kite trike

kitesurfer,

You can use the Search feature of this forum to find some hits on the kite trike, a.k.a. Rockville buggy.

I own one and have had some problems. Here's what I've found.

: The Price. Used you can pick one up for about $200-$250 USD.

: Easy to remove rear tires, front wheel, and make adjustments to the frame. I can fit the thing in the back of my SUV by simply removing the rear wheels in less than 3 minutes. So when the wind's blowing, I can quickly throw it in the truck and head out.

: Adjustable foot peg position. You can move the foot pegs up and down the length of the fork for a tailored fit for your comfort.

: Seat is deep with a pocketted wood plate (~4" x 8")providing some back support.

: Seat attachment is non-intuitive and instructions are lacking (they simply say attach the seat and give a picture of the assembled buggy).

: The straps and/or buckles used to secure the seat to the frame are unreliable. I've had the plastic buckles break and the straps snap under my 190 lbs. Some here have successfully replaced the buckles with metal ones. I and others are looking at replacing the seat with one from another manufacturer ($40-$80'ish).

: Front wheel attachment to the forks is unreliable. Using the hardware provided, the wheel will from time to time be loose in the fork so that when I lift up on the buggy, the wheel falls off. From discussions on this forum, it seems this should be able to be rectified with the addition of proper lock nuts / washers / etc.

: The thin piece of wood used to provide back support easily snaps in half (first time I tried leaning back in the seat), so you'd want to replace it with something like 1/4" ply.

: I've had problems sufficiently tightening the bolts that secure the footpegs to the fork. The bolt material is soft, so it's easy to strip them if over-tightening. I'm considering tack-welding the footpegs in place.

Bottomline, from my experience: The kite trike / Rockville is inexpensive in $$$ to get into ($200-$250 used), but it will require some time and a little more $$$ to make it more reliable. Time is money, they say, and for me the saved time and frustration of not having to deal with these inadequacies would have been worth the extra $200-$300 to get a better buggy.

Take all this with a grain of salt. This is my first buggy, and I haven't even sat in another one. Hopefully others will add their feedback here for a few more data points.

Scott

if your looking to be introduce to buggys w/ saving a few coins its so-so if your thinking with investing time money into the sport..... upgrade to another model

not bad "starter"buggy{ everybody has to start somewhere}
but once your skills improve you'll grow out of it fast by the restrictions that a starter buggy offers

if your looking at one on e-bay...... beware! the ones that state chrome plated aluminum

must be some:alien:technology

support kite shops in turn they support you in return

And definitely search your local Craigslist separately from google as well. I've found many google hits have already expired, while current local items have not yet made it into google/yahoo.

Beachrights...what about creating a new post here in the Kite Buggying section for inexpensive Do-It-Yourself mods for the Rockville Kite Trike? I think it would be very helpful for us all to see in one place what mods have been done. Then we could paste in web links / photos / prices / instructions... I haven't done any mods yet other than strap some more webbing under my broken seat to eek out a little more life before buying a new one!

The Kite Trike came in yesterday. took me about 15 minutes to assemble the fame and 30 to strap in the seat. the seat appears to be redesigned with metal buckles and cross tacked attachment points on straps. it was very easy to install it. I did not even look at the picture. the forks came attached to the frame already and is secured with a big castle nut. Hopefully this is a fix for that problem of the wheel falling off. The front axle came with LONG spacers that worked fine--i tightened the nuts hard and the wheel spins freely. SO FAR, I am well happy with this buggy. The wind is predicted to be 15 to 30! today and our colded days of the year (25 right now and coming up into the low 40's). so...i might give it a try

all bolts still tight! took out the fiancee and put up the phantom 12 in 15mph or so. her first time with the kite and the buggy. no injuriies
i learned to do figure eights and to slide into a tur to stop the buggy. also learned dead down wind don't work....don't luff the kite--and if you do don't run over a line and wrap it around the axle 25 times

Is this the same buggy?

I know it my first buggy and all, but I've herd bad things about pl buggys too. Like frames cracking and shotty weld jobs at the joints. But as far as my Rockville buggy goes I've had mine for a little over a year now and my biggest complaint is that that the tires are cheap! One or two ply at best, I've worn the tread right off of them. But this season I'm buying new flexifoil complete standard tires to put on it. Already did the checking and the axle bolts are the same size. I will say the seat isn't the best desighn out there, requires ajusting once or twice per session.(liveable) The buckles are cheap but still holding. Never had a problem with the front wheel coming loose, did a little re-tightning of all the bolts when I first got ,but once I got them tight it was no longer an issue.:P

I'm sure my wife will eventually let me get a flexi buggy someday, but until then I will not jinx my buggy by talking bad about it:!:

Don't get me wrong I wasn't nocking on PL. I just saying for the money Rockville makes an alright buggy. Sure theirs a few kinks, but just because you spent a few more dollars doesn't mean your guaranteed to be headache free.