utility cycling

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Looking into buying an electric-assist cargo trike. It seems the market is dominated by versions that have 2 front wheels and 1 rear, is this easier to use/work on or something? (fedia.io)

submitted 1 week ago by miguel@fedia.io to c/utilitycycling@slrpnk.net

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Looking into buying an electric-assist cargo trike. It seems the market is dominated by versions that have 2 front wheels and 1 rear, is this easier to use/work on or something? It seems to me that steering, maint, flat repair, and general use would make that far worse experience. Am I missing something?

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[–] kersploosh@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

Simplicity: One rear wheel makes the drivetrain much simpler. You do not need a shared axle connecting the rear wheels, or a differential. (Correction: Trikes with 2 wheels in the rear usually don't have a differential. They simply drive one wheel and let the other freewheel. That means the bike always wants to turn one direction.)

Safety: Two wheels in front reduces the rollover risk when turning at speed.

[–] kersploosh@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Also, you might consider a 2-wheeled box bike (search for "bakfiets" or "long john"). I have not ridden one, but I have seen a few in the wild and their owners all gave raving reviews. They are less stable when stopped but ride much more like a regular bicycle.

[–] miguel@fedia.io 1 points 1 week ago

@kersploosh@sh.itjust.works I've test ridden those, and found them to be too problematic with unbalanced loads (like groceries) and a poor choice on road surfaces as ugly as mine. Appreciate the suggestion, though!

I'll keep test riding all the locally available options. It'd be nice to not require a car for my longer grocery trips.

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