Greetings, I'm new to this forum and my wife and I are about to purchase two recumbent trikes.

Does anyone have any recommendation between a 5.5.9 and a Dumont? My wife and I are looking to get two for riding along the Olympic Discovery Trail, over 100 miles on a paved trail, and also many different surfaces. Any suggestions between the two?

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

I have a 559. I ride it regularly on the crushed limestone Katy Trail and don't find the lack of suspension to be an issue.

My wife rides a Trail which is quite similar but with a 406 rear wheel. If I had it to do over, I'd get a Trail for myself too. The Trail folds a little more compactly for transportation and winter storage. The trail also has space for a larger behind the seat bag for carrying "stuff". I bought the 559 because I thought that I needed faster gears than the Trail provides but the reality is that I don't.

Thank you, I appreciate your thoughts here. I was leaning toward the 559 or the Dumont for that very reason, wanting to get some speed to cover as much distance as possible. But you're saying that's not probably a concern? Are you not having to slow down and wait for your wife often?

The fastest I ever ride is around 30 MPH on the downhills. My wife's Trail will do that. Honestly, while riding my 559, I seldom shift out of the middle chainring.

A trike will be wider than a bike and will have an extra wheel on the ground. So, more rolling resistance and more aero resistance. That's the price you pay for stability at low speeds. You won't be pushing big gears because they'll require more power to push than they would on a bike.

The 559 and Dumont aren't speed trikes. For performance you can do better.

I think so too. The question is always: "Fast enough for what?" I sometimes think that I'd like to have a faster trike but what would be the point?

Yeah, if one is riding with a slower partner most of the time, a fast trike is actually sort of a bad thing.

If anything you'd want to have the weaker rider with the fast trike, and the stronger rider with a slower one.