Specs
Catrike Pocket - serial number 266.
(The serial number is on a sticker under the bottom of the
frame.)
Shipped from the factory in Florida around the second week of
November, '05. !18" (355) wheels all around. (Apparently
the '06 Pockets are going to have adjustable
handlebars and a 20" back wheel, so let's call this a late '05
model.) It's got mostly SRAM and Full Speed Ahead (FSA)
components, with a few others in the mix.
Components
FSA Gossamer Isis triple crankset
with FSA 30/42/53 chainwheels. Shimano Ultegra front derailleur. (I
suspect that there's no SRAM front derailleur which is compatible with
the FSA triple cranks.) 9-speed 11-32 cassette (appears to be SRAM).
SRAM SX-5
rear derailleur. SRAM chain. SRAM Gripshift shifters.
A note about the drive train ... The SRAM mid-cage derailleur supplied with the 18"-wheeled Pocket doesn't really provide enough capacity to take up all the slack in the small/small combination. I am thinking of disabling the large chainring (which I hardly ever use), and shortening the chain. (I live in a very hilly area, so I don't have much use for large gears. It seems like I'm always either crawling up a hill, or screaming down one with the brakes on.) 2006 Pockets will supposedly come with a 20" rear wheel and long-cage derailleur.
Nice Schwalbe Marathon tires, with reflective sidewalls. Sun M14A 6061 alloy 355x18.9 mm rims. Catrike front hubs, Shimano Deore FH-M510 rear hub. Avid Ball Bearing 5 disk brakes. The two brakes are identical, so one (the left) is mounted above the axle, and the other is mounted below the axle. There is not much room to work around the brakes, and my Crank Bros. muti-tool won't fit in the space required to adjust the spring tension on the left brake. Rather than removing the brake to adjust it, I plan to buy a small 2.5 mm hex wrench that will fit into the tight space.
I expected bushings instead of headsets on the 'head tubes', but they appear to be FSA headsets, possibly the FSA 'Orbit Z'.
No manual , but I did get some documentation on the derailleurs and crankset.
A note about the drive train ... The SRAM mid-cage derailleur supplied with the 18"-wheeled Pocket doesn't really provide enough capacity to take up all the slack in the small/small combination. I am thinking of disabling the large chainring (which I hardly ever use), and shortening the chain. (I live in a very hilly area, so I don't have much use for large gears. It seems like I'm always either crawling up a hill, or screaming down one with the brakes on.) 2006 Pockets will supposedly come with a 20" rear wheel and long-cage derailleur.
Nice Schwalbe Marathon tires, with reflective sidewalls. Sun M14A 6061 alloy 355x18.9 mm rims. Catrike front hubs, Shimano Deore FH-M510 rear hub. Avid Ball Bearing 5 disk brakes. The two brakes are identical, so one (the left) is mounted above the axle, and the other is mounted below the axle. There is not much room to work around the brakes, and my Crank Bros. muti-tool won't fit in the space required to adjust the spring tension on the left brake. Rather than removing the brake to adjust it, I plan to buy a small 2.5 mm hex wrench that will fit into the tight space.
I expected bushings instead of headsets on the 'head tubes', but they appear to be FSA headsets, possibly the FSA 'Orbit Z'.
No manual , but I did get some documentation on the derailleurs and crankset.
accessories
When I bought the trike at Peregrine Bicycle Works in Chico, CA, I had several accessories installed by Hugh, the shop owner.
Old Man
Mountain 'Sherpa' rack.
(Picture of the rack installed on the
Pocket.)
Radical Allfa 'Side Panniers US' - huge capacity (2x28 liters), light weight. And a nice yellow color to match the trike.
These panniers don't fit perfectly, but I really like the way that they fill in the space behind the seat. The frame/'seat stays' of the Pocket get in the way a little bit, resulting in a slight loss of volume inside the pannier. I would estimate that I lose less than 1 liter of volume on each side, due to this deformation. So, the practical, usable volume with my installation is about 2x27 liters .) Still huge, and I like the design of the pannier, having only one big compartment that can handle bulky things easily. Maybe not Arkel-quality construction, but well-made. I use Eagle Creek zippered bags to keep things organized.
Two Mirrycle mirrors, mounted on the handlebar ends.
Fenders. I believe that Hugh said that the fenders he installed were originally designed for a Trice.
Cage for a water bottle.
Water bottle cage for my Niterider battery, installed under the seat.
Crank Brothers 'Candy C' pedals, in yellow of course. (I brought these with me and had Hugh install them. The trike does not come equipped with pedals.)
Mueller Windwrap XT fairing. (This had not arrived when I picked up the trike, so Hugh shipped it to me and Installed it (easily) myself. The only tricky part was finding a new place to mount the headlight. (Having it behind the fairing produces too much glare on the fairing.) I added a little yellow paint on the black frame of the fairing, just for fun.
Parking brake - Hugh put a band of old inner-tube on each handlebar, to be used to hold the brake-levers tight. (There is no parking-brake built into the Avid levers.)
I have alwo added some more accessories on my own:
NiteRider 'Classic Plus' headlight system, dual beam (20 and 12 watts) with water-bottle-style battery. When I installed the fairing, I had to get a little creative with mounting the headlight: a pair of 'bar-ends'linked together to form a headlight mount below the fairing. (There is a nice photographic comparison of light output from different headlights at http://eddys.com/page.cfm?PageID=493)
NiteRider high-intensity LED 'Universal' taillight, running off the main NiteRider system battery, mounted to the top of the Sherpa rack.
Old Cateye LED taillight, mounted to the fender.
A pair of Cateye EL-400 headlights, mounted down low, to the inside of the front axles.
An old Specialized bicycle computer. The magnetic sensor and the computer itself are both mounted on the right fender, with yellow :-) electrical tape holding the wire to the fender.
Eagle Creek 'Comfort' lumbar pillow. The Pocket's seat is slightly adjustable, but my back has a history, and I need more lumbar support. The Eagle Creek can be inflated to just the right fit. (I have one of these in each of my cars, also.)
A banana bag used as a cover for keeping the bike dry while parked outside in the rain.
Radical Allfa 'Side Panniers US' - huge capacity (2x28 liters), light weight. And a nice yellow color to match the trike.
These panniers don't fit perfectly, but I really like the way that they fill in the space behind the seat. The frame/'seat stays' of the Pocket get in the way a little bit, resulting in a slight loss of volume inside the pannier. I would estimate that I lose less than 1 liter of volume on each side, due to this deformation. So, the practical, usable volume with my installation is about 2x27 liters .) Still huge, and I like the design of the pannier, having only one big compartment that can handle bulky things easily. Maybe not Arkel-quality construction, but well-made. I use Eagle Creek zippered bags to keep things organized.
Two Mirrycle mirrors, mounted on the handlebar ends.
Fenders. I believe that Hugh said that the fenders he installed were originally designed for a Trice.
Cage for a water bottle.
Water bottle cage for my Niterider battery, installed under the seat.
Crank Brothers 'Candy C' pedals, in yellow of course. (I brought these with me and had Hugh install them. The trike does not come equipped with pedals.)
Mueller Windwrap XT fairing. (This had not arrived when I picked up the trike, so Hugh shipped it to me and Installed it (easily) myself. The only tricky part was finding a new place to mount the headlight. (Having it behind the fairing produces too much glare on the fairing.) I added a little yellow paint on the black frame of the fairing, just for fun.
Parking brake - Hugh put a band of old inner-tube on each handlebar, to be used to hold the brake-levers tight. (There is no parking-brake built into the Avid levers.)
I have alwo added some more accessories on my own:
NiteRider 'Classic Plus' headlight system, dual beam (20 and 12 watts) with water-bottle-style battery. When I installed the fairing, I had to get a little creative with mounting the headlight: a pair of 'bar-ends'linked together to form a headlight mount below the fairing. (There is a nice photographic comparison of light output from different headlights at http://eddys.com/page.cfm?PageID=493)
NiteRider high-intensity LED 'Universal' taillight, running off the main NiteRider system battery, mounted to the top of the Sherpa rack.
Old Cateye LED taillight, mounted to the fender.
A pair of Cateye EL-400 headlights, mounted down low, to the inside of the front axles.
An old Specialized bicycle computer. The magnetic sensor and the computer itself are both mounted on the right fender, with yellow :-) electrical tape holding the wire to the fender.
Eagle Creek 'Comfort' lumbar pillow. The Pocket's seat is slightly adjustable, but my back has a history, and I need more lumbar support. The Eagle Creek can be inflated to just the right fit. (I have one of these in each of my cars, also.)
A banana bag used as a cover for keeping the bike dry while parked outside in the rain.