A RARE “laid back” tandem tricycle has just been sold by a Scots shop for the jaw-dropping price of £5,500.
The tandem was sold in Edinburgh and is sure to turn a few heads in the capital.
“Recumbent” bikes, as they are also known, are making a comeback as the demand for the unique bikes is soaring.
The low-slung, tricycle design means people who for health reaons might struggle to ride a standard bike are able to get on the road and exercise.
Such is the demand that David Gardiner has opened a dedicated shop in Edinburgh’s upmarket Marchmont district.
Unique
He said: “I have customers that have to either go to a shop in London, or me, or to Amsterdam.
“So even in European terms they’re quite uncommon,” he said.
David said that the most important appeal of the bikes is that they open up opportunities for people who might not otherwise be able to cycle.
“People buy for health reasons – people that have got polio for example – especially the trikes, because of the stability,” he said.
“They’re more diverse than the stereotype of bearded middle-aged men. My youngest customer is 20, but has a walking difficulty, and people like him have got a right to exercise as much as anyone else.
“Other people buy the bikes predominantly because they dream to do long tours and the idea is that you can sit on one of these for 100 miles and then get on it the next day for 100 miles, and again the next day whereas- as Mark Beaumont found out- it’s quite hard on an upright bike to do that 100 miles a day, again and again.”
