I always marvel at the way in which we humans can balance. We can stand on one foot and not topple over. We can ride a two-wheeled bike endlessly, without ever falling off to one side. Some people can even ride one wheeled bikes (unicycles), but they’re just showoffs. In contrast, try sitting on a two (or even one) legged stool. It just doesn’t work. It’s three or more or bust.
There’s no inherent reason though why we should be limited to just two wheels on our pedal-powered machines; after all, most non-human power machines (cars, trains, buses etc.) have far more than two. For a trade off of extra friction with the road and extra width, they become much more stable – perfect for carrying heavy loads.
And so, continuing this series on utility cycling, today we’re looking at tricycles. There are plenty of them out there, and they’re a great way of carrying medium to heavy loads. A pannier is a fine solution for a two-wheeler, but there is a point at which the bike is overloaded and starts to creak (mine does, anyway); this threshold is typically higher on a tricycle, because the weight is spread out over a larger area.
Take the Pfiff Advanced (above) for example, built with a weekly shop in mind. It has a super-low stepover frame with a purpose-built box or basket on the back, to make taking home groceries as simple as possible.
Pfiff also do a beautiful racing trike, the Furioso Racer. Personally, I think riding one with a pair of scythes attached to the rear axle would make riding to work much more fun, but maybe that’s just me; regardless, I look forward to the day when we race them around modern day Circus Maximi for the entertainment of all.
Just imagine drilling into other road users on one of these fine machines. There'd be no question about whose road it was then.
Tags: circus maximus, furioso racer, pfiff, pfiff advanced, tricycle, trike, unicycle