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Building a tricycle up for my son who can't ride a bicycle due to balance issues. The plan is to run a 24" frame, dual 24" wheels on the rear and 26" up front. I've got a good idea of what I want to do but there are a couple of issues that I need more advice with.
[list][*]What's the largest width rim to correctly fit a standard width front hub? The closest to fatbike width the better for suspension[/*]
[*]Suggestions for high-volume, adjustable reach hydro levers that could drive two calipers?[/*][/list]
If anyone is interested I'll make a build thread but there's still some design considerations that need to be planned out.
http://www.trykit.com/ might be able to help. They have an axle conversion kit - probably the best way to go if your son is growing. How old is your son?
Trikes typically have two brakes on the front rim. Magura hydraulics for dual activation. Wheel size isn't important on a trike, he doesn't have to be able to reach the ground.
Thought about a KMX? Our two boys had one, and I ride a Catrike. Haze Kettweisels are also very popular (but expensive).
I'd never heard of the KMX. They look like they could deal with fire roads and some tame MTB trails.
Two wheels up front is more stable, and built new rather than from a five years old hardtail. We might have a winner.
Thankyou for your advice!
KMX is [b]very[/b] heavy for off-road and even fire roads - down hills they will be OK but have low clearance, then you've got to get it back uphill. They are a lot of fun, however. Just passed mine onto my nephews. I think you really need 4 wheels for balance off-road. There are options, but they are not cheap options
The catrike is lighter, adult sized, fairly quick and even more fun!
I knew it would be too good to be true!
My son is 9, and around 30" X-seam, so still a long way off riding adult size bikes. Do you know any quadricycles that you could suggest? I've already come to the realisation this is a fairly niche markets so yes, will be pricey.
Carv x quadricycle. If still available. That's pretty niche!
ICE make a full fat wheeled tadpole trike (two wheels at the front is tadpole, two at the back is a delta). ICE are made in Falmouth and we're one of the UK pioneers of recumbent trikes. My bet is they'd make you anything you asked for.
A 30" x seam will get him on a small adult recumbent such as a Catrine micro If you are near Windsor, drop me a line.
Whilst he is still young, it is nice to know that there will be no shortage of options for your son. Another option for now might be a kiddyback tandem, you balance on the front, he sits on the back.
EDIT Utah Trikes make a custom catrike quad for off road, and a good resource is always bentrider online http://www.bentrideronline.com/?tag=quad
Quads are really for load carrying - a tadpole trike is the best all-round option. There are a few for smaller people - the Hase Trets, the HPVelotechnik Gekko FXS - but you're looking at a decent amount of money too. But unlike conventional bikes, they can grow with your son - you won't have to replace it every few years.
The big problem with upright trikes is stability - they're fine for pottering about, but push them hard and they can be quite tippy, and they're also affected quite a bit by road camber.
Utah Trikes quad conversion $5000, and he'll need to grow a bit. And I agree with Ben that a taadpole trike is a better option for normal riding. But if he wants off road then this is the tool:
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With that, I've now outed myself as a serious recumbent geek. Nice trade-ins you have on Ebay Ben; that carbon frame is a work of art. I just can't afford/justify it at the moment!
when it comes to driving two calipers from one lever...
we found it to work best to have two levers with a alumiunium strap holding them together so when one was pulled the other was pulled the same amount that way we retained the designed lever travel for the caliper and didnt risk running out of fluid in the master cylinder as the pads wore down.
was still cheaper than buying the specific maguras designed for twin calipers at the time.....
and even then it was much much easier to run BB7s with a cable splitter than having to specify the hydros - but customer choice and all that.
There's also the Tektro Auriga Twin system - that's used a lot on the HP trikes, works very well. Or of course there's a bunch of solutions to run two mechanical discs from one lever.
on3wheels is the forum for all things upright trikey.