Brent -
This was extremely helpful information. Thanks!
Nate
"Brent Hugh" <
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> "N8" <
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> > I am researching Tandem adult-sized tricycles for a friend of mine and
her
> > husband who recently had a stroke.
> >
> > If anyone has any links or manufacturer names, pls post.
>
> You might consider the type of recumbent tricycle that is built so that two individual trikes can
> be linked together to make a sort of a "trike tandem".
>
> The advantage of this system is that the trikes can be linked together when you want (either
> because one person can't independently steer, or just because it's more fun for two people to ride
> tandemed up) but also broken up into two separate trikes when the one person becomes capable of
> riding independently again.
>
> We purchased such a pair of trikes for my brother who has balance and visual problems. At first he
> always rode tandemed up but after only a few months he had gained so dramatically in his ability
> that he now rides almost always independently, and we only tandem the trikes up "for fun".
>
> Our family has loved the two trikes that can be tandemed together. We have gotten an extraordinary
> amount of use out of them. They are an awful lot of fun--like riding a pedal-powered go-kart.
>
> I highly, highly recommend such trikes for anyone who has the sort of disability that makes
> walking or ordinary bicycle-riding difficult or impossible. With the tandem option, they are also
> great for visually impaired users.
>
> We considered an ordinary tandem bike for my brother, but he's large and heavy enough that none of
> the potential captains who would ride with him had the strength or tandem biking experience to
> make that work. The tandem trikes worked very well for him, because he will never "graduate" to
> riding an ordinary bike, but he very soon graduated to riding his own trike.
>
>
> Yes, recumbent trikes are "expensive" but, even for a pair of them, the total is far less than the
> price of a car. When you start adding up prices for rehabilitation services for a disabled person,
> even the most expensive trike starts to look like a bargain.
>
> And yes, the skinny-tired racing set is going to moan and groan about how "heavy" and "slow" the
> trikes are. But your friend who has had a stroke isn't going to care that some tight-bunned race
> weenie who can do 28 MPH on his $6000 carbon fiber racing bike can "only" make 23 MPH on the
> Penninger over the same course. This is a dramatic difference for the racing set (like the
> difference between first place and 179th place) but for the rest of us it means that it takes us 2
> minutes 14 seconds longer to get to the store.
>
> And on your trike, you'll be smiling the whole 2:14, so who cares that something else might get
> you there a little faster . . .
>
> Going up a hill can be slow, but (unlike a bicycle) it is *easy* and very *stable*. Because you
> needn't worry about balancing, you can go as slow as you want and you can stop to take a breather
> whenever you like (after all, you're carrying a built-in comfortable lounge chair with you
> wherever you go . . . ).
>
> As far as I know, there are two makes of recumbent trikes that can be tandemed together as I
> described above. One is the Penninger Voyager (Penninger also make a slightly cheaper model called
> the "Traveler" but I would stick with the Voyager if at all possible). See
>
>
http://www.penninger.com/Penninger%20Recumbents.htm or
>
http://www.penningerrecumbents.com/contact.htm
>
> Charles Penninger, who owns Penninger Recumbents, is very informative and helpful and I would take
> a few minutes to call and chat with him about your situation (phone # is on the web site).
>
> The other tandem-able trike is the Hase Kettwiesel. Look under "Products", then "Kettwiesel" at
>
>
http://www.hase-spezialraeder.de/content_e/index.htm
>
> The Penninger is a bit heavier than the Kettwiesel but the rider sits a bit higher (making it
> easier to get into & out of, and also improving visibility in traffic) and the Penninger has other
> advantages like the T-Bar, which makes getting into and out of the seat much easier for anyone
> with mobility issues. The Penninger's steering is dead solid and stable and it is very easy to
> ride and drive. The Penninger is, in general, extremely sturdy and "user-friendly", and that is an
> important concern in the use you are considering.
>
> I haven't had the chance to try a Kettwiesel but from the reports I have read, people who have
> them really like them.
>
> You can read short reviews of the Penningers, Kettwiesel, and a lot of other trikes at
>
>
http://www.bentrideronline.com/2002%20Buyer's%20Guide/Trikes%202002.htm
>
> You can read some of our experiences with the Penningers at
>
>
http://www.sunflower.org/~bhugh/trikes/
>
> Here is a page with some adventures of my friend Randy Niere, who is a stroke, heart-attack (etc.
> etc.) survivor:
>
>
http://65.64.114.185/Personal/katyjournal.htm
>
> Randy started out riding a trike but made so much progress with his strength, endurance, and
> balance that he switched to a (recumbent, under-seat steering) bike this year.
>
>
> I'm recommending what are called "recumbent tricycles", which come in two flavors: delta (two
> wheels in back, one in front) and tadpole (two wheels in front, one in back).
>
> But I would strongly advise against the sort of "old-fashioned adult tricycle" that looks like a
> blown-up version of a child's tricycle--the kind where the rider sits up high and there is only
> one wheel in front. These can be relatively inexpensive (a few hundred dollars) but the components
> are invariably very, very cheap. They typically have few or no gears (on a trike you NEED a wide
> range of gearing) and their design makes them extremely unstable. Your race-weenie-buddy who can
> make the Penninger go 23 MPH will only be able to make the "Giant Kid's Trike" go 9 MPH and will
> pay for taking it up to this dangerously high speed when he plants his face on the pavement
> turning a corner.
>
> The high center of gravity, forward seating position, and one front wheel of the Giant Kid's Trike
> make it astonishingly easy to tip this kind of trike 45 degrees to the left or right when
> cornering and/or going down a slight hill.
>
> A good recumbent trike (either tadpole or delta) is, by comparison, a marvel of stability
> and speed.
>
>
> You might also ask this question on alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent (I've taken the liberty of
> cross-posting this message to that group; please trim newsgroups appropriately if you reply), on
> the trikes mailing list at
>
>
http://www.alaska.net/~mnewell/html/trikes_list.html
>
> and/or on the relevant International Human-Powered Vehicle Association lists at
>
>
http://www.ihpva.org/mailing_lists/
>
>
> --Brent bhugh [at] mwsc.edu
