Jimi77

I'm strongly considering making the move to recumbent biking. Will Tadpoles clear a curb? In the pics it looks like the chain might scrape as you climb the curb, especially with Tadpoles with 20" rear wheels. Can anybody confirm or deny this. In particular the TT Rambler and Sportster have caught my eye. The ICE Adventure looks nice, but that's really stretching my budget.

TIA
Jimi

BlazingPedals

I wouldn't go trying to climb curbs with any recumbent. How you planning on lifting a wheel? Maybe a KMX, lifting one wheel at a time?

osco53

These Guys will know,,,

https://www.bentrideronline.com/

https://www.bentrideronline.com/messageboard/index.php

Jimi77

You don't need to "lift a wheel" to climb a curb.

rydabent

Remember that the RD is right next to the wheel so it will not ground on the curb unless you climbed it at an angle. Also if you have a 26" rear wheel it takes the RD and chain further up out of the way and the dirt.

mchell

OP I must be missing something. I have ridden a trike for the past 8 years and I've never wanted to climb a curb. Why would I?
It is necessary to be careful over speed bumps as the low idler, used to manage chain direction, can ground out very easily. But I do not climb or drop off curbs.

10 Wheels

Do it wrong and the rear derallier may hit something.

fietsbob

Find the reduced height curb cut for wheel chair users and then all should be fine..



.. Or, Get up, pick up the back wheel and drag it over the curb, backwards.

Jimi77

There are areas along my travels that don't have an inclined ramp. It's either hop the curb or take a different route. Obviously this hasn't been a problem on my DF, but my DF is starting to become a problem for me.

BlazingPedals

There may be the occasional 'bent rider, especially if it's a suspended bent, who goes down off curbs, but I don't know any bent riders who ride up curbs. Small wheels don't like going over large obstacles.

aenlaasu

I tried to avoid curbs like plague with my trike. There were just some places where I had to go down them at times and if I didn't do it carefully, I would bottom out. My bigger concern was the rear idler with clearance of .5 to 1.5 inches. Rocks, snow, ice, tree roots. UGH!

Upgraded to a 26" rear wheel and now can deal with just about everything though curbs still have a risk of bottom out.

This winter has been great! I've been able to continue riding despite rutted ice which would have destroyed my derailleur on my Trice Q.

Jimi77

Thanks. I was looking at the Sportster for the 26" rear wheel.

jyl

I'm not clear, are you trying to climb a curb (like you said in the first post) or to descend a curb?

Trikin'

I ride a Catrike Expedition with the 26"wheel, the rear derailleur at it's lowest position is about 4". That's alot compared to the single inch with the 20" wheel on my Catrike Trail, I bought the conversion to 26" from Utah Trikes and the lowest point was about 5". I ride alot of trail when I'm not riding road, I need to drop off curbs on streets and miss those damn roots on the trail.....so far so good, love my trikes

no1mad 

I'd wager both.

Jimi77

Both.

CraigB

Utah Trikes has a video of the Catrike Villager in which the rider descends a curb.

Whiteknight

For what it is worth.
My wife and I ride the typical upright bikes. But on our SRT rides we see a number of trikes. The other year we were going around the Art Museum in Philly to head up along the West side of the river. At the side of the Art Museum we say a guy on a recumbent laying on the sidewalk. A young man standing with him. My wife and I stopped to help if we could. He had come across the road and tried to hop a low curb. The curb was maybe 2 inches high at that point. He hit it at an angle rather than straight on. The trike rolled. With his feet out in front his one foot hit the curb. Resulting in a compound fracture of the leg above the ankle and a bunch of broken bones in the ankle and foot. An ambulance arrived to take him to the hospital. His wife showed up to pick up the trike. The other bystander and I loaded the trike into her SUV. According to her that was the last ride he would take on the trike. I suspect that had he tried to take the curb straight on rather than an angle it would have been no problem.

kcaravelli

+ 1

Why on earth would you treat one of these things that way. They are not mountain bikes. They are very expensive and most are now produced as really fine machines. I don't know anyone that has one that would suggest doing this.

Having said that, although limited in buget, there is the Duthy Hill Mountain Bike Park near Seattle which has great trails. You could buy a Steintrike and then you would have a trike that is genuinely made for offroad use and an absolute blast to ride.

I hear also that KMX is good offroad also.

Bottom line....BAD IDEA!

Jimi77

Wow, this thread is making me feel like I live in an alternate reality. Am I the only person who encounters curbs during their pedal powered travels? Are curbs not common place in other parts of the country? Am the only one who has climbed curbs with road bikes, BMX bikes, etc? I'm not going to spend ~$2k on a trike to be limited to only bike paths.

I don't see a Steintrike or ICE Adventure fitting into my budget. Nevertheless, it looks like a TT Rambler with IGH should be able to clear curbs.

no1mad 

You aren't living in an alternate reality- curbs are everywhere, most people (at one time or another) have jumped up and down curbs on their DF bikes... but 'bents are different. Totally different design, geometry, riding, and performance characteristics. They aren't meant to be 'sidewalk surfers', nor do (most) people 'confine' themselves to bike paths. They ride on the streets.

I have a suggestion before you commit to buying a trike- go for a test ride and attempt to make the jump yourself. The reason goes back to the design differences between bents and DF's. While I haven't personally taken a bent for a spin (yet), just looking at them makes me think that employing as much 'body english' as I can use on my hybrid just isn't possible.

What I mean is consider how you currently hop a curb, specifically climb up. You shift as much weight as you can off the front end, pop that wheel up, then shift the weight forward in order for the rear to follow. Or if you're doing it at speed, you stand on the pedals, spring your weight up and pull the bike along with you. I could be wrong, but I don't think either maneuver is possible in a reclined position.

Jimi77

That's one way to get over a curb. Another is to just ride over the curb slowly, no shifting your weight back and forth. You don't need to "jump" off a curb, you can just roll off it.

2:15 of this video this guy manages a curb, looks like you just need to take it easy does it.

https://www.utahtrikes.com/playvideo-67.html

no1mad 

I'd be more interested in him demonstrating on climbing up on to the curb instead of dropping off of it...

Jimi77

Same here...

rydabent

Maybe I am an exception, but I do not encounter the need of climbing or dropping over curbs. Even almost all the sidewalks in Lincoln have a ramp that was put in for the handicapped.