CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!

How extreme would you go?

(20 posts)
  • Started 13 years ago by LaidBack
  • Latest reply from ruggtomcat
  • poll: Would you ride a trike to stay upright in extreme weather?
    I already have a trike : (2 votes)
    25 %
    Yes. I'd change to a trike if they were cheaper and had more carbon bits : (3 votes)
    38 %
    No. Struggling against the elements is what cycling is all about! : (0 votes)
    I don't do surveys for bike manufacturers/dealers unless there's a prize! : (3 votes)
    38 %

    8 votes

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  1. LaidBack
    Member

    Would you change your machine for the weather? Ok - this is partially market research but I'm interested to know if the 4x4 effect might get replicated by the great unpowered people of this broad forum.

    Would you ditch two wheels for three (when needed) if it let you continue riding through gale force winds without risk of getting blown over? Likewise would you consider using three wheels if the roads were full of icy potholes ? Two wheeled recumbents are of course better against the wind but when you have sudden side gusts anything on two wheels can get blown about. So would you go for a low trike just so you could keep riding?

    Posted 13 years ago #

  2. custard
    Member

    I would if i had practical storage
    sadly i don't :(

    Posted 13 years ago #

  3. LaidBack
    Member

    Ta - I should have said '• Yes.. if it folded very small and had carbon bits...!'

    Tick yes maybe?

    I'm not suggesting people give up there beloved two wheeler - just have something more suited to the aerodynamic/icy road conditions

    Posted 13 years ago #

  4. Uberuce
    Member

    Thus far Wintersaurus, the cyclocross in fixed gear'n'studded tyres who you've climbed Arthur's Seat beside, has proven surefooted enough for me. I'd have to have a go in one to see if what Wintersaurus finds hairy is comfy in a trike; just as relevant, I'd see if the drawbacks of a heavy low geared fixie are as fierce as the drawbacks of a trike.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  5. wee folding bike
    Member

    I don't tend to use my Longstaff in gusty wind. You can't predict and provide for the wind in the same way that you can for camber and bends.

    I guess I'll experiment with the small wheel thing mentioned a few weeks ago and see if it makes a difference. Riding a Brompton for most of the last decade I may have just got used to any advantage they have in that department.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  6. Smudge
    Member

    I would say the "4x4 effect" is clearly shown by the number of people on the forum with studded tyres ;-)

    Buying a vehicle just for windy weather is a different question imo, a trike and a bike are just *too* different.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  7. amir
    Member

    There are limits - at least in town. If it is very icy you have to watch out for sliding cars. If it is very windy, it's falling masonery, flying bins, trees etc.

    For me, the costs would outweigh the benefits for those few days of the year when it would be beneficial (hopefully 2010 was an outlier).

    Posted 13 years ago #

  8. ruggtomcat
    Member

    Ach Id get a trike if anyway if I could afford it, loads of fun!

    Posted 13 years ago #

  9. Kirst
    Member

    I would if I could afford a new bike and had somewhere to put it.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  10. Greenroofer
    Member

    I'd love one with spiky tyres...

    There's a wonderful video on the ICE Trikes website of somebody riding his trike out of the garage just as if it was a car. So, if I had a garage and could persuade Mrs Greenroofer that (a) it was better to keep a trike in there than keep junk or a car and (b) that she was content for me to spend an eyewatering sum on the procurement of said trike, then I would get one.

    Unfortunately I don't have a garage and I don't reckon much to my chances of persuading her of (a) or (b).

    Posted 13 years ago #

  11. SRD
    Moderator

    I'd love an (upright) trike and want to get my mum one too.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  12. wingpig
    Member

    I'd certainly consider trying one in addition to rather than instead of two-wheelers, if I needed one or had anywhere to keep one (either at home or where I would need to park it) and if they were cheaper but I don't see how 'cheaper' and 'more carbon' can be simultaneously wrought. At the moment I only have to pick out a single inch-wide line between potholes or bits of glass or dog eggs and can bunnyhop the occasional gapless obstacle but with a trike there'd be three tracks to worry about and no hopping. If they squeezed flat they'd definitely be more tempting.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  13. Instography
    Member

    Getting blown over is nature's way of telling you to get the bus ;-)

    A low slung, recumbent, dragster sort of trike could be fun.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  14. LaidBack
    Member

    Thanks for the responses so far....

    The mention of cheaper and carbon is of course mutually exclusive! Just did for fun. Real thing it seems is the fold. My first trike sale was of a Greenspeed Australian Trike Company which at the time was the best fold around. It also had 16" wheels so looked very toy-like. Suppose the dream is something with the fold of a Brompton that can become luggage when required?
    ICE of course fold even smaller with their flat fold. ICE trike videos
    Or you can get bodywork and become a velomobile as seen here - garage though is required! Ocean - velomobile
    The mischievous mention of carbon is to cover the 'trikes could be lighter' question. In fact anything you'd really want to hammer on a daily basis is unlikely to last long if it's too lightweight.

    Other purpose of survey is to get people interested in having a test ride... Trikes are not like cycling trailing a hod of bricks. Perception is that extra wheel makes 33% more work. Not true at all - in fact it's a lot of fun 'scrubbing' round corners and a great contrast to an upright.

    Clarification from original post!
    <<Two wheeled recumbents are of course better against the wind>> ...than uprights - not better than trikes.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  15. Dave
    Member

    As one of probably relatively few people who has tried commuting on a recumbent trike, if I didn't live in an upstairs flat I could definitely imagine owning one...

    I'd really like a velomobile - not only largely windproof but weatherproof too, and inadvertently super speedy at the same time. However, the same problem applies - cost and storage!

    Posted 13 years ago #

  16. Roibeard
    Member

    I'd fancy a trike, although on reflection, I'd prefer a delta with two wheel drive - the KettWiesel was lots of fun, but two wheel drive would be even better in slippy conditions and you'd have "fiddle" brakes for manual traction control!

    Robert

    Posted 13 years ago #

  17. steveo
    Member

    I'm going to take you up on your offer of a go on one of your trikes when the weather improves, though as I've said in the past there is no way I could have one just now, neither the funds nor the space. Space being the larger problem. But I really fancy a shot on a tadpole trike for some reason.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  18. Arellcat
    Moderator

    I commuted on my trike from 2003 to about 2005, and I remember how I used to laugh when the weather turned frosty. I didn't laugh so much when it rained because it didn't have mudguards most of the time. Like Dave, for me velomobiling is the ideal future.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  19. LaidBack
    Member

    I'm going to take you up on your offer of a go on one of your trikes when the weather improves,

    Noted. Just email or text. Same if anyone else is undecided.

    It really is not bad at all in a non-comformist kind of way!

    You can always try once and say 'never again'.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  20. ruggtomcat
    Member

    I can feel a velomobile coming on aswell...

    Posted 13 years ago #

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