Oldsledz

I got this trike at a yard sale today. The crank has 2 sprockets but no derailleur, is it missing or do you move the chain by hand?

VegasTriker

Yes. If there is no post for a derailleur that means you have to stop the trike and shift the chain from one chainring to another. It's pretty unusual but not unheard of. . The trike made by Penninger may have had an additional part as shown in this picture on Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/150729918748742443/). And from a description on Bentrider dating back to the past "Penninger advertises the bike as a 64 speed with its eight speed mid-drive system. However, the bike is technically a 128 speed. It does have a double crankset up front that can be shifted by hand, but there is no front derailleur. I’m sure that many of these gear ranges are duplicates, but I never found myself lacking for any high or low gear inches." ::: Penninger Voyager :::
Looks like it was a very expensive trike for one that weighs north of 50 pounds. Interesting though to read how it works. I've heard the name in the past but never saw a picture of one before.

BlazingPedals

Penninger is/was a custom builder. He seemed to enjoy creating unnecessarily complicated bikes. I remember seeing one that used a 'floating' chainring as some sort of idler. Looked very prone to falling off.

lefty4rocs

Hi, I just bought a penninger but it has a bent rear wheel. do you still have your Penninger, and if so and you did not fix it, could I buy it for parts?
Thank you, Larry

VegasTriker

It would be a lot more cost effective to just replace the rim and have the wheel trued. The problem with rear wheels on a delta trike and front wheels on a tadpole trike is that they don't fit a regular truing stand because the axle is on the trike instead of coming off with the wheel. If you can find a recumbent shop they may be able to fix your wheel.

From the looks of the trike shown by Oldsledz, it would likely just take a new chain and a new set of tires to get it back on the road. It would be a shame to part it out with it being so complete.

lefty4rocs

Un fortunately, the parts for penninger recumbents are almost non-existent. I have had the bile in the best repair shop in Tucson for 3 months now and they tell me the rim is a special made one and is on backorder and they do not know when it might get here, if ever. I would hate to get rid of the trike for that but my options seem very limited. Any ideas would be appreciated.

easyupbug 

lefty4rocs have you tried Ajo Bikes, they have come through for me on some odd things.

BlazingPedals

That sure seems to be like Penninger made them. Tank-style steering when standard USS would have been so simple. I can't see, but is it one-wheel driver or is there a second freewheel for a sort of differential? It was apparently intended to shift between chainrings by hand. I find it difficult to believe that the rear wheel's rim is anything special, but maybe it's not made anymore and will be hard to match? In that case I'd recommend taking the rim off the front wheel for it, and then replacing the front wheel with something that while not matching would at least be close.