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Innovation
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".]
More information...Recumbent trike racks 1/2 off
[Disclaimer: This item was posted on April Fools Day, 2017. It is not to be taken seriously, though, perhaps, half-seriously. The rack and the trike are real and not Photoshopped. The trike is a Terratrike (perhaps an older Tour) and the rack is based on HP Velotechnik design.]
Today only, AlphaBENT is selling recumbent trike racks that are half off.
These racks are for trike owners who know that "less is more".
They are specially designed for non-touring trike-riders who have half a mind to take something with them, but aren't quite sure. The novel design leaves one side available for mounting dynamos and other accessories.
Manufacturers benefit from the 1/2-off concept by only having to design half of the rack and production is half as fast.
The first partial prototypes are in and AlphaBENT is selling them to test the market.
The new concept ushers in an era of fractional sales of fractional goods in the Fractional Economy.
Adherents of the Fractional Economy Concept say the economy gets a strong stimulation because recumbent trike buyers can purchase their trikes as they can afford to.
"I can see a day coming when people will buy 60% of a trike one month and then buy 15% more when their next paycheck comes in.", said AlphaBENT owner, Hugh Kern, "I'm only partially sure that this is going to take off. A lot of people have been telling me that this is a half-a__ed idea, but, I decided to just run with it."
Disability
How to get out of a recumbent trike if you can't get out of a recumbent trike
Catrike Speed rider, Miles, has worked out a great system for getting in and out of his very low and laidback recumbent trike using a strap attached to his roof-rack.
The Catrike Speed is no longer in production, but is most closely related to the current Catrike 700. It is a sport trike with a very low seat and very reclined seat. Another trike in this sport or racing class is the ICE VTX.
Miles has ALS, but this technique would work well for a lot of other situations. His trike is equipped with a Bionx electric-assist.
It's all in the positioning of the trike and the foresight in lashing the strap to the roof rack, and then, when he comes in for a landing, he just grabs the strap off the ground and pulls himself up.
Thanks for demonstrating this clever trick, Miles.
Find Miles at the Walk to Cure ALS or back an ALS walker.
More information...