Juan Foote

The wife and I went on her first "on the road" ride on the Catrikes today. It was the first time that hers has been up to any manner of speed. Once doing so the front end has a tendency to wobble. It is controllable with both hands on the controls, but take one hand off, or go over a bump and the front wheels very quickly go into a steady fast shudder.

By the eye it appears to be toed in just a touch and looks straight. By the yardstick I may (or may not) have about a 1/4" difference front to back, more narrow to the front. Admittedly the method I am using is pretty crude after playing with some methods discussed in my other "alignment" thread.

Is there a tendency for these to develop a wobble like this from a specific problem or alignment issue?

gcottay

Yikes. This does not sound like fun.

Toe can be important for trkes. A quarter inch of toe in could easily be the issue. My personal practice is to start with as close to zero toe as I can and work back from there towards the manufacture's recommendation. Having a rider or roughly equivalent weight on the seat as you measure can make a difference.

Are your trikes used? Catrike had a bushing issue in the past and provides a fix.

CraigB

If I recall correctly, the factory recommendation for toe-in is only about a 16th of an inch. Check the owner's manual to be sure.

rydabent

Yes. A quarter inch would seem to be way too much. Reading several cycling forums indicates at toe in is rather critical. Several mfg internet sites cover how to set toe in.

Juan Foote

As to the bushing issue, would there be some measurable play in the headset(s) beyond normal? All seems fine on that.

I called the local Catrike dealer who recommended 2mm of toe. I set it as close as I can using my crude method and will road test it in a couple of days.

VegasTriker

I don't own a Catrike but happened to read the setup manual for the Expedition on the Catrike website recently and as I recall the 1/16" is what the manual recommended for that model. If the toe-in is 3/16" off, you will know by the incredible fast tire wear as well as the handling. You can download the manual for any of their trikes at the Catrike website.

You also might want to post this question in the Technical Discussion area of the bentrideronline site (www.bentrideronline.com). I have read about Catrike having problems with the steering and they have some replacement parts (free I think) for owners with sloppy steering. Ask that question there too.

oddball

You should also try adjusting the toe-in while your wife is seated on the trike. Some owners have noticed a difference.

rydabent

+1 on maybe adjusting the toe in with wife in the seat. I bet if you do reduce the toe in down to 1/16th it will get rid of your problem. The shudder is probabably the tires fighting each other setting up frame vibrations.

Tractortom

The front wheel 'wobble' is a known problem with some of the Catrikes (I rode one for three years) and usually has to do with worn or improperly tightened bearings in the spindle below the handlebars. Contact Catrike if the problem continues, their customer service is second to none.

Tractor Tom in Okeechobee, FL

Juan Foote

I had to tighten the "headsets" in both of the cats we purchased. The first, "blue", is an '09 for sure. I have the paperwork for it. Tightening down the headsets and aligning the front wheels made it handle nice and predicable. The second one, "silver", is likely an '08 and I think it may be before the new bushing came out. I have tightened the headsets to an equal amount, and done my best to straighten what was a very off toe in. It seems to handle a lot better, but haven't taken it on a long shakedown with a good high speed section to find out.

Trikin'

I bought a LavaRed Expedition through Utahtrikes in Dec 2012. The 1st ride out I experianced a shimmy in the front wheels, found the right headset loose, tightened it down as well as the left one. While the shimmy was reduced the ride still didn't feel right. Went out for a ride thru some trails near home and when I got out to the street there was a wobble in the rear wheel. When I got home I found that most of the spokes had become loose in the rear wheel, took the trike to the LBS and had the wheel trued and the spokes tightened. This cured the problems I had been having, now the wobble and shimmy are gone and the ride is everything I had hoped for.