Tilter #3 = 136 miles
Sunday ! social ride !!! taste of the old times ....
So this is the start at South Clifton , and no I did not hit the Sewage Pump sign it was like that when I got there !
I had to problems on the ride , neither to do with the tilting and both to do with the prototype nature of the trike.
problem #1
I set the wheelbase @40" should have been exactly the same as my Holland Python and it should have fit in the car , although i do have to raise the rear of the trike on a crate to close the back door.
It would not close after some cursing and shuffling I eventually was able to slam the door and it stayed shut , as a precaution I fastened a piece of wood to the tow-bar overlapping the door in-case it sprung open on a bumpy road. When I got the trike out it had skewed the rear axle on the spine , I did not have the tools I needed to fix that as it is poorly designed and needs socket sets and box spanners to get access to the bolts/nuts,I did the best I could by wedging the nuts with screwdrivers and using spanners that would only turn about 10' at a time.
We were cycling down to a rail track cycle path we use a couple of times a year to ride to Lincoln however I had never joined it at this point always further away and rode the rail track to meet my friend at this point.
IT WAS A NIGHTMARE !!!
there was over 1/2 a mile of nettles before we reached the railway , I had shorts on and had removed my sweatshirt before we set off ! as you can see it was also to narrow for a trike with 30" track.
On the normal Python I would have put my arms in the air and steered with my feet , I cannot do that yet on this trike.
After much cursing and screaming I reached the railway , there was plenty of old ' stuff ' about made more interesting as it was a old passenger line and not an old coal line as most of the cycle routes are where I live
You can see the ' funny ' sort of trike my friend rides , that is actually single speed however it does have a diff ! the track is about 24" and seat usual bike height so to get them around corners you have to hang your a**e over the inside wheel !
Like this
most undignified for men of a certain age ?
Moi with both bikes taking a ' comfort ' stop at a MTB trail start point board , odd really as it also attracts horse riders and they don't mix with MTB's very well
Second breakfast at the cafe attached to the Giant cycle shop Doddington Hall , another pot of tea and a big bun with a cherry on and we were ready for the journey back.
Picked up another soul for some of the return journey and it was noticeable I could not keep up with them despite there speed only being about 10mph , I had been plagued by a squeak on the way there so when they stopped to natter and part there ways I had an investigation.
problem #2
because the front end swings quite a way it needs large loops in the brake cables for this , due to how low #3 is to the ground I had tied them to the frame to stop them dragging on the floor , I had done them up a little to tightly . When I turned left it tightened the right brake cable enough for the outer end cap to pull out of the right the brake adjuster cup and did not go back in when the slack returned so effectively pulling the brake half on.
Remove one of the straps and re-seated it and no more problems and a good 1mph gained ! that was a relief.
In preparation for the dreaded nettles I donned my sweat shirt , pulled my socks up and used my hat to protect my right hand and went through them as quickly as I could.
So another 12 miles [ spooky that ] and no surprises in the handling department , although at 100+ miles it seems it is still not fully sorted still the prototypes are getting better #4 does not have the bolt on rear and is higher so hopefully won't suffer from the same cable problems.
all for now Paul