On Apr 14, 2010, at 18:13 , Jan wrote:
I do appreciate the feedback. It really gave a good insight of the benefits and problems with trikes. Not sure what was meant by the "bromsstyrning". Can somebody explain it and possible advantages?
Brake steer (bromsstyrning) means that when a (front) wheel of a trike is braked, the steering will turn to one side or another. To what side the steering will turn depends on the geometry of the steering.
A different phenomenon, not to be mixed up with the one described above, is that braking only one wheel will turn the trike to the braked side, even if the front wheels are kept rigidly forward. If you use only the left hand side brake, the trike will swerve to the left.
I believe that what ICE did, is to balance the two effects, so that the net effect is zero. ICE claims that they tune the steering of new models by attaching a brake handle to a short piece of handlebar tube, which is kept on the lap of the rider. Then the rider lets both hands off the handlebar, and applies the brake. The aim is to be able to stop the trike without swerving to any side.
I believe that other trike makers have caught up with ICE nowadays, and are able to make trikes without brake steer.
If you apply both brakes evenly on a trike, the two wheels balance each other - this is a reason that some trike makers connect both front brakes to one handle. Thus, in most cases even rather heavy brake steer is of little concern. However, it is good to be able to use just one brake, in case one hand is occupied with something else than being on the handlebar, such as an ice cram cone. Also, if the road friction is different between the front wheels, brake steer may turn the steering even if the brakes are applied evenly.
Some trikes are equipped with both brakes connected to one handle. I prefer one handle per brake, since braking unevenly on purpose is useful to control the trike in curves. It also gives extra safety, if something breaks. It is also simpler to make - standard components can be used.
- Sverker