http://www.exertrike.com/available_models.html

looks interesting, can be had in electric assist or gas and electric assist. They just seem really expensive for what you get.

I wouldn't mind having one but seeing how the roads are made around here riding even a normal bicycle would get you killed, one of these things you might last 15 minutes before getting squashed. I think it would be way cheaper to make your own though since it doesn't look like it has any automatic control of the regen braking/electric assist. It is all manually controlled so wiring it up would be pretty easy.

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Aracoma #99 AF&AM
My Geo Metro Convertible XFi Project Page

looks like the gas is just to give it higher speed and range.

The big problem I see though if you do increase it's speed and range using gas is that bike parts probably won't take that well to doing 55mph for an hour straight. Anyone trying it I bet would get really good at changing tires and bearings.

Someone trying to commute 50 miles a day on it and driving it 9 months out of the year would put 10k a year on it and I really don't think there are many bikes that can do that many miles without constant maintenance.

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Aracoma #99 AF&AM
My Geo Metro Convertible XFi Project Page

The price is high... but not too far off from a production recumbent trike... Look at the cost of a Catrike or a Greenspeed trike It's more than some people spend on cars - but you're paying for engineering and a low volume production trike....

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Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately it kills all its students.


Bike Miles (Begin Aug. 20 - '07): ~433.2 miles

11/12

I think we can get way more engineering bang for out bucks in our garages...
Iono. Maybe I'm just being cynical, but whenever I see stuff like this it just screams of fleecing to me. Kinda like charging $1000+ for a $100 Schwinn w/ one of those $200 Chinamart small gas engine kits for bikes.

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My garage may have an automatic door opener, but I'd be hard pressed to get it to do FEA in SolidWorks/Cosmos

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Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately it kills all its students.


Bike Miles (Begin Aug. 20 - '07): ~433.2 miles

11/12

Maybe fer something like the Waw or Go-one, but this is just a reasonably priced trike IIRC (I know I've seen it before and I'm pretty sure they only go for a few hundred bucks, maybe a grand at most) with electric/gas assist. I mean, it ain't that hard to buy these in bulk, and slap small packs/motors/controllers on 'em so they'll go ~30miles@30mph. It's the equivalent of me fabbing/producing motor mounts for a TDI-> Honda hatchback swap and selling 100mpg cars for $15-20k even though they only cost me a ~$5 grand or less to put together.

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Holy crap, if you found a tadpole trike for a few hundred dollars... you better post a link!!! I'm in the market for a 'bent and have been doing as much research as possible, and if I can find a tadpole in my price range - that would be totally sweet!

Here's a listing of 'bents, their prices and mfr's. The cheapest adult tadpole is 890 Euros - ~$1300 - next up was $1375 and $1395.... Alas, under $2000 is considered a "bargain"

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The junk being sold here vaguely looks like a steinbike CT (but it's not) - and even that sells for $1650+ for the frame only

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Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately it kills all its students.


Bike Miles (Begin Aug. 20 - '07): ~433.2 miles

11/12

I've been thinking about a trike lately, but for a serial hybrid electric bike.

I want to simplify the recumbent chainyness by pedaling a generator, and if it is a trike I can charge the batteries at the stoplights (I know the inefficiencies, got big azz batteries though)

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Standard Disclaimer

All I can find is the usual Al trikes at ~$1100-1200, but I'm 99% sure I saw something for well under a grand a year ore more ago. If ya don't mind used, there are great deals to be had. That being said, just grab a welder and a couple parts bikes X2.

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