Things I've learned over the course of a year of owning and riding a recumbent trike:
Never believe that something is as good as "they" say it is. You have to experience it yourself. That can be a catch 22 if you think too much about it. How do you experience owning a trike if there is no one that has one or even sells one unless you travel 10 hours to get to a shop (which happens to be the only one in Japan)? BTW, the shop didn't have the trike in stock. So, I had a choice, either do nothing or take a risk and do as much research as I could on trikes. I could not find any cons about trike ownership, but I did find lots of biased opinions in favor of them. Hey, ICE had these cool videos and their Facebook page had lots of information (so I thought). I was sold on the fact that the trike was made in Europe (which I later found out it was not) and the company is one of the most experienced in the industry (which it is). Well, at least they have a very good warranty. My advice, try to test ride as many as you can. If you can't, learn to learn from your mistakes. I knew if I rode, like in the good 'ole days, I would feel better and look at my senior years in a different light. Sure enough, I lost 12kg, heart rate/ blood pressure dropped like a rock, my sleep has improved, and I created an escape from everyday life. In other words, triking has been good for my mind, body and soul.
Stuff happens...sure I'm the only one in ICE recumbent history to ever own a defective frame. Yeah, right. I went through a pair of front tires in 3000km. I should have gotten at least 6k to 10k. The alignment was slightly out, but the dealer said it was fine. Learning from my mistakes, I became an expert on alignment and trike maintenance in general. Just recently, my trike was experiencing hesitation while climbing the steep hills around Tsukahara. I expressed my thoughts on the matter to my dealer and he passed that info along to the manufacturer of the motor. Of course, the manufacturer thought it was a fluke occurance and doubtful it would ever happen again since the motor is still relatively new. I had them send me an analyzer so I could see for myself if this problem was in my imagination. Long story short, the motor did have a torque sensor problem and will require a trip back to the manufacturer. I'm waiting for all that to unfold as I had planned ahead of time to have a motor on hand before I sent the defective motor back. The motor is on it's way back to the dealer and the new motor is on the trike ready to be ridden when the weather clears. You already know about the frame. With the new front suspension, all is good. I've learned that disc brake pads have a short life in hill country. I love descending down those hills at 75km+, but it comes at a cost. I purchase brake pads in bulk to take care of that situation.
Another thing worth mentioning about owning a trike in the middle of nowhere is that maintenance becomes the owners responsibility. I knew this way before purchasing a trike. I've always been mechanically inclined so this wasn't much of an issue for me. I bring this up because of the amount of tools I've had to acquire since becoming a tricyclist. Trike stand, torque wrench, cog removal tool, crank arm remover, headset removal tool, and several more that I don't remember the names for. This is on top of the standard bike tools that I've owned over the years. Working on the trike is fun, but riding is more fun.
Speaking of riding, this year minus two months for maintenance and weather, I've ridden 4000km+ mostly either uphill or down. No flatland around here. If I ever get my act together and have a reliable trike, I'll set my goal to 10000km for a year. It's not anything I lose sleep over. Heck, I'm 65 and not getting any younger. Just getting out of bed is a major achievement for many individuals of my age. If I make this goal, great, if not, well, I'll concentrate on having leisurely fun. I do want to keep riding till at least 75. Why not?
Speaking of leisurely fun...I have a sound system on my trike that would make any music aficionado envious. OMG, you listen to music while riding? Isn't that illegal? Just wait a minute. Sometimes those long hills need a distraction. Music is the perfect cure. I mostly listen to acoustic instrumentals and throw in some classic rock if I want to quicken the pace. Music is provided via Amazon Prime Unlimited. I made a speaker mount that is tucked away behind my head, mounted on what I call an accessory post. The post is made of a carbon fiber tube. Lightweight, but rigid and strong. My iphone is controlled by a remote mounted near the steering tube which then controls the volume and song selection. The iphone rests in a clear top pocket of my Ortlieb bag mounted right next to my side. I use this bag to store snacks, sunglasses, spare tube, toilet paper, and a first aid kit. The sound system is one of the few things I have never had any problems with. It's fantastic to have "Sunday" acoustic guitar in the background while gliding past spectacular scenery or some Springsteen helping me up a steep incline. And to answer that question, nope, nothing illegal about having a speaker as long as I'm not distracted from traffic. Oh, and about that...also mounted on that accessory tube are turn signals, 400Lm blinking lights (front and rear), video camera, and radar with video. The radar is tied into the speaker system so, when a car is anywhere in sight, the radar alerts me both audibly and visually. In other words, the music automatically lowers and the radar alerts me of oncoming vehicles. I don't have to bother looking in my rear view mirrors for traffic. It's a good thing.
Speaking of good things...another addition are sealed bearing idler wheels from T-cycle. I got tired of those silly chain tubes. Who the heck needs them? They trap dirt and grime. They're ugly and most of all, make noise when pedaling. The new idler wheels are fantastic! Clean, solid, well made and super quiet. So quiet in fact, that I was able to sneak up on a wild boar before he/she even knew I was there. I don't recommend doing this, but the boar was only the size of a large dog and I didn't see any tusks...while I was riding quickly away. Several other mods are installed, but I'd like to do further road tests before disclosing them. Oh, and the dual battery mod is working very nicely.
Okay, enough of that long-winded stuff, let's see some photos. These are in no particular order since Blogger has a mind of its own when it comes to downloading images.
