03 - T5... the search for Trikke

In mid-January 2013 I had to broaden my search to find suitable T5 wheels. I located “Trikke Australia” but after emailing them and having no response after 3 weeks (not realizing that the link on Trikke Tech's International Distributor list was out of date and the Australian distributor website was stale and contact details were not active). 

I had to continue the search and managed to make contact with Trikke Tech USA.... I was able to communicate directly with Ana D'Arace. At this early stage of my Trikke knowledge I had no idea that Ana was actually Gildo Beleski's wife. Ana kindly fulfilled my order for a full set of 5-inch Poly wheels and within a week they arrived with a bonus of 3 little plastic Trikke mini toys in Green, Orange and Yellow. Cool.

Trikke mini toys

Installed the new Poly wheels and a decent smooth ride was now possible. 

Our T5 with new Poly Wheels

Over January and February (height of our NZ summer) I took Sophie to a nearby asphalt tennis/netball court where she could have plenty of room to try and work out how to ride this 3-wheeled Trikke... I had to demonstrate technique to Sophie by having to ride the T5 myself numerous times. I didn't really know how to get this shiny chrome machine “self propelling” but on occasion I fluked the “sweet spot” and could see the benefits of regular practice to get the Trikke T5 working the way it was designed to be used.

A few sessions later I had learned where the sweet spot was for me to carve around the tennis court area without having to push with my feet.... now I had that sorted I could show Sophie how it was done... another couple of practice sessions later and boom, Sophie had found the correct technique and sweet spot. She was so happy to finally have discovered the secret to body-powered Trikking. I was very proud that she stuck with it to finally be able to ride it correctly.

At Sophie's Primary School they were having “scooter Fridays” where the kids could bring their rip-sticks/wiggleboards/scooters to play on during breaks/lunch hour. Sophie was keen to take her T5 to school to ride and see what the other students thought of it. Sophie was proud of how nobody else could get it to self-propel.... and how she was able to carve around the courtyard of the school without having to push with her feet like the scooter riders were having to do to retain momentum. Nobody else had ever seen this machine called a “Trikke”.

02 - First encounter... of the Trikke kind.

In December 2012 we purchased, from a local person, a used polished-alloy "T5" Trikke for our 10yo daughter Sophie. It looked like something a little different compared to the “rip-sticks” of the day... and offered our daughter a stable ride and a point of difference compared to those rip-sticks/wiggleboards and kick-scooters that were becoming the latest craze for the kids. Sophie had a kick-scooter but that was becoming a little boring for her.

Example of the Alloy "T5" Trikke with flat handlebar

The T5 had huge obvious flat spots (previous user had obviously been doing high speed skids) on the rear Polyurethane (Poly) wheels which was not helping Sophie to learn how to self-propel, or even just enjoy it as a 3-wheeled kick scooter. 

Our T5 Poly wheels with Flat Spots.

After doing some online homework about this “Trikke” machine we had, I went in search of a New Zealand distributor to purchase replacement Poly wheels. No luck on the search... the NZ distributor was no longer operating. I tried to check at local bike shops and NZ online bike/scooter suppliers to see if they had the correct sized Poly wheels... they looked like they may be “standard”, but no, they were different to anything in the NZ market.

Latest (2016) T5 variant polyurethane wheel

Discovered how the Trikke polyurethane wheel sizing worked:

5″ – for models T5

6″ – for models T6, T67  (T67 Front wheel)

7″ – for models T7, T67 (T67 Rear Wheel, T78 Rear Wheel, T7)

8″ – for models T78, T8

01 - What is a Trikke?

A Trikke (pronounced like "bike") is a standing 3-wheeled Body Powered carving vehicle that utilize Trikke Tech's patented 3CV technology to allow a rider to propel a chainless, pedal less device forward without ever touching foot to ground.

Trikke T12 Roadster

Trikke carving vehicles allow a rider to utilize a fundamental physics principle known as the Conservation of Angular Momentum. The front wheel is offset compared to a standard bike's front wheel... this means that combined with the angled frame design, the front wheel naturally wants to turn to correct the offset, thereby creating momentum.

While travelling on a slalom-like path, a rider moves his center of gravity (his mass) from left to right (for example) while leaning the vehicle into a right turn; this movement of the rider’s mass is towards the center of the turn, thus decreasing the radius of an imaginary circle which is formed around the center point of the rider’s turn. This movement of mass to the center of the circle acts in the same way that an ice-skater increases her velocity if she pulls in her arms (decreasing her radius) while she is spinning on the ice.

Because of the vehicle’s design, a rider can learn to maximize the velocity generated from making each turn and then transfer that momentum into the next turn, and so on and so on. Propulsion can be so effortless that it feels like magic, or as strenuous as a full-blown sprint. Your choice! Either way, it is an awesome low-impact form of exercise with a big enjoyment factor built in.

"With the three wheels combined with the cambering system, you have 3 points-of-contact to the ground, meaning that the Trikke riding platform is surprisingly VERY stable."

It is comfortable to ride a Trikke, as you don't have a seat to get uncomfortable sitting on for a long time... your feet, knees and legs in general act as your shock absorbers, much like a snow skier does, but there is less impact on the body with a Trikke. A standard bike rider is mainly using their legs to do all the work and their upper body is bent over and not really benefiting from the exercise... whereas on a Trikke, you are utilizing the majority of your body's muscles (legs, hips, torso, arms, shoulders) in a comfortable upright standing position. Regular Trikke riding, normally called "Trikking", can result in weight loss and toning of muscles and strengthening the entire body as you ride.

1 Hour Calorie Burn comparison

There are a variety of Trikke models covering 4 year olds to senior riders 84 years old and above, so a wide range of rider heights and weights are covered.

In this blog I hope to cover various subjects:

• My discovery of Trikke
• ride locations
• models owned
• upgrades & accessories
• maintenance
• information
• opinions & ideas
• videos
• learning to ride
• technique & incline/hillclimb work.

#T12 Roadster, #T78AirDeluxe, #Tribred #E-Kit, #T5, #BodyPoweredVehicle #BPV, #3CV, #Carving, #TrikkeNewZealand