TRIcon 20 vs. Sprint X - or any ideas? (compact, light, use of trains/airplanes)

[Caroline Linda]

Hi everyone,
I am about to buy a trike and would like to pick your brains.
My situation:
- I am petite (5.4 feet/1.64 m) and about 98 pounds.
- Use: mostly leisure time/trips.
- Geographical areas: lakes (Zurich, Bodensee, Biel, Neuenburg, Murten), coasts (France, Spain, Portugal). (Anyone joining?). Into coasts (lakes) not mountains!
- Lots of use of public transportation: Zurich-Marseille (train/airplane), Zurich-Bordeaux (train). Portugal/Spain (airplane). Dreaming on: crossing the US, Australia...

Criteria: light, REALLY compact, quality, ideally with suspension (for hills, gravel roads= Velowege)

Results of my research:
- AZUB TRIcon 20; disadvantage: heavier than ICE Sprint 20'
- ICE Sprint 20': lighter than Azub Tricon, disadvantage: not double folding possible (extreme folding) as TRIcom
- Excluded for now: Greenspeed X7 (super compact but no suspension, not available), Gekko (no suspension), HP Scorpio (weight/aesthetics)

1. What models would you recommend me?
2. Would you recommend having suspension?
Thank you,
Caroline

 

[UliB]

I have a friend planning to make leisure trips like you. And he had the same decision to make.
Then he bought a cheap Sprint X and after testing it for several trips, he found that the decision he made was good.
And the low position of the seat (his #1 con) is now one of his most liked pros. Because it let´s him feel fast roads even faster...
We made some trips in the mid high mountains. His Sprint X was and is a reliable partner with best quality, is foldable and has enough mounting points for luggage holding the neccesary stuff for a one weeks tour.

 

[Knarf]

Hi Caroline, I started with an Azub TRIcon 20 and switched after three years to an ICE Sprint 20' with full suspension. There is no Tadpole Trike as small folded as the TRIcon, and if you need that, go for it. The Sprint ist faster, sort of roadster, with full suspension more comfortable. The TRIcon is really good, too, but a little slower and there is no front suspension available. Both are very good Trikes, so choose whatever you prefer and enjoy!

 

[anotherkiwi]

You are as light as a feather (compared to me) why do you need suspension? I have no suspension and balloon tyres and have never felt the need for it yet the roads are not smooth here.

 

[Juergen]

...Dreaming on: crossing the US...

Hi Caroline,

I hope your dream will come true! I have all documentation and all the bicycle maps for the trip from east to west along the TransAm and back along the Northern Tier. I fear that I will never be able to do it. My alternative is to bike through all countries of the EU. Just when I started to think about it, Covid-19 came along.

Kind regards
Juergen

PS: do you know the website https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/? Here you can find lots of reports - and if you are lucky you might find my (one and only) report biking with my lovely wife through Austria

 

[sring]

Hi @Caroline Linda welcome to the forum!
The TRIcon 20 is really reliable, I had it for 6000km. But you can't know how much you need a front suspension until you try the Ti-Fly 20! I upgraded to Ti-Fly and the difference is just huge. Maybe a little bit heavier they say (I personally never noticed) but much more comfortable and also faster on real roads. Use lighter, small tires instead of balloons. I got 28mm tires on my Ti-Fly (since 10000km now) and these are really fast - a good choice if you are not climbing too high off road.
Azub offers 2 different suspension strengths. As you are lightweight, they would recommend the softer option.
Take care, Steffen

 

[Caroline Linda]

Thank you, guys for all your perspectives helpful responses! Very much appreciated.

- Learning from you/answer tendencies: I may focus on having full suspension... except anotherwiki. And, tx Juergen!
- My next steps/idea: I think I will want to find a store or people who live close-by (Zurich) to test ride them. Simultaneously ideally in order to really compare regarding ride feeling, compactness, folding mechanism, weight, etc. Tried the Sprint X, loved it.

Sending you all vibes of health & happiness!

ps. Great community here! I hope I'll find some buddies to ride & have coffee/chocolate with.

 

[sring]

@anotherkiwi has a motor, so rolling resistance of balloon tires is not a concern. In fact a 26er rear wheel, fat tires, no suspension and motor is a good solution as well. Actually my son has the same (T-Tris 26 with 1kW motor). But the weight is huge... nothing for rather little train travelers.

 

[anotherkiwi]

I also had ballon tyres before I put the motor in, I installed them maybe a month after I bought the trike. A non suspended trike is faster than a suspended trike because it is much lighter and no pedal power is lost through the suspension too.

Trike bought in August 2017, motor installed in December 2019 so over 2 years experience without a motor, it takes a while to find the right tyre pressure which is a compromise between comfort and speed/lesser rolling resistance. I am perhaps not as fast in top speed as with the narrower standard tyres but my average speed is much higher and I think that is what interests @Caroline Linda

And there are balloon tires and balloon tires, at the moment I have a Maxxis DTH in the rear and the rolling resistance is so much less than a Big Ben you feel it in the first km. The front Big Ben Plus tyres are almost at the end of useful like and I can't wait to replace them with a lighter faster BMX tyre with the same volume!

 

[sring]

A non suspended trike is faster than a suspended trike

I dare to disagree. The little extra weight is hardly noticeable in terms of speed. Some loss of pedal power maybe on steep hill climbing, not on flat roads. In real life suspension gives you more speed - no need to slow down because of potholes etc.

 

[anotherkiwi]

I don't slow down, I think my record leap over a speed bump (at the bottom of a very steep hill) may be near 1.5 metres. If I had a rear brake I could try and put it on in the air, that way I would have a nice black mark on the road to measure...

Oh and here all the hills are steep too.