A racing tricycle?
 

Are racing tricycles a trend that has hit the states or is this just a thing with our British cousins?


http://www.flickr.com/photos/8379107...ol-1063134@N22


http://www.flickr.com/photos/8379107...ol-1063134@N22

Have never seen one but have seen pictures (and words), especially in a Bicycling! magazine book in the mid-seventies. My understanding is that this is/was a UK thing.

Don't know if they still do it, but a friend was stationed in England with the Air Force in the '70s, and he brought back films of trike racers with passengers. Can't remember if there was some provision for them to sit/stand, but they hung over the side to counterbalance the centrifugal force during cornering.

There is a saying from the automotive world:

"Give an Englishman a piece of metal & odds are he'll do something stupid with it."

I think Racing Trikes are cool!:notamused:

A friend of mine built a racing trike for a local gent with balance issues. It got raced in the Paralympics. I think it's pretty slick: http://www.terracycle.com/cftrike.htm

We don't have the full blown races like the do in the EU. But a few of the trikes have made it over here over the years. I still see the occasional one on the road. When I was racing in the mid 70's we had one older gentleman that rode a Jack Taylor trike and raced it, his older brother rode/raced a track frame fixed gear.:eek:

There was a thread a while back in the Utility forum with lots of links to racing trikes.

Aaron:)

It does seem to be a Euro thing that didn't much make it to the USA.

There's a couple people on the rec.bicycles.tech newsgroup that have them, as well as lots of links to sites about them. There are adapter frames you can buy that fit on a regular (steel/lugged!) bike frame, but there are also still a few custom builders out there turning out new ones.
~

The Op's photo looks a bit clumsy.
I sometimes see a guy out on the roads in something similar to this:
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...biel_mango.jpg
He's usually going so fast that I can't even think of sprinting up and trying to draft him.
Those trikes would make for fun racing.

Its been in the states! Remember Revenge of the Nerds?!

Cornering must be...Interesting. I know that motorcycle sidecar racing is still a fairly large sport in Europe; the passenger is called the "monkey" as he must climb all over the rig to keep it rubber-side down.
Do they actually race these trikes? The one shot shows a rather limited gear range; looks more like they're set up for touring/cruising around in more style than your usual old-folk's trike.

I only know of two trikes in my area- and one rider has a balance problem due to an illness and the other has a balance problem due to age. No idea how old but he is old.

BUT- the Para-Olympics and we have a rider in the UK that is good. Can't remember his name- but on the Trike he is fantastic. Off the bike and he can only just stand.

Log on to the web address Noisebeam provided . They bunch race, time trial, grass track and hill-climb on them. Steve Brown, a member of my club, East Bradford CC, held 11 national TT records at one time on both solo and tandem trike (both George Longstaffs, IIRC) and was world trike TT champion over a distance of 40k (just under 25 miles).

Check out some of the times on the Tricycle Association website.

Seeing a pair on a tandem trike out of the saddle, leaning into a corner, at speed, is a pretty striking sight.

The two main builders in the UK are Longstaff and Bob Jackson. The latter even built a tandem with aero bars for the stoker - don't ask. Longstaff can make them with a differential rear axle so that both rear wheels are driven, rather than the left one only.

By the way, many a cocky bike rider has got on a trike and got off very swiftly, swearing never to do so again. The main problem for them is that a trike naturally rolls down in the direction of the road camber and the bicycle rider naturally "corrects" by leaning very slightly. The trike continues on its merry way until you turn the handlebars - it's much easier to ride if you treat the steering as tho' it is the same as a car. Nonetheless, they're fun to ride.

you should definitely check out this Pedal Prix crash compilation then
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGblVQlpILQ