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Drift trikes are tricycles with low-traction rear wheels made of hard plastic, usually PVC. They are designed for intentional drifting by initiating a loss of traction on the rear wheels and using counter-steering. Drift trikes are typically ridden on paved roads with steep grades and corners.
Drift trikes originated in California when Marty Spellman and his friends built the original drift trikes to race on the hills of Laguna Beach, Malibu, Fullerton, and other cities. From the original 8mm film footage and a Los Angeles Times report, the design of modern-day drift trikes remains similar to Spellman's creation. Spellman is widely recognized as the inventor of the drift trike by organizations in Australia, Argentina, Brazil (including Kamikaze Trikers and Guiguinotrike), Chile, Colombia, France (Fédération France de Drift Trike), Italy (Drift One), Mexico, Spain, and the United States. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Drift triking, or the act of riding a drift trike, has a dedicated, quickly growing following across the globe. The resurgence of drift triking began in New Zealand, fueled by a culture of car and drift enthusiasts, spreading to countries including Australia, the United States, Columbia, and various European nations.[ citation needed ]
The American Drift Trike Association, founded in 2011 to promote the sport, has since disbanded.[ citation needed ]
Drift triking has become an official motorsport in Latvia and is sponsored by brands like Red Bull, with groups like Drift Trikes Whangarei representing the sport's growing popularity and acceptance.[ citation needed ]
Drift triking usually takes place on smooth, paved roads. Coarse, chipseal roads tend to wear rear wheels faster, create a rougher ride, and reduce drifting ability. Momentum is gained using gravity, and many riders use a freewheel to make their trike more versatile. The freewheel allows the rider to pedal and gain forward momentum while simultaneously allowing for coasting when not pedaling. Standing on the rear of the trike while kicking or pushing backwards with one leg is another common method of gaining momentum.
Operating speeds for drift trikes usually range from 25–50 miles per hour (40–80 km/h). A speed of approximately 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) was achieved in 2015 on the world's steepest street, Baldwin Street, in Dunedin, New Zealand. [5] [6]
The rear wheels of drift trikes are commonly made from PVC, or by sliding PVC or a polyethylene pipe over deflated pneumatic wheels and re-inflating them to lock them in place. Drift trikes also feature a solid, fixed beam, 'go-kart' style rear axle, which forces both rear wheels to spin at the same rate. The short wheelbase, or distance between the front and rear axles, allows riders to more easily initiate and maintain slides. Stability is provided by the large front wheel, low center of gravity, and steering system with a large degree of lock, allowing riders to slide without spinning.
Many drift trikes are homemade or custom-fabricated by professional welders. Commercially released children's versions have been released by bike manufacturers such as Drift Trike Factory, Huffy, Crane, Airwalk, and Triciclos de la Montaña. Local Motors was the first to introduce an electric, adult drift trike to the market.
BlackTop Engineering released the first adult's fuel-driven drift trike with a suspension system and "G-Force Bars". One of the biggest names in drift triking is Triad Drift Trikes from Australia, who have been manufacturing custom drift trikes since 2013. [7]
Instead of choosing to buy brand-name drift trikes from manufacturers, many enthusiasts have chosen to design and build their own. Generally, this involves using an old kids' bike or BMX and modifying the frame to fit an axle and seat on the back. This allows people to give their trikes their own unique look while being cost-effective.
Rather than gravity drift triking, some drift trikes use wind power from kites to move.
Fuel-driven drift trikes are gas-powered. With all the torque being applied to the rear wheels, it becomes much easier to drift at low speeds.
Drift triking commonly falls within the jurisdiction of cyclist traffic laws. Many districts, regions, and countries require the use of helmets, brakes, a rear red reflector, and front lights. Some regions categorize them as "gravity" vehicles, where they are treated similarly to skateboards and street luges.
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A bicycle rider is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
A tandem bicycle or twin is a form of bicycle designed to be ridden by more than one person. The term tandem refers to the seating arrangement, not the number of riders. Patents related to tandem bicycles date from the mid 1880s. Tandems can reach higher speeds than the same riders on single bicycles, and tandem bicycle racing exists. As with bicycles for single riders, there are many variations that have been developed over the years.
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commonly, the term is used to describe a farm vehicle that provides the power and traction to mechanize agricultural tasks, especially tillage, and now many more. Agricultural implements may be towed behind or mounted on the tractor, and the tractor may also provide a source of power if the implement is mechanised.
A recumbent bicycle is a bicycle that places the rider in a laid-back reclining position. Some recumbent riders may choose this type of design for ergonomic reasons: the rider's weight is distributed comfortably over a larger area, supported by back and buttocks. On a traditional upright bicycle, the body weight rests entirely on a small portion of the sitting bones, the feet, and the hands.
A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a human-powered three-wheeled vehicle.
Opposite lock, also commonly known as countersteer, is a colloquial term used to mean the steering associated with the deliberate use of oversteer to turn a vehicle rapidly without losing momentum. It is typified by the classic rallying style of rear-wheel drive cars, where a car travels around a bend with a large drift angle. The terms "opposite lock" and "counter-steering" refer to the position of the steering wheel during the maneuver, which is turned in the opposite direction to that of the bend.
A longboard is a type of skateboard typified by longer decks and wheelbases, larger-diameter and softer (lower-durometer) wheels, and often lower riding height compared to street skateboards, though there is wide variation in the geometry and construction of longboards. Among the earliest types of skateboards, longboards were inspired by surfing, with early longboards drawing from the design of surfboards, resembling and mimicking the motion of riding a surfboard, but adapted to riding on streets in a practice known as sidewalk surfing.
In mechanical or automotive engineering, a freewheel or overrunning clutch is a device in a transmission that disengages the driveshaft from the driven shaft when the driven shaft rotates faster than the driveshaft. An overdrive is sometimes mistakenly called a freewheel, but is otherwise unrelated.
A locking differential is a mechanical component, commonly used in vehicles, designed to overcome the chief limitation of a standard open differential by essentially "locking" both wheels on an axle together as if on a common shaft. This forces both wheels to turn in unison, regardless of the traction available to either wheel individually.
A single-speed bicycle is a type of bicycle with a single gear ratio. These bicycles are without derailleur gears, hub gearing or other methods for varying the gear ratio of the bicycle.
A fixed-gear bicycle is a bicycle that has a drivetrain with no freewheel mechanism such that the pedals always will spin together with the rear wheel. The freewheel was developed early in the history of bicycle design but the fixed-gear bicycle remained the standard track racing design. More recently the "fixie" has become a popular alternative among mainly urban cyclists, offering the advantage of simplicity compared with the standard multi-geared bicycle.
A three-wheeler is a vehicle with three wheels. Some are motorized tricycles, which may be legally classed as motorcycles, while others are tricycles without a motor, some of which are human-powered vehicles and animal-powered vehicles.
A tilting three-wheeler, tilting trike, leaning trike, or even just tilter, is a three-wheeled vehicle and usually a narrow-track vehicle whose body and or wheels tilt in the direction of a turn. Such vehicles can corner without rolling over despite having a narrow axle track because they can balance some or all of the roll moment caused by centripetal acceleration with an opposite roll moment caused by gravity, as bicycles and motorcycles do. This also reduces the lateral acceleration experienced by the rider, which some find more comfortable than the alternative. The narrow profile can result in reduced aerodynamic drag and increased fuel efficiency. These types of vehicles have also been described as "man-wide vehicles" (MWV).
A freehub is a type of bicycle hub that incorporates a ratcheting mechanism.
Trail braking is a driving and motorcycle riding technique where the brakes are used beyond the entrance to a turn (turn-in), and then gradually released. Depending on a number of factors, the driver fully releases brake pressure at any point between turn-in and the apex of the turn.
Bicycle suspension is the system, or systems, used to suspend the rider and bicycle in order to insulate them from the roughness of the terrain. Bicycle suspension is used primarily on mountain bikes, but is also common on hybrid bicycles.
A cargo tricycle or transport tricycle is a type of cargo bike that has historically been used for the transport of goods, and more recently also for transport of children. It can stand on its own when parked and is stable at low speeds. However, they often have poor stability at high speed as most simple models are not able to lean into the turn to shift the center of gravity. However, there are some cargo tricycles with advanced suspension that allows for some roll which alleviates some of the stability problems at high speed.
A quadracycle is a four-wheeled human-powered land vehicle. It is also referred to as a quadcycle, pedal car or four-wheeled bicycle amongst other terms.
