Thinking of a new trike

[cScjhb]

I hope you enjoy your new trike as much as I do mine. There is a lady that lives about 3/4 of a mile from me that has the same model trike that I do. She has M.S. that severely affects the right side of her body, both her arm and leg. We have started riding together. The riding benefits her by helping with muscle tone while it benefits my formidable body with needed exercise. We have found that it's good to have a riding buddy to motivate each of us to just do it when sometimes feeling a bit lazy. I do enjoy it. Looking forward to pictures of your completed trike..... Jim

[trike lady]

The project will be delayed due to missing and damaged parts. Sounds familiar, I went through the same thing with trike conversions.

[cScjhb]

The project will be delayed due to missing and damaged parts. Sounds familiar, I went through the same thing with trike conversions.

[trike lady]

It makes me wonder what is wrong with people who don't pay attention to detail and read the order to make sure all parts are packed or check to see if a part is damaged. Send the damaged part and piss off the customer, send them one airless tire and not a set of 3. I paid over $1300.00 for a trike that was shipped from the factory not correct. The seller in Michigan didn't pack it and ship it the factory out of Jacksonville did. I notified the seller and sent pics to him to jog the memory of the worker who packed the order incompletely. You talk about sloppy they even managed to throw the nut & bolt that holds the front fender on loose in the box. I paid $155.00 for a set of 3 airless tires and got 1, that's an expensive tire.

[rhino 2]

It makes me wonder what is wrong with people who don't pay attention to detail and read the order to make sure all parts are packed or check to see if a part is damaged. Send the damaged part and piss off the customer, send them one airless tire and not a set of 3. I paid over $1300.00 for a trike that was shipped from the factory not correct. The seller in Michigan didn't pack it and ship it the factory out of Jacksonville did. I notified the seller and sent pics to him to jog the memory of the worker who packed the order incompletely. You talk about sloppy they even managed to throw the nut & bolt that holds the front fender on loose in the box. I paid $155.00 for a set of 3 airless tires and got 1, that's an expensive tire.

Some heads up companies.....Will weigh the box before they ship it out and if it's short a part they'll know by the Weight Discrepancy....

[trike lady]

I agree, but the packer still has a dealer order sheet to follow. I know when I made out the order for a conversion on one of the forms it asked if I wanted the white stripe on the tires facing in or out, I check off 'Out' and someone not paying attention faced them in. Some where I had seen a form that was handed out and the form was to see how alert you were and if you read before you fill it out. Me, I read everything and I sign no document with blank spaces.

[trike lady]

Well, I got some good news the correct parts are on their way and the company is including a return shipping label for the wrong items. This is a U.S.A. made trike and it seems that Trailmate has good customer service.

[rhino 2]

Well, I got some good news the correct parts are on their way and the company is including a return shipping label for the wrong items. This is a U.S.A. made trike and it seems that Trailmate has good customer service.

...........

[trike lady]

The correct tires on rims and an undamaged fender came in yesterday evening via UPS and tomorrow they pick up the box of incorrect parts. Then begins the fun of building a trike in my living room. I do have to wait a little bit longer as I have to order tools for the assembly, how did I know years later I'd be putting something complex together. It would be hilarious if it were a Goldwing trike and figuring a way to get it out the door.

[trike lady]

Let the fun begin, the missing hardware has arrived tonight.

[trike lady]

I've put a lot of stuff together but this trike is a probably one of the worst projects. Ikea furniture is easier to assemble . It has a dual chain drive a regular chain from the main sprocket to the three speed hub and then a secondary one from the 3 speed hub to the rear axle and neither chain can be too tight, its fun trying to get the right tension on both and not disturbing them when tightening the two halves . I have a couple of pics from this build in my phone and will post them tomorrow.

[trike lady]

Here are 2 photos from the build, in the one pic is the double chain drive and was that fun to get right and to make sure that neither chain is tight and they run straight. Then its on to the 3 speed setting so that it will shift correctly.

[paws]

Val… your earlier trike mechanic career has stood you in good experience to tackle this thing. Keep us posted!

[trike lady]

I took the trike for a test run and discovered the seat was way too low, the gearing is awful and the steering was twitchy. Everything can be corrected. The seat was raised a bit more and I got the necessary tools to tighten the steering, but now I must search for a 44 Tooth main sprocket, really don't need it geared that low and the plastic rat trap pedal sux especially when you have a boot with a lug sole. It is going to get some upgrading. But the good part is that it is Made in USA.

[cScjhb]

Your test run matches the experience I had with the Raleigh 3-speed that I initially thought I wanted. I found the gearing way too low and the bike also seamed a bit twitchy. The sales guy told me that bike was intentionally built narrow in order to go through standard width home doors. The 7 speed I settled on is a bit wider. I only use 3 gears, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. No real need for anything more. I'm sure once you get it sorted you will be very happy. I still ride mine a few times a week..... Jim

[trike lady]

That was the main problem, fitting it through the front door. The gearing problem is that I have an "Industrial" model and it is set up for toting heavy loads and not street use. But 3speed bicycles have larger front sprockets and easier to pedal and so I search for a larger one. It's funny how similar the problems with pedal trikes and motorcycle trike conversions are. I'll get it up and running the way I want it, it will just take time to find the right parts.

[trike lady]

I ordered a 44T chain-ring to replace the small 36T one. This is going to be a PIA as I am going to have to disassemble the whole thing, add links and order some specialty tools to disassemble the one piece crank assembly . I found a seller on the Walmart website that has the chain ring I need for the upgrade. I will also be adding regular pedals as the off road ones were worthless. So sometime in the future I should have this tricycle serviceable.