Reverse gear for trikes?

[Ashdod Slim]

I saw a factory trike rider at the bike rack at Trader Joe's tonight. He was backing away from the rack and I could have sworn that he was back pedaling and thereby moving the machine backwards! I didn't get to him in time to ask a question and I've been giving myself a brain hernia trying to figure out how such a thing would work. My wife said that he had three gears. Was one of them a true reverse? Brad's video of the LodeRunner shows him backing out of a parking space but I thought he was just pushing with his hidden foot.

Zombie problem solvers attack!!!
-Doug

[TheKid]

My LBS guy said he had a trike customer who wanted a fixed sprocket attached to the axle for reverse. So he added a fixed 24 tooth sprocket right next to the smallest cog, and set the derailler to go one more step. He also replaced the six speed shifter with a 7 speed shifter, so 7th gear was actually reverse. He said the only problem is that back pedalling too much at once will foul up the derailler.
There are some quads out there that have a reverse gear, but I don't know how they work. If I'm not mistaken, Joey has one of those. Another alternative would be to have a fixed sprocket, but then freewheeling wouldn't be possible.

[pcorbett]

I saw the famous Brad back out. I'm not sure but Brad might have been on a slight incline. If you roll back, you have to back pedal to keep the freewheel from fetching up. Only Brad's hairdresser would know!

I roll back on my HammerHead trike and excesive back pedaling can foul your chain.

If there is no chance of rollback I put my feet on the front tires and walk them back. Make a beeping sound when you do this. It freaks the onlookers.

PC

[John Lewis]

Don't know where I saw this on the net now. It was a tadpole trike with a reverse.

The reverse consisted of a small skateboard? type wheel and a bracket. When the small wheel was lowered it lifted and engaged with the trikes rear wheel. The trike rear wheel, by friction turned the skateboard wheel which was now on the ground. Pedalling is in the normal direction and the small wheel rotated for reverse.

Hope you can follow my explanation. It apprently worked ok.

John Lewis

[Radical Brad]

I just kicked my foot back to get the trike rolling in reverse then back pedalled a bit to keep up with the engaged freewheel, just like you said.

Unless I could not put my foot down, there would not be much use for such a complex reverse system. Maybe in a fully enclosed trike or quad it would be nice.

The skateblade wheel system is a good idea.

Brad

[ewhitticar]

That's a good question, and it would be especially important if you wanted to fully enclose a trike or quad (with a velomobile-like fairing) without "bomb bay" doors for your feet. I would think a big fixed ring next to the largest cog would be the easiest to pedal at low speed. Sheldon Brown's site has some info on converting an internally geared hub to have a fixed gear (http://sheldonbrown.com/awfixed.html), but it looks a lot more complicated than John's suggestion of using a skateboard wheel.

Please keep us posted if you find a good solution!