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Tricycle touring

Old 08-20-19, 09:12 AM
  #1  
keepontrikin
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Tricycle touring

tandem or 2 solos?
delta tadpole or quad?
wheel size?

thanks!
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Old 08-20-19, 09:22 AM
  #2  
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Your question seems rather open ended and vague. If your asking "have people toured on the bikes you listed" the answer is yes. If your asking "what is best", well that depends on the individual. If your interested specifically in trikes than I suggest you go to a store that specializes in them. If your in southern California, I recommend Richard's Cyclery in Garden Grove.
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Old 08-20-19, 09:39 AM
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keepontrikin
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sorry, was lookin for advice
im in southeastern ontario btw

do any of those questions make you think "oh, for sure, X is the way to go"
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Old 08-20-19, 09:47 AM
  #4  
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I have never ridden a trike, but I was in one group tour where one member of the group had a trike and he pulled a trailer with his gear.

My only advice is that you mount a flag pole with a flag to increase your visibility. There were times when I was riding behind the trike and I really became aware how he was so much closer to the ground that it was much harder to see him from behind at any distance. The flag with flag pole significantly increased my ability to see him, the flag was small but the motion of the flag helped attract my attention.
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Old 08-20-19, 09:55 AM
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yes flags would be used regardless of rig.
im currently riding around town on an upright tricycle with 24X4 tires, and im taller than bicycles.
ive upgraded the saddle, but its still not something id like to live on.
i read somewhere someone describe recumbent triking as "pedaling around in your favorite lawn chair", and that really appeals to me.
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Old 08-20-19, 11:27 AM
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When I commented above about the trike rider that was hard to see from behind because he was so low, his trike was like the one in the photo below. But the one I was commenting on did not have panniers, instead he had a very low trailer with a large flat drybag on the trailer.



I suspect that the one with panniers was slightly more visible from behind. I took the photo above when the rider camped next to me at a campground in Iceland, I have not ridden it and know virtually nothing else about it other than I remember that the one in the photo I noticed had a Rohloff instead of derailleurs.
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Old 08-20-19, 11:37 AM
  #7  
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Back in 2016 I encountered a guy in Montana touring across the country on a tadpole-style trike. He was pulling a trailer loaded with gear. Quite a large load.
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Old 08-20-19, 12:04 PM
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Maybe want to check on Trike Forums. This is Bike Forums.
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Old 08-21-19, 06:04 AM
  #9  
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one real factor to take into account, as you are surely aware, is the whole aspect of taking up more space on the road and more spread out wheels that are going to hit a big pothole even if other tire or tires miss it.

so no advice on trike types, but more a general heads up on choosing quiet roads from a safety angle.
Ive toured in an extremely potholey and truck filled area once, and had read up details of this section on an online journal of someone who had ridden this area the year before pulling a two wheeled trailer--and I couldnt imagine how tough and dangerous it would have been for him, smacking into potholes when traffic meant he couldnt move over, and he probably had to pull over lots of times when trucks were in both directions close to him, simply because a the trailer is wider than a two wheeler.

and yes, I suspect you will find a lot more good advice from trike folks, we tend not to know anytihng about them here.
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Old 08-21-19, 07:15 AM
  #10  
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Originally Posted by djb
one real factor to take into account, as you are surely aware, is the whole aspect of taking up more space on the road and more spread out wheels that are going to hit a big pothole even if other tire or tires miss it.
Not only potholes, but rumble strips. Years ago I read a CGOB journal about a family touring with a young child in a two-wheeled trailer. On PR 3 heading towards Fernie, B.C. the wheels conflicted with rumble strips and the person pulling the trailer had to ride further out in the road than he would have had to absent the trailer.
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Old 08-21-19, 08:00 AM
  #11  
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Originally Posted by indyfabz
Not only potholes, but rumble strips. Years ago I read a CGOB journal about a family touring with a young child in a two-wheeled trailer. On PR 3 heading towards Fernie, B.C. the wheels conflicted with rumble strips and the person pulling the trailer had to ride further out in the road than he would have had to absent the trailer.
Agree with you on rumble strips.

Originally Posted by djb
one real factor to take into account, as you are surely aware, is the whole aspect of taking up more space on the road and more spread out wheels that are going to hit a big pothole even if other tire or tires miss it.
....
I thought of the wider bike too, but the OP said he rides a trike already so I assumed he knew that. Also, when I tour on a bike I usually have my tires about a foot (~~30 cm) away from the edge of teh pavement because: sometimes pavement is broken near the edge and you do not see it fast enough, sudden gusts of side winds can blow you off course, I find that if I am further into the traffic lane that cars seem to give me even more clearance than they would if I was right on the edge, and logging trucks.

When I was on PEI in June this year, some of the logging trucks would give you maybe one inch of the lane (but some were more willing to accept you). They had a bigger wind blast as they passed than most other trucks (I do not know why?) which would push you towards the edge by a wide margin and as the back end of the trailer passed you, the vacuum behind would suck you back into the traffic lane where the cars behind the truck never saw you until they were almost on top of you. And a trike should be less susceptible to side winds.

But with three wheels, it should be easier to keep one wheel within inches of the edge, so I am not sure if they are that much further into the traffic lane.

Back to the topic of visiblity, for the past few years I have been using that ACA triangle on my bike even if it was not an ACA trip to boost my visibility. A few months ago when I was on PEI, I moved my triangle from the center to the left side one morning because it was easier to do that particular day. And within hours I had come to the opinion that cars were giving me more clearance as they passed, I think that the drivers focused more on the location of the triagle instead of the location of the center of my bike. See photo (sorry it is upside down, I flipped but it refused to stay flipped on my hard drive).

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Old 08-21-19, 09:09 AM
  #12  
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I always think that’s the way the world looks Down Under. You get used to it.
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Old 08-21-19, 02:25 PM
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Originally Posted by alan s
I always think that’s the way the world looks Down Under. You get used to it.
I remember back in the early days of the internet, when computer hardware sites were cool. A young Australian used to get overly ambitious about things, so we tormented him about the place being upside-down like that. Said it must have affected his brain. 😁 He was a good sport, knew we were just joking. 😎
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Old 08-21-19, 06:42 PM
  #14  
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Old 08-21-19, 06:51 PM
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Re upside down.
You guys may laugh, but I shot many years with view cameras, and the image on the ground glass is upside down, so you actually got used to composing, framing, everything, with an upside down image.
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Old 08-22-19, 04:08 PM
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Originally Posted by keepontrikin
tandem or 2 solos? delta tadpole or quad? wheel size? thanks!
https://www.icetrikes.co/
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