Pre Krate 24" Springer Fork???

[Schwinn Sales West]

I'm sorry we got so far off this original post.

John

 

[cruisin_on_my_schwinn]

I thought these were neat since they werw also dual drive in a size besides 24'

 

[cruisin_on_my_schwinn]

No I'm not aware of that product.

I do not think a tandem trike is a good idea. Basically, it's a geometry issue. The single trikes were built the rear width to get them through a house door jamb. When you combine that "relatively narrow" width the long length of a tandem, it is not able to hold up two riders. The normal single rider tribike's were marginal on turn over stability especially when you ride over a curb at an angle. This is the reason the CPSC recalled all of the motorsport's ATC's (three wheeled cycles) (poor stability) and the manufacturers developed what we know today as ATV's four wheeled all terrain vehicles.

My daughter has run marathons for years, including the Boston Marathon. She has developed a neurological balance issue and now has to ride a three wheeled bicycle. She rides with the Challenged Athletes group and rides her trike each year from San Francisco to San Diego. She has been through all of the three wheeled options. She tried a carbon fiber trike (one wheel in front, two in back) and she was not stable enough to ride the bike safely at speed. She now rides a three wheel recumbent with two wheels in front, and one in the rear. She is trying to get her current three wheel recumbent accepted as a legal bike handicap option for the Paris Para Olympics. Sorry for all of the side story, but we are proud of her for not giving up her racing in spite of her new challenge.

John

Dont be, anything you feel like sharing im willing to listen. But as far as trikes i would of loved for ret bar to have put these into production

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

Dont be, anything you feel like sharing im willing to listen. But as far as trikes i would of loved for ret bar to have put these into production

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My guess is that they did not use this design because it was not cost effective or practical.

It would require a lot of special tooling to build coaster brake hubs that worked in reverse rotation for only one wheel. If you put both Gobby's and Ret Bar's sales together I doubt they could buy enough of these special tooled hubs to bring the cost into line. These companies built the tri bikes, and also the conversion kits before the bikes to use as many stock bicycle parts as possible to keep their retail selling cost down. They used a single side drive with a normal "extra" front on the right side. Pretty simple and it worked well. The "new and improved" design Ret Bar came up with was using a differential in the middle of a live axle. This is the design that uses the 5/8" special pin drive hubs. This allowed both wheels to drive, which was more of a marketing gimmick. The real benefit was "both wheels braked" the bike without any side pull that was experienced with the single wheel drive bikes. The other advantage of the single live axle was you did not need to align the right and left rear wheels to each other to prevent drag and tire wear.

John