On Wednesday, June 17, at 1 PM, the Hartford High School Tech. Education class will be test-racing their “tadpole trikes”. A tadpole trike is a roadworthy, 189-gear, 3-wheel bicycle with two wheels located at the back and one in the front. 

Under the direction of teacher Mr. Randy Dickson the students built five bikes from recycled scrap metal, old cafeteria chair seats, and parts from approximately 40 bikes (10 of which came from the Hartford Police Department). Approximately 85% of each bike is built from recycled parts. This year they purchased the wheels, rollers, hubs and tie rods, and their goal for the future is to build these trikes from 100% recycled parts.

“There is a lot of engineering and science involved in building these trikes”, says Dixon, “and many aspects of their designs are as complex as cars.” The design of the trikes was based on a trike Dickson himself owns, yet he admits, “We won't know how well these trikes are going to perform until we test drive them. The devil is in the details.”