Catrike 700

In a sight that's becoming quite common at the shop these days, some bluebirds tried out a Catrike 700. [In reality, only one bluebird tried the trike while the others watched.]

He liked the color and the lines, but found it too difficult to shift. Also, the headrest was too big.

Meanwhile, the young'uns zipped their mouths shut, abiding by engrained maxims to speak only when spoken to and to be seen and not heard.

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Bionx electric-assist systems

We just got some Bionx 350W electric-assist systems in!

A little creative work, and we found a great spot to mount it on the HP Velotechnic Scorpion (tight spaces.)

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Bacchetta bikes in Northern California

AlphaBENT is now selling Bacchetta recumbent bikes!

With the shop fairly saturated with trikes, we have found that we haven't been adequately serving the two-wheel recumbent market.

We're taking immediate action to resolve this issue with new Bacchettas now gracing the floor of the shop.

Bacchetta has established itself as a premier manufacturer of fine recumbent bikes and secretly we've long glanced enviously at any of these beauties.

Time to stop casting sideways glances and enjoy the simplicity and speed of a good high-racer.

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