North Coast Joe

I'm giving up on the trike for Winter idea. I bought a beat Worksman Adaptable over the Summer, rebuilt it primarily for my son.....then had a terrible idea.

To avoid the couple of falls in frozen ruts I've had in the last few years, I decided I'd fit my studded tires on the trike, steering and drive tires. Works a charm, until it really snows!

I understand that the trike is designed for a factory environment (paved, level floors), but the amount of effort it took to pedal it through any road accumulation of snow and ice was borderline Herculian! This, after going up four teeth on the rear cog!

I ride 15-20 daily on a bike, but it was all I could do to put in 5 on this 3-wheeled torture device. Enough is enough. That thing is getting it's easy rolling slicks back and stored 'till Summer, and the commuter gets the studs again.

Surprisingly traction wasn't much of a problem, and it handled just fine. 5 miles sweating in sub-freezing weather is another thing....taking the wimps way out and going back to the Winter bike!

BobbyG

I saw a video a couple of years ago of a guy playing around with a three-wheeled cargo bike in the snow in Pittsburgh, I think. It was a "vendor" style cargo trike with two wheels up front and one on the back. He did not have studs. What I learned was he didn't stop or start any better than a two-wheeled bike, but he didn't fall...until he drifted sideways and hit an icy rut which flipped the bike on its side. I realized without studs, he'd be in danger of sliding into traffic. My own experience with studs on two wheels is that it does take more effort due to lower rolling resistance. Adding a third studded wheel...well you just answered that. But cool idea!

reverborama

I saw this at a local shop (Calhoun Cycle) last week:
ICE Full Fat Trike

They said it was developed as a one-off for someone going to the south pole and they got so many requests that it became a production model. I'd give it a test ride but I'm afraid I'd like it!

PaulRivers

That does look neat, but for $5,500 I can see why!...

Plimogz

So, if I understand you correctly, the rolling resistance through even a small amount of snow on the ground is very bad? Was the sweating bad simply because it was so hard keeping the thing rolling through the snow? or was the recumbent position part of the unpleasantness?

North Coast Joe

You're correct, the rolling resistance in snow is the big hold-up. The "Adaptable" is your basic delta trike, so it's an upright.



Even on a mild uphill grade it was "stand and grind" whenever the roads had 3+ inches of snow. Even too taxing on the flat. I did put a 22 tooth cog on, replacing an 18, but still too much. Perhaps with the internal gear hub option it would be okay, but as a single speed it didn't seem worth the effort.

Living where you do, you also understand that the roadways narrow down considerably when there's an accumulation of cleared and new snow. That didn't make me comfy in traffic, but not the primary reason for abandoning the idea.

Thankfully back to this and perhaps a good time playing in the snow again!

jrickards

Yes, it was developed for a South Pole trek: IceCycle ? World first cycle to the South Pole 2013