A few people have asked for more details about my trike, how it's set up, and how it's worked out, so here they are.
The Trike
The trike is an
HP Velotechnik Scorpion FX. It's known as a 'tadpole trike', which means it has two wheels in front, which are used for steering, and one wheel at the back. Power is transmitted from pedals forward of the front wheels, on a boom, via a very long chain to the back wheel. An idler under the seat deflects the chain to allow it to pass under the seat without having to lower the pedals or raise the seat, keeping the pedalling position comfortable and the center of gravity low.
The trike has a number of gearing and other parts options. Mine's equipped with Avid BB7 cable disk brakes, with each brake controlled by a lever on the corresponding handlebar. Crosslinked configurations are possible, but I think I actually prefer this setup - it lets me avoid skids if I'm braking on a corner.
Gearing consists of 3 front chainrings, a 9 speed cassette, and a 3 speed internal hub, between them offering an astonishing 81 gears. The front and rear deraileurs are controlled using bar end shifters, while the hub has a twist shifter on the left handlebar. This gear setup is moderately complex, but provides an astonishingly wide gear range - from 12 to 120 gear inches, roughly - and has proved to be pretty invaluable on steep hills with my bags full.
If I'd had infinite time and money to prepare, I would've got the
Rohloff Speedhub instead, which has 14 evenly spaced gears in an internal hub, but the lead time on getting a custom made bike in was too high for that to be practical. As it is, the current configuration has served me very well.
In terms of riding experience, the trike is a great deal of fun. Being so low to the ground, it feels fast - you have to adjust your perception of how quickly you're going a little bit - and although it's a little slower going up hills, it really roars down the downhills. I've approached 80km/h going downhill in the right conditions, and unlike a regular bike where it quickly starts to feel precarious, I don't have any sense of danger except from the prospect of unexpected obstructions - certainly, a bit of rough road isn't going to send me tumbling over the handlebars.
The rear wheel has suspension, which does a lot to smooth out the ride. There's no way to stand up on the pedals through rough spots like a regular bike, so suspension is more important than ever. HP Velotechnik sell a full suspension model, the Scorpion FS, but it's heavier, and suspended front wheels inevitably comes with some compromise in handling, so I opted for the FX. Some of the roughest roads have had me reconsidering my choice as my feet slowly turn numb from the vibration, though.
The trike handles touring very well, too. The panniers are directly above the rear wheel, and fairly low, and the only effect they seem to have on handling are the increased inertia from their weight. There's space for two smaller lowrider panniers in front of the ones I'm using, but I haven't had any need for them given my light load.
Accessories
Clipless pedals and cleated shoes are pretty essential for any tour, but a quick consideration of what's likely to happen to your legs if they slip off the pedals of a trike at speed and hit the road reveals that it's even more important on a trike. I've gone with a fairly standard setup with Shimano SPD pedals and matching shoes; the pedals have a flat side in case I decide I just want to go down to the shops on a day off.
The riser that the front deraileur attaches to has mounting points for an accessory bracket for lights etc; oddly enough, HP Velotechnik don't make one themselves, but the competing manufacturer ICE does. After initial experiments with a 3d printed mount (with mixed results), I obtained an ICE bracket, which you can see above.
On the top, a high power LED front bike light, which has so far seen limited use. On the bottom, a
GoPro HD Hero 2. Mounting it upside down has had a surprisingly large impact on the video it produces - not only does it no longer tilt to the side when subjected to rough roads, but the rolling shutter artefacts caused by road vibration have all but vanished.
Initially, both handlebars had mirrors attached on accessory bars. A rear view mirror is pretty essential on a trike, since looking behind you isn't as easy as on a bike; using this one has become second nature to me.
The left-hand mirror I've replaced with a 3d printed mount to which I've epoxied a gel phone case for my Galaxy Nexus; this works surprisingly well as a phone mount, and puts the phone exactly where I need it to be able to see it easily and operate it when necessary.
On the back, a
JOOS solar charger. Originally, this was to power my phone on the road, so I could have the screen on continually to use it as a cycle computer. Unfortunately, my phone has been gradually going crazy; it's now convinced it's charging all the time, exhausts its battery quickly, and refuses to charge from the JOOS, making the setup effectively useless.
Also on the back is a Camelbak Unbottle, which may as well be custom-made for the trike. Unlike most Camelbak products, there's no shoulder straps, just a single strap with a clip, which sits perfectly around the headrest.
Wrapped around the flagpole post is one of my experiments with lighting, a length of EL wire and inverter. Unfortunately, it's dimmer than I expected, and is useless in all but pitch black conditions (which I've thus-far avoided riding in). When needed, I have a
Fiber Flare light I attach across the panniers instead.
Finally, the panniers, two Deuter Rack Pack 2 saddlebags. With 48 litres between them, my reduced 'credit card touring' load fits in them comfortably. Being bright red, they're pretty visible from a distance, and the rain covers are bright yellow, and even easier to see.
Tyres
I gave some thought to the Tyres I wanted before I bought them. Obviously the
Schwalbe Marathon Racers the bike came with weren't going to be workable - they're fast, but have absolutely no puncture protection. The
Marathon Plus was tempting - it's got a full centimeter of latex rubber on the inside, and they're supposed to be all but puncture proof, but they're very heavy, have a lot of rolling resistance, they're not available in folding bead (for obvious reasons), and they're supposed to be very difficult to fit.
Instead, I settled on the
Marathon Supreme. These were more expensive than the Plus, but they're lighter than the Racers, almost as fast, and are rated almost as puncture resistant as the Plus. Since they're available in folding bead, I was able to order four, and keep one in the bottom of my panniers in case something goes drastically wrong with one on the road.
I'm pleased to say that they've worked out exceptionally well. After riding over 1500 kilometers on them, I've had zero punctures, which I think is a good showing by anyone's standards. If they're slower than the racers, it's insignificant enough that I can't tell the difference, and they grip very well both in wet and dry.
Wear-wise, they're doing pretty well. The front tyres show little sign of wear at all. The rear tyre shows significant wear - the edges of the pattern have been brought almost level with the grooves in the middle of the tyre - but I think they've got a lot of mileage in them yet.
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| Rear tyre wear |
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| Front tyre wear |
Maintenance and Repairs
As mechanical issues go, for the most part I've been very fortunate:
- In the first 10 minutes or so of the first day, my rear tyre tube had some sort of valve issue that caused it to deflate quickly whenever inflated to high pressure. I changed out the tube after establishing it wasn't a puncture, and haven't had any trouble since - I put it down to a defective tube.
- I've had significant problems with my phone, and powering it, as I outlined above.
- Towards the end of the North Island part of the trip, the shifter for my rear deraileur started to fall apart. The plastic ring that protected the innards came apart, and the disc that provided the indexing facility broke in half and came out. The end result was that I could still shift gears, but they were friction-shift rather than indexed. I got the lever replaced - at some expense, since they don't sell parts, only pairs of levers - in Nelson, and all has been well since.
- Coming into Seddon, my pedals mysteriously siezed up momentarily, after which the bike made ominous grinding noises whenever I put significant pressure on the pedals. This turned out to be due to the chain slipping off the idler wheel, and was fixed with 5 minutes' work and an allen key.
Clothing and equipment
For the most part, my research into what to take has paid off. In particular, all the merino wool clothing has worked out exceptionally well. It's lightweight, packs down well, dries fast, and keeps me cool and warm as needed, even when wet.
The rain gear has been less useful than I thought. I've used the raincoat on a couple of occasions, and I'm glad I have it, but often simply putting on warmer clothing and putting up with getting wet is the best option. Even though the rain gear is gore-tex, it still retains a substantial amount of moisture, so wearing it when exerting myself a lot, such as climbing a hill, can result in me ending up wetter than I would have without it. The rain pants have turned out to be totally useless - I haven't taken them out of the bag even once.
Also on the useless front are the arm warmers. I've used them once, but that was a particularly cold but clear morning that was going to warm up later. For the most part it makes more sense to wear a long-sleeved top.
I haven't used any of my spare parts, but I consider that more a matter of good luck than of poor planning.
