On Apr 19, 5:37*am, "Kerry Montgomery" wrote:
Hi all,
Am in the market for a trike, for balance reasons. All I see are recumbents,
but don't know what the (dis)advantages are of tadpoles and deltas are. Or,
for that matter, if there are brands that are well regarded.
Thanks,
Kerry

I went into this trikes thoroughly a few years ago. I dismissed 1F2R
wheel designs at the outset as basically unstable, good only for
shopping at very moderate pace, which I don't think is what you have
in mind.

IIRC correctly, I settled on the Anthrotech as the best buy, being
well-made, easy to get into and out of, safe and reasonable fast:
http://anthrotech.de/Pages-e/index-e.html

Stateside there was this, which may or may not be more of a novelty
than a bike, but which I eventually dismissed as too low to be
practical either for sitting/rising or visibility on the road.
http://www.pedalcoupe.com/

Among the low speedsters, not useful on my roads:

I looked at a well-reputed, well-priced folding, very low recumbent
tricycle from HP Velotech, but can't find the file now; they're in a
big way of business, so you can find them on the net

This one I liked for its technical interest -- my own specialty in
automobiles is suspension, so my fascination with such a beautiful set
of A-frames follows naturally:
http://www.tripendo.com/EDEFAULT.htm

And this is what I would have bought if I were in the market for such
a low device:
http://www.tripod-bikes.com/
The Tripod is in about the same price group as my Utopia Kranich,
which for a tricycle with many more components, competently made by a
Dutch firm, is not outrageous. Note though that essentials like
mudguards and lights are extra. Probably, fully fitted up right out to
the panniers, ready to tour, a Rohloff version mght leave a bit of
change out of six grand American, standing on your driveway.

As an only or everyday bike, the Anthrotech seemed the most practical.

Andre Jute
http://members.lycos.co.uk/fiultra/Andre%20Jute's%20Utopia%20Kranich.pdf