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#11
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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 |
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#12
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Tour de Palm Springs
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 |
#13
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Tour de Palm Springs
"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 |
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