Clawed

This is a query for a neighbor.

My wife has ridden several trikes, and presently owns a Trice recumbent. I know about tadpoles and deltas. The heavy very upright trikes are called Geezer Trikes here for obvious reasons. So my question is, does anyone make a really high quality geezer delta?

My neighbor needs the upright position for health reasons, but he appreciates quality and light weight; he admires my Focus Cayo Evo. But every upright trike he has seen seems to be gas pipe and WalMart construction. Even the highly touted Worksman brand are industrial machinery. He can afford anything, ANYTHING!, but everything he looks at is just heavy and of little interest and quality.

Any ideas?

Maybe I will build him a sidecar rig on a Pinarello. I figure he could buy two and I could use a Sawzall to saw off the front of one and bolt them together.

bikeguyinvenice

Your neighbor NEEDS and upright trike? How up right does he need to be? Probably one of the best delta trike out there is the Hase brand. I don't know how upright the seats can be adjusted, but it might be worth your neighbor looking at one of their trikes.

BlazingPedals

How high-class does he want, and what kind of delta trike? I've seen videos of some racing in Great Britain that uses upright bikes with trike rear ends. They're like bolt-on mods and might be fixie-only. The latest thing in recumbent racing seems to be tilting delta trikes with FWD. For a while, Raptobike was developing a tilting trike rear end to convert their lowracer into a tilter. I haven't heard anything about it in a while, though.

Edit: The Tricycle Association website has links to manufacturers for upright racing trikes.
https://www.tricycleassociation.org.uk/Links.html

Raptotrike video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=GEOGr3oy3H4

Doug5150

Here is two possible options:
the Lightfoot trikes work very well and aren't as heavy as some of the less-functional cheaper trikes-
https://www.lightfootcycles.com/archi...ucts/greenway/
plus they do custom work, though the buyer would have to talk to them about that.

The other option is to get a road-racing trike,,, that is, a "British-style" racing trike:
https://www.tricycleassociation.org.uk/
I don't know squat about these things other than the fact that they exist. But they are out there, and presumably if you send somebody money they will ship you one.

Clawed

Doug, thanks for those sites. The Brit tricycle assoc. has everything we need to start the search. My neighbor is "stiff" and can't get down. But there are Brit companies doing what he needs so I see that in his future. I knew the answer was here.

Blazing Pedals, thank you too. What is that recumbent in your avatar?

BlazingPedals

The recumbent in my avatar is a NoCom. Definitely not for someone with problems getting down low! A closer view:

bikeguyinvenice

I must say that is one sexy looking 'bent. Makes me want to start riding recumbents again.

fietsbob

There are Light weight tikes hand-made in England, they race them there.

pinsonp2 

You might want to call these guys https://www.industrialbicycles.com/. Call Toll Free (800) 561-6670
or (313) 565-8635. They ship worldwide and really know their trikes...all type of trikes.

P2

MichaelW

Longstaff Cycles in the UK is probably your best bet for a lightweight, touring-style upright trike, it their house speciality. Bob Jackson of Leeds are another frameshop making lightweight trikes.

Theses could not be further from the industrial US style of trike. They are brazed or welded from racing/touring grade butted steel (traditionally Reynolds 531) so are not overly heavy and are typically furnished with lightweight racing wheels and mid/high end road groupsets. Longstaff produce a customized freewheel mechanism for 2 wheel differential drive. They also make rear wheel trike conversions.

Bob Shaver

As noted above, Hase trikes are of the delta style, very high quality in build and components. They are around $4000 new, and used ones are rare. They are definitely not geezer trikes. They are super fun to ride, and easy to get in and out of.

Artkansas 

What about something like an EZ-3 from Sun?



Here are their recumbents.

They also have some more traditional styles.

Sun Bikes

fietsbob

There are some German made Delta Trikes with a differential so both rear wheels are powered.

.and I recall seeing a kit From British Company that steers both front wheels

and will modify the normal single bike, (someone with hip joint issues might like a step through)

So 2 different 3 wheel combinations. /\ , &, \/ ..

prooftheory

If money is really no object then I would think custom. Maybe these guys will make another one of these:


only without the time trial setup.

Nightshade

Don't be so dismissive of the Worksman tricycles.

I own a Worksman PAV that sits "chair high" and is a breeze to mount and dismount while being easy to pedal if the 3 speed is ordered.

https://worksmancycles.com/shopsite_s...html/pav3.html

Tip: for max comfort order the long frame if you're about 6 ft. (give or take)

StephenH

Does it HAVE to be a tricycle?
If it's fairly upright (assumed from the "geezer trike" comment), it's going to be fairly tippy, which limits it to low speeds. And that's why you don't commonly find high-quality lightweight versions. It's like looking for a racing bulldozer. Come to think of it, the heavier the thing is, the mores stable it likely is, since that weight is down low.
Rans and several of the recumbent manufacturers make bikes where you recline WAY back but also bikes where you sit up fairly upright, and one of those might be the ticket if he wanted to go faster than 8 mph.
A Rhodes car is another option, but I understand they tend to be on the heavy-clunky side, too.

MichaelW

No, racing tricycles, like the B&W photo above, are built to race. They are as lightweight as possible.

Worksman PAV is about 75lbs. A good upright racing trike in Reynolds butted steel weighs in at mid 20lbs-30lbs.

StephenH

They're also rare as hen's teeth in the US, which is the problem in the first place! (Note that the actual racing versions also aren't "upright" trikes, by the way; they're high like a bicycle, but not made to sit bolt upright on, either.)

A guy over in Dallas had one that I saw on occasion, and it was stolen three or four years ago.

Mobile 155

Does it have to be a delta? I almost got one of these for errands around town. https://americruiser.com/index.html

chaadster

The racing trikes are sweet, and are probably really challenging to ride at speed!

there was a video going around recently of some 100 year old Englishman (or some Brit) who still rides daily on a trike; I'll see if I can find it.