Reviewed by Adulttricyclereview.com
The guys at Sun Bicycle are very good at seeing an opportunity and
capitalizing on it. There has been a need for a reasonable priced Hand
Cycle for some time now and Sun has brought a nice quality Hand Cycle to
market with the HT3 SX.
The HT3 SX is very well built, it has a light weight steel frame that is TIG Welded together like many other Sun Trikes.
Adjustability:
The HT3 SX seat is almost the same as a wheel chair seat and can be
easily adapted for a lap belt or chest belt. The seat can be easily
adjusted closer to the handlebars to accommodate smaller size riders by a
simple lever under the seat. The foot pads can be adjusted up and down
for different size people as well as forward an backwards. The foot pads
come with Velcro straps to make sure your feet stay where they are
meant to be. The cranks have a height adjustment as well.
Steering:
The HT3 SX is easy and natural to perform by just angling the cranks
slightly while cranking. There is a spring in the steering so it wants
to keep the trike riding straight. There is very little effort needed to
overcome the spring resistance to turn the HT3 SX. The spring tension
can also be adjusted for you personal taste. We felt no steering wobble
while riding and the trike and it tracked nice and straight while
coasting or cranking.
Braking: There are two ways
you can brake on the HT3 SX. The first is with the hand brake on the
left side which stops the front wheel with a simple V brake like on most
two wheel bicycles. The second is to apply the coaster brake by turning
the cranks backwards about one quarter turn. The brake lever has a
parking brake button so you can park on a hill and your hand cycle will
not roll away.
Gearing: The gearing on the HT3 SX
is performed by a reliable Shimano three speed internal hub. This is
one of the only gripe I have with the HT3 SX. Even though the Shimano or
Sturmey Archer eight speed hubs cost more, I think it would have made
the Hand Cycle much more user friendly. The Shimano three speed in my
opinion just does not have enough gear range, especially if it is hilly
where you live. Shimano does make a twenty two tooth front sprocket that
can be added to make it easier to crank.
Cables:
The cables on HT3 SX are standard bicycle shifter and brake cable which
is easily replaceable. The cable housing will need to be replaced more
often than a traditional bicycle because of all the bending while
cranking.
Chain: The chain is routed over two
idle pulley which are adjustable along with the height of the crank for
the proper chain tension. The chain runs over the pulley very nicely
with no bouncing. The chain is enclosed by the crank to hopefully keep
anything like loose clothing from getting tangled up into the chain and
chain ring.
Pros: We are very happy to see the
low cost on the HT3 SX Hand Cycle compared to other manufactures of Hand
Cycles. Sun Bicycles was able to bring a quality Hand Cycle to market
because of there huge buying power with all of there other model trikes.
Cons:
Three speed gearing is not enough if it is hilly where you live. The
gearing on the HT3 SX can be change easily but we would have preferred
and eight speed hub to make the trike appeal to a broader group of
people