I thought I would share with you guys something that a friend showed me the other night, which completely blew my mind. That thing was drift trikes.
Now, I am aware that drift trikes have been around for quite some time, but what I can’t believe is it’s taken me this long to discover them!
The video below pretty much sums up in 4 minutes why they look like sooo much fun!
In essence drift trikes consist of the front end of a BMX, two solid nylon wheels, a old seat and some steel frame work at the back.
I would also presume that they can be quite expensive to make as you would need to cut up a complete BMX to make a drift trike, but none the less they still look amazing.
Some of the tricks that the guys in this particular video are pulling off on their drift trikes are pretty amazing. What blew my kind is that most of the tricks a done flat out down hills! Tricks include 360′s and 720′s and two wheel coasts.
In my opinion they really could catch on, and I have managed to find some online for sale, but unfortunately they appear to be for young children which have pedals at the front… This clearly isn’t what these guys are riding in the video. If someone could produce drift trikes on mass they would sale like hot cakes I am sure.
The thing I like about drift trikes so much is that can be fully bespoke depending on the budget you have and the materials you use. I’ve managed to find a mixture of materials that have been used these including steal, aluminium and even wood.
There also seem to be some dedicated online communities around drift trikes already if you are interested in finding out more. The top sites I could find include;
If you do have any pictures of your drift trike I would love to see them and if you have any videos of you blasting down a hill one, even better!
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Dwain 'Holtzy' Holtzhausen
Hey there,
Dwain ‘Holtzy’ Holtzhausen here from B.O.S.S Krew, a Sydney based Drift Trike crew, and I just wanted to add in a few things that were incorrect…
Our entry level rear wheels can be purchased at Kmart and Toys R Us and are essentially the replacement wheels for the tragic failure of a design that is the brother of the Huffy Slider, the Huffy Green Machine. The Green Machine wheels (or just plain GM’s as they are referred to in Drift Trike circles) are made of PE (Polyethylene) and are hollow.
Drift Trikers that pursue the sport inevitably end up upgrading their GM’s to pneumatic tyres (if on a budget, Drift Trikers often opt for the inflatable wheels found on moving trolleys. Dedicated Drift Trikers inevitably end up upgrading to front Go-Kart wheels) wrapped in a PVC pipe section often not much wider than the Go-Kart tyre. These sections of PVC are referred to as ‘PVC sleeves’. These wheels are bolted onto a 17mm wide axle, almost always customised to the correct length and threaded on both ends.
Although an old seat is widely used, it is not the basis of the Drift Trike design and in almost all cases is used due to the ‘Huffy Slider’ stock seat being notoriously weak and prone to breakage. As for the home made Drift Trikes being expensive due to the use of a complete BMX, this simply is not the case as 99% of BMX’s used are unwanted and old BMX frames, often found in rubbish piles. There is even an event held in New Zealand (arguably the birth place of the Drift Trike scene) called the $50 challenge where the main condition of entry is that your Trike may not cost more than $50 to build.
The most popular Drift Trike used is the Huffy Slider which retails anywhere from $60 – $120 AUD (depending on the store and sales held at said stores at the time). A quick search of the keywords Newtons Nation Drift Trikes will yield results from the annual Downhill Extreme event that is Newtons Nation, held at the world renowned Mount Panorama race track located in Bathurst, Sydney Australia. Almost all of the Drift Trikes seen in the YouTube clip started out life as a stock Huffy Slider.
The only real modification required to make a Slider for for Drift triking is the addition of GM wheels, better brake components and to move the seat back to accommodate the longer legs of an adult. Frame strengthening is not necessary (provided you are under 90kgs, in which case gussets are recommended, over 100kgs and a solid welded rear end is also advised as the Slider is only rated to 90kgs safe working load).
The choice of having a pedal front or pegs is influenced by 2 factors, the fact that the stock Huffy Slider has a 1″ neck width and the stock forks are much weaker and lower quality BMX forks (which are 1 1/8th” wide and require an adapter to fit) also the fact that a BMX forks are unable to accommodate the pedal hubs bearings so the only choice is to go with pegs at the front. To a lesser extent, sometimes it is just rider preference to opt into a pegs at the front (but this reason is rare).
There are a few custom Trike manufacturers around the world (MadAzz, Bika, Orangebones Trikes, Trike Daddy Customs, just to name a few off the top of my head) but due to the high cost of custom trikes, they are rarely seen on meets. I would love to submit photos of my Trike as well as a few good examples of trikes currently getting around, I can be reached at kimi_r@live.com.au
I hope the information I’ve provided shed some light on our beloved sport
Many Thanks
Dwain ‘Holtzy’ Holtzhausen
Icez
Hey..
Check these guys out..they have a line up of international riders riding under them…
http://www.facebook.com/starcandyincdrifttrikes.
Cheers