Awesome! My Dad loves his Scorpion trike. Only uses it on long rides and has lots of lights attached to it as well as a bright blinking led up on a pole as he rides his on the streets a bit. Still has an old beater Trek mountain bike for quick trips to the store.
UPDATE!:
It's been almost three years and my father is now 87 years old. I just got off the phone with him and, as always, I asked "Did you ride your bike today?" and, as always, his answer was, "Oh yeah, every day!"
He lives in Florida and rides the same 14 mile loop almost every morning before breakfast. He says it rarely rains there in the morning, though he will still go out in light rain. Occasionally, he will go for a second, shorter ride in the afternoon if it's not too hot. He has had to replace at least two tires and just recently he was having some issues with the chain, which as it turns out, has stretched a little bit. The bike shop shortened and adjusted it and he's back on the road.
After he'd had it a month or two, I bought him a digital odometer and he logs his mileage after every ride. Unfortunately, he just writes the number down and never totaled them all up. My brother is an accountant who crunches numbers all day. He started to add them up for him at his last visit, but then gave up after he found that Dad had over 40 pages of numbers.
A conservative estimate of 14 miles per day for 300 days per year (probably very low; I doubt that he misses more than 30 days per year), for three years adds up to 12,600 miles.
As I wrote in another thread, I purchased a second similar trike that he rides when he comes north to visit in the summer.
Catrike, Part Deux
This has been a big success.
That’s great. I’m glad he’s enjoying it so much.
ncjay
SuperDork
4/29/18 8:40 a.m.
Great! Once again, thanks to you guys and me not being able to ignore a thread, now I'd like to build a trike using an old aluminum racing seat and moving the front axle ahead just a bit. Also either BMX mag rims or dragster rims.
kb58
SuperDork
4/29/18 9:10 a.m.
Those recumbent ones always make me think there's a chance of bee-meets-gonad.
Wow he's crushing the miles! I think when I get older I'll need to more seriously consider a place where I can get out and exercise like he does during the winter months.
Cool! I work at Gator Cycle in Gainesville FL, and we sell/work on a ton of these.
which dealer did your dad buy his catrike from?
In reply to echoechoecho :
I'm not sure. He lives in St. Pete. I know he had to travel a bit to buy it, but I'm not sure if he went that far.
In reply to echoechoecho :
This was the day that he demo'd one, and I think that this is the same place that he bought it from. Does this look like your shop?
Nope thats not us, I think thats david's world cycle they have a bunch of locations.
Catrikes are awesome, I was a non believer until I starting fixing/selling them. Im glad your father is still enjoying riding.
zordak
Reader
4/30/18 10:38 a.m.
I have always like the tadpole type trike. My problem as always was cost. I found some plans on the internet called Jettrike. Not having the money to buy new materials I scrounged up suitable tubing and bought 3 bikes cheap at rummage sales and put one together. I think I have less than $200.00 in material and it made I nice project.(read no real seemingly impossible to solve problems) I will have got a pic somewhere or will have to take some. I also redesigned the front spindles as I did not like the idea of using brass bushings for the spindle. But after I got it done it is a blast to ride. And yes I keep thinking about how can I get a motor on it.
Glad this popped back up and to see the update on how well your Dad is doing withy his riding. I've considered a trike since my spinal injury (83) and car accident (15) have made getting on and off a normal frame, plus balance/riding, difficult. I've considered a trike but I also have stupid tight hamstrings and hips which could make riding one difficult. I'm also in the st Pete/Clw area and would be up for demo'ing one. Any chance you can get the name of the shop where he did his demo?
Very cool to see your dad still enjoying turning pedals. I'm jealous, he's getting in WAY more miles than me, and I'm an able bodied, non-retiree!
In reply to hobiercr :
Their website indicates that they have the Catrike line at their Tavares location.
zordak
Reader
4/30/18 7:59 p.m.
here is a pic of the trike at about final test fit before blowing it apart for paint
Trikes are way cool, glad your dad is enjoying his. We have two, an old terra trike cruiser and an ICE. Both have rather upright seating, comfort is more important than speed for us. We use them on bike paths only, and do 10-15 miles per ride. I had problems with my hands and seat on a regular bike, wife had shoulder issues, so these have let us get back into the sport. They are a little slower on hills, but the comfort factor is huge. Instead of hunching over looking at your front wheel you are sitting comfortably, looking at the sky and way down the road.
GRM adder, just put a 350W motor on the terra trike. Amazing how such a small motor adds to speed. It has a pedal assist and throttle control, with supposedly a 30 mile non pedal range. It is a big help on the hills and a planetary gear drive so there is almost no drag on the wheel when not using it.