Originally Posted by countersTrike
I was biting my tongue that no one was mentioning Sun! Thanks for the comment Chip. Nice to know someone other than I know they exist! ;-)
When Sun Tad was new in 2005, I bought the two model Sun Tads- the SX ($1195) and the CX ($1395.) The SX was purchased as a project base (velomobile fully enclosed fairing) and the CX wouldn't work for that; but it was a 2 for 1 purchase so I got it for parts (which I did not need after all, so I tried to sell it- and decided not to because it works so well as a loan trike).
The SX is an outstanding project base since it is pretty heavy (about 50#) and way overbraced. I upgraded mine (shifters, cables, deraillers, short cranks, skinny tires, fairings, fiberglass/kevlar body, hard shell - open foam seat, stereo, Be Seen flag, turn signals/light, lots of insulation) and it easily handled all that. The Sun was and still is ideal.
The CX remained almost stock- only a Schwinn DragSlik, front fenders, and a rack. It is also ideal for that loaner use.
Different horses for diffferent courses- I also have an upgrade power assist WizWheelz TerraTrike and a JM Recumbents folding trike; neither were useful for what you want the recommendation for. But in your use, I think the Sun Tad would be very useful.
The Sun certainly sounds good price-wise. I'm going to try not to modify it though (I already do that to my cars). In response to an ad I posted on Craigslist, someone emailed me with a Sun EZ-Tadpole SX she's selling for $825. It comes with fenders and a rear rack and, assuming it's in good condition, sounds like a pretty decent deal to me. What do you guys think? Also, did they use different colors for different years? The lady selling this one didn't say how old it is but it's yellow.
For those of you who have ridden both steel-frame and aluminum-frame trikes, do you notice a huge difference? Ten to twelve pounds sounds like it would be pretty noticeable but there's also a $400 difference in the price.