The ‘Triple Tread®’ is designed to offer a different option of upright tricycle to the standard available within the market today, enabling inclusion for people who may find riding a bicycle difficult due to prosthetics or conditions such as MS or cerebral palsy.
We recently met up with Mark Harrison, owner of Triple Tread®, where we took the prototype for a spin with Morson Ambassador, Andy Reid MBE and discussed final design tweaks.
Following this, we caught up with Principal Stress Engineer, Graham Eardley to find out more about Morson Projects’ involvement.
Graham shared:
“Our team designed and developed the composite spring suspension over the front axle of the Triple Tread®, which is used to dampen the movement of the riders and irregularities in the ground to provide a safe and stable ride.
“We took an initial metallic concept design and developed this to incorporate composite elements that can be adaptable for different riders or riding style.
“This was a unique opportunity for us to take a design from concept through design and analysis, manufacture and testing. During this process we worked with a composite manufacturer to source and layup material to our specified design, from which we were able to obtain a number of prototypes that undertook a series of load & deflection tests.
“These tests correlated well to our analytical approach, which allowed us to refine the design and the response of the overall spring system to optimise the performance of the tricycle.
“We are proud to be involved in this project and it was great to see our contribution to the design functions during the initial test ride.”
Mark explained more about the reasons behind the Triple Tread®:
“We want people to be able to enjoy independence, fun outdoors and freedom when riding Triple Tread® and we are grateful to Morson Projects for their support with the composite design work they have carried out for our prototype’s unique composite spring suspension.
“Having the freedom to ride outdoors independently with family and friends can enrich our lives. Social inclusion is important to us and Triple Tread® can allow the rider to be seated at the same height as others on cycles.
“The tricycle is designed for the user experience. Instead of having to slow down to navigate corners in case of tipping, the Triple Tread® allows you to keep up with others on cycles so nobody is having to wait for you to catch up! You can have a sense of pride on your cool Triple Tread® trike.
“Importantly for us, style and function have driven the development of the tricycle so that it can appeal to all age groups. It offers independent suspension for its two front axles to maintain stability on uneven ground. Our patented TiltrahedronTM steering mechanism gives an intuitive, natural ride similar to the feeling of riding a standard bicycle. Where standard delta trikes can be prone to tipping when cornering due to a fixed wheelbase, Triple Tread® can corner at ease with stability.”