'Bent Trikes and Trail Surfaces.....
 

In my area, I'm lucky to have a choice of bike trails. Some are asphalt while many others are compressed stone dust or even gravel.

My trike is a Catrike Villager with Shwalbe Marathon tires. So far I've restricted myself to only asphalt but I'd like to try some of the compressed stone dust trails. Are there any reasons for me to continue to avoid them? My main concerns are damaging the tires and/or getting excessive dirt and dust in the chain and derailleur.

Just wondering which trail surfaces others with a similar trike prefer to ride on, and are there any you avoid?

Thanks!
Bert

Mountain bikes navigate all those surfaces and they have the same exact drivetrain configuration of your Villager trike. I would want to know how the trails are laid out. There is a park with asphalt trails that I cannot ride with my recumbent (not a trike) because there are sharp bends with elevation changes that are simply impossible (for me) to navigate without dismounting. The further a surface gets away from fully paved the greater the possibility that it just might not be navigable by a recumbent trike. You would know more than us. But, given my druthers, I would much rather HIKE a stone dust trail than ride on one. To be honest I don't even ride asphalt trails. I ride roads exclusively.

My wife and I ride HPV fx20's. I replaced the Schwalbe Tryker ex-factory tires with Schwalbe Big Ben + (Big Apples weren't locally available).
we ride on rail trails and gravel roads. The only road we gave up on was a recently graded gravel road with about 40% of the aggregate the size of golf balls. Unpleasant, very slow and I didn't want to risk the low-hanging RD.
This weekend we rode a 15km gravel road in Otago, New Zealand. Very steep ascents and the surface not great, but the trikes had no trouble, just the ageing riders.
we prefer tarseal but regularly ride trails and gravel. Just not single-track.

The biggest issue that I had with my Catrike Road going onto dirt or pea gravel was loss of traction on the rear tire, even at low grades. The secondary issue is the idler pulley. I would think the Villager has higher ground clearance.

In the summer time, when you sweat and ride a bent trike on limestone trails, you will look like a mud ball when you get home. Your wife would probably want to hose you down outside before she would even let you in the house.

I used to ride mine up at the Silver Comet and occasionally would get caught in the rain. It's really fun when DF pass and kick the water and road grime right up in your grill.

On bad back days I ride a Catrike Expedition on asphalt and shale roads with slight slopes. The RD get extra attention much more so than my MTBs and road bikes and the chain is a pain. I use a unltrasonic cleaner for my chains but with the length and chain tubes which you have as well I have gone to a Park Tool cleaner which works OK, at best. Hopefully your fender helps you some.