Trikes and (odd) bikes.: Rogers Trike and Trike Conversion on eBay.

*

KEN ROGERS TRICYCLE CONVERSION SET ON CARLTON 531 FRAME on eBay (end time 11-Jun-11 22:32:49 BST)

The photographs of this Rogers conversion were so good that I have included it here as an example to other sellers. Also to show what a Rogers conversion looks like, of course. The images are so good that they can be used by a new owner of a trike conversion set to see how they should be fitted to the donor bike frame.

Note that more modern conversion sets are completely different. Much later sets increase the wheelbase rather than shortening it. (Trykit conversion axles for example fit behind the rear drop-outs) Earlier conversion sets fit through the rear stay triangle of the donor bike. As seen here.

General view clearly showing the duplication of the seat stays typical of a trike conversion. Near side, one wheel drive typical of manufacture in Great Britain.

As always, the donor frame is not vitally important to the buyer. A conversion can easily be mounted onto almost any steel road frame in under an hour. There are some limitations depending on the rider. The bike frame should fit the owner or the exercise is rather pointless.

I have (instinctive) reservations about using carbon fibre or alloy bike frames with a trike axle conversion. They have no long history to be certain of their safety when subjected to the heavy side and twisting loads of a trike. It is true that the seat stays carry wheel loads into the seat clamp. Close to where the rider sits. But a few minutes of riding will convince the trike rider that there are all sorts of things going on at the back end. A saddle bag on a bike has no reason to sway about. On a trike it needs fixing down to cope with side loads and sudden changes of attitude.

Those with large feet should avoid a very short wheelbase bike frame. As I discovered myself when swapping my Longstaff conversion to yet another recycled road frame. I had an overlap of the rear axle casing of about an inch by my heels! Probably because I have never seemed in danger of toppling in a high wind. Note how the trike axle passes inside the bike frame stay triangles. This not only shortens the wheelbase but puts a large crossbar across just behind the rider's heels. Trykit has put their conversion axles behind the rear drop-outs of the donor bike.

--------------------------------------------------------

I have borrowed only the images from the auction which nicely illustrate the trike conversion itself. This appears to be plated as the seller describes. Almost a "Chromate" or anodised finish.

Presumably cup and cone bearings. The Rogers conversion uses an adjustable clamp system for the bottom end of the widely splayed, trike seat stays. It is slightly odd how the Ken Rogers transfer is inverted. It also faces forwards where it is much more difficult to see. I cannot imagine how the axle could be rotated to make the signature face backwards and appear upright. Trike conversion sets only fit a bike frame in one particular way. Ergo, the transfer is wrongly applied?

View from the drive side. There appears to be plenty of room for large, rear sprockets.

All clean, neat and tidy here. The seat stays and clamps are well seen in this shot. These components appear to galvanised. The Rogers trike conversion set is very similar to the Higgins.

The way the conversion axle is fitted to the bike frame drop-outs is very clear. Spacers are usually necessary to ensure chain alignment of the trike conversion and donor frame. The duplicated "extras" of a conversion necessarily make it heavier than a trike frameset. A trike cannot really compete with a bike, on weight, because it has an extra wheel, bearings, axle housings and axles.

This Rogers trike conversion auction made £220.

------------------------------------------------------------

And now a simultaneous auction of a Rogers trike: Lady's model.

Ken Rogers racing tricycle on eBay (end time 15-Jun-11 14:00:22 BST)

It has fairly modern, lightweight gear fitted so this helps to reduce costs to the eventual auction winner. No reserve!

General view. It might make a real alternative to a heavyweight "invalid" trike. Though this would assume the rider has no balance problems. It would be foolish to think that a lightweight trike is the obvious answer to all mobility needs. Though it does offer an alternative.