[trikes] DELTA VS TADPOLE for speed

[John Turvey]

On Friday, June 12, 2009, at 05:29 PM, <mgta4 at aol.com> wrote:

> Does anyone have any experience riding both trikes? Is there a 
> difference in speed that could be noticed?? Would one be much faster 
> for touring then the other??
>
> Thanks Fran
> --
No opinion on speed (I ride tadpoles, so am biased towards tadpoles) 
but for touring, luggage carrying on a delta can be an issue - on a 
tadpole there is (normally) space above the rear wheel for a rack on 
which it is relatively easy to load full touring gear (including 
camping gear), while on a delta it is much harder - unless it is a load 
carrying machine with a load platform behind the seat - when the trike 
will be intrinsically heavier and so slower anyway.  I have done 
several long tours ( 1,500 to 2,000 miles) on my Greenspeed or my Trice 
XXL with all the luggage on the rear rack.  I have even done shorter 
(500 mile) tours with camping gear on the rack on my Trice Micro, but 
that is probably beyond the reasonable load for the rack on the Micro.  
I have also done long tours on my Greenspeed or my Trice XXL with my 
trailer, where loading luggage is much less of a problem - in fact my 
main problem then is carrying too much - I have returned from Holland 
with 40 extra maps or with 20 or more bottles of beer - the 'hill' out 
of the North Shields (Newcastle upon Tyne) ferry terminal, which is 
normally easy, can be very difficult after several weeks in Holland 
where 'hills' are usually only 2 or 3 metres climb to cross a dyke.

I have ridden Kettwiesels with no luggage, and cannot say I noticed any 
speed difference either way compared to riding my tadpoles with no 
luggage.

John Turvey