I'm considering buying a tadpole trike, frankly because they look so cool. My question to you tadpole trike riders (drivers?) is - how do you get out of it? I'd like some tips prior to an upcoming test ride.

TIA

Lock the brakes, lean forward, put your hands on the front wheels and push yourself up.

Every experienced trike rider has his/her own favorites. Mine is to plant feet on ground, roll forward until the cross member hits my ankles, put head down towards my chest and just stand up. As mentioned the front wheels offer help if needed even without locked brakes. You can also use the seat to get you started.

(The first time you try a trike getting up out the seat can seem a major puzzle and or pain but practice makes a huge difference.)

Thanks for the replies.

Sounds like what I'd try, but what if the brakes don't lock?

I would probably try placing my feet behind the cross member, provided there is room, correct? Sometimes getting up from a low seat is a challenge for me. I can't imagine what a low seat with wheels would be like!

Edit: from the photos of the trike (Terratrike Cruiser) it seems there is not much room behind the crossmember, so I guess I'd have to use the handlebars for leverage.

The handlebars aren't designed to take the stress; use the front wheels, even if there's no brake lock.

Thanks. That's what I'll do.

For what it's worth, with both feet on the ground, I lock one of the front wheels so the trike won't move, and I reach for a pedal close to me with the other hand and use the pedal as an assist to lift myself out of the trike. Works for me. Mike

I hold one brake and the lean forward and reach for the front derailleur mast and pull myself up. Catrikes have a knob on the mast that makes this easy. A 'T' bar can be installed on most others to accomplish the same thing.

As a former TerraTrike Cruiser owner, I found that using a velcro strap around one of the brake levers gave me a "locking/parking brake". That solved the problem of the trike rolling while getting up.
(There are "locking brake levers" which accomplish the same purpose but cost more than a velcro strap or thick rubber band.)

My elderly Dad found that turning to the side made sitting/getting up a bit easier as he could put one hand on a wheel and one hand on the seat back. He had to swing his feet up and over the wheels, but so what. It worked for him very well.

I wedge the outer edges of my feet under the front wheels so I don't roll forward and grab my chain guard to pull up. Sometimes I can just plant my feet and magically rock upwards if I'm alarmed over something.

Word of warning for those users of bar end shifters. This post gets a little raw from here on out, so I'll give those squeamish a minute to leave the room.






OK, don't say that I didn't warn you. I was getting off of my 700 last year while parked on a deteriorating parking lot. Think, crumbling pavement with a lot of sandy particles on the surface. Anyway, I was pulling myself forward off of the trike when one of my shoes lost traction and I fell backwards onto the right bar end shifter which was in the vertical position.

I thought the shifter went up my rectum but it actually pierced me full depth along side of the rectum. There wasn't a lot of blood but my wife made me visit the emergency room anyway. It turns out that besides a lot of blood vessels, the urethra, prostate gland and the rectum itself, that this had potential for a really bad situation. The emergency doc called in a gastro surgeon who confirmed that the lever missed everything (I've had a radical prostatectomy) and the only damage besides the 1-1/4" puncture wound was a bruised rectum where the shift lever ran along side the outside wall.

Healed in a couple weeks but it could have been damaging to say the least. The quote from the surgeon was that I had run a new roadway right though a four-lane intersection and never hit a thing.

Wow!

Just wanted you guys to know I've mastered the technique...


by practicing on my very own T1X, which I picked up today. It's easier than I thought.

Thanks for all the insights.

BTW it has bar end shifters, so I'll need to be extra careful.

I knew you could do it! Welcome to the wonderful world of triking.

So have I now officially crossed over to the dark side? I always thought that meant switching to carbon.

I have a Windwrap fairing on my Catrike Trail. I always get in or out on the curb side, seems safer to me.
I simply lock the brake then move my left leg over to the right (across the boom) as I'm moving my right leg over the right wheel, then I lean on the wheel to propel myself upwards and off the seat, same thing in reverse, gets easier with practice.

Now I have something else to add to my "I hope it never happens to me list".

where's the pics?

A trick I like to use is brake as little harder as I come to a full stop and use the inertia of my body to stand up. It just takes a little timing to perfect. To someone watching it just looks like you stood up, almost no speed is involved.

Disclaimer: Needless to say try at your own risk.

I saw that technique in a KMX video (I think). I'll give it a try.

I waNt to see that video. It wouldn't for me since I have spd pedals. I would simply face plant.

that's trike's a beauty; congrats!

Thanks. I think it's pretty cool as well. You drive a Greenspeed tadpole, correct? I hear they are excellent machines.

I've been searching for that video, but no luck yet. Now that I think about it, it may have been a TT Rover video.

Found it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npSPP...e_gdata_player

That's about the most horrible thing I've ever read. EVER.