Reviewed by Adulttricyclereview.com
Catrike 700, Posted on November 13, 2015
If you are looking for the ultimate in all out speed and performance,
look no further. You found it with the Catrike 700. I have a small lake
cottage that my grandfather purchased back in the 1930’s. I simply love
being by the water and enjoy every minute I am there. This past spring I
loaded up the family and headed to our lake cottage for the weekend,
like most weekend in the summer. When we got to our cottage my neighbor
was standing in his driveway admiring his new toy. When I saw his new
toy, I said to my wife, “Wow do you see what Ray has got?” My wife’s
response, “it looks like Ray got a new car.” I said, “that is not just a
new car. That is the coolest car ever made and AC Cobra.” I parked my
F150 and headed right over to Ray’s house. My wife and kids knew there
was no stopping me and they started to unload our truck with our things
for the weekend. Ray just picked up the car that day and gave me the low
down on his new car. 427 big block engine! Side pipes! Racing seats!
Manual shift! I told him the AC Cobra was my favorite car of all time,
hoping some way he would offer to take me for a ride. Ray is a good guy
he said he was going for ice cream with his wife and would take me for a
ride when he returned. I waited impatiently for about and hour. From
about a quarter mile away, I heard him coming. I ran out to my driveway
and waited for him to drive up. My wife and kids came out as well. Ray’s
wife hopped out of the car and I hopped in. We then preceded down our
little dirt road to the main road. Without saying a word, Ray turns onto
the main road and stood on the gas pedal. From 10 mph to 90 mph in
about three seconds even on a curve in the road. The car felt glued to
the road, super stable, and fast as hell! That’s exactly how I feel on
the Catrike 700. The AC Cobra is basically a race car. No frills like
soft riding suspension, air conditioning or power windows, just flat out
performance and the Catrike 700 is the same. The Catrike 700 may be the
fastest trike made for recreational use. One of the things that makes
the Catrike 700 faster than other trikes is how you are positioned on
the trike. You are low, very low and laid way, way back, making you very
aerodynamic. The biggest thing holding anyone back from going faster,
is air drag on your body. The Catrike 700 is about as aero as you can
get without a fairing. Second, is the big 700c rear wheel, and skinny
fast rolling tires all the way around the trike. Our Catrike 700 test
trike comes stock with a neck rest, mirror, wrist rest and clipless
platform pedals. I am very pleased to say that you can get a Catrike
much faster now than ever before. Up until the 2016 season, every
Catrike was made to order. The procedure was that the bicycle dealer
places an order with Catrike and Catrike would build the trike in the
color the dealer requested. This process took about four weeks, until
now. Catrike for 2016 will be stocking trikes. Hurry!!! Now you can get
your Catrike in your favorite color, in less than half the time.
Frame: The frame on the Catrike 700 is aluminum, TIG
welded together in Florida. I would have to say the welds are beautiful
and of the highest quality in the industry. The frame is constructed
out of oversized, shaped and manipulated aluminum tubing.
Paint: Catrike paint jobs are a work of art. There is
no one in the bike industry that is better, maybe just equal to
Catrike’s paint jobs. Their standard paint jobs are everything you want
in a paint job-clean, consistent and durable, along with seven colors
to choose from. If you buy your Catrike in the winter when Catrike sales
are a bit slower, Catrike will give you five additional colors to
choose from.
Drive Train: The shifting is superb on the Catrike
700. Catrike chose a premium SRAM drivetrain combination with ten gears
to choose from in the rear and three in the front for a total of thirty.
The SRAM X-7 rear derailleur performed flawlessly. Catrike mateding the
X-7 rear derailleur with the SRAM 500 TT Bar End Shifter and Microshift
front derailleur. Catrike uses this setup quite often on their trikes.
Bar end shifters are Catrike shifter of choice and mine as well. Bar end
shifters just make sense for me. I feel they are easier to use than the
grip type shifters you see on most other brands of trikes. Grip type
shifers work fine. If God knew I wanted to ride a trike with grip type
shifters, he might have put my thumbs on the other side of my hands. I
feel I do not have as much control of the grip type shifter compared to
the bar end type shifters.
Brakes: Catrike chose my favorite mechanical disc brake
system the Avid BB7 brakes with the Avid Speed Dial brake levers. This
combination stopped the trike consistently and had no brake rub. I have
no issue with the mechanical brakes that Avid offers. They are simple,
reliable and easy to adjust. A super convenient feature of the Avid
mechanical brakes are that each brake pad can be adjusted independently
so you can really dial in your brake adjustment. Catrike chose a simple
Velcro strap that you wrap around one of the brake levers for your
parking brake. I really like this because it is simple and adds no
weight to the trike. This also allowed Catrike to be able to use a
premium brake lever. ICE trike chose a different route by adding a brake
to the rear wheel and a remote shifter to control the brake. This works
well but added almost a pound to the ICE trikes.
Seat: The seat on the Catrike 700 is a breathable mesh
the same as used on most other Catrike models. The seat fabric has some
nice pockets sewn in the back for carrying your important things. The
seat height of the Catrike 700 is 8 ½ inches and the seat angle is a
fixed at25 degrees so you got to love it from the start because you can
not make any adjustments.
Ride: The ride on the Catrike 700 is like the AC Cobra,
stiff. The Catrike 700 feels glued to the road, you can rip around
corners and there is no concern about tipping over. The Catrike 700 is
blazing fast, good handling and just about as fun as you can get on a
trike. Is it practical for most people? No! Is it easy to get in and out
of? No! Is it something I would like to to do a long ride on? No! Is it
a trike that you can probably be the fastest person on you group ride?
Yes!
In conclusion: Like my neighbors AC Cobra, is the Catrike 700 practice? no is it exciting to ride “o ya”.
Pros: Fast, light weight, OMG paint,
Cons: Not practical for most riders.