On 06/08/2005 14:22:48 "Jeff Grippe" wrote:

Buck said.

Quads are usually very heavy, The steering issue with Catrike Speed stems
from it having direct steering, the 2003 model did have a lot of pedal
and brake steer but this has been dialed out with the new frame geometry,
the Windcheetah likewise requires little steering input to affect large
changes in course, the answer to that problem is experience. You get
pedal steer on two wheel bents as well as trikes, it is down to not
having a smooth cadence, there are trikes around with slower steering,
the Trice, Greenspeed and the new Catrike Road all use indirect steering
for more touring orientated trikes and as such require more steering
input to affect direction. I ride a Speed and often exceed 50mph with no
problems at all and anyone who has ridden in England will tell you we do
not have the best surfaces in the world, but I do have a huge mileage
behind me.

Heavy doesn't bother me. When you add my weight to any bike or trike it
becomes heavy. If I'm going to take 15-20 pounds of weight off of the
vehicle it would be best taken off of me and not the bike/trike. Since
I'm not a fast rider and my objective is to go far (but not fast), I think
that the WindCheetah is probably not the right trike for me (which is why
I posted a "for trade" notice on this group).

The Catrike that I tried was not a 2005. It may have been a 2004 although
the dealer that I visited tended to stock things so while it was new (as
in unused) it could have been older. I rode it after the Greenspeed and
Wizwheelz and immediately detected something in the steering that I didn't
like. Honestly that colored the whole experience and I didn't even take
it out on the 1 mile test course.

I've got less than 50 miles on the WindCheetah. I was going straight on a
quality road. When I got up to about 30 MPH I didn't like the way it
felt. It felt like it was starting to stray a little. I slowed down
because I know how sensitive the steering is and I couldn't imagine trying
to make mirco adjustments with the level of experience that I have.

The WindCheetah does seem to always "want" to return to straight ahead so
it takes no real effort to go straight. Since it appears that it will not
be an easy trike to trade I will probably put a season or two on it before
making a decision about whether or not to keep it.

Thanks for the info.

Jeff

I would be suprised if you had a problem selling the Windcheetah, try logging into the forums on http://www.bentrideronline.com and making people aware of the trike there. I agree it is probably not the best trike for your purposes, remember that a trike needs to set up right to ride right.

--
Buck

I would rather be out on my Catrike

http://www.catrike.co.uk