Recently, I had acquired a Terratrike Zoomer. I’ve only been able to find, maybe, one good review on it when searching the web. So I thought I’d give my own review coming from an average Joe that is the owner of the product with no affiliations with anyone that produces or deals trikes.
First of all, when it comes to cycling on the road or paved trails, I often wonder what objective the common person has that I see on the trails riding their 2 wheel upright bikes. My objective when it comes to riding is exercise. Getting good exercise and taxing my legs is my main concern. And of course, I want to have fun too and “go fast”. Otherwise, I would just stay in the weight room. However, cycling has never really been highly recommended as a good form of exercise. Because you spend most of the time coasting, using your bodyweight with gravity to aid in peddling, and holding the upper portion of your body up resulting in stress placed on the neck, back, and wrists. So other than the triathletes that ride road-racer bikes and are serious about what they are doing, the common person that rides their walmart trail bike around (and there seems to be no shortage of these types on the trails) is basically wasting their time. They might as well just go for a walk if they want exercise.
Anyways, I had purchased a Terratrike Zoomer. It arrived by delivery truck fully assembled and ready to go. I couldn’t wait to get it out on the paved trails to see how much fun I could have. On a side note, I am a full grown man that is in very good shape. I have no back problems or leg problems. I’m not 50 or 60 years old. I lift weights and do cardio exercise on a regular basis. So I’m not one these disabled types that got a Terratrike because I was looking for comfort. I own a good trail bike that does get some use, so I am no amateur to cycling. But I wanted to do something that would provide good exercise, is fun, and different.
So starting out, I did find it slightly awkward getting on the Terratrike. I had to hold onto it, squat down, and then sit onto the seat without having the trike move out from underneath me. Well, sure, just hold onto the handlebar. But I kept twisting the handle grip shifter every time when getting out of the trike or getting onto it. So after doing it enough times, I finally developed my own method of not putting my hands on the grips when sitting or getting up out of the trike. I put my left hand on the edge of the boom above the sprocket, and my right hand onto the side of the seat. This kept the bike still, kept my hand off the shifter, and allowed me to sit with ease.
Once on, I was ready for a spin. The area I live in has hundreds of miles of asphalt trails for running and biking. The trails do encounter numerous steep hills and inclines. I do not ride on the street at all and never will with a bike or a Terratrike. I don’t trust other people driving cars on the road and it only takes one dummy to not notice you and run you over. Then it’s all over with for ya. So I took the bike out on my favorite stretch of trail that had two very steep inclines and long straight-aways. Shifting the trike into the lowest gear, I was able to make it up both inclines that I usually see a lot of “walmart trail bikers” pushing their bikes up. Once I peddled my way up the incline, my legs were taxed! But hey, that’s good! Just what I was looking for.
So my trial run was about 5 miles. I don’t have a speedometer yet, but on the straightaways, shifting into the highest gear, I felt like I was either near or possibly even over 20 mph. Even though I was low to the ground which makes you feel like you are going faster than you actually are, I definitely wasn’t doing no 10 or 15 mph. There was one down hill portion that leveled out into a straightaway that I had to of gotten up near 30 mph. It sure as heck seemed like it. When I get my wireless speedometer installed, I will report back with my actual speeds. But regardless, it really doesn’t matter. Even if it was barely 20 mph, it was fun enough and it’s all I need to feel like I am having fun while getting a good workout at the same time. Now, my main reason for choosing the Zoomer was for its direct steering with horizontal grips rather than linkage steering with vertial handle grips. I had test driven a Terratrike Tour briefly at a bike shop and was not crazy about the vertical handles. I definitely wanted the horizontal. During my first Zoomer outing, I definitely noticed right away the sensitivity of the steering. The way the trike is designed with direct steering, your upper body movements are going to affect the steering. So for quite a while, the trike was shifting very sharply back and forth on me the faster I peddled. I had to learn to stabilize my upper body more. However, this is expected. It’s new, and it’s something I’ve never ridden. So after time, you get used to it and your body adjusts and negatives eventually calm down or go away. After my first outing, my legs were a little tired, and I felt like I got a good leg workout because of the hilly terrain I was riding. Even better, I wanted to go again. I was just finding it fun! So I ended up taking the Zoomer out on another run Saturday for about 10 miles, and then again on Sunday for a good 25 mile run. My legs were super taxed on Sunday! The course I took on Sunday had quite a few extremely steep climbs. I was able to make it up all of them, but at a snail’s pace of course because on a trike, you don’t have your body weight to peddle with. It’s all legs.
So what did I think? I had fun, I got an excellent workout burning major calories, I was able to go a long distance without having the rest of my body get fatigued, and I can’t wait to go again! I could never say that about my 2 wheel upright trail bike. Usually after a long ride on my 2 wheel trail bike, I am not anxious to ride again and usually don’t for quite a while.
In my opinion:
Pros:
* Better exercise for your legs than a 2-wheel upright bike. A great cardio workout as well.
* Fun. It’s funner sitting low to the ground. You feel like you are either bobsledding or are in the movie Tron. ha!
* Ergonomically friendly. This means you can ride longer distances resulting in a better workout for your legs
* 24 gears to shift through to find a good peddling zone for whichever part of the course you are on
* Some people will think what you have is cool and will ask about it
* Much safer from a stability standpoint than bikes. You are closer to the ground and you will never just “fall over” climbing a hill of which I have personally witnessed people falling over on 2 wheel bikes with their shoes stuck in the peddle clips. It’s not a pretty sight.
Cons:
* The major con I had about the trike was the grinding noise as the chain passes through the idlers that are mounted in the middle of the trike. They are round plastic wheels that help keep the chain stable because of the length that the chain is routed from the boom to the rear of the bike. In different gears, the chain is aligned differently and will pass through the idler teeth at a slight angle which results in a grinding noise. Not enough to ruin my ride, but enough to make me a little concerned being that it’s a $1899 trike. I definitely had to make sure everything was aligned correctly, but I was expecting “whisper quiet” at the $1899 price. I spray the gears, idlers, and chain down with W-40 each and every single time before I ride to keep it freshly lubricated.
* Although most serious riders on road racers will pass you up on the trails, I’ve been able to pass up some semi-serious and walmart trail bikers. So the terratrikes aren’t slow, but realistically, you aren’t going to go any faster than what you would on a good quality trail/racer bike. But that depends on the rider and possibly an upgrade in gear drives. However, I can’t speak for bike lanes on regular streets with long straight-aways. But with trails that have sharp turns and inclines throughout, bikes are going to have an advantage given the terrain/conditions.
* Whether on trails or the street, you are sitting lower and people are going to not notice you. I was almost hit by 2 road racer guys coming the opposite direction on the trails I was riding. In both cases, I was going around a small turn in the trail with tree/bush cover in the way, and a biker was coming the opposite way. Since I was sitting low to the ground, they didn’t notice me at first. In both cases, each rider hit their brakes and had their bikes come out from underneath them sideways very briefly. It was all within a split second. But, ya gotta be careful and exercise caution where there is low visibility.
* Most people on bikes will sneer at you. I don’t know why this is. It’s like showing up to a party where everyone is wearing a black tie, but you are wearing a red tie. You’re different since you are a on a trike. So people look at you like you are the “weird guy” that no one sits at the lunch table with at school.
* Some people will think you are hand-capped since you are on 3 wheels. I had one lady ask me if I was able to climb a hill that she knew was further back on the trail. She then clapped for me as if I was some kind of mentally challenged person. Whatever!
Summary: In short, the Terratrike Zoomer is a fun piece of machinery. It provides great exercise, and is something you won’t just ride once and then let sit for a month or longer. Is it worth the $1899 price tag? There are a couple things I would like to see improved, such as the idlers, at that price, but that’s not a question that I can answer until a couple of years have gone by. If I put thousands of miles on it, get great exercise, and am stil riding after a couple of years, I’ll then say it was worth the price.