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Threewheelin' Rock ‘N’ Roll

Trikke…The Latest Exercise Fun

By Jeff Gottesman

It seems like every year or two the world is introduced to a new and exciting human powered “vehicle” that offers transportation, exercise, and fun while traveling along your local sidewalk or urban/suburban recreational trails. As kids, we had unsophisticated bicycles, roller skates, toy wagons, scooters and the like. Now, we have technologically advanced variations on the same themes; traditional and recumbent bicycles, inline skates, and now a three-wheeled vehicle called a “Trikke.”

Officially, a Trikke is called a “Three Wheeled Cambering Vehicle” which sounds pretty technical, but when you observe how it is constructed and what makes it “go,” the description kind of makes sense.

A basic Trikke looks like a “3-wheeled scooter” with two rear platforms for your feet and a handlebar to steer over the front wheel with “bicycle like” hand brakes. But…unlike a traditional scooter, the assembly is not rigid, but instead has the ability to bend and swivel, or “camber,” as the front handlebars are moved from side to side.  This cambering action also causes the wheels to lean from side to side much like the wheels on a pair of inline skates when the skater pushes off from one leg to the other. This motion is the secret to propelling the Trikke. When most people look at a Trikke, their first question is…”What makes it Go?”

When I first stepped onto a Trikke, I found that it was quite stable I was able to comfortably stand on it without any fear of falling over. I have to preface my description by admitting that in the past I was both an inline skating instructor, recreational downhill skier, and a competitive ice skater in my younger years. However, when you think about it, most of us have been on skates, skis, a bicycle or scooter at some time in our lives, so my personal experience should not give me too much of an advantage.

The Trikke comes with riding instructions and a video, but on their website  www.trikke.com/usa/jlance  there are more extensive videos to get you going. The most important thing to remember when you first begin to ride is to stay on level ground. Until you become more experienced, trying to go uphill is extremely frustrating….so don’t even attempt it!

I was told to start propelling myself by quickly turning the handlebars from right to left and much to my surprise, the Trikke started moving forward…not very quickly…but I was moving! In order to go a little faster, the next step was for me to actually lean and push the handlebars from right to left as I turned and actually put my weight into it. After a very short time, something just “clicked” inside me and I felt the “movement” and found myself going a bit faster. As I pushed the handlebars further to the right and left, I felt the Trikke actually lean with me as the wheels and platforms were following my body motion.

The final step to making a Trikke travel faster, is to actually push with your outside foot…much the same as pushing off with your outside foot when you skate.  This part is tricky because the Trikke frame does not allow your foot to actually move from the position on the platform, but the power from your push is transmitted through the mechanism and your speed increases. I am told that I can reach a speed of up to 18 mph on flat ground…and that’s a pretty good clip!

Once you build up some speed…especially when going downhill, the Trikke feels more like downhill skiing than skating. You can actually “carve turns” as steep or shallow as you desire by controlling the radius of your turn and the “lean” that you put into it. Wow…this was a lot of fun!! Once I felt the entire movement, it was obvious why the Trikke slogan is “No pushing - No Pedaling - Just ROCK ‘N’ ROLL!”

I think that since we’re talking about speed, this is a good time to indicate that as with all sports of this type, wearing a helmet is critical no matter how fast or slow you are going! Just as I wear a helmet when riding a bike and inline skating, riding a Trikke is no exception!

Earlier, I mentioned exercise.  Well…riding a Trikke will give you quite a workout. Riding a bicycle allows you to directly power yourself through the action of pedaling, but getting a Trikke to “go” involves quite a bit more energy since there is no way to directly use your muscular energy in a conventional way. It’s more about converting one kind of motion into another….and the physics of that conversion is beyond me at this point in my life…all I know is that it’s fun once you get going. The instructional videos do NOT recommend trying to ride a Trikke up even the slightest incline until you have mastered the propulsion on level ground. Trying to go uphill involves a slightly different skill which is explained in the videos. I’m not saying that it is difficult, but it is much easier to learn once you have adequately mastered the basic Trikke movements.

Trikkes come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, and have accessories similar to inline skates and scooters. There are different sizes for children and adults. Wheels are polyurethane or air filled tires for a smoother ride. Various models come with different types of wheels and some allow you to change from one type to the other. There are also different colors of wheels, striping, foot platforms, and other accessories to personalize your Trikke.

You can get to the Trikke website by following this link: www.trikke.com/usa/jlance where you can view all the different models, watch the instructional videos, and even order a Trikke to be delivered directly to your door. If you click on the link above, you will receive a 10% discount on your first order placed online…so you’ll get a great deal.

If you are looking for one of the best exercises of your life…ride a Trikke uphill.  If you want to experience one of the most fun and exhilarating experiences short of living at the ski slopes, ride a Trikke downhill. However you ride it, a Trikke will get you there!

Photos courtesy of Trikke USA and used with their permission.

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