Utah Trikes - Trike Talk - Ep 4 - Trike Adaptability

Brayden: Welcome back everybody to the trike show! My name is Brayden

Harold: And I'm Harold

Brayden: And we're here to talk trikes.

Brayden: This week we're talking adaptability and customizable options to make the trikes more comfortable for each specific rider um whether that be weight or different things to help you get in and out of the trike. We're here to kind of talk about everything, to start off with our first question we're heavier guys we're bigger people, we need trikes that will hold us long-term right they're not going to crumble on us so what weight options trike rating options do we have that will hold higher weighted riders.

Harold: Well Brayden what I would start out with would be the Catrike MAX that is the highest weight capacity trike that we carry here. The weight capacity of the MAX is 425 pounds, which is awesome for bigger guys like you and me, that lets us get on the trike, lets us also put cargo on the trike. The Max is also pretty wide it has wide handlebar arrangement it's great. Going down from that if you're looking for something different like a Delta the USX HD that has a 400 lbs weight capacity also great. Then lower than that if you're not approaching those numbers the ICE Adventure HD is 330 lbs great trike that has a really comfortable seat if you go with their Ergo Luxe people who have ICE trikes already know it's awesome um then after that any other trike is going to have a weight limit of about 275 lbs to 300 lbs.

Brayden: Which kind of varies between model to model.

Harold: Yeah I mean ask us you know when you're calling into order.

Brayden: We do have that information on the website at the bottom of the product pages.

Harold: Yeah we do we do have that for the most part, if it's not on there give us a call we'll get it added or we'll tell you directly.

Brayden: Hey you brought up earlier the USX HD having that higher weight capacity, what makes that trike different than the Catrike Max or the Ice Adventure?

Harold: Well it's a Delta trike so that's going to have one wheel in the front two wheels in the back it's unique in that. The frame itself has a suspension shock right in the middle of it and it does also have under seat steering right next to you so it has the widest cockpit out of any of the trikes that we carry here make it a little more comfortable to make those easier to get right.

Brayden: Let's get into quads. How are they gonna stack at all?

Harold: I thought this was the trike show.

Brayden: What kind of weight capacity, should we expect in quads?

Harold: Starting out, the eQuad, that's our flagship quad here. It has a weight capacity of about 400 lbs, if you get that with an XL frame, you're looking at about 600 lb so even better for carrying cargo. That's what we intend for the quad, we want you to take stuff with it, that's what we're going with for the big boys and big girls out there. We also have the Fat Cat models which are derived from our Catrikes like the Catrike Villager and the Max those are going to share the same weight capacity, but be about 50 lbs more intensive. You can carry about 50 pounds more capacity.

Brayden: We have rated weight limit on them , but they are manufactured in house so we have that flexibility in increasing that weight capacity if we needed.

Harold: If you need very specific cargo riding needs or weight capacity needs we can work with that we can do a lot with it.

Brayden: Just let us know what those are happy to figure something out we just need to know the information.

Brayden: So speaking about the eQuad earlier, you mentioned that we can do the XL frame rather than the stock configuration, what does that mean?

Harold: Well I want to be clear the XL frame is only going to be available for the standard eQuad not our awesome 4x4 eQuad. What that entails is the XL frame is going to take the width of the Quad 4 Ines wider and then 4 in longer one of the main reasons um that people are going to go with the XL frame is that they can add larger Wheels the standard Wheels on the eQuad are 20x 4 in um with a larger frame we can go up to 20 26x 4 and we need to have that XL frame so you can allow for turning otherwise you're going to be pretty stuck in there you know of course that's also going to be valuable for wider riders wider cockpit area wider places to move we do also have the HD option there what we literally will do there is we will put gussets around the frame reinforcing it.

Brayden: That increases the weight capacity we had some had a utility purpose not too long ago.

Harold: Yeah they had they had some pretty specific cargo needs and we were able to get that weight capacity of that up to 850 pounds so we can we'll make it work.

Brayden: We can get something that'll work for each rider I�d be shocked if we need to go any larger than that.

Harold: We have UT custom we want to customize it.

Brayden: We want people out there it's about riding.

Harold: That's all that matters.

Brayden: So speaking about trikes quads deltas tadpoles, what would be the main advantage? I mean we could do a whole video about quads.

Harold: You guys let us know if that's what you want to see we're here to talk and we'll talk about anything we'll do whatever especially trikes and quads.

Brayden: But specifically relating to weight capacities, why would you choose one over the other? I mean what is the deciding factor for you?

Harold: It's pretty easy, price, money, that's what it's going to come down to for our quads those are much higher barrier to entry into getting into a quad price-wise I mean it's pretty easy to get into one of our eQuads or one of our Fat Cats and then spend well above $10,000 which for a lot of people that's very unapproachable but you go to something like the Catrike Max that's right under $4,000 which is still a lot of money.

Brayden: These aren't cheap.

Harold: These aren't cheap at all, but that's a lot more digestible than saying 12,000 for a quad and then that's it's still a great model to go with and then in then we have the USX HD which is below 2,000 so that's that's what I would consider if I'm going to get into one of these bigger heavier pieces of equipment I would consider price.

Brayden: I think that's more than fair right and to put it bluntly cost is going to be my main concern getting into one of these right.

Harold: Also where you're riding I mean if you're going to be going off-road a lot quads are going to do a little bit better they have that extra will for traction different.

Brayden: This kind of goes back to what I was saying we could film a whole video right about cargo removability haul ability we could do a whole thing on this.

Harold: Exactly but main thing to keep in mind price where do you want your price to be at set a budget and then we can work with that.

Brayden: Perfect I think that's good way to leave it so I know we speak about weight capacity which is like the primary reason for most riders, you want make sure you fit in it. Let's talk about customizability. You've already got the trike or quad you're looking for, what are some adaptive things we can do? I for example, I had a customer today, they just had a stroke they lost control of their left arm they can't pull back on a handle anymore. What other options do we have to make a trike and or quad rideable usable for them comfortably?

Harold: Sure well in the particular case what I would go with is I'd start out with getting one of our dual pull brake levers we have several options there um when we have the locking lever one without and then we can put that all on one side.

Brayden: So just to clarify dual pull brake levers, our trikes fundamentally come with a single brake lever on each side of your handle that's right one brake is going to control your right they go directly to your one caliper that's right our dual pull will go from both calipers and run them up to a single.

Harold: Two great cables coming from that one lever going to both calipers.

Brayden: Perfect I mean effectively making it brakeable from one lever exactly than having to pull on both think.

Harold: That's very important to clarify you hear us talk about dual pulls and I'm sure there's plenty of people that'll get absolutely thrown off by the vernacular.

Brayden: What other what other options do we got?

Harold: We have plenty of clamp on accessory mounts and whatnot so if you need to move all if you're gearing onto one side or all of your controls if you're getting a motor too um we have ways to mount those there um if you're going to an internally geared Hub that's pretty easy we're going to be coupling that with a bar end but yeah we have plenty of mounts grips and other things that we can do here to make it so that we can get all the controls on one side.

Brayden: We just had a trike come through the other day we have dual pull on one side right he got brake lever on one side he has a twist shift on the bottom his displays on the top the throttles right next to the display I mean everything that you need to do to control is right here you don't have to worry about anything now how are these on steering if I don't have any control on my right arm am I going to be able to control the trike from this and function all of my controls.

Harold: Absolutely you you can control any trike we have here with one hand one arm that's no problem at all it's not going to be an issue no just to make it clear we can do that for the right or the left side and putting all the controls in either.

Brayden: Could have done the same Rohloff set up on the right side no problem right and pretty Universal right so we just talked about limited mobility in your arms and hands um let's circle back a little bit to your legs feet say you have a harder time you're not you can you can still pedal but you have a hard time getting in and out of your trike.

Harold: Yeah I mean what I would factor in there we've already talked about a couple options here that have high seat Heights um if you're unable to stand up and down easily having a trike with the high heat height or or quad even like the eQuad or the Max or the USX HD those are all going to be great options to start with it just having something to assist you in getting on and up and off of the trike or quad we have plenty of options here each model of trike is going to have an easy entry aid. Catrike has their exit aids, Azub has their grab handles, Ice Helping Handles, the HP standing up aids, there's definitely a bunch of options there to just give you some more leverage to pull yourself up and down onto the trike.

Brayden: I'd like to talk about those entry bars too I love them I don't necessarily even need the help to get in and out of my trike I do pretty good I like having them as an additional bar to mount things to which is another topic for another time, but you don't have a lot of things to hook accessories to.

Harold: Right, for like computers you can even put your mirrors out there if you want to.

Brayden: Specifically, for getting in and out of the trike these are made for you to grab out all your weight on get in and out right you mentioned seat height a little bit ago I'd love to circle back and talk about height seat adapters for some of the Ice and Azub models.

Harold: Yeah Ice has a I think it's literally just called their ice Heist heat adapter you'll clamp that on right onto the frame and then you'll put your seat onto that and that'll raise you up a couple inches yeah I mean that's mainly going to be available for the Ice Adventure, Ice Adventure HD which if you're looking for awesome accessible highweight capacity grab handle.

Brayden: Yeah I mean Ice Adventures just being highly customizable trikes to begin with right.

Harold: It's going to be the same story with Azub they have that same kind of adapter it just is going to raise you up a couple inches so you can get in and out but when you're adding on that kind of high seat adapter you do need to be a little bit more wary about your high center of gravity.

Brayden: Raises the trike quite a bit you're I mean your whole a lot more prone to tipping right I would yeah something to keep in mind.

Harold: Something to keep in mind when you were looking for those higher seat ratings right you got to keep in mind trikes with high seats already are made to have those High seats adding on adapters onto that.

Brayden: Which allows us to circle into the deltas again right unlike the USX HD the other deltas generally have a higher seat rating right which tends to bring your enter gravity up which means these are prone to tipping a little more than the tadpool style.

Harold: You definitely need to be a little bit more careful when you're taking a tight turn you don't want to you don't want to get yourself in a position where you're going to have to take a tight turn quickly especially if you put a motor on those I've seen it happen plenty of times it's happened to me where I will swing my front wheel too quickly on those and then I'm on the ground.

Brayden: If a customer has a hard time getting in and out of a tadpole style trike a delta trike is going to be easier to at least mount and dismount right every time.

Harold: Speak speaking of staying inside of a trike we have a special video about foot suck what options should I have to avoid that

Brayden: Foot suck.

Harold: Yeah keeping my and keeping my feet on the pedals and staying on the trike what's I'm in it.

Brayden: I mean there's a couple of options as far as the pedals go couple years ago our most popular option were the power grip sport pedals which are just standard pedals that have little straps over the front of them so you'll actually put your feet in at an angle and then kind of lock them in into forward positions and they work great I mean they're going to keep your foot secure in the pedals it's also going to let you bring them back on the Back Spin which can be important to some people we have more popular options now like our UT custom heel support pedals right theion AC and theion AC being velcro AB being ratcheting ratcheting if you're familiar with the website but all that you need to know is we have a pedal that has two straps on there you'll put your foot on the pedal you'll strap over the top of your foot you'll have an ankle strap that goes on the back right and then they have a built-in heal support that will stop your foot so when you come up to this up angle here it won't let your foot fall it's going to keep you in place right which is where.

Harold: The danger zone

Brayden: and I'm guilty of I mean I don't love the straps they're great if you're looking for something to pull your foot back you're never going to fall out of the strap I love them for that plastic heel support in the back right so I got the velcro ones I RI the velcro off I just use the plastic backer make sure doesn't fall cuz that's what that's what my problem is.

Harold: Your trike your way

Brayden: Oh yeah I mean you're going to be playing with these every time you get on it you know there's going to be something you change you should you should definitely talking about pedals again though the power grips and the heel support we also have the clip-in pedals.

Harold: Right I mean Catrike comes standard with the platform side on their pedals and then the clip-in side right

Brayden: If you prefer riding with clip-in shoes we don't carry the shoes but you can get shoes that just click snap right into the pedals sure that they're SPD compatible yeah and we send out SPD Clips we've got them if you get a new catrike we send him with the SPD Clips right exactly but these just allow you to snap into the pedal there's no way to come out of the pedal until you kick your foot out to the side and it will actually unlatch and that's going to prevent leg suck from happening at all yeah do you want to clarify what leg suck is just for those that don't know.

Harold: Leg suck is when you're riding on your pedal and then your leg will slip off the pedal and then you'll get your legs hooked underneath the trike and that's that's going to hurt no matter what he can even break a bone.

Brayden: Going to be awful really if if your foot were to fall off the pedal catch the ground catch anything I don't know the train you're writing on say you catch a rock that's going to go right underneath the trike if you have a motor on your trike going 20 miles hour I don't ride all the time with my heel support pedals I should I don't love the clunkiness of them all the time.

Harold: but would you love getting your legs sucked underneath the tray

Brayden: I would hate to be bruised for exactly

Harold: yeah when it comes down to aesthetics and how things look doesn't matter you don't want to have it looks worse to be a cast

Brayden: yeah fair enough yeah so speaking about getting in and out of the trikes having limited mobility of your legs say you can't pedal anymore you don't have use of your legs you have no legs what options are available.

Harold: there's there's electric options and I'll get into those in a bit um but starting out um for hand Cycles our most popular option is going to be the Sun ht3 that has a kind of rowing motions that you'll start with and then it has a three-speed that comes standard with it and we can upgrade that to an eight speed it's great for all around writing it has a high seat height it is in that Delta configuration so if that's the kind of model that you like you're going be able to get into it easily you're going to be able to Pedal it easily there's also the HP options like the HP get-go hands on cycle or the Scorpion Hands-On cycle those are great uh they sit a little bit lower to the ground but they have a very sporty feel UT custom here we've been doing hand cycle conversions for years now um something we love doing we even have a Showcase of a video that we've done in the past we're working for this summer we're going to be coming up with a retrofit hand cycle kit primarily for the Catrikes but it's also going to be available for some other options

Brayden: little hint of something the future

Harold: a little bit smelling it on the Wind we have something coming to take the most popular recumbent trikes now and making them even more accessible

Brayden: Perfect I mean that's what we do here that's the hope let's get you out there let's get you riding.

Harold: we just want everyone to get out have some fun

Brayden: you mentioned electric option

Harold: I did

Brayden: let's get into that

Harold: absolutely starting out pretty much any of the trikes we have here any and all can be ridden without having to Pedal if you put on a motor with the throttle particularly the the Fang Motors let's come with a throttle so you can get like we've talked about get it with the heel support pedals and you don't have to Pedal at all if you just want to go out enjoy nature that's a great options we can also do a custom cradle um to just be more secure some position some of our trikes we can do we can customize it just something to keep your legs in there we do also have our not a Wier quad um that's is based on our EAD design it's a much more simplified design where it has no pedal at all and it comes with reverse that's a great option if you're looking for something a little bit more rugged for getting Outdoors um that's going to have a th000 watt motor it's going to climb really well on the beef

Brayden: fully electric you don't have to worry about pedaling you did mention our eQuad so if you did want something that does a little bit of pedaling with electric get the eQuad it's fantastic want to talk about the 4x4 a little bit

Harold: yeah I mean just take what we talked about on the eQuad and amp it by a 1000 million percent.

Brayden; about 7,000 yeah

Harold: 7,000 I mean that has 1700 watt Hub Motors in each and every wheel so if you are looking to get out tear it up in nature get the 4x4 fully electric right.

Brayden: Fully electric yeah super accessible really high seat rating right High weight rating fantastic.

Harold: yeah all around it is awesome

Brayden: what are some final accommodations we can do to make these trike squads tadpole deltas more accessible for each

Harold: all right well in in summary we can take pretty much anything we have here and make it work for you just recently we had an adult that was 30 in tall and we took everything from the seat to the frame and made it work for him so he was able to ride it he's still riding and he loves it we've talked a little bit about Motors easy entrys and heel support pedals everything like that I'd say the one thing to keep in mind in getting a motor Don't Be Afraid by The wattages and everything like that I know there's a ton of purist cyclists out there that are so against it Motors are really just the great equalizer they're going to help you pedal they're going to help you move and help you get up any heal or any terrain that you want to get up on mean

Brayden: I'd argue there's nothing that's made trikes or quads more accessible exactly than a motor

Harold: exactly they're the great equalizer they're going to help you get out they're going to help you enjoy your ride in summary if you can dream it if you want it Utah trikes is going to make it happen

Brayden: we get you out there on a trike writing soon as we can just let us know your needs just let us know we do

Harold: talk to us me and Brayden here we love trikes we love quads we love people writing them so talk to us and we'll make it happen

Brayden: we'll figure it out we've got a fix for everything just let us know

Trike Talk - Ep 4 - Trike Adaptability - There's a Trike for Everyone!