As any of the people who came out to the ride I organized leaving from my house 18 months ago will attest, I love riding trikes. When you ride a trike with skill, you cannot resist smiling and chuckling to yourself (at least I can't). They also make great vehicles if your name is Curtis and you want your new nickname to be Ben Hur. I have owned quite a few trikes. The one in my garage now is a George Longstaff trike. The workmanship is absolutely beyond reproach, and it also handles superbly. It is not only a bit better than other trikes that I have owned, it seems to be from a completely different generation. The performance is truly that much better. I have also owned a number of conversion kits and while there is nothing inherently wrong with them, they do not handle as well as purpose-built trikes.
Reading Dan's note about thinking about a trike as later life alternative to a bike, I cringed. Trikes are NOT safer or more stable than a bike at anything but at a walking pace. At speed, they are much more challenging and unstable than a bike. There is nothing more comical than to observe an experienced cyclist get on a trike for the first time. Invariably they point straight for the curb (kerb). This tendency is further aggravated if you ride one of the large majority of trikes that have a single left wheel drive. Having only a driven left wheel means that the trike will automatically further emphasive the camber of the road and push you towards the ditch or right-side curb. Making things worse and far more dangerous, you also have no meaningful 'get up and go' when turning left across traffic. As odd as it may seem, I have been known to make a 270° turn to the right instead of a 90° turn to the left (perhaps due to the fact that I live in New Jersey, the state of jug-handle turns). To ride a trike, you must learn to throw your body around to maintain a functional positioning of the center of gravity of the trike/rider. Think of riding a trike as a mild version of being the 'monkey' on a racing sidecar motorcycle.
So my advice would be, by all means get a trike, any trike! All other things being equal, I believe it best to get the trike when you are young, fit and flexible. Where possible buy one that has either right hand drive or dual wheel drive with a differential. Again where possible try and get one that was purpose-built as a trike.
I would like to hear from Mick about his long barrow and how it rides in comparison to a 'regular' trike. A long barrow is a tandem trike.
Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ