Trike Bike Three Wheel Adult Tricycle Questions & Answers (page 2 of 3)

Hi there, basically we just need your height to make a recommendation. Thanks Trike Bike

Hi Mike I am a long legged 171 cm girl:)

Thank you very much for your email and question. Trike Bike Australia is the exclusive seller of the Trike Bike brand and we have been selling this and nothing else for more than 10 years. Please go to our website where you can see all of the products we have on sale and you can purchase directly for delivery to your location. Thank you again for making contact. Many thanks Michael Coates Trike Bike Australia https://www.trike-bike.com.au/

Further to Trike Bike's official response... Assuming you have the stamina and strength and the child is old enough ride a 12" or 16" bike, you might be able to use a TrailGator since this attaches to the saddle pin. https://www.trail-gator.com.au/

My new 3 wheeler bike feels I’m leaning over to the right and the front wheel turns right when I’m trying to ride it in a straight line

Go to Google and ask. This is a review site for the products listed, please don't abuse it by asking irrelevant questions regarding other products which you could answer by doing a little research yourself.

Thanks a lot. I would like to point out that most advertisers don’t list where made. I wonder why!!

Just go to trike-bike.com.au I'm sure if you ask they'll tell you and I'm pretty sure they have lifetime warranty on frame

What German tricycle? This is not a German tricycle.

Sorry! I haven’t bought one yet. Have a zap bike now but am thinking of getting a trycycle and lean towards a german make. wanted advice on which brand names etc

I'm not exactly sure what part of the instructions you are referring to but I would strongly recommend watching the video in addition to using the written instructions.

Even though the video does some things in a different order, I found it invaluable to skip through to the appropriate part and watch, just to confirm the overall assembly process. That said, I used the written instructions as the primary source for the assembly and there were no blatantly incorrect parts that I recall, they are correct albeit a little vague here and there.

Honestly, use the video to complement them, it will help.

Thanks Mike, where do I find the video.

Its written all over the instructions and on EVERY box the product shipped with ???

thank you for your enquiry. Yes we sell to New South Wales, we ship our trikes all around Australia. We do have a folding version but only in a 20 inch size. We do have electric versions in 20 inch, 24 inch and 26 inch size.. We do not have a folding electric trike, they are too heavy for people to lift being 27 kg for the electric model so because they are heavy people do not lift them and they don't need to fold. None of our trikes will fit in a regular hatchback vehicle.. They are simply too big. You will need to either find a better Internet connection to see more of our website or you will need to contact our office on 07 5522 0583

You will probably get the NBN at some time in the next twenty years and, no, it will not give you a better connection (going by our own experience), not until they install Fibre To The Premise. You are correct, it is a joke.

Ok. First up, this is not a specific Trike Bike issue but is actually a question about the common design of all trikes. It's a bit naughty posting to the Trike Bike section but, nonetheless, here goes...

This comes down to basic vehicle mechanics. A trike which uses the rear wheels for power (not the kiddy pedals-on-the-front-wheel type) uses the same principles as a rear wheel drive car and has exactly the same issues (ignore anything about 4WD, it's not relevant to this).

When you drive a car (or trike) round a corner or roundabout, all the wheels actually travel different distances - the wheels closer to the centre of the turn travel less distance than those further out and they therefore rotate at different relative speeds. To allow the wheels to turn at different speeds on the same axle, a car is fitted with a differential which is a complex device to permit power to reach both wheels even though they are travelling different distances and therefore at different rotational speeds (relative to the other). If you didn't have a differential, the tyres would wear unevenly as one would always spin or slip as you cornered.

The following videos will show this principle...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYAw79386WI - old but very good for explaining the principle (skip to the 2:00 mark)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIGvhvOhLHU

The same principle applies to a (rear drive) trike. However, to reduce costs and weight, the trike solves the issue by simply only powering one rear wheel and leaving the other rear wheel free-wheeling (like the early cars in the first video). This totally correct and normal for adult trikes, to fit a differential would be expensive overkill for a trike. Note: If you have a disk brake on the rear wheels, it also only applies to the wheel that doesn't free-wheel.

If you were to "lock" the free wheel as you suggest you would actually make the trike harder to corner and it would wear the tyres much faster and potentially damage the rear axle assembly.

I recently built a trike for a family member and have only noticed the fact that only one wheel is powered on tight corners or over bumps, the family member was completely oblivious to it. It certainly doesn't pull to either side when on the flat, the force provided by the rider over the dimensions of the bike wouldn't create a large enough rotational moment for that to be apparent.

Try using the bike on a flat smooth area (e.g. car park?) and let go of the handlebars. After perhaps a small amount of veering when starting I believe you'll find the pull left or right will be minimal.

I think that, if you use the bike regularly, you will find that you adapt to this design and stop noticing it quite quickly. Either that or pay for an engineer to create you a differential which will probably add a couple of kilos, reduce the efficiency of the gears, add significant complexity (more to go wrong) and probably cost well in excess of the original cost of the trike.

This is how adult trikes are built - here endeth the lesson.

It seems pretty obvious you don't have a trike bike and you are reviewing on the site specifically for the brand name "trike-bike" at least half of the reviews on this site including some of the negative comments are for people that don't even own our product. Trike-bike is not a generic name, it does not apply to every trike-bike purchased or imported into Australia it is specific to our brand and it would be great if the comments on this website could actually be for the product that we represent. Huffy do not make 3 wheel bikes to the best of my knowledge or at least they don't import any into Australia so I don't even know where to point you for correct information. Seeing that you purchased this used it may be some sort of hybrid conversion where the person has purchased a normal bicycle and then tried to convert it to a tricycle. If you would allow me to say that this is really dangerous. A tricycle frame is completely different to a bicycle frame, the part that looks like a bicycle is built much heavier in the rear end because there are much higher side loads, the distance between the back of the frame is wider than on a normal pushbike to again spread the loads. Sorry but I can't help you because you do not have a genuine trike-bike and this is what this particular review section is about

Can I suggest, Michael Coates, that you put some quotes in the title to show that the page is not just generic "trike bike bicycle tricycle adult" products but a specific " 'Trike Bike' brand three-wheel adult tricycle" ?

It could be that the wheel isn't correctly fitted/tightened on the axle.

Whatever the cause, though, take it back to the bike shop and get them to fix it, it would qualify as faulty and "not fit for purpose" - they built it, they have to fix it.

Thanks Mike. I omitted to mention that while both rear wheels turn while not on the ground they could hardly be described as free spinning.

we had to replace the bearing and the noise stopped. it was easy enough fixed.

Hi Ange. about 2 years ago I bought the motor kit from....Solarbike..... In Perth WA via ebay. I think It cost just over $ 1000. It was the cheapest one they sold It comes with a front wheel..with the motor being the wheel hub, a battery and charger. an control centre box which fits in a small bag and straps under the seat stem. and two types of throttle controls for the handlebars. a twist grip or a lever control whichever you prefer. To fit the wheel you take the tyre off your wheel and fit it to the motor wheel . The rest is easy Removing the hand grip can be tricky but the best method is prise the rubber grip open with a tiny screwdriver and squirt a little metho in it. If you haven't yet bought the trike I would recommend that you buy the motorised one from the dealer as it comes with Suspension on front forks and better brakes. I Hope this is helpful to you. Geoff

yes. the motor is actually the front wheel hub. They supply a complete front wheel the same size as your one. they also supply a battery which is about the size of large drink bottle, a mount and large velcro strap to hold the battery in the basket or to the frame . there is also a small bag which contains the control electronics, a bit of cabling, Two types of throttle controls and a charger. with a folding trike you would have to be very careful about not pinching the cables. My motor kit came from ....solar bike.com.au. It was the cheapest one they had and works fantastic . It cost approx $1000 2years ago . there a many other kits available but it all gets a bit complicated sometimes. Good luck and happy travels Geoff 0421373665 you are welcome to call any time if you need help

Hello Geoff, Thank you very much for taking the time to provide a reply and one with the answer I was hoping to hear.
Regards
Geraldine

Not sure you will need to ask the manufacturer

You should find any saddle from a bike shop would be suitable to retrofit onto the bike.

I am thinking about buying a tricycle here in New Zealand. I make this kind of change to all my previous bicycles. On these Trike-Bikes changing the front chainring might be possible if it is one of the three options: Either a "One-Piece Crank", or a "3-Piece Crank", or a One-Piece Crank with a sprocket attached permanently. You might have to go on Amazon.com to buy the parts. A One-Piece Crank is like used in many older beach cruiser bicycles & is a simple and quick change over. You can get a chainring with as little as 28 teeth. With the 3-Piece Crank you have to switch to a 104 bcd crank set which is easy to buy and then install a chainring as small as 30 teeth but most smaller chainrings are 32 teeth. The trike needs to have a 68mm bottom-bracket cartridge with square taper spindle to make the mentioned changes. ~gg (3 May 16)