Gravel touring on a trike?
 

I am new to recumbent trikes and looking to buy a trike for gravel touring. We do on and off road touring - multi-day and multi-country. I will need a bike that folds and is easy to get on a plane. And one that rolls well on gravel or dirt as well as pavement. I want to ride for hours each day of the trip, so comfort is important as well. Any recommendations from those of you who ride trikes? Also, thoughts on the size tires we might want? Pros and cons... Thanks.

Your expectations are high
 

You want an awful lot in one single trike. On road, off road, and folding. The truth is that you will have to compromise. Narrow, higher pressure tires on a road trike work great on paved roads but suck on a gravel strewn hill. Wider, lower pressure tires on off-road models work better on rough roads and gravel. Expect them to be slower than using road tires on a regular road. I'm strictly an on-road rider and the few times I tried my trikes on gravel were no fun at all but my trikes were made for touring and racing. Trikes that have wider tires and fold tend to be heavier. That matters a lot when you ride a long distance.

I'd suggest going to the Utah Trikes website and looking at the trikes they show there. www.utahtrikes.com They have all of the best brands and you can look at the various models for Greenspeed, Catrike, ICE, and HP Velotechnic. You can see what they look like and the specifications are there. Most of these brands have some models for off-road. Ditto for folding, but not often folding and off-road in the same model. Be ready for some sticker shock. Lots of people have asked about my trikes but they often shake their head when I tell them what one costs.

Also HASE trikes
 

I'd also look at HASE trikes. www dot hasebikes dot com specifically Kettweisel or Kross. Both can take multiple gearing / IGH, Shimano Steps and multiple baggage solutions.

Thanks for the reply - I do understand I am asking a lot and I am willing to compromise on some things to get both. I am not worried too much about speed on the pavement and just want to make sure I can navigate the dirt or gravel. On the upright touring bike I have now (a Comotion Divide) - I move back and forth between gravel and road - something we end up doing a lot touring in Europe (or even the US backroads) and I change the tire pressure when I need to. I have learned to deal with the heavier bike and like I said, I am not too concerned about speed.

Because of some medical issues, I am not allowed on my "regular" bikes but don't want to give up my touring, so the Trike option is likely going to work. I am ready for sticker shock! LOL but I want a bike I can sit on for 8+ hours...

I was just curious as to what Brands/Styles people like and why.

I have an ICE Sprint, but have thought about replacing it with an ICE Adventure. It's pricy but it would fit your requirements.

Sylvia Halpern riding Myrtle the Turtle
 

Try to get your post count up to 10 so you can post pictures if necessary and receive private messages. It's a better way to communicate if there are ideas that aren't of interest to most readers.

There is probably nobody with more experience in trike touring than a woman from Portland, OR. Her name is Sylvia Halpern and you can find her on Facebook and Twitter along with at her own website TBT - Articles. She currently rides an HP Velotechnic Scorpion full suspension trike. She used to ride the same touring trike I own, the Greenspeed GTO, but that model is long out of production. You can find more about her travels around the world at this article in Tadpole Rider https://tadpolerider2.wordpress.com/tag/sylvia-halpern/.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...908a865b35.jpg

Petaluma Trail
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5c2ebda139.jpg

Hiawatha was a blast, need to repair rear fender.

Second for reading up about Sylvia and checking out her Youtube Channel. Travels By Trike

I was riding all over the west coast and PNW with my Catrike Dumont. Suspension, folding bike. It weighs in at 45 pounds, so even folded can be a handful for some people.

I loved smooth trails (rail to the trail) near Olympia. Sixty miles of beautiful trails, just fantastic riding with friends.

Ride the Haiwatha. Rail to Trail is a bit tough for a trike. Eastern Washington - Idaho. Oh, that trail was a bit rough gravel roads. I broke my rear fender due to contacting vibration; I should have pressurized the rear shock up to higher pressure as my 235# body with those bumps was a bit much. My son loved it with his 29" wheel mountain bike. Gravel was parted by bicycle wheels, so no clear path

I have a ICE Adventure that I like really well for gravel. But when I take a bike on the plane I use my Brompton. Sorry no gravel with that one though.

One irritating thing I discovered riding my upright trike is that you lose a lot of the ability to dodge potholes and bumps with a trike, and it seems gravel would make that worse.

I've seen some recommendations on this thread, but no personal stories of success when flying with a recumbent trike. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

The Evolve trike (with some Big Apples swapped on for gravel?) might answer for the OP - but it's not in production. :(

Home

Impressive little beast, though; check out the video of riding to the airport and checking the folded trike.

I'm watching this video. Wow! That would be sweet.

I bought a Toyota Highlander to fit my Catrike Dumont. It's a folding bike, but at 45 pounds what a pain to fold. The Evolve would be sweet
for riding with friends, and I could have bought a much smaller vehicle!

I'm surprised this isn't mainstream. Apparently never putting a recumbent trike on a train or plane and needing a largish motor vehicle to even get one to the start of a rally or ride is just an 'oh, well' for owners.

Anyway, here's another recumbent trike 'that folds and is easy to get on a plane' obviously given a suitable protective hard travel case and perhaps paying oversize fees.

https://www.zzmerck.com/products/rec...dingtrike.html

It's not nearly as slick as the Evolve in post 10, but it is actually in production. Gonna need the fattest tires that will fit for gravel.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...93638b0aea.png

Gravel riding is a lot of fun. It basically is road biking but on a rough surface so it demands more out of the bike. For some, they consider it to be like touring. If you want to get out and explore the mountains or trek through the woods, a gravel bike can get you there and a road bike wont. But you can ride the gravel bike on the road as well making it pretty versatile.

That's why we added the Checkpoint to our product line. It is a tough competitor in the gravel market right now. With the sliding dropout that we used on the Stache and the Crockett etc, it lets you readjust depending on the gearing and makes it real easy if you go single-speed (which is a ton of fun).

You also have the elevated chain stay for stiffness and bigger tire clearance (45c and 49c on some), and you have tons of bottle mounting points in addition to the front and rear rack mounts.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ffe19c64d3.jpg

On tour in 2016. Is this the kind of surface you mean by gravel riding...?