Doing the limbo at nealy 54 with a bad disc, courtesy
of the US Army in 1969 was not in my plans.) And,
if you would like to see the 'normal' contortions
you have to go to in order to get in and out of
even a larger trike with a fairing, go to the
HostelShoppe website, click on the Greenspeed
GTR link, and go to the link there for the Mueller
RS. Rolph shows you how a very agile rider gets
on and off with the fairing in its fixed position.
Sorry, perhaps for you more agile, and on the
larger bikes such as the Greenspeed, but for an
old fart like me, and on the very tiny Micro,
no thanks.
Hold on, says Bob
on his return from Interbike, I just saw the answer.
Mueller has rigged up the RS for trikes to use
(what I assume from closer examination) is a Rans
style filp-up tiller, mating to its mouting bar
which then allows the fairing to be tilted forward
on a pivot taken off the nose of the trike's boom.
That then pivots the whole fairing forward, so
you can sit down (or, to be honest, fall back
into the seat after you plant your feet in position
alongside the boom) and then pull the fairing
back down and pedal off!
Since this isn't
a binary news group, I can't show you the picutures
here. However, Hal at the Bike Rack took a bunch
of them today, and said he was going to post them
at their site (www.thebikerack.com) later this
weekend, along with some shots of my new Micro,
with its Cane Creek air shock, Hope Mini Discs,
and the other newest upgrades Bob found at Interbike,
including the new DuraAce Front and Rear Derailleurs,
Rear Hub, Dura Ace 9spd Titanium Cassettee, Chain,
Bar ends, or what one could call a full DuraAce
Gruppo for the Micro (okay, not ALL Dura Ace as
it uses a pair of TA chainrings since they are
all built with the Schlumpf Speeddrive so you
can get a realistic top gear.Front hubs are, of
course, Hope to work with the brakes.)
So, now to how
it works. I have been riding a Trice XL with the
Schlumpf drive, but with regular (drum) brakes
and without a rear suspension. I have grown to
become a trike nut, and ride it whenever possible,
changing over to my OE Troika Tandem Trike when
my wife wants to join me, and taking my Challenge
Taifun-S out when the 'need for speed' puts out
the call. The rest of the time, the ease of riding,
and the handling of the XL gets the nod, and 'trike
rider's grin' has become a permanent feature on
my not-all-that-handsome visage since I first
got my Trice.
Nonetheless, I
did want something even faster, smaller, lighter,
and with a rear suspension since going over cracks
in the road and ruts was bouncing my back -- the
only real drawback of riding a non-suspended trike
for me. And, since I love to corner and really
nail the brakes, I was intrigued by the writeups
I had reviewed about the stopping ability of the
new Hope Discs.
After spending
a bunch of hours with Bob setting up my new Micro
today, and then spending about four hours out
riding, now that I have caught my breath, here
goes:
Damn, this thing
is really tiny! I thought the XL looked small
next to most other trikes, but the Micro looks
like a 3/4 scale version, and then some. Once
I get in (fall in, more properly) however, it
is surprisingly comfortable. I am 5'10" and
about 217 lbs, with short legs (44" X seam)
and chunky thighs. With proper adjustment, of
the bars, even a chunk like me can get in and
get comfortable. The seat angle takes a while
to get used to, as does the carbon fiber seat
shell. Fortunately, the standard-equip headreast
and pad allow you to ride in comfort at all but
the most extreme seat angle. (It is adjustable
for angle, as shown at the ICE website. I have
it back about 3/4 of the way, and had no neck
pain at the end of several hours of riding.) The
seat shell fit me -- very snug it seemed at first,
until I went around a corner, and damn near came
out sideways from the g-force! Damn this thing
will whip around a corner, and its reflexs make
even the quick-handling 20" wheel XL seem
clumsy. Trice provides rubber seat padding to
put between the shell and the seat cover, and
Hal added some extra material down where the base
of the seat intrudes into your prostate area.
(Hey, I already have two almost grown kids, but
I didn't want to feel like I got off a wedgie,
so the extra padding was welcome, and works fine.)
With careful addition of the padding between the
shell and the cover, the carbon shell bucket seat
actually ended up with perhaps as good or even
a better feel than the XL's mesh seat. The hard
shell lets me push out against the pedals to crank
hard when I wanted to, and given the extra cornering
'oomph', it felt more secure. Plus, it would be
hard to fit the mesh seat into this ultra low
profile and still have it work.
Speed? Chris at
ICE said I should realize up to a 20% increase
with the smaller and lower Micro. How much extra
was a factor of the Mueller fairing vs the unfaired
XL I don't know, but the Micro is clearly faster
and I was able to maintain the extra speed Chris
predicted today with the same level of output
and heart rate I normally see. Score one for the
Micro.
Handling? The Micro
made me nervous at first. The XL (I did not have
the narrow track version) and its 20" wheels
cornered like it was on rails. The first few corners
I tried on the Micro scard me. I thought I was
going to tip over! After a while, I pushed hard,
and saw the inside wheel was not lifting as I
feared. Push harder, and I realize this thing
just has faster reflexes and corners even harder
and faster than the larger XL. Indeed, it is more
"sudden" in all aspects of performance.
It corners faster, digs in and goes faster (a
drag racer <g>) and is more like a Formula
One car than the Sports Racer the XL was. Again,
the Micro reacts very fast to everything. Cranking
hard brings a gentle bob left and right as you
watch your feet spinning the crank. The sensation
is unnerving at first, but Bob had told me to
expect it, as had Chris, and it soon fades into
the background as you ride. Call it responsiveness,
not twitchiness, as the handling is precise but
instantly responsive, so a gentle touch rewards
you.
The brakes are
incredible. Cranked up to the mid-20s, whipped
around a corner, pedalling like a madman, and
came up behind a car making a left turn in front
of me. Nailed the Hope discs, and it stopped!
Right there, no hesitation, nailed to the pavement.
Good thing I was laying back in the seat, or I
would have needed a seat belt to stay in. These
brakes are fantastic. Expensive? Sure. But the
feel and operation of these hydralic discs are
worth it. They have to be experienced to be believed.
The suspension
is also what I had hoped for. Yes, you do feel
the thump when the (unsuspended) front wheels
go over a bump. No, the rear bump isn't gone,
but it is now a gentle nudge rather than a bang
and whack on a sensitive back. The general improvement
in ride is worth it as well.
The Schlumpf is
not an option, and for good reasaon. I found myself
in the 'higher' side of the Drive more often than
I did with the XL. Given the 16" rear wheel,
the Speeddrive is obviously the only way ICE could
have achieved a workable gear range. The rest
of the components? The DuraAce drivetrain worked
as Bob had promised -- flawlessly. The shifts
were precise and smooth. The grips and control
levers all adjust to your individual fit, and
Bob set the Micro up perfectly by the time I put
in the SportTrac to go home this morning. The
rear rack is attached to the seat shell on the
suspended version, and I put my Bushwhacker insulated
bag on the top, with the Trek stobelight back
there. Yellow paint or no, it is so low that you
need to get the attention of overtaking drivers
if you are going to go out even on the type of
normally empty streets near my home. The rack
will accept panniers and the fit and finish is
like everything else on the Micro, great.
Workmanship? Everything
I have come to expect from ICE -- simply superb!
The paint is flawless as is the brazing and all
of the other fittings. My Micro is bright yellow,
the yellow frame set off well by the black rear
rack and other metal parts. It looks like the
precision machine it is, more like a fine watch
than a bike <g>.
Conclusion?
Riding the Micro
is a different experience than my XL and other
trikes ('performance' and otherwise) I have tried,
including the Hotmover, the Greenspeed, the Dragonflyer
and a larger Trice. You are laid well back on
the Micro and put nicely, into a package that
is as small as possible. The riding position and
overall feel is much more like riding my Taifun
than my XL. (The XL would be my Burley Hepcat
compared to the Micro as the Taifun.) That is
both good and bad. On the XL, I was tempted to
goof off, watch the world go by, and coast along.
The riding position and the hardshell seat of
the Micro makes it want to be ridden more 'seriously'
at all times -- by this I mean, keep up your cadence,
spin those SPD pedals, zip along and don't dawdle
and coast. It isn't harder to ride, just more
focused than the XL or the larger trikes.
That is where the
potential trade off comes in. The Micro isn't
for everyone. The XL, for me, was almost a touring
bike. I could go as fast as I liked, or dup along
and coast while watching the world go by. I wanted
more response, however, and that I what the Micro
delivers. The Micro is about as small an envelope
as someone my size (call me normal, perhaps a
tad short and chuncky, but still at least average
in overall dimensions) can use and remain comfortable
and ride for a long period of time. (Watch the
seat angle though. I found the angle of rake Bob
picked about as far back as you can go and still
not have a sore butt and stiff neck at the end
of a long ride -- thank you headrest!!!) So the
Micro fits like a glove. A comfortable glove,
it is true, but a glove nonetheless. Thus, if
you want more of an all arounder, the XL with
the same type of drivetrain may be the way to
go. But if you want to go as fast as possible
on three wheels, go around corners hard, and get
the maximum performance and reponse but still
keep the other benefits of the trike experience,
get the Micro.
More when I get
some more miles on it, but IMHO, if you want a
trike, the Trice product line cannot be bettered
by anything in the market today. If you want a
performance machine on three wheels, buy the Micro.
The XL was excellent. The Micro is superb. And,
best of all, the weather is supposed to be good
tomorrow, so I will be up and off early to see
if that grin now becomes a permanent feature.
Thanks for lettting
me share my pleasure with my new trike with all
of you. Dave Novoselsky"
From:
David A. Novoselsky
To:
Neil Selwood
Cc:
David A. Novoselsky
Sent:
22 October 2001 22:48
Subject:
Re: Note
No
problem, and be my guest. The photos can be used
as well. I am going to update, and have also decided
to keep my XL as well. Why keep both? The Micro
is clearly a much faster and more responsive ride.
The XL, however, is the finest combination of
speed, handling short of the Micro, but offers
comfort that the Micro can't -- and I suspect
was not designed to offer by its nature, as that
feature would add weight and frontal area, and
detract from its ultimate potential. So I do intend
to keep the XL and intend to upgrade the XL with
the discs (as on the Micro) and add the fairing
as shown in the pictures. I guess the reason I
am keeping both can best be described in terms
of some cars I own or have owned. I own a Caterham
Superlight R with a 270 horsepower full race engine.
1100 pounds of car, and an absolute blast, in
a straight line or around a corner. Touchy as
hell, however, and a pain to get in and out of
and to drive. Hair-trigger reflexes that reward
attention and bring a smile to your face, but
will not allow your attention to wonder lest you
find yourself well over you head. I also have
owned Porsche 911s and Ferraris. Fast, great handling
cars, and not what anyone would call 'ponderous'
-- EXCEPT in comparison with the Caterham. That
is the Micro/XL relationship, in my humble opinion.
The XL would be the choice if you only could have
one trike. The Micro, however, is the ultimate
'sprint' machine and short-haul 'racer.' A trike
reduced to its minimum possible elements. Hammering
along the road this weekend, I went faster and
'harder' than I ever could on the XL. An absolute
blast. But, riding the XL along the lake front
roads near my house, and through the nature preserves
on a nice summer day, offers comfort and performance
that the tighter-fitting, more sensitive Micro
lacks. Or, to coin a phrase, the XL will let you
smell the roses and listen to the birds, and not
pay 100% attention to how you are riding. The
Micro demands full time attention and rewards
that attention, but will bite you back if you
get lazy<g>. On the Micro you aren't interested
in the birds and the roses, only the road. My
solution? Own both. Dave (p.s. You can use all
or part of this note as well, if you wish. Dave)
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