Greenspeed highly recommend the use of ‘clipless’ pedal systems, as they provide a safer attachment to your trike and help to reduce leg fatigue. Remember you are on a trike now so you can crank the tension up on those adjusters, as you only have to dismount at the end of your journey instead of every set of traffic lights.

The first ride is where you may notice yourself having a hard time keeping a straight line at speed. Try relaxing your grip on the handlebars, remember it is not a bike you are riding, so let that killer grip off a bit. Try avoiding pulling on the handlebars as well, you are riding a recumbent now, the seat provides a place to exert all your energy. Remember push into the seat not pull on the handlebars. If the problem persists, try riding using only one hand to steer, as this will stop you pulling unnecessarily on the handlebars.

Fitting your trike through tight spaces, doorways etc, can be made easier if you push/ride your trike through diagonally. The diagram (below) shows how this reduces the width of your trike.

With the seat behind you, you can exert a much greater force with your legs, so beware of over exertion until you build up your leg muscles. Non-recumbent riders seem to use their arms when standing on the pedals, so recumbent riders develop larger leg muscles. After about a month of riding you should find that you are quicker overall than say a mountain bike rider of the same fitness, despite any extra weight of the trike. Also if you ride together you should find you are less tired at the end of a day’s riding. The difference will be most noticeable against a head wind on level roads.

Having many gears can be daunting at first. The key to using the gears is to change down before you have to! To make a change the rear derailleur, push the right handlebar end shifter forward to change into a higher/harder gear and pull back to change into a lower/easier gear. Note make sure you reduce the load on the pedals while making the gear change. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES allow the trike to roll back while changing the rear cluster, or even pull the trike backwards when the gear lever has been moved, as this will result in damage to the rear derailleur. The bar end lever on the left, controls the front derailleur in the opposite way. It is moved forward to drop the chain onto the smaller chain ring to lower the gearing and make hill climbing easier. Again, REDUCE the load on the pedals as the change is made.