bigbenaugust 

I have a question for all of the three-wheelers out there. How do you deal with the anti-motor vehicle barriers frequently found on bike paths (and bike bridges around here)? Does the average trike fit, or do you just work to avoid them?

mtbikerinpa

I saw a tadpole trike fit through a new sidewalk corner ramp at a light. The sharp square kind and he did fairly well at it so I would think the standard bollards would work.

bigbenaugust 

Like these?


https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/...ance/bollards/

I'm just having a little recumbent bike v. trike debate here (in my mind) and there are a couple of these on my usual commute route.

BlazingPedals

Those aren't not your standard barriers. If those are what you've got, then you'll probably have to carry a trike over/past it. Likewise, my lowracer and highracer would have to be walked through it.

Dchiefransom

I think my Formula LE is as long as the section of fencing. I'd have to lift any of my bents over that fence.

JanMM

Would be very annoying to have to deal with obstacles like that on a regular basis, especially with a long bike of any sort or a wide trike.

Peter_C

Out here in Ohio, it is generally not an issue for me with my Rover (tadpole) trike. When I did the 'GAP' last June, there were three sets of bollards that I had to lift my trike over. It seems that the newer ones are fine, but some of the older ones are not so fine.

Notso_fastLane

There are a couple of gates around here that I have to walk my bent through (bike, not trike), mostly because it's a SWB and I can't maneuver that tightly without heelstrike. I can go through the downhill gates ok, since I don't have to pedal, but the uphill gates are on too steep a hill, and not enough clearance to safely get through. I changed my route a bit to avoid most of them. They are plenty wide to get through if (when) I get a trike.

bigbenaugust 

the ones I am thinking of are a little wider than the picture above but have no chain link.

himespau 

Most of the barriers I run across to keep cars out are just 3-5 solid posts roughly 3 feet apart spread across a trail. Those things you have posted would suck.

Sayre Kulp 

I've only ever encountered one set of bollards that I couldn't squeeze through on a trike. On the Schuylkill River Trail EVERY bloody set is just wide enough to fit through except ONE! I have to get off and lift it over. It's easy when riding with a partner. Wasn't so easy on a solo century with a 70 lbs. heavy duty trike.

BlazingPedals

Tip it up on its side just enough to squeeze through? Angle to get one front wheel at a time through? Lifting would be my last resort.

bigbenaugust 

Here it is: https://goo.gl/maps/oqhsm

I can think of some places on other non-normal routes to work that might be more difficult than this.

Maybe I need to bring a tape measure on my ride sometime.

himespau 

That at least looks more possible to angle through or at the very least pop a trike up onto one side. That first picture, there was no way I'd imagine making the hard corner.

Edit: not that I have a trike, only imagining for the moment. Maybe one day I'll go bent or trike.

markinmad

When I'm riding the Ryan Duplex, those are the ones that I have to stop and carry the bike through...

Sayre Kulp 

There was no way. The seat was too tall and actually required more clearance than it did from wheel-to-wheel in the rear. Believe me - the only way it was going through was by going over.

Sayre Kulp 

I think I could actually navigate my tadpole through that thing. My delta was much longer and probably would have been more troublesome.

Dchiefransom

I think I could get through the ones on one side of the road, but have to lift my trike over the other ones. I see that runs behind the VA Hospital.

bugly64

I haven't came across any obstacle that I could not over come yet. Well, I don't go over curbs or up curbs like I did on a bike. I did get to go under a gate that blocked an exit from a levy yesterday.

bigbenaugust 

Yeah, my usual route is to come up (from sunnyvale... blah blah blah) up Los Robles to Laguna, then cut through there to get to Hanover and on to work.

Zedoo

Any space that is too narrow for a trike is probably too narrow for wheelchairs and other mobility aids. That could be the legal route to widening the spaces or removing the barriers.

bigbenaugust 

it occurred to me as I was pushing the kids around in their BOB Revoultuon Duallie yesterday that it is about the same width as a trike (~34"). I do not think the BOB would have a problem with the specific barrier I am talking about. But the trike is much longer.

himespau 

Hmmm, my kiddie trailer is a bit wider than a bob duallie (can't fit through single doors, don't know if the duallie can). I wonder if I'd be able to make it through that gauntlet with my bike and trailer, or if I'd have to turn around. No way I'm lifting the bike plus trailer (or even separately the trailer with all the stuff I bring in it).

gcottay

Over the years I've had very few problems with barriers. When clearance is close you can get a bit narrower by going through at an angle. The trike maker Greenspeed provides this helpful diagram.

WPeabody 

There were a couple of trails that I had to pick up the trike and walk it sideways through the gateway. It's hard on me, and hard on the trike, so now I avoid those places whenever possible.