Inexpensive recumbent trike

[Freddie Wall]

The subject line might be somewhat inaccurate. My son, age 12, has seen
several recumbent trikes when we happened to ride with other recumbent
riders. Unfortunately, my search, primarily using the Internet, has not
produced one that is within my budget. Is the EZ-3 just about the only trike
option at what I consider entry level price? I've checked various sites
for used trikes and they would still strain the wallet.

Thanks for comments and suggestions.

[EVSolutions]

Build One!

"Freddie Wall" > wrote in message
...
> The subject line might be somewhat inaccurate. My son, age 12, has seen
> several recumbent trikes when we happened to ride with other recumbent
> riders. Unfortunately, my search, primarily using the Internet, has not
> produced one that is within my budget. Is the EZ-3 just about the only
trike
> option at what I consider entry level price? I've checked various sites
> for used trikes and they would still strain the wallet.
>
> Thanks for comments and suggestions.
>
>
>
>
>
>

[Larry Varney]

Freddie Wall wrote:
> The subject line might be somewhat inaccurate. My son, age 12, has seen
> several recumbent trikes when we happened to ride with other recumbent
> riders. Unfortunately, my search, primarily using the Internet, has not
> produced one that is within my budget. Is the EZ-3 just about the only trike
> option at what I consider entry level price? I've checked various sites
> for used trikes and they would still strain the wallet.
>
> Thanks for comments and suggestions.
>
>
>
>
>
>
Check out 'bentrider online at http://www.bentrideronline.com, and
more specifically the "Stop the Presses" section, with an ongoing report
from Interbike. It appears that Sun will be producing a recumbent trike
that will sell for around $1,000. It's a tadpole design, as opposed to
the delta of the EZ-3.

--
Larry Varney
Cold Spring, KY
http://home.fuse.net/larryvarney

[Doug Huffman]

There is a front drive and front steer recumbent 'trike' that is popular
with his age group on our beaches here in South Carolina.


"Freddie Wall" > wrote in message
...
> The subject line might be somewhat inaccurate. My son, age 12, has seen
> several recumbent trikes when we happened to ride with other recumbent
> riders. Unfortunately, my search, primarily using the Internet, has not
> produced one that is within my budget. Is the EZ-3 just about the only
trike
> option at what I consider entry level price? I've checked various sites
> for used trikes and they would still strain the wallet.
>
> Thanks for comments and suggestions.
>
>
>
>
>
>

[Ian]

Doug Huffman must be edykated coz e writed:

> There is a front drive and front steer recumbent 'trike' that is popular
> with his age group on our beaches here in South Carolina.
>
>
> "Freddie Wall" > wrote in message
> ...
>> The subject line might be somewhat inaccurate. My son, age 12, has seen
>> several recumbent trikes when we happened to ride with other recumbent
>> riders. Unfortunately, my search, primarily using the Internet, has not
>> produced one that is within my budget. Is the EZ-3 just about the only
> trike
>> option at what I consider entry level price? I've checked various sites
>> for used trikes and they would still strain the wallet.
>>
>> Thanks for comments and suggestions.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
Try http://www.kmxkarts.co.uk/index.html
--
Ian

http://www.catrike.co.uk

[Jeff Wills]

"Doug Huffman" > wrote in message >...
> There is a front drive and front steer recumbent 'trike' that is popular
> with his age group on our beaches here in South Carolina.
>

Try:
http://www.trailmate.com/funCycleSeries.cfm

Jeff

[Mikael Seierup]

"Jeff Wills" skrev

> Try:
> http://www.trailmate.com/funCycleSeries.cfm

I'll second that one. We had a few demomodels of a similar type
at the danish championships and it was quite fun to see all the riders
hop on these kids trikes and tear around the parkinglot with a big grin
on their faces. Kids loved them too.

Mikael

[iLiad]

You didn't mention what your price level was???
"Freddie Wall" > wrote in message
...
> The subject line might be somewhat inaccurate. My son, age 12, has seen
> several recumbent trikes when we happened to ride with other recumbent
> riders. Unfortunately, my search, primarily using the Internet, has not
> produced one that is within my budget. Is the EZ-3 just about the only
trike
> option at what I consider entry level price? I've checked various sites
> for used trikes and they would still strain the wallet.
>
> Thanks for comments and suggestions.
>
>
>
>
>
>

[Old Wizard]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Since my son appears to becoming involved
with BMX more so that road riding, I think I shall contact the KMX Karts.
The other two suggestions, Trailmate and Sun Cycles, look good as well. One
of the two recumbents we own is the EZ1. I know it is considered a
beginner's recumbent but we have been pleased with it and the BikeE CT.

Once again, thanks to all for such quick responses.



Mikael Seierup > wrote in message
...
>
> "Jeff Wills" skrev
>
> > Try:
> > http://www.trailmate.com/funCycleSeries.cfm
>
> I'll second that one. We had a few demomodels of a similar type
> at the danish championships and it was quite fun to see all the riders
> hop on these kids trikes and tear around the parkinglot with a big grin
> on their faces. Kids loved them too.
>
> Mikael

[Alan Weiss]

There's also the Tricruiser:
http://www.americruiser.com/
The original model, at $799, has (in my opinion) an inadequate brake.
However, there is now an option for front disks, which would remove that
objection. Perhaps it's not really suitable for a kid, I don't know, but
it is the least expensive full-sized tadpole trike that I am aware of
(kmx carts seem built for kids).

Alan Weiss
NJ Gold Rush, E2 tandem, and Leitra rider

Freddie Wall wrote:
>
> The subject line might be somewhat inaccurate. My son, age 12, has seen
> several recumbent trikes when we happened to ride with other recumbent
> riders. Unfortunately, my search, primarily using the Internet, has not
> produced one that is within my budget. Is the EZ-3 just about the only trike
> option at what I consider entry level price? I've checked various sites
> for used trikes and they would still strain the wallet.
>
> Thanks for comments and suggestions.

[GeoB]

> my search, primarily using the Internet,
> has not produced one that is within my
> budget. Is the EZ-3 just about the only trike
> option at what I consider entry level price?

This is a discussion, not a recomendation!!!

Look at http://www.americruiser.com/

$799. Tadpole trike. This is a garage-built-by-one-man machine, from
square aluminum tubing. It is a kick to ride. Cheap components. The
spindle yoke (?) setup is so thin it bends, purdy soon your tires at a
weird camber. I had a child on the trike with me, prolly about 250
lbs total. I was fooling around in the street with it and turned too
sharp. It went up on two tires, and that bent the steering part. I
have yet to see a picture of one of these that doesn't look like the
steering part is bent. But maybe that is unfair, cuz I don't know fer
sure whut its 'sposed to look like.
There is no feedback from the steering stick and it is easy to dial in
too much turn. At speed (15mph) the tiniest inputs which are
unavoidable cause you to wander back and forth on the road, maybe a
foot or two. My bro bought one of these and had a machinist build a
stronger part there. He hasn't ridden it yet with the new parts. It
comes with mtn bike components, and 16-20" wheels, (whichever, I don't
recall) low-pressure Kmart knobby tires. You can't adjust the seat
anywhere near as far back as I would want. There is only one brake,
on the rear. It is either for the suicide-prone or is some kinda joke
I didn't get. Oh, the brake is fine, its just that the trike is so
tall that the weight shift is so pronounced that the rear tire just
skids.

Pluses:
It is fun and cheap. Looks cheap to buy (or build) parts for. It
looks like a tinkerer's dream since nothing is welded. It is made
from easy-to-buy aluminum tubing and bolted together. One could
change it around radically, just for fun, you could change some frame
members to get the seat to recline. I think that it may be fairly
reliable once the steering is fixed which isn't a big deal to a
tinkerer.

I'd love to have about six of these and a dirt oval, and invite my
friends over for the heat races.

Oh, and get all the owner/salesman's promises on paper.