yalrighty

OK well there is a local catrike dealer here and I finally paid him a visit today. He got out some of the trikes and I test rode two of them. One of them being a Catrike Speed and the other a Catrike Pocket.

We took about a 45 minute ride on the Catrike Speeds and boy it was fun. I had never rode a trike before so it took some getting used to. The very first thing I noticed was it was a very comfortable seating position - I could ride nonstop for hours on that thing without getting tired.

The second thing I noticed that the steering was VERY reactive. You barely need to touch the steering to get the thing to make a sharp turn but after about 3 minutes I was used to it and riding like a pro. On that note, when I was pedaling it felt like the trike wanted to swerve a bit but that was because I'm used to shifting my weight on handlebars as I pedal my MTB. On the trike this effect causes a bit of swerve for people just starting out.

The last thing to get used to was how low to the ground you are. When you are this low, cars look ALOT bigger and your visibility around corners is not as good as it would be on a regular road or mountain bike but it's fine if you take a little extra care. Hitting corners was very fun and felt alot like riding a go-cart - I was taking on tight hairpin turns at the trail down at the park at full tilt and the stability was fine. The two front disc brakes give you all the stopping power you need. The only thing I would change about the Catrike Speed is I would put twistgrip shifters on it instead of the front friction shifter and rear lever-shift.

After my test ride of the Speed, I took the Catrike Pocket out for a quick jaunt. It was almost like starting over again. The Pocket is not as wide as the Speed so right away I found myself getting used to touchy steering. The frame was a few pounds lighter though and acceleration was very quick (I call it the pocket rocket!). The one thing the pocket has which I wish the Speed has was the twist grip shifters. Not only do they look nicer than two levers sticking up from the steering grips, but they worked a bit nicer too with just an easy turn of your hand.

All in all, I was suprised at how fun it was to ride these things. They handle very nice, power up hills easily (easier than my MTB, just not as fast) and the frames were alot more sturdy than I would have ever expected. Now as for choosing to buy one over the other - I am now going to save to buy the .... SPEED. That's the only con - the price tag .. and I'm not exactly made of money (who is?) Hopefully as trikes get a bit more mainstream the price will drop, but for now I will have to settle for my MTBs and maybe get myself a trike at the end of this season, if not next season (where there's a will, there's a way!)

bnet1

If you enjoyed the trikes you might want to consider looking at a 2 wheeled 'bent, if you are not severely balance challenged of course. These ride way differently than a DF bike and it takes a bit to get the balance, but once you do they are a blast to ride. The best thing is the comfort. Virtually any recumbent, 2 wheeled or 3 wheeled, is a bike you can ride all day and not suffer in the end. Welcome to the world of recumbents!

yalrighty

The trike dealer had a Baron there and he told me I could try it if I promised not to dump it lol but I didn't want to risk that after he had been so nice to me letting me ride around on the trikes.

yalrighty

Forgot to mention he has a Catrike Road that I never tried and also a Swift Trike ..

sch

Most bents do best with a lite touch on the bars to steer, with a few exceptions.
My first ride, on a P38 was all over the road until I realized this, then the ride
straightened out dramatically. A death grip on the bars will make them twitchy,
a light relaxed grip will improve your control. Steve

yalrighty

Yup ... same went with the trikes ... if I pretty much let go or just had my hands lightly "there" in case i needed to turn it was fine ..