Tour de Palm Springs

"32GO" wrote in message
ups.com...
On this topic, but in another thread, Jeff wrote:

As far as downhill goes, I don't find it fun at all...
I find myself having to ride the brakes. It is not the
"whee" experience at all... Next to level I like going
up. My least favorite thing to do is go down...

I was sorta surprised to read this from Jeff. I suspect,
however, it has more to do with his choice of trike than
with any other more absolute factor. Jeff had an American
Cruiser or Tricruiser, an inexpensive tadpole with a very
high seat and joystick steering.


I also have a Greenspeed GT-3 and I've owned a WindCheetah. I didn't feel
any better at high speeds on those trikes. When I got the WindCheetah, I
managed to get it up on two wheels in parking lot (I bought it used from
someone and met him at a mall to pick it up. I ended up trading the
WindCheetah for the Greenspeed. In my opinion, Tadpole trikes are "tippy".
I've owned inexpensive ones and high end ones and while the TriCruiser was
"tippier" because of its high center of gravity, the WindCheetah and the
Greenspeed both can easily go up on two wheels when cornering.

Jeff

Jeff wrote:

In my opinion, Tadpole trikes are "tippy". I've owned
inexpensive ones and high end ones and while the
TriCruiser was "tippier" because of its high center of
gravity, the WindCheetah and the Greenspeed both can
easily go up on two wheels when cornering.

I've ridden with only one person who was afraid to let
his speed build up rolling downhill on a tadpole. He
only rode a couple of times, and I think even he may
have gotten comfortable with the trike with a bit more
saddle time. As I said, I've ridden with dozens of other
men and women, even folks getting up in years and others
with physical impairments that essentially necessitated
their transition from bike to trike, and all of them
felt very comfortable with a tadpole's stability.

I apologize to Jeff, since I wasn't aware that he owned
or had even spent any serious saddle time on a tadpole
other than the Tricruiser he was riding when he had his
accident. There's a HUGE difference between that trike
and one that I would classify as a well-designed late
model sports touring tadpole.

I know this is a subjective issue, but I certainly would
not consider a current model GS to be 'tippy'. Compared
to a Tricruiser, I'd expect its tipover speed in a
typical turn to be at least double, unless the operator
is doing some radical gymnastics on the Tri. Of course,
it's possible to roll any single tadpole, maybe even a
tandem if you really work at it, but my problems have
been very rare except when I was very conscious of
pushing the envelope.

The most common incidents I've seen are turning from a
street onto a bikepath accessed up a short ramp. This
is effectively a reverse cambered turn, and it can be
a bit of a surprise for folks who aren't used to the
feel of a trike. But hey, it is subjective, and if a
person doesn't find his 'happy spot' on a tadpole, so
be it.

Regards,
Wayne

"32GO" wrote in message
ups.com...

I apologize to Jeff, since I wasn't aware that he owned
or had even spent any serious saddle time on a tadpole
other than the Tricruiser he was riding when he had his
accident. There's a HUGE difference between that trike
and one that I would classify as a well-designed late
model sports touring tadpole.


No apology necessary. The tendency to tip could have something to do with my
weight. I have no problem piloting a trike in the mid to high 20's but when
I go down a hill of any decent size, I'm very quickly in the 30's and the
trike does not feel stable. I've seen videos (which are on the WindCheetah
site) of someone who could corner at really high speeds by leaning quite far
out of the trike to act as a counter-balance. I could do this a little and
probably would have gotten better at it if I kept it. Meanwhile the
Greenspeed has 16" wheels so it is very low. I still wouldn't want to ride
it much over 30.

If you look at my pictures (the link is in the rail trails thread), the rail
trail trip was done on the Greenspeed.

Jeff