Trike Suspension

If you tour, ride off road, or if your local roads are chip-sealed and bumpy, IMHO suspension is an absolute essential. Suspension also means that potholes do not launch you into the air when traveling fast down mountain roads

My first trike had an expensive coil suspension which was heavy, difficult to adjust, and was prone to failure. The suspension did not did smooth out the bumps much at all - bad design! A properly designed suspension is different.

While a prefer a hydraulic suspension system, it is amazing what a simple elastomer can do to smooth out the bumps.

My ICE QNT has an adjustable elastomer rear suspension which has worked flawlessly these last several tens of thousands of miles. Not as good as hydraulic of course, but it has never needed maintenance, and is simplicity itself. No pogoing (bouncing as you pedal) at all. The elastomers are easily replaceable with softer or harder versions depending on your needs, but I have found my yellow elastomer (different colors, different amounts of bounce) to be fine for all my riding. It has a three position adjustment which takes only moments to change according to riding conditions, but generally I just keep it at the middle setting. Suspension to me also means I can ride much longer without fatigue. It's a subtle thing. Some trikes without suspension ride very smoothly because they flex. But on long tours I have found this mild flexing eventually tires the body, although YMMV.

But with suspension - even a simple elastomer one - I simply feel less tired, even on smooth roads.

My original ICE QNT came without suspension. But after a few thousand miles I upgraded the rear end to a suspended one. That's the curved part of the frame in the picture at right. It works well, and to me at least, was worth the cost of the upgrade. Newer offerings from ICE and various other manufacturers offer full suspension (all wheels). If you do a lot of off-roading, then I would suggest the elastomer (ICE) type suspensions are really not up to the task. For this type of trike riding I much prefer full suspension with real shocks (air, hydraulic, etc.). But this is a very expensive way to go, and most manufacturers do not offer real shocks on full suspension models.

Bottom line: for most riding conditions, some sort of rear suspension will really help reduce your fatigue level. But for most conditions, full suspension is not necessary on a trike, particularly if you are in a mesh (flexible) seat (rigid seats generally give a rougher ride) or if your trike has direct steering (direct steering usually transfers more road shock to the body so full suspension may help if you ride a direct steering trike). So... go with rear suspension, and only spend the extra money and weight penalty for full suspension if you are sure you need/want it. For my personal riding needs, rear suspension on an indirect steering trike with the body suspended in a mesh seat has worked fine. YMMV.