after about 1500 kilometers traveled in the last six months through the gentle terrain and awesome bike paths in western Denmark, touring with the trike revealed two 'truths': 1) 15km/h headwinds really suck when you have a wider profile than a typical bicycle, and 2) rainstorms are not your friend.
to solve both problems in one shot, i acquired a very old and used body from a Leitra trike (the 'factory' is not too far from here, and i've known the owner for a while), seven lazy hours of tinkering, development and ingenuity later gave birth to the first ever combination of a Leitra trike and an Anthrotech trike; code-named 'Leitra-tech'.
for a little background, here is my Anthrotech (foreground), next to a real Leitra:
and here is the result of a single afternoon and evening of work:
there is still a lot to be done: a lower body fairing at the back of the trike, side-covers for the hands to keep the wind out (my steering geometry is wider than a Leitra's), re-mounting the front light, cleaning and polishing, etc. but it's amazing how quickly this 'prototype' went together.
so how does it ride? far better than first expected, that's for sure. it's quiter than a real Leitra because it's mounted to my trike in only two places: at the nose and behind my head on a raised seat-post. headwinds feel more distributed across the fairing, so the aerodynamics seem to be working (i also get a bit of a push when riding with the wind). and my typical 'cruising' speed has gone up an average of 2-4 km/h. before, it was a struggle to maintain 19-20km/h on flat-roads with a light wind. now, i can cruise around 22-23 km/h with the same or less effort.
made of a fiberglass composite, the fairing doesn't add much to the trikes road-weight- 3-4 kilgrams at best. but it's just enough to change the handling of the trike. i can take turns at a higher speed, my downhill momentum is carried farther up the next hill, and it feels more 'stuck-to-the-road'. combined with a new set of front tires that i bought last week (eliminating a scary amount of understeer), the whole trike feels more stable and secure.
the downsides? noise for one. any noise coming up from the road gets amplified up above 15km/h, and every little rattle, chassis/wheel groan or chain-grind fills the interior. i've been told by another Leitra owner that sound-proofing materials similar to what you see in sound-recording booths will fix that problem.
the other problem is weight. although the trike is more stable, it's also heavier. hill climbing from a standstill is a bit slower than normal (for me). but i more than make up for it on the other side, as potential energy becomes kinetic energy. new downhill top speed is 49km/h! (up from 40)
there are a few quirks when climbing in and out of the thing, but those wil sort themselves out in the coming weeks. i also have to remember to wear lighter clothing- it gets warm quickly inside the cabin.
was it worth it? to keep the rain and coming winter out, i would say yes! but time will tell whether my $700 'upgrade' made it all worth the effort.
