Monthly Archives: May 2008

Knee pain or discomfort Reply

Catrike 700, cycling • Tags:

I have none! I’ll presume at this point that I have the boom length dialed in. I have ridden longer distances [100 miles in FL and the 63 & 44 miles of the '08 FOA Bike Ride] and increased boom length after the Florida ride. I think Silk is as fine tuned as I can get her for now.

I do have one annoyance, however. That is the idler keeper occasionally makes contact with a curb or other high object which has caused it to move, resulting in some chain-chatter. I’d love to find a solution to this problem. I’ll give Terracycle a call for their suggestions.

Other than the ground-clearance problem, Silk is good to go!

Fairing adjustments Reply

Catrike 700, cycling • Tags: ,

BROL Member Clu4u [John] says: [BROL Thread]

Hi Jim, I think that Silk looks even better with the fairing on, as long as
you can see the road!

Could you swing the TerraCycle accessory mount down under the fairing support and shine the light under the fairing? Then you wouldn’t have reflection, but your light pattern on the road might not be as desirable. Seems like it would be worth a try. Farings are certainly nice to keep the toes warm and dry. Very cool!

I’d be interested in seeing a side view with you on Silk. It looks to me as if the fairing could go down a little by sliding the support forward, but the location relative to you is the important thing.

Well, I tried the fairing adjustment. That is, I slid it as for forward as possible and still allowing for foot clearance. In this position, I found the black horizontal bar for top faring support obscures my vision. Since I cannot get the fairing low enough to see over it, why not raise it as I once had it.

Before today’s commute, I raised the fairing about 2 inches. The horizontal bar no longer obscures my vision. Of course, I still looking through the fairing. That is not a problem. In the higher position. I think I’ll have greater rain protection. We shall see.

BTW, I like the faining on the trike. I still get plenty of air. Will it be enough on a 95+ degree day? Again, we shall see. I’m expecting fewer bugs.

Also, the fairing does easily scratch. The instructions warn of this and I know this from the fairing on my SXP. I’ve tried ti polish out to no real avail. Oh well…

Silk-Lite & James-Lite today Reply

Catrike 700, cycling • Tags: , ,

You have seen this configuration before. I’m using the shorty water bottles; no rack, panniers, or bag; and my shorty flag. I rode in sandals, MTB shorts, and a recumbent’s jersey. Of course, there is a Silk-Super-Lite Mode also, i.e., remove more stuff–water bottles and their cage, flag, maybe the fairing–nyet!

Silk has new adventures Reply

Catrike 700, cycling • Tags:

Starting 05/29/08 Silk became a commuter trike–at least in part. That is, I’ll continue to comute on my DFs and RANS Stratus XP. At some point, I’ll even add my VK2 to the mix. I’ve used Silk to ride across town to a customer site and go to the bank & grocery store [BROL Thread]. As noted in the referenced thread, I’ll need to be more selective where I park my trike. I did not use added security measures. I was in the grocery store under 10 minutes. I’ll probabl get a cable alarm of some type. Pictures later…

Thinking about Harry 3

cycling, recumbent • Tags: , ,

BROL Trike Only Tour Thread [with hints about the purchase of this Typhoon].

At some point, I’ll likely ride DH with a jersey like this [from The Carolina Hurricanes]:

This setup will be different–that is bare bones. It will have lighting, probably 2 DiNotte 600L Headlights and one or two taillights [very simple of the taillight because it is off road]. Maybe a bell–no horn planned. A bag/carrier for tubes, tolls, etc. Probably a bladder and a water bottle cage for a sports-drink bottle. Of course, I’ll likely use my Garmin Edge 305 GPS. I’ll continue to use Crank Brothers Eggbeater Clipless Pedals. More likely, the same type that are on Silk.

I do plan a different drive/chain setup. I want to use a Schlumpf Mountain Drive with a Shimano Nexus Inter-8 Hub. Ashley Guy, Utah Trikes will set up the drive train. This will give a clean chain line and no derailleurs. This is the most significant feature of this setup as compared to my other cycles. DH will likely be able to “climb a wall.” The question will be how much top-end will he have. Given off-road riding, I won’t be looking for a lot of road speed. I’m building Dirty Harry to climb.

BROL Thread with details and member responses.