Re: Peter Matthews' story and his trike
PA...@sfpl.lib.ca.us
Zach:
Is the trike you refer to an upright or a 'bent? Also, how's the new East Bay
lifestyle? Too bad I didn't see you at PBP; sounds like you had a better time than I did.
Cheers,
Patrick Shea
ZACH
PATR...@sfpl.lib.ca.us wrote:
My Greenspeed GTS tricycle is a recumbent. I haven't had any uprights since
1996. My new location is great. Much friendlier road conditions. I'm not
getting as much of a workout here as it is flat and I don't have to ride
very far to get anywhere. At my old location I had to do 185m climbing each
way and 10 km each way just to get to town. I have to make a conscious
effort to ride to the hills. In fact I'm going out that way for the first
time since moving here on the 1st, doing a group ride to the top of Mt.
Diablo.
What happened to you in PBP?
________________________
Zach Kaplan Cycles
1518 Buena Vista Ave.
Alameda, CA 94501 USA
510-522-BENT (2368)
zaka...@earthlink.net
www.bikeroute.com/zach
ZACH
espi <es...@dds.nl> wrote:
>Geez, every single time I hear about trikes and see them, I start
>salivating... Ivo said, and yes it's true, 'you are in love with them'. Yes, I
>am, I guess it's like a cabriolet car (i can 't share that feeling, but I hear
>it is similar). A cabriolet car is not extremely practical, but a lot of
>fun...
>
>Every time , my brain starts contradicting my feelings.
I've been riding a Greenspeed GTS trike as my primary transportation since
September 1998. I did the 200km and 300km brevets on it this year but
didn't take it on PBP as it is slower than the bike I rode (heavier and
more frontal area) and more difficult to transport on an airplane. I will
answer your questions below:
>- but how would you want to transport it by train? You know you don't want to
>succumb to carownerhood!
I'm not sure what the size restrictions are on your local trains. I know on
the BART trains running in the San Francisco area where I live I can and
have wheeled the trike right onto the train. It seems to take up a lot of
space and this would be a problem if many people took their trikes on BART
but one or two every once in a while doesn't seem to be a problem and no
one has told me I can't bring it on the train. The Caltrain which goes to
the South Bay Area on the other hand has very limited room and would not
let a trike on the train, even some of the longer two wheeled recumbents
are a problem on it.
>- but how are you supposed to ride on the dutch apartheid-paths as motorists
>will threaten to kill you on the road and police will fine you?
That would be difficult. I understand the Dutch cyclepaths (psyochopaths?)
have a 750mm width limit. My Greenspeed GTS has a track of 820mm and would
probably have to be carried on its side through certain barricades at path
entrances and you would also have to slow way down when oncoming cyclists
approach. At least you can run one of the front wheels on the dirt beside
the path at speed without going out of control so that might be an option
if there is some dirt beside the path to move onto.
>- and how on earth are you going to stor it, if your room is only 3x4 m and
>you already HAVE stored 2 bikes in that room?
Storage doesn't seem to be much of a problem. Although the trike is wide it
isn't much longer than a conventional bike and is much lower so it will
often fit under tables. It may also be able to be hung from hooks on the
wall or ceiling. The seats are so comfortable that you might be able to
replace a chair in the room with the trike.
>- and do you REALLY think that you, with your miserable 100W strength could
>power uphill and STILL be at the controls in time during brevets....
I'm not that much slower climbing on the Greenspeed GTS than the Festina
low racer I rode on PBP. In comparison to the total vehicle weight with
rider the weight penalty isn't that much. In many ways climbing is easier
on the trike because I don't have to concentrate on balance on steep low
speed climbs and can hold a perfectly straight line at the edge of the
road. I find the greater speed decrease (over an aerodynamic two wheeled
recumbent) is on level ground and descents. I rode Ian's Humphries'
Greenspeed Racer trike and found it almost as fast as the Festina on level
ground and I think I climbed faster with it because the drivetrain is more
efficient, the bottom bracket is lower in relation to the seat and the
weight is about the same.
>- and don't you know that people with recumbents have more KNEE problems and
>you already have them....
I'm not sure about this. It seems a certain percentage of cyclists in
general (myself included) are prone to knee problems and this would happen
on any type of cycle. It is true on a recumbent an inexperienced rider
could take advantage of the seat back and press hard against the seat
overloading their knees. A standard bike has an automatic safety pressure
relief in the form of the rider rising out of the seat if they press too
hard. With proper technique and a high RPM spin the recumbent shouldn't be
any harder on the knees than any other bike. I had hardly any knee pain on
PBP because I kept the power output down and RPMs up.
>- and don't you know how the dogs will love to bite your calves and how wet
>you'll get from the deep puddles on the road.
It seems like certain dogs will run after anything on wheels that is human
powered. I admit it is much scarier looking up at a large dog from a trike
rather than looking down at it. For this reason I carry pepper spray on my
trike. I haven't actually had to spray it but have had to withdraw it a few
times. Usually just yelling at the dog gets it to go away. I remember once
I was on a cycle path in the Netherlands near a farm when a large dog took
off after me. I gave it my usual few mean words in English and it seemed to
get the message as it left me alone. I found the French dogs very well
behaved and never felt threatened by them even though I was on an ultra low
bike.
On my Greenspeed GTS I get no more wet from deep puddles than on any bike
as I have full mudguards on all three wheels with mudflaps on the front
wheels. In heavy rains last year I had to find an alternate route home when
the road I regularly took was flooded. I started to ride out into it on the
trike but stopped and turned back when it looked like the water was going
to reach seat level. The alternate route was simply carrying the trike on a
higher area by the side of the road for about 50m.
>- and that you can never use it for commuting to the railway station as the
>bike would get stolen or damaged..
Same with any high quality expensive bike.
>yes, yes... I meekly say.. and still dream on about...
>- the comfort
>- the mile wide grin when plummeting downhill (i hope).
>- the attraction I'll draw from handsome guys...
>- the speed I'll attain on the flats
>- the absence of fear during icy days.
All good reasons but the guys you'll draw attraction from will probably be
nerds interested in asking you technical questions about the trike.
>Come on trikies..... get out of the closet and tell me once again why anybody
>SHOULD or should NOT ride a (recumbent)trike.
>And if a trike is going to be bought, what is best for a randonneur:
>- a Thrice
>- a Greenspeed race version
>- an original Windcheetah
>- a Russian titanium replica of any of these machines (given that I can talk
>some engineers into doing this).
>
>
>Yvonne van den Hork, yes .... in love with a trike!
If money is no problem I'd go with the titanium replica of a Greenspeed
Racer. I now have a Greenspeed GLR on order (the production name for the
Racer) because I was so impressed with Ian's. This is the fastest unfaired
trike available due to its most laid back 20 degree seat, low seat height
and 700mm track for minimal frontal area. It is also the lightest weight
production trike I know of, lighter than even the Windcheetah. The Trice
XL is a very nice design and very comfortable but no more aerodynamic or
lighter than the standard Greenspeed GTS and us low powered riders need
every edge we can get on a long ride. I am considering doing
Boston-Montreal-Boston on the Greenspeed GLR, I'll have to see how it does
on the brevets.