Trent's Dragonflyer Recumbent Trike

I am the proud owner of an Earth Cycles DragonFlyer recumbent trike, #0019. This page is just some random notes and pictures.

I ordered my Earth Cycles DragonFlyer trike on one of the hottest days of 1998 (July 16th). It arrived on November 23rd, the day of a windstorm, and just a before heavy rains. I didn't care, I was so happy to finally have it. I rode it to work over the next couple of weeks in the pouring rain, then in the freezing cold, then in the snow, and then more rain... On March 19th I finally got to ride my trike in only a t-shirt! (clarification: that means I was riding without a jacket, not without pants!)

Sadly, Earth Cycles went out of business in early 2001 (hence, the previous links are broken).

Update: sadly, this trike is no more.

I have a list of accessories that do/don't work on the Dragonflyer.

Here are some more pictures: The rear view of my trike and me doing something ill-advised.

I get a lot of questions when I am riding my trike, here are a few:

``How is that thing on hills?''

Depends on who is pedaling. I find I am a slight bit slower, but I make up for it on the flat and downhill, and, most importantly, I am comfortable as I am labouring up the hill.

``Can cars see you being that low?''

The excuse ``I didn't see you'' is an oft-used excuse of those too incompetent to be trusted behind the wheel. Most drivers see me because my vehicle looks so odd, and I get more respect than I ever got on an upright. Those who don't want to see cyclists, may not see me due to the same bias. Someday we will get these cretins and incompetents off the road.

``Is that thing fast?''

This seems like a dumb question to me... it is as fast as the person powering it. My maximum speed (downhill, of course) was 46.5 mph, and I could have gone faster given another couple of gears and more hill :-) I would never have done that on an upright.

``Why three wheels??''

I never have a good answer for this. The best I can come up with is ``love'' :-) Ian Simms (of Greenspeed fame) is a bit more eloquent answering the question Bike or Trike?
A related question (but maybe the same answer) is `why three syncs before a reboot?'

For more information, check out Earth Cycles' web page, and the Unofficial Dragonflyer web pages. Also, check out Ben's Trice page He has a trike similar to a Dragonflyer and has been riding around Portland for several years. I met him on a Portland Critical Mass ride and knew I had to have a trike.