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5.0 Maintenance
Your ICE trike has been built from quality
materials and parts, and will last for many years
with just a bit of simple maintenance. Although
there is nothing on the trike that a bike shop
can’t maintain for you, doing your own basic
maintenance gives you a good feel of how your
trike is working.
5.1 Lubrication
Lubricating the Chain
At regular intervals, and always after riding in
wet weather, you should lubricate the chain.
The chain tubes supplied with your ICE trike will
help keep the oil on the chain by protecting it
from rain and dirt, prolonging chain life. Check
with your local bike shop to see which chain
lube works best in your area. It is not necessary
to use a lot of lube on the chain; better to use
a little every week than a lot once a month.
Wiping the chain down occasionally with a dry
cloth will help keep it clean and prolong its life.
Other lubrication
Rear hub, headset and pedal bearings on
your trike will need greasing from time to time
depending on riding conditions, the same as
any conventional cycle. The plain bearings in
the suspension pivot need no lubrication. If they
show any significant wear (unlikely), they are
simply pushed out and replaced with new ones.
The steering ball joints don’t require lubrication.
The front hub bearings, handlebar (stem)
bearings, and pulley bearings are pre-lubricated
and sealed. If they feel rough or sloppy, they
should be replaced.
i
TIP:
as with any cycle, a small
amount of regular care will
prolong the life of your trike and
its components. The simplest
thing you can do is to regularly
give a quick drop of oil to all of
the moving parts especially after
riding in heavy rain. Always keep the
chain and chain tubes oiled.
4.11 Muscles
The first few times you ride your new trike, you
will feel the muscles on your legs working harder
than you may be used to. This is because
pedaling from the recumbent position uses
different muscle groups than riding in an upright
position. You will find a noticeable improvement
in this in a few days, and with a couple of
months, you won’t notice anything different at all.
When you are riding a recumbent, the best
approach is to keep your cadence a little high,
even if it means gearing down a little early. One
good reason for this is that the recumbent seat
allows you to brace yourself when you push
on the pedals, and this makes it possible to put
large loads into your knees. On an upright bike,
if you pushed that hard, you’d lift yourself out of
the saddle. Also, try to remember to shift down
before you come to a stop; you will find starting
off again to be much easier.
4.8 Hill climbing
A recumbent trike tends not to climb a hill as
quickly as an upright bike whose rider can get
off the saddle to use his/her weight to put extra
pressure on the pedals. It will climb in comfort at
a lower speed and in a lower gear.
Try to keep your cadence (speed of which the
pedals rotate) up by shifting down early. You
should never need to get off and push, even
when carrying a heavy load. Just shift down and
keep spinning the pedals until you reach to the
top of the hill.
If you brake violently, at low speeds and with
both brakes, you may find the trike wants to lift
its back wheel. In extreme cases, you can brake
hard enough for the chainring to hit the ground.
Brake drums, calipers and rotors will heat up
when they are used. They can get very hot,
especially after a long descent, and it is possible
to burn yourself if you are not careful. Do not
touch them while riding or immediately after
dismounting from the trike. Check that the brake
components have been cooled down
before attempting to adjust the brakes.
4.9 Descending a hill
CAUTION
, take care on your first downhill rides
until you gain experience. It is not unusual to
reach speeds of over 40 mph (60 kph) on steep
descents. You will find you can go faster and
with much more confidence once you are used
to the way the machine handles. Because there
is less air drag in the recumbent position you
will go faster than a bike. Remember you have
powerful brakes with good stopping power.
CAUTION
, the brakes are powerful and if they
are applied sharply on some of our models with
higher seats, you can cause the rear wheel
to rise up. This can result in some loss of
directional control.
4.10 Ground clearance
When going over very rough ground, it is
possible, but unlikely, that the underside of the
frame could make contact. If you think there is
a chance that the underside of the frame may
hit an obstacle, get off first and look under the
trike to see how close things are getting. You will
quickly learn to recognize terrain that your trike
can easily handle.
If you do contact the underside of the frame it’s
unlikely any serious damage will be done (other
than scratching the paint) but check to make
sure everything is OK. A good way of riding over
obstacles is to aim your trike so that the object
goes directly under one of your feet. This way it
misses the front wheel, the central frame, and
the rear wheel.
