A Trikke (pronounced like
trike, though sometimes I say "
tricky") is a three-wheeled
scooter with an
innovative method of
locomotion. The front wheel has a tube
leading up to
handlebars, like on a
Razor Scooter, but instead of
having one footboard for your feet, there is a footboard under each
foot, connected at the front wheel.
Unlike a Razor, you don't need to
scoot with your foot to make it go.
You make a Trikke move
forward by rocking left and right, and the Trikke travels forward in
a serpentine fashion.
When moving slowly, you turn the handlebars and rock the
front tube left and right over the front wheel, and
when moving more quickly, you rock your body left and right,
pushing laterally with your outside foot -
when you are moving left,
you push out with your right foot.
The Trikke's method of propulsion is not intuititive, it depends on
an interesting set of articulated joints near the front wheel, and
the axle of the front wheel trails behind the fork, which curves
backward, unlike on a bicycle.
A Trikke doesn't move as easily as a bicycle, skateboard, or
roller skates. You have to work hard to make it go uphill or if
the pavement is not smooth. It has polyurethane wheels up to 8 inches in diameter, so if the
road is wet, you get no traction and you won't go. You also can't
make it go on soft ground or grass. But on a road or sidewalk,
riding a Trikke is great exercise and great fun. On the flats you can get it going 15 miles per hour. It has hand-brakes like on a bicycle, so you won't feel like you're losing control.
The Trikke was invented in Brazil, and has been in production since about 2000.
It is interesting and unusual
enough that you'll find people wondering what makes it go, and they will stop you to ask about it.