Stein trikes has a new model which may be of interest to some among us. It has 20 inch Fat Tires and full suspension. It has a folding boom making it easy to store. It also has a 750 watt rear hub motor. They have named it Wild Fat One.  Fast and furious most anywhere you want. At $8495 it is not cheap.

Wild One Fat Specs

Steel frame
Width: 38″
Wheel-base: 48″
Suspension: 4″ independent, coil over
Seat Angle: 30 – 37 degrees
Trike weight: 42 lbs
Weight Capacity: 264 lbs plus 22 lbs of cargo using Lowrider rack
Drivetrain – contact dealer for details

MSRP $8495

At 38 inches wide it probably would not fit thru some bollards on trails. 34 inches barely fits thru them.

A word or two about steel frames. There are those who want nothing to do with a steel frame. But wait … yes, steel is heavier than other frame materials. But that is not all bad. There is not all that much difference in weight. This trike is 42 pounds … not bad for having a motor. And there are good aspects of steel over other metals. Steel is more flexible providing a better ride than aluminum (which is known to be stiff) or chrome moly (slightly more flexible than mild steel) or titanium.  Probably the best thing about steel is it is readily weldable if repair is needed. That certainly is not true of most other metals and even if they can be welded it requires a special qualified weldor with the skill, knowledge, equipment and experience. And it will be more expensive and probably not as good of a repair than the steel frame. If you ever have a welding repair need on your trike you wilI  wish it was made of mild steel. I built my first trike out of mild carbon steel. It was a fine trike as far as handling and ride.

A word or two about complexity in design. I have a lifetime as a professional weldor of dealing with repairing all sorts of various items. One thing I have learned early on is the more complexity in design the more chance there is for failure. Another thing I learned is that usually the part or area that fails was underbuilt in the original design. If it had just been made better and stronger it would probably not failed to begin with. Most things that I repaired I was able to reinforce it and make it stronger so that it never broke again. I am pretty well convinced that most items are made to fail. Yes, it would cost more to build the quality into items but that is not the focus. Selling to sell again seems to be what is going on. We live in a throw away society.

A word or two about FAT TIRES. I personally have mixed thoughts about having fat tires. They ride nice on rough surfaces. They are ideal for off road use but not very practical or sensible for on road use. They are far more expensive than regular tires. They wear out much much faster than regular tires. They get flats much easier than regular tires. They are a specialty tire for sure. If that is what you need for the riding you do they are an option.

KEEP ON TRIKIN’