Scubaquarius

My wife has a Catrike Villager which she loves. I am doing research before buying a recumbent for myself.
In looking at the Catrike Villager and Expedition, I see they are priced identically at $2,550.00. Looks like
Catrike advertises the Expedition as more of an all terrain trike and it has a larger diameter rear tire.

Opinions: Villager vs Expedition? Would appreciate any thoughts. (we only do street, concrete, asphalt riding)

2nd, if you had $2,550 to spend on a recumbent....any other brands, models you would consider?

So much appreciate your advice,
Scubaquarius

VegasTriker

Here is a direct comparison from the Catrike website copied two years ago for the 2018 models. There are quite a few differences such as length, width, seat height, seat angle (variable on the Villager, fixed on the Expedition), and wheelbase. One of the big differences is going to be the ease in getting in and out of the seat. The Villager was designed with a higher seat for people who can not get up out of the Expedition. That affects the handling as higher seat means higher center of gravity and therefore more likely to tip in a turn at higher speeds. I have no trouble getting out of the seat on my Catrike 700 but have let some people ride it who did. I love the low seat angle but you should test ride one before choosing the Expedition just in case it is a problem.

Scubaquarius

That PDF file was a great comparison.

Thanks,
Scubaquarius

Tony Marley

For the money, I feel Catrikes are the best recumbent trikes in the market.

I have no basis of comparison since I have never ridden the Villager. I do love my Expedition, though, and can definitely recommend that you test ride one if possible.

ft3safety

How fast do you ride? A larger rear wheel with identical gearing will translate to a taller gearset. I too have a Catrike 700 and have to carry 2 spare tubes. There can be less rolling resistance with the 26" rear wheel too and a more softer rear end if comparing same tires at same pressures. I've never ridden the Villager or Expedition but the 700 is pretty nice. It can be a little rough ride at times.

Scubaquarius

My wife has a villager. I'm researching various recumbents prior to purchasing one for myself. But I do enjoy going downhill really fast..... (on my wife's
old Liz cruiser) !!!

Scubaquarius

Scubaquarius

Thanks for the suggestion. It's hard to find various Catrike models locally in stock here in NWAR. Right now the only ones
available are a Villager and a 700. I would love to actually try out an Expedition.

Thanks,
Scubaquarius

Juan Foote

It might be helpful to check out Catrikes forum for sale section. I located our Roads that way, and both were local.

In relation to purchasing new or used...so far as I am aware there is not a retailer or specific shop doing work for or selling Catrike around Atlanta any longer. I haven't checked in a while but the Silver Comet Depot WAS a service location and retailer. I didn't find out till after we purchased. The reason I found them was that one of the trikes was an early version and I had LOADS of issue out of the steering due to it missing a bushing that was in the later revisions.

I liked both of our bikes and outfitted them exactly the same sans the longer boom I needed for mine. I put SRAM IGH on both and made them able to ride on anything. The only aspect I turned out not liking overall was the 20" back tire in relation to getting stuck in grass and things as well as the lack of bigger gear due to it. Overall with the frequency we were riding we found them to need fairly frequent service particularly in relation to brakes and chain (there is a lot of chain), the seats, and the idler. Of note, the front derailleur they were using at the time I recall as a Microshift and it was pure ****.
I know it sounds negative, but it's not. We rode them a lot and they were super duper fun.

If I had it to do again and actually thought we would ride them I would go for a model with the shock on the rear wheel before any other consideration, up front.