Randy Coverstone

Newark, CA 94560

(510) 792-4129

July 14, 1997: Here’s a picture of me and my trike.

I purchased this trike from the builder, Jake Clapper. I met Jake when he was riding this trike in the Newark Days Parade in Newark, CA. Jake spent more time on two wheels than on three, and was quite a crowd-pleaser. His riding style also convinced me that this is a very solid trike. I was also very impressed with the workmanship on the trike. When I learned that Jake built these himself for sale, I bought the trike on the spot. Jake’s brand is "Landstrider".

(You can reach Jake Clapper / Landstrider Trikes at 671 Aldo Ave #10, Santa Clara, CA (408) 727-2568)

I use the trike primarily for short errands around the neighborhood, and for commuting. My commute is a 16 mile (each way) trek across Newark, the Dumbarton Bridge across the bay, through Palo Alto, the Stanford University campus, and finally to my place of work at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories. I toss my briefcase and a change of clothes into the panniers, get some exercise, enjoy the outdoors, and pass the people stuck in rush-hour traffic. My commute takes about 1hr 10min on the trike, as opposed to about 50 minutes in the car. I also save $1 toll, and about $3 worth of gas for each day I commute. At home, the trike is most in demand by my kids. My son Jacob is apparently aspiring to ride like Jake the builder, judging from the tire wear and the scratches where he’s rolled it. My daughter Katie also asks to borrow the trike for trips around town. This trike always invokes the need to share and take turns.

I spent last Memorial Day weekend at the Great Western Bicycle Rally in Paso Robles, CA. This is a large get-together of bicyclists for three days of fun. I rode a few of their shorter rides, the longest being a wonderful 40-mile ride through the hills west of town. On Sunday, just for fun, I entered the Bicycle Rodeo. This was a contest with about 150 entrants consisting of eight different low-speed bicycle handling challenges. For this event, the trike was clearly an unfair advantage. I didn’t really expect them to allow me to compete, as I was just in it for the fun. Well, they did, and I won. Of a possible 80 points, I scored a 79. I would have had a perfect score, except there was some confusion in one of the events about which wheel they would count for being between the lines. Anyhow, 79 was the highest score for the rodeo, and I brought home a nice trophy. I was also encouraged by other people attending to enter the trike in the Councours D’Elegance. Many people were enthralled with the trike. I entered the trike in the "unusual" category, but alas, there were some even more unusual bikes there and I didn’t win anything. Overall, though, I’d have to say that the weekend convinced me that this is a great trike. I rode it around the countryside, won the rodeo, and it gained many admirers in the Concourse.

When I visited Jake Clapper at his shop in Santa Clara, he shared with me some of his philosophy behind his trike design. He wanted to build a simple trike that was affordable, rock-solid, and fun to ride. He certainly succeeded on all counts. He also thought this design was a great platform that could be customized to meet the individual needs of the owner. To this end, he sold me about a dozen of those aluminum clamps that can be used to attach various thingies to the frame. Well. . . I’m currently out of clamps. In this picture, you can see the water bottle that is mounted to the right-wheel frame, a headlight just below that, and of course, the Zzipper fairing on the front of the bike.

The first things I added were a rear rack (for attachment of the panniers), a water bottle, and a set of lights. Jake had told me that riding at night was especially fun, and showed me another trike that had headlights attached to the steering linkage. This way, the lights point in the direction you’re steering. I mounted a set of lights from Vistalight that are absolutely terrific. One light is a 10watt spot, and the other is a 15 watt flood. Together, they look like car headlights coming at you. The battery is a rechargeable NiCd that fits into a water bottle cage. I mounted this battery/bottle cage on the frame under and just behind the seat (using two of those clamps). For the sides and rear, I’ve added some of those bright blinking LED units. This trike looks like a Christmas tree at night. I don’t worry a bit about seeing or being seen. A quick run around town at night is a great way to have fun and cool off on a hot day. Also, I don’t have to worry about getting home before dark when I go shopping, commute in the winter, or visit friends. If you look closely at this picture of the left wheel, you can see the small Vistalight attached to the steering linkage. You can also see one of the LED units mounted on the outside of the frame going to the front wheel.

A major addition to the trike is a Zap Power System. This is an electric motor assist. The major elements are a DC motor, battery, and speed controller. The motor is mounted (via a couple more of those clamps) just behind the seat, where it’s drive wheel can contact the rear tire. You can see the motor in this picture. Actually, there are two motors, one on each side of the wheel, connected by a gritwheel shaft that drives against the tire. Power comes from two sealed 17Ahr lead-acid batteries, one below each side of the seat. (Those black bags with the green "ZAP" on them.) One of the battery bags also holds the electronics – drive amplifier and circuit breaker. The operator controls the unit via a small two-position switch that I’ve mounted on the right handlebar. This switch can engage either one motor or both. At slow speed (one motor) the system propels the bike to about 8 mph. At high speed, the motor runs the trike at 18 mph. If I pedal, I can easily add several mph to those speeds. In short, this trike really scoots! I’m getting about 15 miles range on the batteries alone. Recharging time is about 3 hours. I have a second recharger that I leave at work, so I can start the commute home on fresh batteries.

So far, I really like the ZAP system. It is nice to have a little help to climb hills, merge with traffic, get a jump from stoplights, or just give the legs a rest. The first day I commuted, both the batteries and the rider arrived exhausted. The last time, the batteries were only about 1/3 discharged and the rider was feeling pretty fresh. It’s good to know that even an old couch potato like me can respond to some physical conditioning. And of course, tooling around town w/ the electric motor is a blast! I think this is a large part of the attraction for the kids towards the trike. It was also of great interest to the other riders at the GW Bike Rally. I think a lot more people would get out on their bikes if they had this handy boost for hills or when they got tired.

I recently upgraded all three wheels on the trike. The first change was to put a 26" wheel on the rear. The trike came with a 24" rear wheel, which was no problem. The problem was, I couldn’t buy good tires in 24" size. The ZAP motor would grind away the only 24" tires I could find within about 100 miles. The 26" wheel is a very common size, and I can get a variety of high pressure, semi-bald or bald tires to fit that rim. Good vulcanized tires with smooth tread are important to get good performance and longer tire life from the ZAP system. I kept the Sachs internal five-speed hub that the trike came with, but laced it into a new Mavic model 217 rim with 14 gauge DT spokes in a X4 pattern. I’m currently using a Performance City St/K 26x1.5 tire @ 60psi on the rear. I also found an Avocet FasGrip (completely bald) 26x1.9 tire rated at 80 psi. When the Performance tire wears out, I’ll try the Avocet.

I also built some new front wheels. The primary motivation for these was to add some front brakes (see below). The rims are Araya Super 7X box-section alloy in 406 (20") size. This is the same size rim that came on the trike. I laced them w/ 36 14ga DT stainless spokes in a 3-cross pattern. I found some ACS 20x1.75" tires that inflate to 100psi! These puppies don’t give as smooth a ride, but they sure roll!

The most recent change to the trike was new front wheels. With the added speed and weight of the ZAP system, I just didn’t feel confident with the two calipers on the rear wheel only. After much searching, I located some new front hubs. These hubs are Sturmy-Archer hubs with internal drum brakes, modified for use on trikes. You really need hubs that are modified for trikes for two reasons: 1) The left wheel runs backwards compared to the right wheel. This means, for example, that those brakes that screw onto a hub would unscrew on one of the wheels of a trike. It also means that you need a symmetrical pair of hubs, as opposed to two identical hubs if the brakes are to work equally on both sides, and the mounting of the wheels and brake cables is to be the same on both wheels. 2) The second major requirement for trike hubs is that they be supported on one side only. Unlike a regular bike that suspends the wheel between dropouts on both sides, the trike hubs are cantilevered from the frame. This means you need a larger / stronger axle. The Landstrider trike really sets the standard here, as Jake uses ¾" axles. I wasn’t able to match that. My new hubs use 12mm axles, and sealed bearings. The hubs I use are the same as those on the Trice recumbent trike, made in England. The hardest part of all this was getting some custom axles machined to mate the new hubs to the trike. Fortunately for me, I have a machinist friend in the HP model shop who spent some after-hours time making some beautiful stainless-steel axles.

Both front hubs are controlled by a single brake lever. The cable "Y" is a gizmo called the "wishbone", that I got @ the Bicycle Outfitter in Los Altos. These are commonly used for tandem bikes where they have both a hub and caliper brake on the rear wheel. I also replaced the brake levers. Now, there was nothing wrong with the Diacompe levers that came on the trike. In fact, they fit my kids’ hands better than the ones on the trike now, and we all really liked the parking brake feature of the levers. However, I had these nifty Shimano levers that have a bit more pull, are stronger, and look better. I had an old Blackburn designs parking brake – a plastic wedge-thingy that you stuff in the opening of the brake to lock it. It works OK, but not as nice as the built-in capability of the Diacompes.

These brakes paid for themselves the first day I had them. I was tooling along on Central Ave. in Newark about a mile into my commute when I saw a large Buick approaching from the right, apparently too fast to obey the stop sign. I did a panic stop as the Buick crossed my path. If it weren’t for the brakes, I would have been another greasy spot on the Buick’s oilpan.

The thing in the end of the left handlebar is a small bike bell. I mount bike bells on all of my bikes. It is a nice, friendly way to alert pedestrians that a bike is approaching. The sound of a bike bell is unambiguous. Many times, this has saved a collision with pedestrians who are about to step off the curb, or are wandering aimlessly back-and-forth across a bike path. The bell is also handy for signaling other riders in my group, or just to say "hi".

Here’s a look at the instrument panel. This consists of two items that are mounted (via yet another of those clamps) to the tube used to mount the Zzipper fairing. The thing on the left side is a battery-level indicator -- the "gas" gauge. On the right is a cycle-computer that reads out speed, cadence, distance, time, etc. I had been using an Avocet cyclecomputer and was very pleased with it. When I changed front hubs, however, I had to replace the cyclecomputer since the Avocet wheel sensor ring would not work w/ the front drum brake hubs. Nor would it work with the rear Sachs hub. The new cyclecomputer shown here is a "Paramount". The wheel magnet just clamps onto a single spoke, and the display shows more information than the Avocet.

This view also shows the mounting for the Zzipper fairing. Karl at Zzip Designs is a joy to work with, and he provided me with a great fairing and some nifty mounting stuff to try. The shiny parts in this photo are some steel "L" brackets and some aluminum bar stock that I used to fashion a sort of "T" mount that connects to the Zzip C-ring and has some expanding rubber sleeves on bolts stuffed into the frame tubes. The upright tube (the one that has the instruments mounted to it) is simply connected to the frame using yet another couple of those clamps that Jake made. You can see those in the picture above.

The fairing itself is a standard Zzipper model. I forget the exact model – I think it may be the P-38 version, designed for a short wheelbase recumbent. It works great. However, I’m still undecided on the relative benefits. I think it probably does make the trike more aerodynamic. Aesthetically, the reviews are mixed. Some people think it’s really cool, and some don’t like it. On chilly days, it does help to break the wind. I haven’t tried it yet on a rainy day. For now, I think I’ll leave it on.

This picture shows some small pads that I’ve added as extensions to the seat. These are adjusted to catch my shoulders. I like to recline the seat a bit, and these provide just that little bit of extra support.

This view also shows where I’ve mounted more of those rear LED units to the back of the seat, one on each side.

The gold inverted-U shape in this picture is the top of my U lock, which is carried by the rear frame.

I use the Shimano (323?) pedals – the ones that accept clipless cleats on one side, and have a normal cage on the other. For longer distances, I prefer to clip in w/ cycling shoes. For quick trips, I just use whatever shoes or sandals happen to be on my feet at the time. Great pedals.

The tire pump is mounted on the front frame. This picture also shows the idler pulleys for the chain. I’m using the same triple crank and derailer on the front that came with the trike, and the Sachs internal 5 speed rear hub. I have spent a bit of time tweaking the position of the idler assembly and the length of the chain to get good drivetrain performance. For a while, I was having trouble with the front chain coming off the rear sprocket (at the crossover shaft) when I dropped down into the small front chainring for low gears. I think I’ve solved the problem by shortening the chain and increasing the tension on the idler pulley spring, although I need to test this on some hills. The performance of Jake’s homemade front derailer has been terrific.

Overall, I have to confess that I was very happy with the standard trike, and am delighted with the trike the way it stands now. Obviously, I’m having as much fun tinkering with it as riding it. However, there are a few things that I would still like to tinker with, but they won’t be as easy as the modifications I’ve made so far.

The first thing I wish I could experiment with is the steering geometry. Especially since I’ve extended the axles somewhat to accommodate the drum brake hubs, I’d like to see come inclination angle to put the kingpin axis to where it intersects the plane of the tire at the ground. The only real problem with it the way it is, is some bump steer. So far, the bump steer doesn’t seem to be a big problem, but I’d like to see it go away. Also on the subject of steering geometry, I’d like to experiment with some trail (caster) since the trike gets pretty skittish at high speeds. So far my top speed is about 40mph, and it was pretty exciting. The handling gets very quick as speed increases, and you need all of your attention and a soft touch on the handlebars to avoid a rapid change of direction and some pretty startling lateral g-forces

The ZAP system may improve substantially once NiMH or Li-Ion batteries become available (and affordable). These batteries promise something like twice the capacity at half the weight of the lead-acid ones I currently use. Also, I’d like to look into a better transmission arrangement for the ZAP motor to eliminate the drive against the tire. Moving the motor down to the chainline and using gears should substantially increase the efficiency (from 50 or 60% to 90 or 95%). This will require a compact and efficient gear reduction -–I have a harmonic drive gearset that may be just the ticket……

I’d like to see the rear dropout spacing increased to 130mm. This would accept the new Shimano Nexus internal 7sp hub. The current geartrain is a bit restricted for this trike. I’d like to see a wider range of gears, and closer spacing of gears as well. I often wish I had a higher gear for those gonzo downhills, and a lower gear for those snailclimb uphills. One advantage of a trike is that low-speed balance is not a problem. This means that you can have some real tractor-pull gears for cranking up even the steepest hills. On the flats, I sometimes find the jump between gears to be larger than I’d like for a comfortable cadence. Another option, of course, would be to add an intermediate freewheel and derailer where the crossover shaft is currently. Maybe I can get another of Jake’s front derailers and some more chainwheel hubs to put on this crossover shaft. This would provide an enormous number and range of gears.

I’d also like to change the shifters. When I’m going very fast, changing gears is tricky. A small push on the shift levers tends to steer the wheels, resulting in an unwelcome change of direction. I think that bar ends or gripshift shifters would reduce or eliminate this problem.

I was introduced to recumbent bicycles while a graduate student at MIT. David Gordon Wilson was one of my professors there, and it turns out he is quite famous in the field of bicycle science. He also rode a short wheelbase recumbent bicycle through the insane traffic in Cambridge, MA every day. The trike shown here is the fourth recumbent I’ve purchased. The first was a short wheelbase frame, called the "Hypercycle". It is very similar to the bike Prof. Wilson rode, and I gained increased respect for his courage and bike handling skills.

My second recumbent, and still my favorite two-wheeled bike, was built from a frameset made by Ace Tool & Engineering Co. in Moorsville, Indiana. The brand is "Infinity". This is a long wheelbase, under-seat steering recumbent. My frameset was one of their first, as I bought it from them at a dealers show in Las Vegas. It was one of their demo/show frames. It is made of square aluminum tubing, black anodized, and has held up very well.

The third recumbent is a rather bizarre trike, called a "Slingshot". This one is a very long wheelbase, and you lie on your back, just inches from the ground. The ground clearance is about one inch! This is strictly a parade bike, as you wouldn’t really want to be on the road in this thing.

I still like to ride the Infinity, but the Landstrider has become my ride of choice.