adablduya

greetings: this is an inquiry for all of you with thoughts regarding tandem recumbent trikes. presently, i have a davinci tandem grand junction, with ICS. love it. however, as my wife and i beginning to encounter physical issues associated with getting older, i am exploring trading to a tandem recumbent trike. i'm in the very early stages of information gathering, so reaching out to those of you with experience with tandem recumbent trikes, and general thoughts on the matter.

to be a little more specific, this trike would need to be loaded touring-capable.

any inputs are welcome. thanks.

fietsbob

Try Custom?, modify a steel Green-speed* tadople, with several S and S couplers , to add the stoker .

It will be super long , and so unwieldly unless it can come apart to ship.

*they're an Australian company, contact them , they have dealers in the North , like USA..

Tourist in MSN

I have never seen a tandem trike. Do they exist?

I saw a solo recumbent trike that was pulling a two wheeled trailer, that two wheeled trailer had a person on it and the trailer rider had his own pedals to drive his trailer wheels. It sure looked weird but that is the closest thing I have ever seen to a tandem recumbent trike. Combined, it had a total of five wheels. Since each pedaler had their own drive train, more maintenance, but each could pedal at their own cadence. The one I saw was not on a tour, no luggage but I suspect that the luggage could be figured out somehow.

mstateglfr 

curious if you want a side by side recumbent tandem or if it would be an in-line recumbent tandem.

adablduya

no, but thanks for the thought !

saddlesores

anything that massive would likely be unsuitable for anything other than dedicated
cycling paths. even then would be a hindrance for other cyclists, and a nightmare
with logistics.

never heard of anything exactly like that, prolly need to buy custom.
these guys have a 4-seater model, rear bench could be removed, replaced with
a storage area, unless you want to add a trailer!

mchell

Try this site. Greenspeed Recumbent Trikes - GTT tandem trike

Good luck. Mike

RickL

We had a similar problem due to a back injury my wife got in a car accident. We chose to get a pair of coupled delta trikes described in this thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/tandem-cy...ta-trikes.html

I'm still not sure if we shouldn't have spent the extra money for the Greenspeeds, but they were expensive enough as it was. We have wished we had the differential on more than one occasion.

We haven't toured with them yet (but we will) but so far we are quite satisfied. We are resigned to having to use a trailer for touring since we can't think of any way to carry more than one pannier. The other thing, that may or may not matter to you, is that they are noticeably slower than our Rodriguez tandem, probably 5 to 7 kph.

One advantage over a dedicated tandem is that the trikes can be used separately. We didn't have to buy my wife another bike for when she wants to ride solo. And they are noticeably more comfortable.

JanMM

We aren't getting any younger, but my stoker and I greatly enjoy our recumbent Screamer. Not a trike. You didn't explain why a trike would seem to be the solution to your issues.
We haven't done loaded touring, but the addition of an underseat rack would allow us to carry more than with just the RANS rear rack.
BABK0063 - SCREAMER

prathmann

I don't have any direct experience with them, but the TerraTrike 'Pro' and 'Rover' tandems look like reasonable designs and they can have the independent pedaling option you're used to:
TerraTrike
Haven't seen one loaded for touring, but seems like it could take a pretty standard rear rack and some additional bags could probably be attached to the seats. Or one could use a trailer for carrying gear.

DropBarFan

Haven't tried myself but these look pretty good if a bit $$. I'd wonder about frame flex though, tandem recumbents look a lot longer than upright tandems.

TerraTrike

adablduya

thanks for you reply, but not sure what you were intending to add by it. i am specifically looking for info regarding a recumbent trike, and don't find it necessary to explain why.

indyfabz

TerraTrike makes at least one model. Doesn't look capable of supporting racks and panniers (cannot imagine one that could), but maybe contact them and inquire about trailer use.

fietsbob

Types like Green speed and Terra trike can be a challenge to get down low enough to sit in it and get up from,

But there may be additional accessories to help you pull your self up from those low center of gravity seats.

I have seen them on other recumbent trike builds...


gear in a cargo bike trailer for your camping gear, etc., solves the rack & pannier issue..






....

cb400bill

Triple duplicate threads merged. Please do not cross post.

JanMM

OK. You know what you want. I have no experience with trikes.

shelbyfv

I actually saw a couple pedaling one of these up a grade in one of the Western states. They were going below walking speed. We were at a pullout, had a snack, took photos, etc. They were within conversational distance the entire time, churning away. Hope the downhill was more fun....

adablduya

With all due respect, if you have no experience with trikes, why would you post any response at all on the subject ?

JanMM

This is a recumbent forum - I have experience with recumbent tandem bikes. Not unusual for someone new to recumbents to have the expectation that a 'bent trike is more comfortable than a 'bent bike, whether single or tandem. The comfort aspect is generally about the same for both. But, if that is not your reason for looking into tandem trikes, there are of course differences between the two styles that make a trike more desirable and useful for some tandem teams. I have seen tandem trikes and coupled trikes being enjoyed by teams on several Hilly Hundred tours and at Midwest Tandem Rallys.

prathmann

Apparently not.

BlazingPedals

It's not hard to guess why a trike. Trikes have two strengths. They have a reduced chance of falling over in most situations, and they are lower to the ground. A tandem lowracer would be an oddity and probably hard to ride, too. I believe the Greenspeed tandem trike, the GTT, is considered the 'standard.' That's the extent of my knowledge. Unless you have more specific questions...

Steamer

You know, my wife and I did the recumbent tandem trike thing for a few years, but I've decide not to share my experiences. I don't indulge rude people.

shelbyfv

Thank you!

BlazingPedals

Thanks, Steamer. That did need saying. I've seen it before, someone looking into recumbent trikes because they didn't even know recumbent *bikes* existed. Hard for me to believe, but true! Jan was only trying to see if he COULD help.

JanMM

In the spirit of Xmas.. ....I hope the OP and his stoker find something that works for them.
Maybe Santa will deliver the goods.