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Catrike MAX: New Recumbent Trike Model Announced

The all-new MAX offers a higher/wider seat and incorporates a larger diameter cross-Member and wide sturdy rims to accommodate up to 425 lbs of rider and gear weight. For comfort, it is equipped with Schwalbe Big Apple balloon tires. A 1x11 SRAM drive train delivers power to the rear wheel. The new Catrike Assist Bars help support you when getting in and out of the seat. The MAX is the most robust model in the Catrike product line and has all the features you have come to expect on a Catrike: Avid disc brakes, signature hand rest, Catrike Peace om, adjustable seat angle, locking brake levers and Ackerman Steering. Also available as a Bosch-powered E-Cat. More information...

Catrike discontinues Road recumbent trike model

The Road and the Speed were the first two recumbent trike models designed and built in the USA by Catrike. The Road is now being discontinued and follows in the Speed's footsteps from several years ago.

Catrike cited the popularity of other Catrike models as the impetus for shutting down production of the Road. With nine (9) models in their line-up, there is a strong argument for culling the selection. If nothing else, this change will clarify Catrike's offerings to the end consumer.

The Road has had a good run of it (17 years' worth). It is the longest produced Catrike model ever, and has evolved from a fully-welded space frame to a full-suspension adjustable-seat frame over its many years of production. Current Eola models have much in common with the original Road.

Fun fact: The Road is the only Catrike recumbent trike model ever produced with indirect steering... waaaayyyyy back in about 2005 -- and for that roughly 1/2 year, you could actually try indirect-steer and direct-steer Roads side by side at AlphaBENT.

We at AlphaBENT salute the venerable Road and the fact that Catrike has been steadily growing and making these fine trikes for so long!!!

If you have always wanted a Road and want to act on that impulse before your last chance is gone, you can call us and order one in your favorite Catrike color. You have until January 31, 2020 and then time runs out.

More information...

Meet ICE: British trike manufacturer on US tour

This event has taken place and the notice is simply part of our articles archive

Meet the maker: ICE is on a tour of the U.S. and will be staying for the day at AlphaBENT on January 15, 2020.

This is your chance to find out more about your prospective purchase, or get the behind-the-scenes story of how your trike was made, or just chat and have coffee and meet other trikers.

You can also try the latest ICE models, including the fully-automatice ICE Adventure recumbent trikes with Shimano STEPS electric assist and bump-smoothing full suspension.

  • demos of how to fold your ICE trike,
  • how to check it for safety before a ride, and
  • essential maintenance for non-mechanics

More information...

Cheap trike carrier for folded recumbent trike

A customer loaded his ICE Full Fat recumbent adventure trike on an inexpensive hitch-mount platform rack.

With a solid strap-down system, it works.

This gentleman also used a  U-bolt hitch clamp stabilizer to eliminate movement associated with the play in the hitch receiver / platform interface.

More information...

Meet Azub: Czech recumbent trike makers on U.S. tour

Azub will be at AlphaBENT on Wednesday, October 23 to show the latest Czech recumbent technology. Come to for test-rides, and bent-talk.

Azub is a world reknowned manufacturer of expedition-ready recumbent bikes and trikes. Always innovating, Azub has won many prestigious awards for recumbent trike designs and lead the industry in adventure-ready trikes.

On their 2019 U.S. tour, representatives of Azub will visit the Sacramento, California Azub dealer, AlphaBENT to show and demo some of their extensive lineup of recumbent trikes.

If you have questions, curiosity, or just want to meet some of the people behind the Azub story, come down to 1114 C Street, in Sacramento, CA on Wednesday, October 23 from 2-3pm and be prepared to try some trikes like you've never ridden.

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Catrike makes wider axles standard equipment on all large-wheel models

Catrike introduced a mid-season change to its large-wheel recumbent trike models including the Expedition, 5.5.9., 700, and Dumont. All future models will use a 12x142mm through-axle hub.

Through-axle hubs were designed for use in downhill mountain-biking to withstand high forces, and this move ensures that Catrike rear wheels will be some of the strongest on the market. With lateral forces being a factor on recumbent trikes, Catrike's move should result in more durable and possibly more efficient wheels. Furthermore, the through-axle design will prevent inadvertent shifting of the hub in the dropouts.

The new hubs rely on specially machined dropouts that allow rear-wheel braking for the first time in Catrike's history. Rear-wheel braking is mainly useful for parking brakes, and drag brakes under touring conditions. Under ordinary conditions, braking the rear wheel can cause skidding.

The policy move by Catrike make Catrike recumbent trikes incompatible with technology that relies on a 132mm dropout width. Such technologies include many rear-wheel electric motor systems and many internally-geared rear hubs such as the Shimano Alfine and Nexus hubs, and dual-use hubs such as the Sturmey-Archer RF3 and RK3 hubs that use an internal 3-speed mechanism in conjunction with an external conventional derailleur / cassette.

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RideAtaxia 1 June 2019, Winters, CA - NorCal - Friedrich's Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA)

The 2019 annual Northern Californa FARA RideAtaxia to raise much-needed funds for research is coming up!

The ride will happen early June 1, 2019 and starts and ends at the Community Center in Winters, CA

Make your plans, join or form a team, donate, and show up and be part of the cure.

... And, delicious BarBeCue

Together, we will cure FA!

More information at:

Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA)
533 W. Uwchlan Ave  |  Downingtown, PA 19335  |  USA  
Phone: (484) 879-6160  |  Fax: (484) 872-1402  |  Email: [email protected]   |  Website: CureFA.org 

More information...

Pinking clamps memorize ICE handlebar position

British recumbent trike maker ICE goes pink with an obscure, but very useful, innovation built into the handlebars of ICE recumbent tricycles. The new design uses a sawtoothed edge on the ends of the handlebar clamp tube that mates to a variably-placed equally-sawtoothed clamp that gets fixed to the handlebars.

The jagged sawtoothed effect is not unlike the result of using "pinking shears" to cut cloth.

With the new ICE pinking handlebar system, every time the handlebars get released and repositioned for folding or any other purpose, they can be reset to the original position with no guesswork. Given that the handlebars have quick-releases on them and moving the left handlebar is usually required for folding the trike, this innovation ensures that recovering your handlebar position will be a no-brainer.

Mechanisms to recover a set handlebar position are not a new concept. Czech recumbent trike maker Azub has long offered a very sturdy castellated quick-release as part of their folding trike system upgrade.

The ICE mechanism is lightweight and now included with all folding ICE trikes at no additional cost.

Kudos to ICE for this simple yet effective refinement!

[Note: The actual color of handlebars on ICE folding recumbent trikes is still black. "Pinking" refers to the analogous effect of cutting cloth material with "pinking shears".]

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New Bacchetta seat: B3 fine-tunes recumbent comfort

Bacchetta has expanded its seat selections to include a new style that mixes and matches the designs of the existing Recurve and Euromesh seats. Recumbent riders wanting the upper width and general shape of the Recurve upright seat, but in a more reclined angle used by Euromesh riders will find a comfortable option.

Until now, Bacchetta has offered two primary seat styles [Note: there is a third carbon seat for performance bikes, but we will leave that for a different article]:

  1. Recurve: has a wide seat back, a defined seatpan to sit on, and a sharply-defined relatively high angle between them
  2. Euromesh: has a narrow width and the lower part (seatpan) blends with the seat back at a shallow angle and no sharply-defined transition

For riders wanting the width of the Recurve, and a shallower seat angle, there has been no option until now. Riders wanting the seatpan of the Euromesh with a wider back support have also been given a new option.

The new B3 seat has a tight-stretched mesh similar to the Euromesh combined with a defined seatpan and the wider seatback of the Recurve. The angle between the seatpan and the seatback is in between the angle of the Recurve and the Euromesh.

The pictures tell the differences. In general, Bacchetta riders will choose between the seats as follows:

Recurve: most upright riding position, wide and contoured seat pan, wide seat back with upper shoulder support

B3: allows middle upright to medium reclined riding positions, medium-sized but defined seatpan, wide seat back with upper shoulder support

Euromesh: most reclined riding position, narrow and loosely defined seat pan, narrow (spinal) back support

The three seat styles are largely the same price and each has its strengths, so it's just a matter of personal needs for the recumbent rider.

More information...

Bionx bankruptcy

Electric-assist and retrofit electric motor company Bionx has gone bankrupt and its assets are being sold off.

After cornering the North American electric-assist retrofit market, Bionx suddenly closed its doors and laid off all workers in February 2018, just at the start of the busy Spring season in the bicycle industry.

Apparently, the financial failure of the company is related to a deal with General Motors, in which Bionx was to produce electric bicycles for the auto-maker at a cost of $1000/ea. After finding that the bicycles would actually cost $1400/ea to build, Bionx defaulted on the contract and went into receivership shortly thereafter.

This is not the first time that Bionx has had to reboot. The previous iteration of Bionx was originated by a company called Electric Propulsion Systems (EPS). EPS' Bionx was plagued by quality control issues until the brand was acquired by auto parts supplier Magna International Inc. in 2008.

Under Magna ownership, Bionx resolved many of the quality-control issues and redesigned many aspects of the product. An innovative and extremely lightweight 500W motor hub was introduced and an unobtrusive controller ring was devised with full controls, but without a conventional screen.

Bionx systems are characterized by a proprietary battery, controller, and motor and require company support for even such essential aspects as activating a system. Without the company in existence and supporting the product, Bionx end-consumers and dealers are left with unsupported or non-useable products.

When the company announced going into receivership in February 2018, many people familiar with the company saw it as a blip and expected a new Bionx to rise from the ashes. However, as time has gone on and the phones continued to be unanswered, hopes for a revival have dimmed. Now, Grant Thornton, the accounting and business advisorial company handling the receivership, has announced that most of the assets have been sold and buyers for the remaining assets and patents are being sought.

Bionx had made a significant preseason sale throughout the bicycle industry and many dealers have received Bionx products that they have been unwilling to sell to unwitting consumers, given the lack of warranty, company support, and even essential configuration and activation functionality.

It will make for a lively show as Grant Thornton attempts to collect payment for bricked merchandise or sends those bills to debt-collectors for a more heavy-handed approach. Grant Thornton has refused to take back any of the merchandise that was sold with a promise of company support and basic functionality.

Most Bionx customers were small-businesses. These were bike shops with few employees, which were sold proprietary Bionx product with a promise of functionality and support. Lack of support and basic functionality makes the remaining product close to worthless.

On the human side of the equation, Bionx also employed many good, honest people who worked hard and very competently. These people were all laid off in an instant due to a seemingly negligent miscalculation at a high level of the company. 

And, last, but not least, end-user bicycle-riding customers who bought into a premium product based on the manufacturer's promise to support them into the future are left with systems that can not be supported even by third-party suppliers due to the proprietary nature of the design.



More information...

ICE Full Fat Hunting Trike w. Rohloff

This trike is outfitted for multi-day camping trips and specifically for hunting and packing in and out of the backcountry.

The ICE Full Fat is built up with the large-size Schwalbe Jumbo Jim 4.8 tires and full rack system with top carrying capacity. Extra load-carrying is strapped to the seat with ICE pods sidebags (by Radical Designs).

A Rohloff 14-speed internally geared hub drives this beast. By keeping all the gears inside the hub, we should see excellent wear in all sorts of muck and mud.

We loaded up some Ortlieb packs mounted high and low on the full rear rack and it's clear that a lot of meat can be packed out on this trike. We could increase this with some shallower longer packs.

[Note: Dog not included with trike.]

More information...

Announcements

Catrike Eola: new for 2019 recumbent trike model

Catrike introduced some tempting views of the Eola, a new recumbent trike model that will hit the streets sometime in 2019.

Like the 2018 redesigned Catrike 700, the Eola will depart from the traditional standard components used on most other Catrike models. Instead of having multiple chainrings and a front derailleur and shifter, the Eola will use a single chainring and have an extra-wide 11-42 cassette on the back.

Taking many hard-learned lessons from the years that Catrike has been manufacturing recumbent trikes in the USA, the Eola is designed for streamlined production time and resources. Examples include:

  • a trimmed down 3-color palette accented with neutral hard-anodized gray.
  • single-part, fixed-camber, fixed-reach handlebars designed for most people
  • derailleur-less boom
  • fixed-angle seat-back

The Eola will also come with many standard features that might otherwise cost extra, including rear flashing taillight, rear fender, integrated carrying bag, and two-sided SPD-compatible clipless pedals.

All specifications and components for the Eola are subject to change, but the preliminary look suggests that the Eola will have:

  • all three wheels 20" (406 ETRTO), probably equipped with Schwalbe Marathon Racers
  • 1x11 drivetrain with FSA hollow-axle bottom-bracket, 42T chainring and 11-42T cassette
  • Catrike seat-pad
  • Avid BB7 mechanical disc brakes

There might be a temptation to call the Eola an "entry-level" trike, but, if so, it will certainly be one of the best entry-level trikes on the market.

At first blush, the Eola might look similar to a Catrike Pocket, but will the Eola will have a higher seat, more upright seat-back angle, and wider track.

The Eola is clearly laid out to compete head-to-head with the HP Velotechnik Gekko model lineup.

More information...

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