Recreational & Family - I need a "trike" for my Mother in Law

My mother-in-law (G-d bless this wonderful woman) is in her 60's, diabetic, and not exactly athletic. Yet she would like to come riding with her family, which includes an athletic husband, a cherubic and beautiful daughter, and her son-in-law, an obsessed cycling nut with a fetish for all things cyclocross.

Can anybody recommend an adult "tricycle" or a reference that would lead me to one? Any feedback would be most appreciated.

Thank you.
-jpearl

http://store.bicyclerevolution.com/traildesclas.html

Customizable options too.

You might want to bring this up in the recumbent forum as there are some slick looking "trikes" in the bent bikes and they'd have the proper gearing to make the rides easier for your Mother-In-Law. The old Trikes for Seniors are HEAVY and usually single speed with at best, gearing wise a 3 speed rear hub which isn't going to make it easy for your MIL to follow the rest of the family, JMHO.

Here's an example of a really nice 3 speed trike but it's pricey and it's only a "3 speed"!
http://www.worksman.com/pav.html

Most of the upright trikes are on the heavy side, esp the "industrial" trikes. The materials are often really low grade, hence they need lots of it.
Managed to find a weight of an adult trike. The Trailmate Desoto weighs in at 85lbs which is over 4x the weight of a decent bicycle for a small old lady. How do Worksman leisure trikes weigh in? I have seen the Longstaff and similar ones which are about 35lbs
You may find some useful links at
http://www.tricycleassociation.org.uk/Home.html

Recumbent can be light and efficient but harder for old people to get in and out.

If you are very lucky you may find an English lightweight touring trike such as a Longstaff such as
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/George-Longstaff-Adult-Tricycle_W0QQitemZ7196361084QQcategoryZ97029QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Pashly seem to be OK.

http://www.pashley.co.uk/products/classic/picador/splash.html

Best made trikes in the world, and Made in the USA (http://www.worksmancycles.com)

We have a special needs daughter. We got her one of these and she loves it!
http://www.sunbicycles.com/03/html_04/recumbents/ez3_sx.html

I seem to recall that you want a posi-track drive train. That is one where the non-slipping wheel gets the power. Some are designed so that only one rear wheel is chain driven.

If it was me, the biggest concern would be having the whole group waiting for her. No fun for anybody. Consider an electric assist, which allows you to control how much assist it's providing. That way, she can stay with the group and back off the power as she builds up her strength. They even sell them pre-assembled on a Sun type trike. That would be the route I'd take.

And I just may be taking that route for my mother! Let us know what route you take and how it goes.

I just bought a Worksman Folding Tricycle for my son, who is developmentally disabled. The workmanship is good, and it is of much better quality than his previous adult non-folding tricycle.

But, this is not a bike I would recommend for keeping up with the rest of the family on a bike ride. I would guess about 35 pounds. It has a 3 speed internal rear hub and also has a rear disc brake.

I use it to walk alongside of my son as he rides on level trails, as he needs 1-1 supervision. I got the folding model because the non-folding was getting harder to load in the car (maybe because I am getting a bit older, and while at 66yo I can still manage it fine, I am not sure how I will do at 72!) and we needed to have a Grand Caravan without the 3rd seat to transport it. The folding gives us a few more options, car wise, but it still is not perfect.