Bad crash today, would a extra wheel help?

[blackbent]

Been riding my BlackBent II for about 4 years. Started with clipless pedals, but took a bad fall when back tire caught a crack on a turn and I couldn't get out of the pedals. I ride at least 5 days a week at the Veloway(3.1 mile paved track for bikes and skates) here in Austin. This morning, while riding on a wet veloway, my front tire punctured at about 18mph. I totally lost it and ended up with a bunch of scrapes and bruises. http://www.gilbreathphoto.com/crash/index.html
I have been considering a trike as I am 59, love cycling, and want to cycle a long time. I realize that riding any kind of bike on asphalt at 15-20 mph is going to be nasty if you take a fall. Will a trike eliminate a lot of the possible dangers?

[AdrianB]

Sorry to hear about your crash. I'll leave it to those more widely versed to comment on your trike question.

[Joe Gardner]

Without question, yes, a trike would have eliminated both of these crashes.

The only trike I have ever spent any time on, was the windcheetah (http://www.windcheetah.co.uk/), AMAZING trike, the cost was outrageous to me at the time, but I think I could justify the purchase in your situation.

[Dchiefransom]

Easyracers has a trike, not sure how much it costs. http://www.easyracers.com


It looks like the MSRP is $725.

[Robert Gardner]

At fifty nine years old, you are considering a trike? I am 83 years old, am a left below the knee amputee and have a very weak right knee but I still ride a regular road bike almost every day for 12 to 23 miles. What handicaps do you have blackbent? I ride a bike for fun only, though it does improve my health.

[Joe Gardner]

Robert, stop bragging!

[blackbent]

At fifty nine years old, you are considering a trike? I am 83 years old, am a left below the knee amputee and have a very weak right knee but I still ride a regular road bike almost every day for 12 to 23 miles. What handicaps do you have blackbent? I ride a bike for fun only, though it does improve my health.

no handcaps and don't want to get any from a bad fall. But if your riding a weggie, you won't understand the question about two or three wheel recumbents. Hats off for the riding at 83, my dad was doing the MS 150 (houston to austin ) until he was 82.

[blackbent]

At fifty nine years old, you are considering a trike? I am 83 years old, am a left below the knee amputee and have a very weak right knee but I still ride a regular road bike almost every day for 12 to 23 miles. What handicaps do you have blackbent? I ride a bike for fun only, though it does improve my health.

Forgot to mention that I am not looking at the kind of trike you sell pop cycles out of, but a tadpol like the Catrike or Hellbent. see : http://www.hellbentcycles.com/ or http://www.catrike.com/

[cjs1948]

I ride WW. I have always described the experience as more like driving than riding because balance and average road hazards are largely a non-issue. To me it is the ultimate touring machine. The time I don't spend thinking about the road surface is time I can direct to something else. Ruts, wet roads, even icy patches don't cause problems for a trike. About the only way you can crash is to turn it over sideways which is a controlable risk--which is to say you have to be cornering beyond the capabilities of the machine. If you do that, you were probably having too much fun anyway.

I keep thinking that there must be some two-wheeler that I would appreciate, TE, Koosah, or whatever. But the more time I spend on the trike the more I suspect that I will either be upgrading or just adding another trike to the stable. It's different, it's relaxing even when I'm pushing hard. I recommend it.

Chip

[Ken_in_Michigan]

You might want to consider the Wiz-wheels tadpoles that are made in Hastings, Michigan. They were designed and made by a loving son for his father who developed an inner ear problem and had to give up riding a two wheel bike because of balance problems. They are well made from quality American materials by Americans earning a good wage and the company stands behind its products.

[geebee]

There are several lower priced recumbent trikes available now, catrike's, wizz wheels, ICE Q, Greenspeed GT3 (I have this one) and no doubt several others.
Contary to some of the opinions they are a blast to ride especially high speed cornering and down hills. They take a while to adjust to but I was as fast on my trike as I was on a mountain bike from day one and am approaching my road bike speeds rapidly.
They are much safer than a bike, both the described accidents would have been minor inconvieniences on a trike, they also brake incredibly well even with drums, plus no unclipping at intersections and I find the handling more precise than a bike.
The amount of near misses I had on my road bike was one of the reasons I bought a trike.
By the way I am 42 years old.

[cjs1948]

Try this link for an opinion on this matter. It is a report by a genuine hot-rodder with pedals who has two and three-wheeled machines. Recalling that I ride a TT (WizWheelz) the point is not the brand but what you can do with trikes and how you feel about them after you've done it.

http://p216.ezboard.com/fcatrikefrm2...icID=521.topic

Geebee gave a nice starting list of trike brands--the group is growing and becoming more interesting all the time. Evidence WW new carbon trike (I want one!, and a Spitfire, maybe a Catrike, and a GT3 because it folds, and a Trice with rear suspension.........).

Chip

[Les74]

the extra wheel is a definite safety factor. switched from diamond to a greenspeed gto two years ago and it's great. still need to watch the traffic, but there is no way you are going to fall off a trike. you give up some speed, but then it's great to up a hill as slowly as you want...stop for a minute to rest if you want to--and then continue up the hill. no need to unclip when you come to a stop.

[Cadillac]

For speed, Catrike has a new offering (the Black Cat), but my preference is the Road since I am interested in long distance riding.
A trike is definitely a safer unit although it requires the use of some different muscles from a DF.
I am 63 and ride a DF all the time, but I am considering the Catrike Road for winter driving.
We get a lot of snow here and riding my road DF is out of the question; even riding my mountain bike is negative because it is so easy to wipe out on icy roads.
With a trike and the proper grip tires, snow and ice are no longer a problem. The difficulty, for me, will be the extreme cold (i.e., -40°C/-40°F).

[overthere]

Oooh, a trike is tempting! It just looks FUN and if you take away the 'fear of scraping asphalt' it sounds too good to be true. I'm 45. I read a journal of a couple riding a tandem trike, Greenspeed, and it sounded just terrific. Of course, I'd have to find a 'Captain' too...

[FunkyStickman]

I was recently injured, and am in the process of building my own recumbent trike. Without a doubt, it would be easier to avoid crashes, but at the cost of visibility to traffic. You will want to make the trike *VERY* visible, including flags, reflective gear, etc.

At the very least, you can still ride a trike for fun, plenty of able-bodied people ride them because of the comfort and aero advantages. I would definitely give it a try.