Originally Posted by
CraigVM62
I don't know if you have looked at these yet?
http://cgi.ebay.com/RECUMBENT-TRIKE-...QQcmdZViewItem
Each rider has their own drive train / shifters so it would meet your requirements as far as each choosing their own cadence. Price wise, the last auction went for around $2,000
A couple of negatives / questions I see with it are:
(1) Are those block pedals and will straps / clips not be an option?
(2) Is having the single wheel in front safe for a trike design? I am thinking of how they stopped making 3 wheeled ATV's.
(3) If used on a lot of urban bike trails, how well would the double
wide be accepted by other on the trail? I know I often have trouble
getting groups of people to provide room for me as a single wide
to get by.
My only experience with Trikes is having a few pass me by as if I was standing still. I would be interested in what experienced trike riders would see as pluses and minuses with this side by side tandem.
There is also the Worksman Team Dual Trike, which is technically a recumbent:
http://worksmancycles.com/shopsite_s...ml/page41.html
Note that they don't try to market this is a high-performance recumbent. I get the impression that they're rideable, but more for pedaling around the local bike trails at 10 mph than for going cross-country at 18 mph. There are also the Rhodes cars, which seem to be of similar performance. It's hard to tell from the ad above, but it looks like that trike may be oriented more towards the Team Dual/ Rhodes Car market than the normal high-performance tandem/recumbent markets.
I believe Lightfoot Cycles also makes a side-by-side tandem which is supposed to be quite a bit better than the Rhodes cars.
One drawback on any of these is the width. My front-loading trike has similar issues. If you're riding on a road, you're pretty much going to be taking the lane whether you want to or not. On a wide bike trail, you're okay. On a narrower bike trail, you're either going to be dropping one wheel off or running other people off the trail when you meet.