So the mad man does 12 miles on a titling Flevo/Python hybrid.....
It was a ride of drama - satisfaction - elation - buttock clenching.
In all honesty the proportions were all wrong
I loaded the tools from the Python managed to get a flag mounted and had to use a pillow in lieu of a Ventist seat pad.
No mirrors , parking brake , horn/bell , front shifter [ so only 4 gears ! [ frame problems ]] etc etc
As they now say on TV coming up ...
A mechanical
A off-e
A tip over
A off-e
A stuck in the railings
So I left home on the prototype and soon reached the edge of Mansfield:-
The route to mothers [ first 8 miles ] is along side the MARR Way a ring road that follows the Mansfield/Ashfield border chosen although it is longer the hills are less steep than the shorter routes and no riding on the road [ although that proved to be untrue ]
So first up a mile or so further on I saw something whizz past on the left , I though the front wheel picked up a stone when the left pedal fell off !
I remember I had recently changed them when looking for why there was no gear change working and chain kept coming off after the repaint.
Luckily this had happened in Holland when on my own and after limping to a bike shop for it to be tightened I resolved to always carry a tool for that Halaluea
Found the errant nut and checked both for tightness.
Off we go.
About 1/4 mile further on I wanted to know the time so removed my hands from the bars as I would do on the Python , and just like a MBB bike it decided it wanted to swerve right [ lucky as the 50mph traffic was on the left ] and tried to ride up the grass verge. I regained my posture and carried on further experiments showed I could easily remove 1 hand but 2 where a problem.
Strange as the bars are not connect to the steering .
Off we go
Reached Mother's with no more drama :-
Cup of tea and a couple biscuits with Mum then off home , on the way taking a short cut for a visit to my friend for tea and cake !
All went well till I climbed a steep hill and met the main road , should have been able to ride along it however some one had left a wheelie bin blocking the path 3 choices none pleasant [ of course NON involved getting off and pulling it around the obstacle and remounting ]
Go to the left - steep grass slope and a hedge to run into
Go to the right - change of dropping the right wheel off the kerb and tipping over into the traffic
Go on the road for a few yards and rejoin the footpath - so I tried that.
Go off ok and past the bin I could hear traffic approaching however with no mirrors was unsure how far away it was so made to get back on the path asap.
I was alongside a dropped kerb running very close to the kerbstones that were about as high as the tyre , I turned the front wheel which mounted the kerb however the rear wheel at such a shallow angled decided it wouldn't and I went over the high side of the trike onto the footpath. The trike was on it's side in the gutter and I was sprawled on the footpath , a kind lady pulled up to see if I was ok [ we all look disabled to non recumbent riders ! ]
I wave and thanked her saying I was ok as I dragged the trike off the road.
Me and the trike seemed undamaged so I carried on to the food/watering stop , in all honesty I think my Python would have done the same as well the price we pay for running 20" wheels I suspect ?
Before I made my friends another off-e just cruising along a road when it suddenly swerved to the right , under normal circumstance I may have caught it however right is into oncoming traffic and so did an emergency stop.
Pulled the trike to the pavement and look it over , could not see anything wrong so gingerly rode down the pavement to my friends.
Tea and cake later I set off home.
Further problem emerged when I got stuck in one of those accursed railing chicanes my local council loves :
Like this however only 1 fence panel wide and sloping down hill.
I got in the top and did a sharp left turn only to find it was so short I was going to hit the post carrying the pedestrian buttons , tried to back up using Fred Flinstone method however than I have no steering because the bars don't and feet can't and it was 2 narrow to easily get off grrrrr!!!
Got out eventually and made it home safely.
So conclusions will be forth coming , however a few observations in no particular order.
I am not sure someone without Python experience could ride it straight off - I need to find someone willing to have a go - or post it to DannyC
to try
It is very strange to feel the rear/non tilting part moving up and down laterally through the bars without any perception of that happening through the seat.
It is best to heed advice from others and concentrate where you are going and not what the trike is doing.
I need to decouple tilting from steering ? tilting can be achieved through the handle bars AND through body english so I need to be able to turn very sharply at very low speeds without an element of tilt. I am sure that is achievable as I can tilt whilst traveling in a straight line without deviating from that course.
You need to anticipate the route ahead i.e if you cross a sloping drive make sure you are ready to hold the upper part upright [ bars and body english ] else steering occurs and you may follow the slope downwards.
The front end not being vertical when ridden had a embarrassing solution ? it turns out it was tilted over the the right because I was not sitting in the middle of the seat ! strewth ! If I made an effort to get the crown jewels over the pivot the front wheel rode perfectly vertically
So would it replace my current Python ?
Unsure seat not much higher rear just as wide and it is currently harder work to ride , however that could change when I have more miles on it and learnt some new behavior ?
all for now Paul