Adult tricycle, does anyone have one?

FatVonD

valk_scot wrote: »

Get a decent one with LOTS of gears and which you can change back seats to a luggage box fairly easily. Pashley are the No1 brand for this sort of thing. Where are you going to keep it ? Got a shed or garage? Door wide enough? Make sure it will fit through any narrow back gate too.

Riding a trike is different from riding a bike btw. You don't lean to steer, you actually turmn the handlebars. Steep cambers on the road can cause problems and you can't just nip round corners, you have to go out into the traffic lane and steer round in a quarter circle otherwise you'll lift a wheel. Most trikes are single drive ie the chain only turns one wheel and if you lift the wheel that's doing the driving you can get into major difficulties. Make sure you practice all this before going out on the roads. (Quiet supermarjket carpark?) Also, be aware most trikes won't fit between a lot of traffic calming construction...speed bumps, bollards and cut throughs are all best avoided on a trike. Have a think about where you intend to ride it.

A bike is easier tbh, if you don't have balance problems or some sort of relevant disability. If it's just that you lack confidence look around for an adult cycling course. Many good bike shops do this sort of tuition and they also teach the very necessary roadcraft.

Thanks, that was really helpful, loads of things there that I hadn't even considered.

We have double gates to our back yard so getting it in wouldn't be a problem then I'd just have to cover it over with something as we have no shed. It might be more difficult at work, I don't think one would fit through the door so I'd have to chain it to a tree or lamp post outside.

I was surprised how unconfident I felt on a bike, I'd expected it to be like, well, riding a bike! I took it up to the local park and rode it around the tennis/basketball court area but there's no way I'd have gone on a road on it and I couldn't even get started on the pavement to go down there (I was terrified I'd scratch the cars which were all parked up the kerb, there wasn't too much width to play with.) I think the problem may well be that I thought it was going to feel the same as when I was a kid when the bike was heavier than me and now it's all a bit top heavy!

FatVonD

rhosynbach wrote: »

I was very interested in everyones comments as I have been looking for a trike for ages I have never ridden a bike I do have balance issues thought to be froim ear problems as a child have tried a normal bike but cannot stay on sometimes I think this may be pyscological as my brother was killed on a bike when we were children would love to know if anyone knows of anty where that sells second hand trikes as cannot afford a new one and would love to get out with the kids
thanks

There are a good few second hand ones on ebay, depending on your area.

MsHoarder

Some local councils offer cycle courses too: Bristol and Cardiff certainly do.

kazzabean_2

Is there anywhere in your local area where you could hire a tricycle for a couple of hours? You could ride it around the streets/paths you usually use and get a real feel whether a tricycle is right for you. Best wishes, I am envious as the area I live in is too hilly for me to ride.

Pink.

Hi FatVonD,

Now that you've had some input from the Old Stylers I've moved your thread over to the Motoring, Public Transport & Cycling board to see if you can get some more advice.

Pink

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

spiro

There are three different types of 'trike'. There are the smaller (20") wheeled ones like the Pashley http://www.pashley.co.uk/products/picador.html there are some (rare I think) large (26") wheeled ones that look like a racing bike but with 2 back wheels (cant find an image) and finally there are the recumbent ones http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003KICK5W/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&!!!!!poiandsho04-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003KICK5W

Hammyman

We got one for my autistic son. Its in a chopper style. Was £450 though. However it gets lots of comments from the other kids - not one being negative.

http://www.missioncycles.co.uk/disdetail.asp?Products_Action=Find('ProductID','62')&Products_Position=FIL%3ACategory%3D%27AdultTrike%27ORD%3AABS%3A11KEY%3A62PAR%3A

Limey

lauren_1 wrote: »

the more trikes and bikes to clog up the roads the better! might encourage more to ride, i used to pull my kids in a trailer and the mount of irate drivers was disgusting.

i was thinking of those bike taxi's you get in london. so much easier

I think they may have been irate due to the inherant lack of protection that the kiddy trailers seem to have. My other half certainly dislikes them intensly for this reason.

Gloomendoom

Couldn't you just fit stabilisers to the bike you already have?

FatVonD

kazzabean wrote: »

Is there anywhere in your local area where you could hire a tricycle for a couple of hours? You could ride it around the streets/paths you usually use and get a real feel whether a tricycle is right for you. Best wishes, I am envious as the area I live in is too hilly for me to ride.

That's a great idea, I don't know of anywhere offhand but it would certainly save me making an expensive mistake.