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Matt McCambridge | profile | all galleries >> seating and mobility >> tricycle "frogs" 7/06 tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

tricycle "frogs" 7/06

"if you want to meet a princess you've got to kiss a lot of frogs": ie build and test lots of ugly ideas to get that one beautiful solution. The "reverse" trike w. the drive and steering wheel in back was a frog, so unstable as to be unusable offroad in part due to overly narrow track width and a long wheelbase (for traction I was trying to put the front wheels far away), too much trail in the fork (the contact patch swings way sideways when you turn, and you fall the other way), and lots of heavy metal up high. however people didn't mind the overhead chain, transfers from the ground via the front were easy, and uphill traction was great. the trike with a roof (the homebuilt transportation of a local electrician w. polio) was extremely stable and maneuverable with its wide 36" track width and short 48" wheelbase and has me rethinking my earlier assumption that trikes should fit through doorways / narrow market stalls, this guy (who can walk up to 100 yards w. crutches) uses his like a car. we'll make something similar. The other two (the one in red a variation on US sport trike and the one in black a 20"-wheel version of a cargo trike from DISACARE in Zambia) yielded no great surprises. on the black one, the chain is routed through a tube for stiffness and grease protection, some people like the no-armrest seat (easy to turn and reach cargo) but people w/o strong trunk fall sideways. In the red one, not everyone can tolerate footrests on the fork and with that much rake angle it's hard to ride w/o a centering spring. email me at mccambridge@hotmail.com if interested in more/specific feedback.
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trike user testing
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