Well I’ve already installed my first upgrade to my recumbent trike! B&M mirrors. These install in the place of the head caps that go on top of the front steering columns where the wheels attach.

All that was needed was an Allen wrench. Adjustment was done mostly after install.

These mirrors make a big difference. Sitting reclined makes it a bit hard to see behind you. With the mirror I can clearly see at least one and a half lanes over so I can safely change lanes without turning my head. Great quality of life upgrade. Later on I hope to add some turning signals and these look like a great candidate to hold some lights later!

Here are some photos. Looks like it belongs to the trike which is great.

@afwen said in ant's HP Velotechnik FS26 Scorpion pedelec: First ride report, from opening the box to my first 6 miles.:

Great write-up, and I love the photos! I've heard good things about Hostel Shoppe.

How long was your ride, and what was your average speed? Do you know the practical range of your battery?

I went out for about an hour. At the halfway mark I found a small parking lot and took some time to adjust the seat/headrest and boom length. I looked at the computer a few times and it was mostly at 12mph and sometimes 20mph on the flats. I had the motor set mostly to "eco" mode but did try "boost" a few times. I forgot exactly what the charged battery read in terms of range, but I vaguely remember somewhere between 30 and 60 miles depending on the mode. I don't exactly know how it estimates this, given that it obviously has no clue I have a fairing nor my weight! This was the estimated range at standstill from startup so my guess it's just programmed with something.

What's it like to order a recumbent trike, but not just any recumbent trike, a HP Velotechnik Scorpion FS 26 pedelec over the internet, untested and unseen??? Find out below!

First of all, I definitely don't want to recommend to anyone the idea of buying a recumbent trike without trying one (or hopefully more than one) right off the internet or over the phone. It's entirely different from riding a bicycle, from the ergonomics, to the simple things like turning and even getting on and off of one. I myself tried the "top" model from several brands and surprisingly settled on the one that I was originally most interested in, only from internet research, the HP Velotechnick Scorpion FS 26 pedelec. Something about it just felt like it fit me better than any other.

Unfortunately for me, there is a limited selection of recumbent trikes in MA. The nearest HP Velotechnik dealer was over 100 miles away, and actually wasn't even in business anymore, making the next one almost 150 miles away. While on a business trip, I was able to swing by a dealer in another state and try a few the models out. I fell in love but unfortunately they only had a non-electric one.

I contacted HP Velotechnik at this point and they said to just order it from one of two dealers online in the Midwest. I ended up buying mine from Hostel Shoppe. They fortunately had one in stock, but not quite what I wanted in terms of configuration. I was able to communicate over phone and email exactly all the changes I wanted and was sent quotes on all my options. Unfortunately for me, some of the parts I wanted were out of stuck and getting stuff from Germany takes weeks! Well nearly a month and a half after ordering a truck showed up in my driveway and dropped off a nearly 8 ft long pallet with a giant box on it.

The recumbent trike was pretty much 100% intact except I needed to install the Terracycle WINTR fairing onto the already-assembled hardware. This was just 4 hand-tightened knurled screws. Didn't even need a tool! Great. Some places will ship the recumbent trike to you folded up and you need to put it all back together but in my case, I didn't need to. It was ready to roll, if not for the typical winter weather in Boston.

Fast forward another weekend and somehow it's mid January and 60s in Boston. GREAT!

I didn't exactly have a route planned out but I knew I wanted to stay close to home in case anything went wrong. Things can always go wrong. Completely new recumbent trike, new shoes, new pants, all unfamiliar. It's not until you get some miles until you can really start figuring out how to adjust the trike to fit. For me, the boom arm needed to be adjusted, I was over-extending my foot. Good thing I have a quick release to adjust the boom! Highly recommended. After that, I adjusted the seat angle so that I could be a bit more upright. I also took this opportunity to adjust the headrest. Another highly recommend accessory. It doesn't interfere with my helmet and makes it so comfortable to just lay back. Then I adjusted the fairing so that it could come up higher, be less far forward, and curve over my feet. Adjusting the fairing is tricky, because it has a formed shape, with two mounting points. After a few miles, my feet were killing me. The shoes I bought were a little bit snug and I'm guessing it was maybe too snug. Definitely returning those and getting new ones. After I got home, I quickly realized how glad I was that I got front and rear fenders. Even on slightly wet roads, no rain, lots of yucky stuff got all over the frame. My setup was mainly using quick release levers which was awesome. I made all my adjustments in a parking lot at the halfway point. The only thing I needed an allen wrench for was the fairing hardware.

When I got home, I felt well-rested. Only my feet hurt! My butt didn't hurt like it usually does from an upright bike. While on the ride, I got really nervous when I was riding along and saw some big dips for rainwater grates/sewer covers but I ended up feeling like I just floated over them. I really didn't feel much of any bumps. The suspension is awesome!

Looking forward to putting on some more miles.

Photos to follow of the delivery, and of the recumbent trike!

Top Tier Recumbent Trikes
These recumbent trikes appear to be the "flagship" offering from the various brands of manufacturers. These are often their fastest, lightest, most expensive, no-compromise recumbent trikes. Non-electric variants are listed since the electric one would be hands down the top offering.

ICE Trikes - VTX
HP Velotechnik - Scorpion fs 26
Catrike - Dumont
Terratrike - Sportster SL
AZUB - TI Fly 26

Monster Recumbent Trikes
It's like riding a tank on 3 wheels.. These recumbent trikes have room for the biggest wheels to get over the biggest obstacles

ICE Trikes - FULL FAT
AZUB - Ti-FLY X

Entry Level Recumbent Trikes
If your roads are pretty good and you're just looking to see if recumbent trikes are for you, these are the trikes you want to check out. These have the lowest price points and are often heavier or running gear that's not the top-end. Great way to get started in the world of recumbent triking. Note, these tend not to have any suspension so they will be less comfortable on harsh roads.

AZUB - T-Tris 26
ICE Trikes - Adventure
Catrike - Eola
Trident Trikes - Spike

According to this Massachusetts government guidance on bike lanes, https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2017/10/25/SeparatedBikeLaneChapter3_GeneralDesign_0.pdf, I think I see a minimum recommended bike lane width of 5 ft.

A typical recumbent trike of tadpole design looks to come in at around 30 inches wide. So it would appear that at least for newer cycling lane construction, you're going to have almost a foot of space on either wide of you.

I think the important consideration here is comparing the width to a DF or recumbent rider whose greatest width is often the handlebars or the rider itself. Assuming a person is about 20 inches wide at the shoulder, then you're looking at 10 inches or 5 inches on both sides. It doesn't sound like much of a difference!

One thing I would think about is that perhaps on a trike, you worry less about stability, and you just focus on going straight, where as on a two wheeler, you might be swerving more to avoid things. So perhaps the "effective width" of the rider is not as different!

AZUB is running a 5% off sale until 2/29/20. This discount has interesting origins. Apparently there was a patent dispute between AZUB and Triot. It's now been resolved.

https://azub.eu/ti-fly-available-in-the-usa-again-5-temporary-discount/

Not sure what the origin of the dispute is, the trikes look very different from each other! This seems to apply to the Ti-FLY specifically.

My recumbent trike came with a head / neck rest that makes it really comfortable to lean back into. However, at certain angles with my 10 year old helmet, the adjustment control of my helmet would be quite uncomfortable!

I searched around and found something called a pony tail compatible helmet. I don’t have a pony tail but the idea is the same, move the adjustment control away from the back of the neck. The Lazer brand helmets seem to exclusively have this top adjuster.

I blindly ordered this online and it seems to fit quite well and not interfere (as much or at all) relative to the back of neck adjusters from Bell/Giro

It’s called the Lazer Genesis MIPS. At least that’s what it’s called on their website. When I searched for this it only would show up an old version of the helmet. The real name seems to be Lazer G1 MIPS. Comes with a nice bag and some replacement pads. Worth trying if you have a neck/head rest!

Well I’ve already installed my first upgrade to my recumbent trike! B&M mirrors. These install in the place of the head caps that go on top of the front steering columns where the wheels attach.

All that was needed was an Allen wrench. Adjustment was done mostly after install.

These mirrors make a big difference. Sitting reclined makes it a bit hard to see behind you. With the mirror I can clearly see at least one and a half lanes over so I can safely change lanes without turning my head. Great quality of life upgrade. Later on I hope to add some turning signals and these look like a great candidate to hold some lights later!

Here are some photos. Looks like it belongs to the trike which is great.

Bought some cycling shoes. I think being clipped in will help me stay more relaxed. Without being clipped in I feel like I’m constantly maintaining pressure on my feet to not fall off!

They’re from Lake and have a three hole bolt pattern. I think they’re meant for road cycling given the smooth carbon fiber bottom. Color looked cool and was one of the few shoes that come in an extra wide.

Now I need to figure out which pedal system to go with. Last I had was Time RXS over ten years ago!

@afwen said in ant's HP Velotechnik FS26 Scorpion pedelec: First ride report, from opening the box to my first 6 miles.:

Great write-up, and I love the photos! I've heard good things about Hostel Shoppe.

How long was your ride, and what was your average speed? Do you know the practical range of your battery?

I went out for about an hour. At the halfway mark I found a small parking lot and took some time to adjust the seat/headrest and boom length. I looked at the computer a few times and it was mostly at 12mph and sometimes 20mph on the flats. I had the motor set mostly to "eco" mode but did try "boost" a few times. I forgot exactly what the charged battery read in terms of range, but I vaguely remember somewhere between 30 and 60 miles depending on the mode. I don't exactly know how it estimates this, given that it obviously has no clue I have a fairing nor my weight! This was the estimated range at standstill from startup so my guess it's just programmed with something.

Pictures of the truck delivery and unboxing of the HP Velotechnik FS26 Scorpion pedelec

What's it like to order a recumbent trike, but not just any recumbent trike, a HP Velotechnik Scorpion FS 26 pedelec over the internet, untested and unseen??? Find out below!

First of all, I definitely don't want to recommend to anyone the idea of buying a recumbent trike without trying one (or hopefully more than one) right off the internet or over the phone. It's entirely different from riding a bicycle, from the ergonomics, to the simple things like turning and even getting on and off of one. I myself tried the "top" model from several brands and surprisingly settled on the one that I was originally most interested in, only from internet research, the HP Velotechnick Scorpion FS 26 pedelec. Something about it just felt like it fit me better than any other.

Unfortunately for me, there is a limited selection of recumbent trikes in MA. The nearest HP Velotechnik dealer was over 100 miles away, and actually wasn't even in business anymore, making the next one almost 150 miles away. While on a business trip, I was able to swing by a dealer in another state and try a few the models out. I fell in love but unfortunately they only had a non-electric one.

I contacted HP Velotechnik at this point and they said to just order it from one of two dealers online in the Midwest. I ended up buying mine from Hostel Shoppe. They fortunately had one in stock, but not quite what I wanted in terms of configuration. I was able to communicate over phone and email exactly all the changes I wanted and was sent quotes on all my options. Unfortunately for me, some of the parts I wanted were out of stuck and getting stuff from Germany takes weeks! Well nearly a month and a half after ordering a truck showed up in my driveway and dropped off a nearly 8 ft long pallet with a giant box on it.

The recumbent trike was pretty much 100% intact except I needed to install the Terracycle WINTR fairing onto the already-assembled hardware. This was just 4 hand-tightened knurled screws. Didn't even need a tool! Great. Some places will ship the recumbent trike to you folded up and you need to put it all back together but in my case, I didn't need to. It was ready to roll, if not for the typical winter weather in Boston.

Fast forward another weekend and somehow it's mid January and 60s in Boston. GREAT!

I didn't exactly have a route planned out but I knew I wanted to stay close to home in case anything went wrong. Things can always go wrong. Completely new recumbent trike, new shoes, new pants, all unfamiliar. It's not until you get some miles until you can really start figuring out how to adjust the trike to fit. For me, the boom arm needed to be adjusted, I was over-extending my foot. Good thing I have a quick release to adjust the boom! Highly recommended. After that, I adjusted the seat angle so that I could be a bit more upright. I also took this opportunity to adjust the headrest. Another highly recommend accessory. It doesn't interfere with my helmet and makes it so comfortable to just lay back. Then I adjusted the fairing so that it could come up higher, be less far forward, and curve over my feet. Adjusting the fairing is tricky, because it has a formed shape, with two mounting points. After a few miles, my feet were killing me. The shoes I bought were a little bit snug and I'm guessing it was maybe too snug. Definitely returning those and getting new ones. After I got home, I quickly realized how glad I was that I got front and rear fenders. Even on slightly wet roads, no rain, lots of yucky stuff got all over the frame. My setup was mainly using quick release levers which was awesome. I made all my adjustments in a parking lot at the halfway point. The only thing I needed an allen wrench for was the fairing hardware.

When I got home, I felt well-rested. Only my feet hurt! My butt didn't hurt like it usually does from an upright bike. While on the ride, I got really nervous when I was riding along and saw some big dips for rainwater grates/sewer covers but I ended up feeling like I just floated over them. I really didn't feel much of any bumps. The suspension is awesome!

Looking forward to putting on some more miles.

Photos to follow of the delivery, and of the recumbent trike!

@afwen I have no idea.. i'm going to have to pull up the install manuals, but you're on point about that being a concern

@afwen what do you think about this? https://www.utahtrikes.com/PROD-11618354.html

What do you guys think works better? Helmet mounted mirror, side mirrors mounted to the wheel steering columns? @afwen

I have a headrest on my trike and I wonder if it's going to be awkward to change lanes. I haven't ridden my trike yet and I'm already looking for upgrades!