Adult tricycles

[dickm]

At the risk of setting off diatribes about the sins of cyclists, can I pop my head above the parapet and ask a question. Wife and I have been fairly keen cyclists for years, though latterly we decided the years indicated electric assistance for Aberdeenshire hills. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of wife's Alzheimers is that it has wrecked her sense of balance, so cycling is now out. Have been wondering whether some form of assisted tricycle might be useful, at least for the likely short remaining period when she could appreciate it.
Problem seems to be that experienced cyclists are reported to find tricycles very unstable, which seems odd but have seen it happen.
Anyone got any useful or relevant experience/suggestions.

 

[TomW]

Not a cyclist myself but what about a recumbent trike? Much lower and stable than an upright trike.

 

[Sandyn]

You certainly can get them. I would agree that a tricycle might have stability issues, (think reliant robin travelling at speed) especially when the front wheel is turned the wrong way on a slope, causing the bike to stall and the centre of gravity fall outside the wheelbase, which is small on a tricycle. The other circumstance I would worry about is trying to turn at too high a speed, then braking when things start to go wrong. It will throw you off.

Here is a site promoting the stability of tricycles. I think it is a bit misleading. They are suggesting that static stability and dynamic stability are the same. Correct you can stop on a tricycle and not fall off, but has anyone ever tried turning a tricycle on a slope, the front wheel turning up the slope and the rear (higher) wheel hits a bump. It will throw you off.

What about an electric tandem? may be safer, because you could control speed and braking.
You might be able to find a retailer who would let you test ride a tricycle and tandem.

 

[Jones]

My mother got a tricycle when she started having balance problems but never got on with it. The issue is that if you're used to a bicycle you lean to turn whereas a tricycle turns flat ,if you lean it goes onto two wheels and tends to tip particularly on a camber. We all cycle quite a lot but none of us could get the hang of it. I would suggest try before you buy .

 

[D_W]

If you could find one where the front wheels were the pair and the rear the single, they would be stable, but I'm guessing that will be a no-go on a bike due to the complexity of the steering setup.

Sorry to hear about your wife. My mother is going through the same descending steps

 

[point5clue]

I have seen web articles a about tricycles that lean and have a lever to lock off the leaning when you stop. I was looking for my mum. I couldn’t see any that were available to try anywhere half local so gave up after awhile.

 

[sneggysteve]

My wife sold her Jorvik tricycle last week due to arthritis problems in her neck/shoulders. Comments above about turning are valid if you are a regular cyclist because of the tendancy to "lean" into the turn. My wife could never ride a bicycle so she did not have this problem. She had no other problems with it.

 

[Alex H]

We have been tandem riders for over 30 years. Due to my stoker's / wife's arthritis and 2 hip replacements, conventional designs were no longer possible to use. We now have one of these;

This is a Hase Pino Steps. we had a non-assist version before we came to Northumberland. The design allows the front rider to stop pedalling, for example, when manouvering at low speeds. The bike comes apart in 2 for transport - takes me about 10 minutes each way.

Having bought ours before the 'B' word I was a little shocked at the rise in prices (2023 price list on the Hase website.) As I have no idea of your budget, there is a non-assist one for sale on the Tandem Club website.

If you have any questions please contact me

 

[dickm]

Thanks, guys. Think I now follow the instability/tipping argument; it had always seemed counter-intuitive. That tandem thingy looks a beast. Suspect wife would feel she was being put out on the front as a sort of airbag!
A friend up here is part of a big cycling coop, and has suggested a couple of places that have a stock of kit for disabled athletics; we aren't in the athletics cohort, but they may be able to help.
And, yes, Alzheimers is a s**t. Especially when the (slightly!) less demented of the couple has an accident.

 

[dickm]

Following up some of those links, there was an interesting looking assisted tandem selling for a very reasonable price, so for an instant, thought "that's it". Then noticed it was in Liskeard, which is not exactly handy for Aberdeen!
There is also an assisted tandem trike for sale; anyone know whether that would be more, or less, stable than a single seater trike? My guess is less, but no real idea.
A guy who worked near where we used to live had a recumbent bike, on which he commuted. In those days it was just a curiosity, so never asked about it. Suspect the real or imagined balance problem would still be too great for my wife.
Being realistic, we'll probably have to go straight to the standard 4-wheel buggy type of thing. For the village gala a few years back, they used to hold a buggy race, usually between a lady who had used one for years, and another guy. The latter had been an international level cyclist and tosser of the caber in his earlier years, but was by then paying the price in terms of damaged knees and other joints. He was still a speed demon on his buggy!

 

[stuart little]

You certainly can get them. I would agree that a tricycle might have stability issues, (think reliant robin travelling at speed) especially when the front wheel is turned the wrong way on a slope, causing the bike to stall and the centre of gravity fall outside the wheelbase, which is small on a tricycle. The other circumstance I would worry about is trying to turn at too high a speed, then braking when things start to go wrong. It will throw you off.

Here is a site promoting the stability of tricycles. I think it is a bit misleading. They are suggesting that static stability and dynamic stability are the same. Correct you can stop on a tricycle and not fall off, but has anyone ever tried turning a tricycle on a slope, the front wheel turning up the slope and the rear (higher) wheel hits a bump. It will throw you off.

What about an electric tandem? may be safer, because you could control speed and braking.
You might be able to find a retailer who would let you test ride a tricycle and tandem.

If you bought one cash, would you hold your hand out for the penny change?!

 

[J-G]

If you bought one cash, would you hold your hand out for the penny change?!

No! I'd be looking for at least a 5% discount - - preferably even more!

 

[Sandyn]

If you bought one cash, would you hold your hand out for the penny change?!

Of course!!! .

 

[disco_monkey79]

No use whatsoever, as I doubt Raleigh etc are waiting on my every word for their next design idea, but what about a tricycle where the single driving wheel is at the back, and 2 steering wheels are at the front.

I spent my adolescence in apprenticeship (i.e. making lots of tea) in the workshop of a genius/lunatic who chopped an Allegro in half, in order to trial it as a 3-wheeler. It saw plenty of action but always remained the right way up. No way a Reliant Robin could claim the same...

http://anarchadia.blogspot.com/2008/02/vintage-thing-no-11-weeny-leaper.html

 

[dickm]

The latter had been an international level cyclist and twit of the caber in his earlier years

Just noticed that the Bowdleriser didn't like to***r of the caber in the original post! Changes the sense rather!

 

[dickm]

No use whatsoever, as I doubt Raleigh etc are waiting on my every word for their next design idea, but what about a tricycle where the single driving wheel is at the back, and 2 steering wheels are at the front.

These do exist, and the general opinion seems to be that they are more stable than the "standard" specification. There's an almost unused one this side of Edinburgh, but it's single speed, with variable electric assistance. I suspect it would be useless on most of the roads round here which are not exactly flat!

 

[Terry - Somerset]

The original Morgan trike adopted the two up front and one wheel behind layout and had little problems with stability - as did the Issetta bubble car.

Old top gear featured on one occasion a "Del Boy" Reliant van with a traditional trike layout and tendency for falling over with minimal provocation.

 

[disco_monkey79]

These do exist, and the general opinion seems to be that they are more stable than the "standard" specification. There's an almost unused one this side of Edinburgh, but it's single speed, with variable electric assistance. I suspect it would be useless on most of the roads round here which are not exactly flat!

Story of my life - a great idea that someone has already done

*sighs*

 

[TRITON]

Personally i've never heard of a tricycle being unstable in general use, but there are certainly plenty of bike type of things to get one disabled person out and about.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155037111264?hash=item2418ee93e0:g:chAAAOSwCNVip1FuThe one with the wheelchair in front you could convert with a hub motor.

Motorized trike -

Or how about 1940's racing trike.(£450) again you could convert to front hub motor.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374220412291?hash=item5721465583:g:QsUAAOSwJNNi3Xea

 

[BravoNovember]

Not a cyclist myself but what about a recumbent trike? Much lower and stable than an upright trike.

^ this, recumbent trikes are the most fun.