Video Transcript
LaidBack Mickey here going over the top 4 trike brands, so let's check them out.
So, I came into the scene in 2010 and I was looking for a nice trike for myself. I came across a brand that I knew and that I’ve heard of which was Greenspeed. I refer to Greenspeed as the godfather of the modern-day trike. Greenspeed originally was over in Australia and a lot of innovations came from them. They made one of the first folding trikes, the first crossover steering, and had a seat designed by a chiropractor. There are a lot of cool things that make these high-performance trikes comfortable, easy, and fun to ride. Ian was the main engineer and the founder of Greenspeed. He was a super nice guy, loved him, and he passed away sadly a few years ago. I remember calling Ian once, and for me it was the middle of night but for him it was in the morning. We'd have long conversations about trikes, the trike world, and just enjoying life. So, they're one of my favorite brands because of that. For years I loved my Greenspeed, and I rode it every day. I had a GT3 and it was an amazing trike. They came around in the 1990’s. Ian was actually doing some design before 1990, but Greenspeed as a company started around 1990. A lot of these companies: Greenspeed, Terratrike, Catrike, and Ice all came around within a five-to-ten-year period. Ian was an engineer; he wasn't a marketer or anything like this. So other companies that had more grasp on how to get the word out there came along and now it brings us to TerraTrike and Catrike.
These are the two American companies in the trike world. TerraTrike has their frames done over in Taiwan, similar to Ice, HP, and some of the other companies. Catrike actually makes their frames in America and they're the only company that does it. They came around probably in the 2000’s. Paulo and Mark are the current owners of Catrike and they're about engineering, speed, and passion. They love making things better. Whether it's about getting a faster or smoother ride they're always trying to innovate and they're always thinking about the customer. The neat thing about Catrike is that they're the only American-made trike company. They're always making the best engineered trike that they can and getting that out to the consumer. So that's a really cool thing about them. I love going over to Florida and checking out their factory and hanging out with Mark and the crew over there. They are super great guys who will take me around the factory and just show me how they build them.
Now TerraTrike really grew the market when Jack and Wayne asked the question: how do we make trikes affordable? I remember looking at my trikes about 13 years ago and saying these are more expensive than a bike because they were about 3 to 5 thousand dollars. And I know there's been a lot of inflation, but I knew that they were not cheap. But I bought it because it was what fit me right and it was what I loved. Jack and Wayne at Wiz Wheels said, “we want to get a trike out there that anybody can afford.” So, they came out with the first trike under a thousand dollars. There were already some cheaper brands at Walmart, such as Mobile, that had a wooden seat with some vinyl over it and some other really cheap stuff. But we don't even classify those as real recumbent trikes. But the TerraTrike people wanted to get a trike under there for cheap and they did. At first it didn't have a lot of gearing it was like a 1 or 3 speed. They found out that the people buying recumbent trikes wanted more speeds. So, they went up from 1-3 speeds up to 8 speeds, or NVLO. Now those are going to cost anywhere from you know 16-17 thousand and up. They started out creating mid-price range trikes and then they said "we're going to go to the masses", and so they came out with a lower price range. Today they are making their nicer trikes, like the spiders, Gran Tourismo's, and the GTS's that you can get for value because they do so many thousands of them that they can actually produce at a lower cost. TerraTrike can get you great quality and performance at a lower price point.
The next one that we just started carrying a few years ago is Ice trikes. And they come from the UK. Chris and Neil are the current owners of Ice. The company was originally founded around 1986 by a guy named Peter. So, Chris and Neil are the ones I deal with now. What they do is they make a very refined trike. Chris has a background in design and Neil has a background in engineering, dealing with jets and stuff like that. So, they have the engineering know-how and the design know-how to make beautiful trikes that are engineered very specific down to the micron. They make really nice trikes.
Try them out along with all the different manufacturers to really see which one works best for you. You want to make sure that you ride and sit in one to make sure it feels right. I love cars, but I can't fit in a Porsche 911. And it doesn't matter what price you tell me it is; I don't fit in it. It’s like if I gave you a shoe that was too big or too small. You want to make sure that it fits properly because if it doesn't fit you, you're not going to ride it.
These are the top 4 manufacturers that we carry. I recommend going to your local trike shop or coming to ours. But anyway, this is the top 4 trikes at Laid Back Cycles. Thanks for watching this video. If you want to learn more about each individual trike manufacturer watch the videos for that and we'll see you on the next video.
