There are so many new electric bicycles coming out it’s hard to keep up, but this one is different with the addition of twin front tires on a bike that is designed to lean in the turns, but I guess the Rungu guys didn’t get the memo about leaning multi wheelers because the front wheels here don’t lean independently. When you lean in the turns, you simply lift the outer wheel.
Evidently you get used to it, after riding for a bit the wheel lifting in the turns is just the way the bike works and you no longer notice it. I thought it was interesting because when reverse trikes started to appear on The Kneeslider, a common critique was that the outer wheel would lift in turns, as in the photo above, though actual experience from riders on leaning multi wheers shows that doesn’t happen, but in this case it certainly does because it has to.
The bike itself was designed to get out on to the beach into the soft sand or through snow or wherever a normal mountain bike would bog down. You pedal to start moving, but there’s a throttle to assist up hills or in the soft stuff where you might walk a regular bike. There’s no kickstand because of the third wheel and the electric motor can get to 35 mph on the flat. It can go about 15 miles on electric power alone or about 30 miles when used to assist. Of course you can pedal alone all you want.
There’s probably a point where the weight penalty of the extra hardware necessary for a leaning mechanism isn’t justified in a trike like this, you would be using electric power all the time and the range would be radically reduced, after all you already have an extra fork and wheel, but instead of a wider stance and non leaning turns, this one narrows the wheel separation and lifts one while it leans. Logical choice. Interesting concept.
The Rungu Juggernaut comes in around $6800 as shown here and it would be fun to try it out, in fact it would probably be a lot of fun, period.
Charlie says
The Rungu is a narrow focus bike that balances where a pedal bike can’t. Ultra low speeds and “slogging” conditions. It’s unsettled at most speeds, as it takes a good rider to get used to the way the bike tips. When it tips, it doesn’t just lift the outside tire. By tipping, it changes the dynamics entirely, as you now have only the inside wheel to turn with, making the arc path different. Going faster makes it easier, but it’s a lot like making a race tire work. Go faster and brake harder to heat it up. Take it on faith it will work.
For its focus, it works, and I suppose would be nice. I’m not its market, so I can’t say if there’s enough appeal to make it something more than a neat build that answered one man’s question.
Ignoring that, it certainly looks nicely done, and it’s creative without being overly complicated to get its job done. That alone has an appeal in the design simplicity.
Justdoesn't Matter says
Gee, if the problem to this solution was to avoid getting bogged down in sand/mud/whatever, and given the non-articulated front end, and considering the obscene price tag…why didn’t the builder add the extra rear tire for more flotation AND consistent traversing during leaning??
Charlie says
1. Four tires wouldn’t lean well and with a narrow track like that, it wouldn’t corner well.
2. Laws limiting access to “Bikes Only.” Three wheelers are still classed as bikes, and four would be something else (atv?) and could be banned on the beach.
3. One hub motor is a simpler build (and narrower between the legs) than a mid mount motor at the pedals, to say nothing of adding an axle and splines/hub and making the motor a through shaft, or synch’ing two motors, one of them needing to drive backwards or have a “lopsided” design if they both aren’t inboard.
The price isn’t that obscene if you look at the price for good electric bicycles. You can get cheap stuff and build one that will wear out fast, but for a durable one with a decent battery and controller this isn’t terrible. I don’t know what the spec of his electronics are, so if he’s gone with bottom dollar stuff, yeah, it’s over priced. For reference, a good (not top of the line) fat tire bike like this from Bull’s will run you $4500 or so. A cheap one from Rad will run $1,200. The difference is in the components.
Bob says
…or get a fat tire trike like the ICE “Full Fat”, Trident “Terrain”, or AZUB “Fat”.
I’d also think that adding a whole new front end adds a LOT more weight than the leaning mechanism. Heck, the leaning mechanism is pretty much the same structure with a lot of bearings thrown at it (With great care and precision, of course).
There’s still a lot to be said for leaning 2 wheelers.