Hase lepus trike

[kennpro]

Has anyone own/have any RECENT experience with the Hase Lepus delta trike-the big but less popular brother of the Kettwiesel? I know it is rather heavy and slow, but is the kind of trike I could share with my brother-in-law who rode one very briefly in europe and fell in love with it's comfort and quality. Especially want to now how the long term seat comfort is-thanks for any help.

[Peter_C]

No personal knowledge myself. But you may wish to post this question in the trike section over on BROL - as it gets much more traffic. I do know that what I have read, this is a very nice delta trike.

[Peter_C]

Diffacult to ride trikes within 40 miles of Cleveland?? I live bout 55 miles south of Cleveland, and we both have the Ohio & Erie Towpath Trail available among many other nearby MUPs. Perhaps you mean street riding? Personally while I wish I was back in PDX (grew up there), I do love triking on the towpath~!

[Graybill]

Diffacult to ride trikes within 40 miles of Cleveland?? I live bout 55 miles south of Cleveland, and we both have the Ohio & Erie Towpath Trail available among many other nearby MUPs. Perhaps you mean street riding? Personally while I wish I was back in PDX (grew up there), I do love triking on the towpath~!

"yes, I do mean streets. Also, I feel discouraged that there is no good ride along the lake. The towpath is about an hour door to dirt. Haven't made that time commitment yet I guess, but would love to tool around my neighborhood. I've heard there is a good path east of Cleveland and North of you, similar to towpath. Do you know where that might be? PDX was splendid!"

[Peter_C]

Sadly, no. I have yet to explore that far north very much at all. Since I get on the towpath south of Akron most of the time, I usually do not ride that far north. I've made it to Rockside RD crossing twice so far, and that was my turn-around point.

I can see your point about road riding in Cleveland, do any roads even have a bike lane around there??

[kennpro]

GRAYBILL-sorry for not replying, been traveling. Sorry, I had to order one that has certain specifications. Mountain drive, differential, special XM180 shock, front rack, marathon plus tires etc.. it's a shame you could get only less than 100 miles on the LEPUS .Solution: move near a rail trail or long bike path. Thanks again.

[kennpro]

I've answered my own question. Picked up my new Hase Lepus delta trike a few weeks ago, and after the first 100 plus miles it's a HIT! After three plus years of sitting down low in a tadpole, I find the higher positon of the trike, 20 inches, far better for my taste. (better vision, more confident in traffic.) It has mountain drive 46 t ring, differential, rear hydraulic brakes, xm-180 rear shock, front rack, rear bag, fenders and luggage tray plus lights. It's an incredibly comfortable, smooth riding trike with build quality and engineering off the charts. For a large heavy trike, it has a surprising cruising speed at least equal to or better than my current tadpole ( a Scorpion FS). It's downhill high speed stability is rock solid and matches or surpasses any tadpole I've ridden. It's cornering limits are below most tadpole trikes but I don't ride it in that fashion. With differential (a must in my opinion) It can go places and climb steep gravel hills like a mountain goat, places where a tadpole trike dare not tread. It also has a very short turning radius. It differs from it's smaller little sister/brother delta trike the Kettwiesel in several ways. It's made of steel, not aluminum, has rear suspension, superior luggage capacity and better braking. The Kettwiesel is more sporty and quicker. Of course a downside is it is quite pricey, but comparable or slightly more in price than a decked out ICE or Scorpion trike. Admittingly, the Hase Lepus Trike has limited appeal to what most want in a trike, but if one is in the market for this kind of trike experience ( if it were a car it would be akin to a Rolls or Bentley in feel), solidity, smoothness, engineering not exceeded by anything else on the market, one will find this a winner. I bought mine without any testing, since I knew not only what I wanted in a trike, but what I didn't want. My next step-sell my tadpole.

[Peter_C]

May we get some photos please? Am glad you love your trike! What would you put the weight of it at?

[kennpro]

peter, pics as soon as possible. The trike weighs in at 56 lbs. With add ons a bit less than 60 lbs. obviously, all things being equal, weight is a big factor in speed, but the trike as I said is surprisingly agile and quick-for it's size. My weight is 176 so I don't add a lot of extra pounds to the ioad. With the MD I get bottom gear inches around 10, and that gets me up very steep hills-this last weekend I climbed some gravelly, and very mountainous roads that went on for 9 miles in upper New York state, and the trike was unstoppable. With me approaching 70, and with the heat, the "engine" felt like stopping, but the rear wheels with the differential blasting me up and out of any difficulties. I tend to get on and off the trike a lot when I ride so the extra height of the Lepus makes this much easier, but at 20 inches seat height, not so high as to effect the handling. The Lepus, with the very open cockpit and higher seat gives the feeling of flying through the air, especially on downhill runs versus my tadpole, which gives me a go kart feeling as it moves low to the ground. The Lepus from the edge of the seat out toward the front, is a good two feet longer than the Scorpion, so is somewhat less maneuverable say on a crowded rail trail or path, filled with a lot of walking people. On the other hand, the Lepus can do a u-turn on a typical trail whereas my tadpole takes a lot of maneuvering to do the same. in general, the Lepus delta gets me more "up" into the world while I'm riding, and gives me better visibility all around.

[Peter_C]

Well, let's get you to 15 posts quickly then It sounds wonderful, but I suppose like all wonderful things, the cost is rather dear?

[Leo H.]

I'm glad to hear you're having such a good experience with the Lepus. You're right, there doesn't seem to be many folks owning or at least admitting and talking about, owning a Lepus.
I have access to a rental Kettwiesel and I've ridden it enough to say, I like the delta trike platform very much, and my wife, a confirmed non bike rider in her, um, more than 50s, enjoyed riding the Kettwiesel a lot too. My plan is to get a Lepus, if I can't add a differential to a Kett, so that we can ride a local trail together in tandem, or separate, as long as she feels like doing so.
I wasn't expecting to enjoy riding the delta trike as much as I did. I've ridden a couple of 'bents and I like that, but there are small advantages to riding a trike you don't consider without having tried one that are a pleasant surprise.
Happy Trails on your Lepus and really, vehicles are that much of a problem you wouldn't consider riding your Lepus in traffic? It's pretty hard to miss, or 'not see'.

[kennpro]

Leo H. if you get a Lepus you'll be amazingly surprised at it's solidity, Build quality (the best I ever seen on any trike) comfort, engineering and ride quality. The Lepus being steel, not aluminum, and heavier than the Kettwiesel has a different feel from the Kett. Not as sporty, but much more comfortable and luxurious, and slower, but surprisingly not all that much slower. I'm not a speed demon but the Lepus's high speed downhill tracking is incredible. With my Scorpion I'd back off around 25-30 miles an hour. With the Lepus I plunge down steep hills ( as long as the terrain is safe) and it tracks like a bullet train on rails. The standard hydraulic brakes are superior to plain disk brakes and stops the trike without any brake steer. I decided against the standard Nexus internal hub (got a $ credit) and chose the Schlumpf mountain drive with a 46 chain ring (if you need good climbing ability keep the chain ring size below 50 and above 42) and no front derailleur, which gives the Lepus gear Inches of around 10.8 and allows the Lepus to climb near anything-great for my so so knees. It folds but I transport it on a Delta rack. I pick up the very light front end place it in the wheel cradle, strap it down, then lift it onto the two wheel cradles on the other end of the rack=making it a one man operation with minimal lifting. The must extra on the Lepus is the Differential. Adding the fenders, baggage tray, and front rack (adds carrying ability and adds weight to the front which is good on this rear weighted trike.) It comes with standard rear suspension, so adding the optional air shock is nice feature (you can better regulate the ride quality) but not essential. Good luck on your hopeful new purchase.

[kennpro]

Leo H. forgot to mention I'm a LOT MORE more comfortable riding the Lepus in traffic over the my Scorpion. It's more psychological than anything, but I'll ride on roads now that I would feel uncomfortable with my Scorp. I still prefer most of my riding on trails or rural roads.

[Leo H.]

Thanks for evaluation. I can't wait to get to try one out.