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7 December 2013 - 11:17pm
 

Fun

 

Trikes are fun! Everyone loves them. Everyone can ride them.

This means that you'll be looking forward to your next ride instead of dreading it.

These are not your grandfather's trike, though.... Look closer. These are recumbent: which means you sit back in comfort. No pressure points on your wrists or prostate. No cricking of the neck.

Bottom line: "Fun" means this is a machine you will use well.

Take another look: At first blush, they all look the same... but, upon closer examination (and, this is why we encourage you to come in to see and try them personally), you will see stark differences:

  • How high is the seat?
  • How reclined?
  • Does it fold?
  • What steering mechanism does it use?
  • What wheel configuration does it have?
  • Frame construction?
  • Suspension?
  • What brakes?

There are no right or wrong answers, but there is a right answer for you.

We have every commercially available trike that is worth its salt. We'll help you sift through the options. We'll guide you to likely candidates. We'll listen to your feedback.

At AlphaBENT, we are committed to your happiness. We want you to get the right trike no matter what brand, how much you spend, or what options you want... and we won't upsell you and if you are looking at trikes or options that will have you spending more money than you need to spend, we'll tell you so.

 

Image gallery

 

Information

Catrike Trail with Alfine-8 wheel, Racktime rack and basket, and special accessory-mounts.

A Catrike Trail E-Cat accessorized with a Shimano Alfine-8 drivetrain upgrade, Racktime rear rack with integrating basket, phone-mount, and extra mirror using AlphaBENT accessory mounts.

Catrike Dumont with Neodrive Z20 electric-assist

10 solid reasons to add electric-assist to your Catrike with a Neodrive Z20 hub-motor.

HP Velotechnik Gekko-26 hand-cycle recumbent trike
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.

Classifieds

PBW

Wheels - This is the ONLY workshop of the year on wheels. It is a bit on the technical side: to satisfy the need for more knowledge.

How to build a wheel; true a wheel; make it round; calculate spoke lengths; smooth out bumps inside your drum brake. When can't a wheel be saved? Why are good spokes important? How and why to dish a wheel. How to make or true an unconventional (single-sided) wheel. Replacing wheel bearings.

Come with a thirst to learn.

Caffeine and morning snacks provided. Workshop starts when the caffeine kicks in. Cost: FREE

Catrike

Join Kyle Bryant and the Ataxians for the RideAtaxia Norcal 2018 on June 2, 2018 in Winters, California.

This annual ride raises much-needed funds for research to cure Friedrich's Ataxia (a progressive neurological disease.)

We raise funds for research by cycling. And, we raise hope by joining together in support.

A benefit for homeless services

100 miles | 100 kilometers | 45 miles for avid & recreational cyclists alike!

Rolling start at 7am.

Starting and finishing at the Church of the Incarnation in the heart of historic Santa Rosa, the Incarnation 100 offers three different course options: 45-mile, 100-km, and 100 mile.

Incarnation 100 supports three vital homeless service entities: The Living Room, Sunday Open Table, and St. Andrews Food Program

33 mile, 56 mile, and 108 mile routes aroud Lake Almanor and through the Indian Valley.

Great views of Mount Lassen on all rides.

These supported rides have:

  • rest stops
  • high quality natural food and beverages
  • a delicious post-ride meal
  • bike raffle at the end of the ride

Information on the Lake Almanor area.

Information about this ride.

Join Kyle, Izzy, and a whole bunch of amazing people in the FARA Norcal Ride.

All the details right here on the official FARA Norcal website.

Always great food, friends, and beautiful weather. See you there.

Find out more about FARA here.

10, 50, and 100 mile options riding in the beautiful high desert around Carson City and Lake Tahoe.

More information at ediblepedal100.org

Cost is $77 and the ride is sponsored by the Reno Rotary Club.

PBW

Come out and learn about chains.

When to lube and how. Lube options. How to measure the wear on your chain. How to open quick-links (power links). How to use a chain tool.

We'll show you how to do all this and more concentrating on conventional multi-speed bike chains.

Caffeine and morning snacks provided. Bring a chain conundrum for our version of Stump the Chumps. Go for a ride on the beautiful American River Trail afterwards.

Where: 1114 C Street, Sac'to.
Cost: FREE

Come out and learn about adjusting your own shifting.

Enjoy beautiful, crisp shifting. Eliminate pesky trips to a bike shop to get rid of that clunking. Take charge of your handlebars. We'll show you how to do all this and more. Covering twist shifters, bar-ends, internally geared hubs, as needed.

Caffeine and morning snacks provided. Bring a shifting conundrum for our version of Stump the Chumps. Go for a ride on the beautiful American River Trail afterwards.

Where: 1114 C Street, Sac'to.
Cost: FREE

PBW

Explore the elements of a tricycle drivetrain from the pedals through the cranks, chain, rear cog or cassette, and into the wheel.

Recumbent trikes (and quads), unlike two-wheelers, need to be properly aligned. Without proper alignment, your tires will wear out too fast, and there can be serious safety penalties.

In this free workshop, we'll show you:

Azub, Bionx, Catrike, GoSwiss, ICE, HP Velotechnik, Greenspeed

Join AlphaBENT in welcoming HP Velotechnik during their 2017 West Coast Tour.

brakes

Azub

Azub Open-House at AlphaBENT on the morning of 18 Oct 2016. Open invitation to try the new Azub Ti-FLY full-suspension trike, 2015 Trike of the Year TriCon, Azub Six full-suspension trike, and Azub T-Tris upgraded with 250W Neodrive electric-assist system.

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

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