scorpion recumbent trike

Hello

A few days ago I had my first ride on a recumbent, and I'm in love. It was
snowy and slippy, so I didn't try the two-wheeler, only the three-wheeler.
Me and the trike got on very well, and I flew down the street at unsafe
speed right off the bat. Fortunately nothing happened, and I soon realised
how easily I was corrupted in the comfy embrace of this seductive wonder.

I liked the Scorpion's low seat, 26cm from the ground, and the fact that
you don't need to balance, and the superior comfort compared to an upright.

I'm no longer trying to justify the cost, I just want one. Problem is,
which one? The only commercially available recumbents for hundreds of km
are the HP Velotechnik Scorpion and StreetMachine. From articles in
VeloVision, the ICE trikes are essentially equivalent, so it's not worth a
trip abroad to try one.

I'll try the two-wheeled StreetMachine once the roads are dry, but I
suspect I'll end up getting the Scorpion. It doesn't matter to me that a
bike would be faster, I doubt it would be as much fun. If I had a long
commute I might appreciate saving some time, but I don't, so I won't.

Then there's the issue of getting it in and out of the basement. I need to
measure that carefully. Perhaps tilting the trike on edge?

I'm essentially looking for a pat on the back. If at some point I find
something I like better then the Scorpion, I'm betting it's a common
enough trike that I could recoup a fair bit of the investment.

Aiolos has a folding recumbent which might be practical on trains, I might
consider that in the future (there are none here to try out). The folding
trikes seem too bulky for anything but a car trunk, but a folding
recumbent bike might be small enough to interest me.

Erik Sandblom
--
Oil is for sissies

Why not the Catrike? That's what I ended up buying. Consistently high
ratings from the bent world. Their CaTrike TRAIL Model at about 31lbs and
US$ 2000 or so could be shipped easily. I got the CaTrike ROAD model. I know
what you mean about justifying the costs etc. I test road two wheel bents
and the trikes. I knew right away that I had found my new bike. Anybody who
tries one will "get it".



"Erik Sandblom" wrote in message
newsp.tnul87xczubk0m@toshiba...
Hello

A few days ago I had my first ride on a recumbent, and I'm in love. It was
snowy and slippy, so I didn't try the two-wheeler, only the three-wheeler.
Me and the trike got on very well, and I flew down the street at unsafe
speed right off the bat. Fortunately nothing happened, and I soon realised
how easily I was corrupted in the comfy embrace of this seductive wonder.

I liked the Scorpion's low seat, 26cm from the ground, and the fact that
you don't need to balance, and the superior comfort compared to an
upright.

I'm no longer trying to justify the cost, I just want one. Problem is,
which one? The only commercially available recumbents for hundreds of km
are the HP Velotechnik Scorpion and StreetMachine. From articles in
VeloVision, the ICE trikes are essentially equivalent, so it's not worth a
trip abroad to try one.

I'll try the two-wheeled StreetMachine once the roads are dry, but I
suspect I'll end up getting the Scorpion. It doesn't matter to me that a
bike would be faster, I doubt it would be as much fun. If I had a long
commute I might appreciate saving some time, but I don't, so I won't.

Then there's the issue of getting it in and out of the basement. I need to
measure that carefully. Perhaps tilting the trike on edge?

I'm essentially looking for a pat on the back. If at some point I find
something I like better then the Scorpion, I'm betting it's a common
enough trike that I could recoup a fair bit of the investment.

Aiolos has a folding recumbent which might be practical on trains, I might
consider that in the future (there are none here to try out). The folding
trikes seem too bulky for anything but a car trunk, but a folding
recumbent bike might be small enough to interest me.

Erik Sandblom
--
Oil is for sissies

If you don't already know, there's a lot of very useful info on 'Bentrider
Online (http://www.bentrideronline.com/)

HTH

I tried the Trice and the Scorpion at the york rally. Both are loads
of fun. I did demonstrate just how easy it is to roll the Scorpion
though..

twice..

Some people never learn.

...d

Erik Sandblom wrote:

I'm no longer trying to justify the cost, I just want one. Problem is,
which one? The only commercially available recumbents for hundreds of km
are the HP Velotechnik Scorpion and StreetMachine. From articles in
VeloVision, the ICE trikes are essentially equivalent, so it's not worth
a trip abroad to try one.

Ideally you should try everything, but of course that's not possible.
Even if you live in NL in easy reach of many it's impossible to try
everything as you'd spend too *much* time testing! But if you've tried
what you can get and you're happy with it then that puts you ahead of
the game.

I'll try the two-wheeled StreetMachine once the roads are dry, but I
suspect I'll end up getting the Scorpion. It doesn't matter to me that a
bike would be faster, I doubt it would be as much fun. If I had a long
commute I might appreciate saving some time, but I don't, so I won't.

The Streetmachine is not a particularly quick bike (though the narrower
track will get it through traffic much more easily), and if you get a
lot of snow and ice a trike will have clear advantages. However, don't
assume that a bike is less fun up front of trying the bike. Personally,
I'm somewhat bemused by the "trikes are more fun" angle: I've ridden a
few and they were great but I've not seen any reason of "more fun" to
gain an extra wheel so far. The only way to be sure is try both.

Then there's the issue of getting it in and out of the basement. I need
to measure that carefully. Perhaps tilting the trike on edge?

Note that the Scorpion is now available in a folding model called the
fx. That might make life easier. You'll need to account for dimensions
and lugging it for a Streetmachine too, they're not the easiest bikes to
cart around in your hands.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

"Erik Sandblom" wrote in message
newsp.tnul87xczubk0m@toshiba...
Hello

A few days ago I had my first ride on a recumbent, and I'm in love. It was
snowy and slippy, so I didn't try the two-wheeler, only the three-wheeler.
Me and the trike got on very well, and I flew down the street at unsafe
speed right off the bat. Fortunately nothing happened, and I soon realised
how easily I was corrupted in the comfy embrace of this seductive wonder.

I liked the Scorpion's low seat, 26cm from the ground, and the fact that
you don't need to balance, and the superior comfort compared to an
upright.

I'm no longer trying to justify the cost, I just want one. Problem is,
which one? The only commercially available recumbents for hundreds of km
are the HP Velotechnik Scorpion and StreetMachine. From articles in
VeloVision, the ICE trikes are essentially equivalent, so it's not worth a
trip abroad to try one.

A couple of major differences between the Trice and the Scorp are the wider
mesh seat on the Trice vs the adjustable hardshell bodylink Scorp seat, and
the rear suspension bits. The Scorp uses, I believe a DNM coil/shock (in my
experience the DNMs are made from rotting cheese and are supplied as stock
to help people avoid passing out from sticker shock. The upgrade DT Swiss is
quite sweet at somewhere around $400 USD. The Trice uses different
durometers of polyurethane blocks which act as a damped spring (had some
similar on my old Proflex suspended MTB). You can customize the ride by
selecting one of three different blocks for a fairly low cost, and never be
bothered by owning and using a shock pump (will pump 250psi...~17bar).

The Trice uses perfectly serviceable drum brakes and the Scorp used
perfectly serviceable cable operated disc brakes. Both builder have a list
of optional equipment the is designed to cause a wallet hemorhage.


I'll try the two-wheeled StreetMachine once the roads are dry, but I
suspect I'll end up getting the Scorpion. It doesn't matter to me that a
bike would be faster, I doubt it would be as much fun. If I had a long
commute I might appreciate saving some time, but I don't, so I won't.

Then there's the issue of getting it in and out of the basement. I need to
measure that carefully. Perhaps tilting the trike on edge?

While there is a version of the Scorpion that folds there is a narrow track
Trice called the QNT which is about 13cm narrower than the regular Trice Q,
which is IIRC about the same as a Scorp.


I'm essentially looking for a pat on the back. If at some point I find
something I like better then the Scorpion, I'm betting it's a common
enough trike that I could recoup a fair bit of the investment.

Aiolos has a folding recumbent which might be practical on trains, I might
consider that in the future (there are none here to try out). The folding
trikes seem too bulky for anything but a car trunk, but a folding
recumbent bike might be small enough to interest me.

Erik Sandblom
--
Oil is for sissies



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Den 2007-02-16 17:13:14 skrev Peter Clinch :

Erik Sandblom wrote:

I'll try the two-wheeled StreetMachine once the roads are dry, but I
suspect I'll end up getting the Scorpion. It doesn't matter to me that
a bike would be faster, I doubt it would be as much fun. If I had a
long commute I might appreciate saving some time, but I don't, so I
won't.

The Streetmachine is not a particularly quick bike (though the narrower
track will get it through traffic much more easily), and if you get a
lot of snow and ice a trike will have clear advantages. However, don't
assume that a bike is less fun up front of trying the bike. Personally,
I'm somewhat bemused by the "trikes are more fun" angle: I've ridden a
few and they were great but I've not seen any reason of "more fun" to
gain an extra wheel so far. The only way to be sure is try both.

Then there's the issue of getting it in and out of the basement. I need
to measure that carefully. Perhaps tilting the trike on edge?

Note that the Scorpion is now available in a folding model called the
fx. That might make life easier. You'll need to account for dimensions
and lugging it for a Streetmachine too, they're not the easiest bikes to
cart around in your hands.


I was quite taken by how low the Scorpion was. It gave a lot of road feel,
and I really liked that. So the SpeedMachine might be better for me to try
than the StreetMachine, since it is lower. I'm also not too keen on the
folding Scorpion for the same reason, 26cm vs 35cm high, and it's still
really bulky when folded.

The Aiolos Trilite trike folds to 85x49x34 cm which is pretty good, so
that might be worth the higher seat, 30cm. Might be worth going to Berlin
to try that out, if it can be fitted with a rack.
http://www.aiolos.de/speedlite.htm

Erik Sandblom
--
Oil is for sissies

On 2007-02-16 16:05:15 +0000, "Grolch" said:

Why not the Catrike? That's what I ended up buying. Consistently high
ratings from the bent world. Their CaTrike TRAIL Model at about 31lbs
and US$ 2000 or so could be shipped easily. I got the CaTrike ROAD
model. I know what you mean about justifying the costs etc. I test road
two wheel bents and the trikes. I knew right away that I had found my
new bike. Anybody who tries one will "get it".

We do the Trail in the U.K. for £1095.

Three wheels good, two wheels ok

www.catrike.co.uk

"Buck" wrote in message
news:2007021618255116807-SPAMTRAPian@trikesandstuffDOTcoDOTuk...
On 2007-02-16 16:05:15 +0000, "Grolch"
said:

Why not the Catrike? That's what I ended up buying. Consistently high
ratings from the bent world. Their CaTrike TRAIL Model at about 31lbs and
US$ 2000 or so could be shipped easily. I got the CaTrike ROAD model. I
know what you mean about justifying the costs etc. I test road two wheel
bents and the trikes. I knew right away that I had found my new bike.
Anybody who tries one will "get it".

We do the Trail in the U.K. for £1095.

That's actually a pretty good price if it's $2000 in the states. Shipping,
duty and VAT will make the US one significantly more expensive.

cheers,
clive

On 2007-02-16 18:39:17 +0000, "Clive George" said:

"Buck" wrote in message
news:2007021618255116807-SPAMTRAPian@trikesandstuffDOTcoDOTuk...
On 2007-02-16 16:05:15 +0000, "Grolch" said:

Why not the Catrike? That's what I ended up buying. Consistently high
ratings from the bent world. Their CaTrike TRAIL Model at about 31lbs
and US$ 2000 or so could be shipped easily. I got the CaTrike ROAD
model. I know what you mean about justifying the costs etc. I test road
two wheel bents and the trikes. I knew right away that I had found my
new bike. Anybody who tries one will "get it".

We do the Trail in the U.K. for £1095.

That's actually a pretty good price if it's $2000 in the states.
Shipping, duty and VAT will make the US one significantly more
expensive.

cheers,
clive

It is $1750 in the U.S., I try to keep the prices sensible rather than
doing the old trick
of just changing the currency symbol.
--
Three wheels good, two wheels ok

www.catrike.co.uk