All new Trikke T78 Deluxe Green is here!

Look at this gorgeous machine! Released by Trikke Tech today, T78D-GN is a perfect blend of their latest T8 model and very popular T78-Air. The new ride features new handlebars, black painted machined rims, animal free leather hand grips, upgraded brake cables, aluminum brake levers, bolted aluminum stem and black foot decks. Three air tires will offer smooth and comfortable ride and the new color will surely turn heads. Available for $369.99 through Trikke Philly web site. More pictures below.

July Group Ride

Attention Trikkers, we are putting together a group ride for any one who may be interested in having some fun. This will be open to everyone, all ages and all experience levels. We hope you come out join us, it will certainly be a good time. We will be having our first ride coming up on the 26th of July, more information is listed below.
Date Saturday, July 26
Location – Ikea, Conshohocken, PA
Time – Meet in parking lot starting at 9am, push off at 9:30am

We will be getting on to the Cross County Trail at the Ikea in Conshohocken heading towards the Perkiomen Trail. The Cross County Trail is only three miles long and we will be getting on it at the halfway point. The section we will be on has very little traffic on it so you can open up with some big carves. The trail connects to the Perkiomen Trail and you can ride towards Philadelphia, I’m still working my way down the trail to confirm trail conditions because the Manayunk section is not paved.

We’ll meet back at Ikea at 12:30 and for a post ride lunch in the stores cafeteria. Swedish meatballs anyone?

If you’re interested please e-mail Jackie (jackie@trikkephilly.com).
Free Trikke Philly T-Shirts, just e-mail Jackie with your size (M, L, XL, XXL)*.

*(While supplies last).

First ride

Those who have already experienced their first time on a Trikke will understand me when I say it is very rewarding and very frustrating at the same time. By the time you snatch your Trikke from delivery man's hands, you've already read everything there is to know about riding a Trikke online, and watched all videos on YouTube. You know the theory and you feel you are ready. For some, however, actual results may vary.

When people come to Trikke Philly store to try the Trikke, there are a couple of rules we go over before they take their first ride:

1. Never let go of the handle bars. Always hold on with both arms.
2. Don't lean backwards, you will flip the Trikke and land on your back

Then we go over the theory a little bit. Here is how we explain things:

1. First, look at the front wheel, pay attention to the fork. You will notice that the fork sits a little bit forward from the center of the wheel, making the whole structure unstable. If you let go of the steering, the wheel will either turn left or right because of that. This instability is the major reason the Trikke works the way it does.
2. Next, get on the Trikke and do a little excersize: while in the dead stop, lean the Trikke left and right, making sure your weight rests on the opposite foot. The reason is: while you lean your Trikke right, the wheel turns right, and aligns with your left rear wheel. That becomes your scate. Resting your weight on the side opposite of the turn helps you push off with your legs. We do this exersize several times.
3. We warn people not to try applying everything they know at the same time. Usually that results in a failure. Start small. My six-year-old daughter got on her T5 and just started making wide and fast wheel turns, instantly moving forward. She did it intuitively and was instantly rewarded. Once she started moving, I taught her how to lean a little in the direction of the turn, helping to accelerate the scooter. That is what we tell people to do: start by turning the steering left and right fast, with the punching motion. If you do it fast, the Trikke has no choice but move.
4. We have a small incline on the sidewalk in front of the store, perfect for rolling downhill and leaning excersize. From dead stop, people punch the wheel a couple of times, they start rolling and leaning while continuing the steering movements, and off they go!
5. Finally, we make them go back "uphill" on the sidewalk. This is accomplished more with the upper body movements, while legs will be resting. Punch the steering, making wide turns with the Trikke, and little by little you will start moving uphill. People can't believe they are going uphill after just several minutes of practice!
   

Riding downhill is a no brainer on a Trikke. First time riders on a flat surface may not get good results without good base knowledge. If you follow above excersises, you will be quickly rewarded for your efforts. You won't be able to take large hills immediately. And it's not because of lack of technique. Usually it's because your muscles are not strong enough to take you all the way up there. Keep practicing!

Welcome to Trikkenstein

It's time for introductions. My name is Alex Polkhovsky, and I am one of the owners of Trikke Philly - the first store in Philadelphia area offering Trikke carving vehicles. So, yes, all standard bias disclaimers apply to this blog. But let me tell you why my friend and I decided to open this store.

In June of 2007, I was ready to purchase a mountain bike to go riding along the Delaware when I stumbled across an article about Trikke on one of my favorite blogs, Cool Tools. I did some poking around, found a bunch of information online, and found a busy community of Trikke owners. After reading some of their posts and learning how addictive riding a Trikke can be, I decided to take a plunge and purchased a brand new Trikke T8 Air. Stupidly, I decided to save some money and opted for free shipping instead of paying $30 more. That week I spent the major portion of my time reading posts from other happy Trikke owners, kicking myself for not selecting expedited shipping, and refreshing the UPS tracking page. The box arrived at the local UPS facility on Friday, and I drove there, hoping to snatch it earlier so I won't have to wait until Monday for delivery. No such luck. They told me my Trikke is still in a truck and they won't be able to fetch it for me.

I took Monday off and sat by the door with my laptop, waiting for UPS truck to come by. It was raining. Finally, at around 3pm my Trikke was in my hands. I spent half an hour assembling it and admiring the craftsmanship of the aluminum frame. It was so light! I inflated the tires and got on it in my kitchen.

How I learned to ride it is another story alltogether. In a couple of weeks of daily training I became brave enough to take my Trikke to a local park. That's where things got interesting. Peoples' heads turned, many of them stopped me in my tracks to ask what that thing was. Is it a great workout? Is it hard? The questions continued day to day. Finally it dawned on me that with so much interest and no local distributor, I may have a good opportunity on my hands. So I sat down with my friend Stephan and we decided to open our store. We first opened our doors in October of 2007. Since then, hundreds of people traveled from as far as Connecticut, Washington DC and Harrisburg to try out the Trikkes and go home with their very own, and hundreds more from all over the country purchased them from our online store.

Our aim with this blog is to educate you about the Trikke. We will be discussing the new products, their features, advantages and disadvantages. We will help you decide which Trikke is for you and what you can expect from it. Email us your questions and we'll answer them here. Or call us 215 279 9293.