All quiet on the Blog front

Seems like everyone whose blog I read regularly hasn't had much to say lately... including mine. :-)

So, what's the deal with the trike?... Well, not good. The trike is of lesser quality than I was expecting.

And, the steering is weird... instead of the handlebars pivoting left to right (like bike handlebars, but under the seat), they move front to back. Now, think about that. You can't hold on to the bars for balance, because if you pull back, you'll do such a hard right turn that you'll kill yourself. And, if you push forward, you'll launch a Louie that'll have you suckin' sod in one hot second.

Now, I could almost handle the steering if the seat gave the kind of support that a recumbent requires. (for details, check some of my other posts where I yaddle on and on about the virtues of the recumbent bike...) But, they sent... (wait for it... wait for it...)

A PLASTIC BOAT SEAT. Yes... a boat seat. All the support of a featherbed. Well, we tried to make the best of it - we got a better boat seat. And, I now know why you never put a boat seat on a recumbent bike - it simply doesn't give the support necessary to pedal the bike. So, I've got a steering system that I can't hang on to for support, in front of a seat that has no support. Not a great way to start on the mighty trike...

But, I plodded on, trying to make it work. Took it to our church's parking lot - confined space, lots of room to try and see if I can get used to the beast. Made a little progress, but it's still weird with the push/pull steering. But, just when I was getting used to it...

THE STEERING ARM BROKE OFF. After 20 minutes, it broke...

I'm not a happy camper at this point. And, since it is a custom bike, they don't do refunds.

Wrapping this vent-fest up, big thanks and a shout out to Ryan "Ironbutt" E., who used his considerable welding (and stomping-on-the-wheel-to-straighten-it) skills to get the beast back on the road... pavement... driveway. Brought it up to C.U. today and tried it again... The seat still rots, the steering is still weird, but at least the welds held!!! WooHoo! Go Ironbutt!!! :-D

(Apologies to those who might be offended by the term Ironbutt. But it's his title. Really. He's got a certificate and everything. Just ask him...)

The folks who made the trike (who shall remain nameless - even to the point of removing their name decals from the bike itself) are, to be fair, trying to help. They are sending a better seat, with a better bracket to hold it on. So, we'll get some help there.

And, we are contemplating ways to change the steering. The simplest would be to switch from underseat to above seat steering - just put on a handlebar and stem. The cooler way would be to figure out how to change the underseat steering to pivot instead of fore and aft. Don't know which way it'll go. And, we need to change the front wheel (which Ryan thinks is off a kiddie bike). And, the shifters are total garbage - they'll have to change as well.

Are we discouraged? At first. But, we figure if we keep the total spent below $3300, we're still good. (that's what we would have spent on the next trike up the price scale that would work for me) So, the saga continues...