HP Velotechnik Scorpion fs26 Enduro - First Thoughts
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- Опубліковано 13 чер 2021
- Hobo Steve, editor and publisher of Trike Asylum, shares his very first impressions of the new HP Velotechnik Scorpion fs26 Enduro recumbent tricycle.
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Nice comments Steve. Be looking forward to more info as you use it.
More info coming your way ... including some details about the trike, and ways I am currently customizing it for my triking adventures!
good video. I've watched videos on the mcperson struts and they look like the real deal.
Yes, these McPherson struts are the real deal, superior to elastomer-only suspensions, with considerably more travel and comfort. One thing I am learning about this company is that they go all the way in designing and engineering their vehicles, and so far, I am quite impressed. I will eventually be putting the struts to the test on the road, along with the rest of the rig, and will be reporting on that as I go. Thanks for commenting.
Nice trike Steve.
Looking forward to seeing you doing some camping with your new trike.
My gear inch on my Catrike Expedition, low is 14.8 and high 118.
But after listening to you, I rarely use my big chain ring up front. Maybe I should eliminate it and just have my 44 and 24 chain rings up front.
My rear cog is a 11-36, but I also upgraded one more cog which is a 42 tooth for climbing, with my 24 t up front.
Wow, that is quite the gear inch range you have on that Catrike! Indeed, 118 is not sustainable on flat ground for a very long time, even by a very fit rider. For me, the lower range is most important because I don't want to mess up my knees when the trike is loaded and I'm climbing hills and steep grades. If you are running a small ring of 24, and the next ring (middle ring) is 44, that is a whopping 20 tooth jump, and exceeds what most anyone would ever recommend. I have traditionally run a 24/39/52 and even that jump of 15 teeth is pushing the limits of smooth trouble-free shifting. Have you ever had any issues shifting either up or down between the 24 and 44 rings? As far as eliminating your large chainring altogether, that will have to be a personal decision because I don't feel qualified to give advice (I'm no expert). On tours, I have always liked having that large 52 because on some straight flat highways that go on forever, picking up the speed was something I enjoyed. Since I have not yet ridden this trike (still making fine tuning adjustments), I cannot yet say how the high-end will feel, whether it will be too low for my liking or not, but I will eventually report my thoughts once I get some miles under my belt.
steve
@@EZSteve I made a mistake, my middle chain ring is 36 tooth.
24,36,50 chain ring.
@@The-GreenHornet Okay, that makes more sense ;-)
Regarding my opinion of your setup, with a 24/36/50 chainring combo up front, and an 11-42 cassette cog cluster in the rear, you should be able to relatively easily climb most any grade even with loaded panniers while touring. Personally, I would not give up your 50 large ring. I did run a 50 large ring on one tour, with shorter crankarms and felt I was spinning out at times when on the flat (normally I run 70mm cranks on my trikes, which I prefer for more torque). A 24 small ring is the lowest I have ever run on my tours, with a 36 cog the biggest, and it worked well enough to get me down the road ... although there have been a few monster climbs where that 24 ring/36 cog was not quite low enough for enjoyment, haha. With this new setup on the Scorpion, from what I can tell, it's akin to a 22 small ring up front and a 36 large cog on the rear, which will be better than what I have used in the past (I won't argue with that because climbing mountains is always a challenge when loaded with gear, besides that, now in my 71st year of life, I want my knees to keep on serving me well ;-) Sounds like your Catrike is rigged for easy climbing, which is a good thing!
steve
@@EZSteve
Thanks Steve, I appreciate your input.
@@EZSteve My Scorpion is working great and the three speed hub is my favorite part. I'm almost 72 myself and riding is the high point of my day. For many years fixing bikes has been fun too, but the Scorpion's front suspension is intimidating. Do you understand how to maintain those shocks? I have not found any videos on them, and the written instructions are almost incomprehensible to me.
Hi. do you ever get sore after all day riding on the scorpion? Not muscle soreness but joints,
Saddle pain? Thanks
Hello, and thanks for your questions! The saddle pain to which you refer is commonly known in recumbent trike circles as "recumbent butt" because it kind of makes you want to wiggle around and stand up out of the seat. It doesn't really hurt, but rather just kind of like an irritating numbness or some sensation that you can't really put your finger on. BUT, the great news is that recumbent butt is a fleeting sensation, only briefly endured for the initial rides of someone who is new to recumbents. I cannot provide a technical explanation, but I can attest to the fact that it is simply something that a rider who is not used to recumbent seats deals with for a short while. Recumbent butt, while only temporary, is FAR less an issue than the ongoing saddle discomforts suffered by bicyclists on diamond frame bikes, many of whom wear special padded shorts and smear butt cream on their rear ends to help mitigate the negative issues of traditional bicycle seats. Recumbent butt goes away quickly!
I have never had any joint pain while riding a recumbent trike, bike, or diamond frame bike. I have been riding recumbents since 2009, and have ridden them on several long distance trips of up to three weeks and covering nearly 1,000 miles, and not experienced joint pains of any kind. The same holds true with recumbent butt, which, after the first few days or weeks of riding, dissipates and does not return. I am sure riders with injured joints, or joints that are some how physically compromised from lifestyle choices that have hurt their joints, may indeed suffer joint pain of some kind, perhaps in the knees or ankles, or maybe even hips if they have had, or need, hip replacement surgery. But personally, I cannot speak to joint pains at all.
Regarding the recumbent trike seats themselves, trike manufacturers have come a LONG way since my first trike, which was a 2007 ICE trike. Most top-end manufacturers, like HP Velotechnik and ICE for example, now offer extraordinary seats that simply invite a rider to get lost in their comfort. The newer seats practically eliminate recumbent butt that new riders experience because the new seats have padded foam in the main seat and back area (underneath the mesh) and they have side padding that actually cradles your body laterally, which, in addition to lots of added comfort, helps to provide lateral stability when cornering. My 2007 seat that I just mentioned had no padding of any kind, just a mesh stretched over the seat's side framework, which offered minimal comfort compared to today's high-end seats, and on that 2007 ICE seat, I definitely suffered some recumbent butt my first few weeks of riding the trike (I was a new recumbent triker rider at the time).
steve
Trike Hobo
Thanks for the explanation. I think I might partially replace my vehicle if I had a good trike. My diamond frame bike gets uncomfortable after 30 miles of riding or so due to all my weight being on one spot the saddle
@@survivemichsurvivemich4280 After the first couple of weeks getting used to a recumbent trike, riding 30 miles is a piece of cake, very comfy, especially with the newer trike seats that are ultra padded. I have ridden a recumbent trike for up to three weeks, every day, for 8-10 hours each day, on my cross country trips, and I can confidently say that I would never ride a diamond frame bike to that extent. On my diamond frames, after a couple of hours, all the typical complaints are felt, with the rear end, wrists, neck, etc. ... recumbent trikes may be seen by some elitist cyclists as not cool, or only for handicapped people, but that's their problem thinking like that. I want lots of comfort on long rides, and if some macho guy on a diamond frame racer thinks poorly of me, I really don't care. Oh well, the bottom line is that the top recumbent trikes are like little cars, only the engine is the organic rider, running on rice an beans instead of petroleum ;-)
steve
@@EZSteve Great review. I have Lightening P-38 and agree with all you said except about the perception... I get more double takes... thumbs up from cyclists and even guys on Harleys with a thumbs up. Been riding bent cycles for the past 5 years and although I still have a diamond...it's only used for in city casual rides where slow and being nimble is required. That's the only downside on my bent is cruising at a low speed in heavy bike or people traffic on a trail. Looking at getting a trike this summer and this review really helped. Thankyou.
@@bowhun2r I remember on my first cross country recumbent trike journey in 2009, I was heading into Death Valley National Park, and a huge group of what most folks would call "outlaw" bikers was coming the other direction on this super remote two lane road. I waved and smiled as they continued to pass, and received loads of smiles and waves back, along with several "thumbs up" gestures from those guys ... what an uplifting experience!
About twenty minutes later, a club of full dress touring Harley bikers came along. I could hear their loud radios playing music behind their fairings. I again waved and smiled as the large group passed me going the other direction. Interestingly, with the exception of just one rider, I was totally ignored, as if I did not ever exist.
I found this fascinating, because most people would be scared to death of chopped Harley type motorcycles and the men who ride them, while thinking that a respectable group of full-dresser guys would be safe. Well, guess which group I would have rather had help me if I was stranded! Yep, those "outlaw" biker guys were super cool and friendly ... they would be my choice!
steve
Hi Steve. You're clearly torturing me by doing videos about the new trike but not showing us any ride footage or commentary on it. 😉Question though. You mentioned having a three speed internal hub but it appears you have a rear derailleur. Does or can the rear wheel have both? Of is the internal hub up front? Thanks!
Howdy David,
Yes, both are at the rear wheel. There is nothing up front except a single 32 tooth chainring, so no shifting there at all (fine with me!). The internal rear hub works in concert with the Shimano 9 speed rear cassette (11-36), for a total of 27 fully usable speeds, with no overlap as standard trikes have. I have not yet ridden this trike, believe it or not, because I am still fine tuning things in the garage. For example: Today (Wednesday), I elevated the rear wheel and test-shifted the rear derailleur. It worked fine until the chain moved up onto the large 36 tooth cog, then it would rhythmically keep wanting to fall off to the next cog, only to be caught and realigned onto the big cog, making a horrible noise in the process. Clearly, it is a good thing I did this test with no riding pressure, because this is not good for the chain/cog interface! I just checked the assembly checklist from Hostel Shoppe, and two mechanics signed off that the derailleur shifted properly, AND that the trike was test ridden. That cannot be the case because this adjustment issue would have been picked up on the stand, and if it had been test ridden in the largest cog, there would have been no question that something was seriously amiss! Anyway, that is an example of why I am still in the garage (bummer). Also, on the checklist, one mechanic lists the tires at 40 PSI, and the second double check mechanic lists them at 60 PSI ... well, these Schwalbe Marathon PLUS tires run in the mid 80 PSI range, so yet another question I must address tomorrow. BUT, the trike is absolutely gorgeous, and once I get these little annoyances figured out, then I shall indeed share some road time!
steve
@@EZSteve That sounds interesting regarding the internal hub along with the triple in back. And it is nice that you have 27 gears with no overlap. Although being fully truthful, around here you can probably easily get away with 10 years since we're so flat. But I know out by you that certainly isn't the case. And yeah, unfortunately I'm not surprised at the lack of quality control. Without trying to sound like an old man, it's really too bad that pride seems to be lacking in the work of so many. I worked for 20 years as the service manager for a four-store chain that sold mid to high end audio equipment - stereo equipment. When we took something in for repair, regardless of what the problem was we would take the unit apart and look for any problems other than the stated one and then clean it so it looked brand new. When we gave it back to the customer it was wrapped in plastic and customers LOVED us for that. A little care and extra effort goes a long way. Okay, I'm sounding like an old man so I'd better stop.
@@DavidRidesaTrike I was mistaken regarding the PSI in these tires: I was thinking that it was the same as the Gold Rush recumbent bike I just sold, which is in the mid 80 PSI range, but those Marathon PLUS tires were 1.35" width, whereas the ones on this trike are 1.75", so they require less pressure (70 PSI versus 85 PSI). I have now aired them to the max pressure of 70 PSI.
The internal hub in the rear is a three speed Sturmey-Archer, and can be shifted at a standstill just like a Rohloff, which makes it easy to shift anytime anywhere. With Rohloff hubs, a triple chainring can be used up front for an even greater gear inch range, but as you mention, that would not be necessary where you live. I rode my Rohloff on the ICE around here in the mountains, with just the single ring up front, and I had plenty of low-end while pulling steep hills.
Yep, I can understand why your customers were happy! I have a buddy who rebuilds and repairs old radios for folks just because he loves doing it, and he does the same thing, thoroughly cleaning the radio (some are expensive collector's items), looking for issues the customer was not even aware of, and essentially giving them back a new perfect unit. He did not wrap them, but the foundational idea is the same, which is going the extra mile to bring happiness and smiles to our fellow humans during our times here.
@@EZSteve It's still weird that you got two different tire pressure readings from two different "QC" guys. And yeah, people always like getting something pleasant they didn't expect. Are you close to going for a ride on the new setup?
@@DavidRidesaTrike I have yet to lubricate the chain ... got the rear derailleur properly adjusted last afternoon, so think I'm almost good to go ... yee haa!