Dressed up Pone
One of the most common questions asked of me is “Which Trikke should I purchase or is right for me?”. There really is no right answer to this. Besides price point, which is probably the biggest issue, all of the rides are up for the challenge. I am a taller guy at 6′3″ and I ride them all. Yes the T12 is by far my favorite but not just because it’s bigger. Mostly I like the riding style of the larger Trikke. The Roadster has longer strides due to its higher center of gravity and is great for those long rides. It takes less effort to ride than the T8.
I actually had a gal who purchased a T78air Deluxe who was having the darnedest time getting it to work for her. A little background on her led to the fact that she had MS and was expecting it to get worse. Her Husband had bought a T12 and was loving it. She was about 5′5″ and when she road the T12, she felt that it was effort less for her to ride.. Needless to say she swapped out The 78 for the 12 and is happy as a clam.
I think if you have the opportunity to test drive a Trikke, you should try them all. As the old saying goes—Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.
Here is a story about running into cement that was curing from the inventor of the Trikke, Gildo Beleski.
The Pictures really tell the story….
My latest stunt..
Please watch out for fresh cement !
I mean, fresh… enough for you to get stuck.
It did happen to me.
I was commuting on the new tribreds 350W (it’s fast) on this path that takes me home from Trikke office. I travel through it every day. I knew they would be fixing it soon, I saw marks (spray) on the floor this week … the junction had a small lip.
Coming out of this turn, at about 16mph (already slowing down to cross the street), I saw the orange posts on the side of the track, but the track was still open… 3 feet from the fresh cement section I realized what was going on, the contrast of the floor made sense too late and I had no time to stop or go around it. My instinct was giving a little pull up on handlebar and try to float over that section, but as soon as the tires hit the mushy cement, all my weight went towards the handlebar because the trikke started digging in the cement. It was ok for a fraction of second, (you can clearly see the progression of the depth of the grooves) until my front wheel hit the next section’s hard lip. The trikke came to a halt! My balance was already in jeopardy and I was easily thrown forward. I started pivoting forward around the front wheel and when the handlebar was already low enough I jumped over the handlebar on my feet, run 2 steps, and using my hand and knee (ouch) I rolled on the floor (and it was a little downhill to help), stopping at the middle of the street… I wasn’t wearing a helmet or gloves (and knee pads or elbow pads …). A lady stopped and got out of her car and said: “wow… are you OK? Ah, you are already walking and limping. Want me to take you home?” .. I just replied… “City of Buellton… where are the workers? Thanks I will be OK”. And I started taking pictures and went home to pick up stuff, clean my wounds and ice my knee which was hurting and started swelling. In my way back to the office I told the workers to go back and fix it, showing my knee and … confusion.
I went there later and sneaked around the tapes (now they closed the path with tape) and tried to leave 3 light tires marks to be remembered, but the cement was too hard already… I mean 3 hours after my accident and maybe 1.5h after they re-fixed it the cement was rock hard.
I believe hit a possible small window between cement freshness and workers hackles.
Watch out!
Gildo Beleski
I will attempt to help you with most of your Trikke issues. I have had 2 years of experience working on these incredible carving machines. Since then, there have been many great changes, and I can tell you that there are some great products coming down the pipeline.
Trikke has been basically a human powered carving machine, but they have not rested on their laurels. With the technology of lithium batteries comes a powerful new source of propulsion. THe Tribred Pon-e is the first real, urban transportation vehicle to hit the block that is both light and sensible for a green world.
If you get a chance to ride this awesome machine, you will be amazed. 18 to 20 miles of riding distance on a 7cent charge of about 4 to 5 hours is the norm here. That said, it depends largely on the terrain and your riding skills.
So check out the New Tribred Pon-e and be on the look out for all the Electric products coming from Trikke. You will be pleasantly surprised.
Drew ready for a trikke ride to kindergarten.
