Recumbent - difficulty in putting together a tadpole trike?

Hi all. I just purchased a terratrike, and am weighing whether to have it shipped in kit form or pay $179 to have them send it to me fully assembled. I have never put together a bike before, although I am handy with a toolset and have performed many minor repairs and modifications to my existing upright bike.

Has anyone put together a tadpole trike before, either a terratrike or some other model? If so, how long did it take, and is it particularly difficult?

thanks

When I was in my late teens, I decided that waiting for my dad (or boyfriend) to get around fixing my bikes was annoying. So, I asked my father to teach me how to at least keep up with my gears and brakes.

With that limited knowledge and the detailed instructions from the manufacturer, I managed to assemble my Trice QNT. A good thing, since I'm more mechanically inclined than my husband. :p It took me a couple weeks. I have trouble following written directions, and get easily frustrated so would have to set down the tools and walk away, but someone who knows more about bikes than I did (and has an easier time with written directions) would probably sail through it more quickly. A trike (or bent bike) is not so terribly different from an upright in most of the parts. They're just laid out a bit differently.

That said, if I'd had the option, I would have had my trike delivered assembled. :o

I got my son's KMX assembled in a couple of hours. Probably would have gotten it done quicker but the chain was twisted out of the box so we had to disassemble a few things in order to make it right. KMX is less sophisticated than the Terratrikes so I would allow for an evening or two to get everything together. Also, if you run into problems you can ask here or, even better, go to the Terratrike Forum. You're sure to find someone with specific knowledge of your trike on there.
http://www.terratrike.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=26

That is a good chunk of change that you can save...and with your "knowledge" of tools I would say go for putting it together...+ it will be fun to know that you did it yourself, even if you have to ask for a little help. I would bet you do not even need to ask for the help.
Let us know how it goes...or what you decide to do.

Its fun to do all the work and save some $$. Its quite easy, pick up a book on road bike maintainence or check out all the bike maint vids on You Tube.

Have fun triking!