I am a 65 year old who has bought an electric TRIKE second-hand

[Cindy]

I have arthritis & walking any distance is painful.... so, I thought get a simple bike. I live near the river in Exeter, there are tons of fabulous, flat cycle routes along the river & canal. I bought a pristine vintage 70's Raleigh Shopper. However, my knees could not manage the pedaling. Sold that & bought a second-hand electric Trike, bright red & in very good condition... the person selling could not tell me much about it & there wasn't a manual but I bought it anyway!!
No makers name on the frame but 'Wuxing' on the components
I am really finding it hard to get used to - Is it my age or co-ordination, I never had problems in my past?
If anyone out there has any hints or tips - they would be welcome I paid £400 for it and am feeling a wee bit stupid & scared of the damn thing.

 

[flecc]

I am really finding it hard to get used to - Is it my age or co-ordination, I never had problems in my past?
If anyone out there has any hints or tips - they would be welcome I paid £400 for it and am feeling a wee bit stupid & scared of the damn thing.

It's neither you or your age Cindy, upright trikes are notoriously difficult to adapt to for anyone of any age, and especially difficult for anyone who has previously ever ridden a bike. When a trike is narrow at the rear as your's is, it's even more difficult.

The problem is that on turns there's always a feeling that it will topple and we want it to bank into the turn.

The only things I can suggest are first, try to treat the handlebar as a tiller, boat fashion, using just one hand on the bars to pull or push into a corner from time to time will help with that. Second, only tackle corners very, very slowly until more confident, and accept that cornering a trike will always be very slow. Third, fight the instinct to lean into the corner, just sit upright and tiller steer slowly into the corner,

It will come good in the end, but it will never be remotely like riding a normal bike.
.

 

[4bound]

I've never ridden a trike but I have met a number of enthusiasts at times. As I understand you have to steer by using the handlebars to turn. Many people think this is what they do on a two wheel bike, but in fact its almost entirely by leaning - unless you are manoeuvering at very low speed. This is bound to feel very unnatural after years of two wheel riding. I have read that people learning to ride a 3 wheel motorbike find it easier if they have never ridden a 2 wheel one.
So I think its a matter of persevering for a while until your mind and body starts to get used to the different feel - don't expect it to feel like a 2 wheel bike.
65 years is not old in today's world, I'm sure that is not the problem. Let us know how you get on.

The CTC have some info here http://www.ctc.org.uk/cyclists-library/bikes-and-other-cycles/configuration/tricycle

and there is even a Tricycle association.
http://tricycleassociation.org.uk/

 

[timidtom]

Hi and welcome!

 

[annsimpson]

I once tried one and couldn't turn any corners, I ended up in several trees and bushes, it felt really weird and felt wrong to have to turn the handlebars to go the way you want, gave us a laugh though. I'd practise where there aren't any cars or sharp turns

 

[RobF]

Good advice from flecc and 4bound.

The trike and the conversion look tidy.

I expect the handling of it is not helped by the relatively narrow track of the rear wheels.

Some trikes are designed to a nominal pushchair width, the thinking being that the trike will then be able to go most places a pushchair can.

That's probably a good thing if you can get used to using the trike.

Some of the wider ones struggle with A gates and other obstructions on paths.

You have a better chance with your one.

 

[hoppy]

I have arthritis & walking any distance is painful.... so, I thought get a simple bike. I live near the river in Exeter, there are tons of fabulous, flat cycle routes along the river & canal. I bought a pristine vintage 70's Raleigh Shopper. However, my knees could not manage the pedaling. Sold that & bought a second-hand electric Trike, bright red & in very good condition... the person selling could not tell me much about it & there wasn't a manual but I bought it anyway!!
No makers name on the frame but 'Wuxing' on the components
I am really finding it hard to get used to - Is it my age or co-ordination, I never had problems in my past?
If anyone out there has any hints or tips - they would be welcome I paid £400 for it and am feeling a wee bit stupid & scared of the damn thing.View attachment 11214

Hi Cindy, I like your trike.Well done for buying it! You just need practice! I met a lady in Devizes recently happily doing her shopping on a trike like yours. She paid £2000 for hers!
Best wishes, hoppy

 

[Kuorider]

If you can't live with the trike, a solution is to use a front wheel drive E bike with EZ trainers
http://www.ez-trainer.com/ I have fitted a couple of these for mildly disabled users with balance problems. You can buy these in euros from Le Cyclo in France http://www.lecyclo.com/ The quick release kit is worth having for the wheels if you have a restricted access for storage. One old Gal who thought her cycling days were over was doing figures of eight in the local park within a day.

Edit , use google translate on the site. Put ez trainer into the search box.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You soon will adapt adat to the new way of steering. Most people don't realise that you turn the handlebars the opposite way to what you want to go to steer the bike in the right direction, but on a trike, you steer in the same way as what you want to go. It takes a bit of time for your brain to unlearn the way you used to do it.

Contrary to popular beliefs, you do not steer a bicycle or motorcycle by leaning it or transfering body weight. I posted a video a while ago, which showed that it was impossible to steer a motorcycle by leaning. You have to turn the handlebars in the opposite direction to steer. The steering geometry will naturally do that when you lean the bike a bit.

 

[RobF]

You have to turn the handlebars in the opposite direction to steer. The steering geometry will naturally do that when you lean the bike a bit.

Strange but true.

Years ago I went out with a motorcycle instructor who demonstrated counter steering.

To turn left, he told us to push gently on the left hand bar end, and do the same thing with the right bar to turn right.

It works.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Here's the video. It's one of the best at explaining what happens when you steer a rwo wheeled vehicle.

 

[twinkle]

Hi Cindy
and welcome to life on 3 wheels - all trikes need a bit of time to adapt,
because you cannot lean the trike you will find it easier to lean your body to compensate .

Try a nice quiet car park for an hour where to can get accustom to its little quirks and soon it will b second nature , We started e-triking a couple of years ago and have found it "fun"

But we use tadpole e-trikes ! ( see the avitar )
these handle a bit like underpowered go-karts but still need a "lean" and some body movement to get the best out of them

regards emma